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PMC8 ESP32 OTA v2.4 — firmware ES4.2.30

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@wesmcd6 wesmcd6 released this 17 Aug 13:16
· 4 commits to master since this release
esp32-ota-v2.4
3e9b195

Updates the Wi-Fi adapter in your PMC-Eight, over the air — no opening the
enclosure, no jumper, no risk to the antenna cable.

The firmware in this release is unchanged from v2.3 (ES4.2.30). If you are
already on ES4.2.30 there is nothing here you need. This release improves the
updater itself.

What's new in the updater (v2.4)

  • It tells you straight away if your module is too old to update. Some early
    Wi-Fi modules don't support over-the-air updates at all and need the
    serial-flash tool instead. The updater now checks in the first few seconds —
    before it asks which firmware file to use, before it asks for your Wi-Fi
    password, and before it changes anything about the module's network settings.
    Previously it only found out near the end, after all of that.
  • Clearer Linux serial-port advice. After adding yourself to the dialout
    group you must reboot — logging out and back in is not enough on current
    Ubuntu, and that left people with a port that refused to open and no obvious
    reason why.

What's in the firmware (ES4.2.30, unchanged from v2.3)

  • Less back-and-forth, quicker responses. In the adapter's fast (Envision)
    mode, data passes straight through instead of being wrapped in a handshake for
    every reply — lower latency, and fewer of the communication faults that
    handshake caused under load.
  • Bluetooth and Wi-Fi together, in fast mode. A Bluetooth app and a Wi-Fi /
    PWA app can drive the mount at once, because in fast mode every client is
    funnelled through a single queue and they can't talk over each other. This has
    held up well in testing. Both radios share one antenna, so leaning on both
    connections hard at the same time will cost some throughput.
  • Leaving fast mode is reliable. The signal that brings the adapter back is
    recognised however it arrives.

Best paired with mount firmware 20A02.2.0.1, on the
pmc8-firmware branch, which fixes the mount's side
of the same conversation — including Bluetooth not connecting when the mount
starts up already in fast mode.

Two pauses that look like a freeze — both normal

  • "Checking the mount is responding…" — on macOS and Linux, opening the USB
    port restarts the mount. The updater waits it out, about 25 seconds, with a
    countdown. Windows users won't see this.
  • "Waiting 15s for the ESP32 modem to reset" — after Envision mode is
    switched off. The mount itself does not restart here, only the Wi-Fi module.

After updating

Envision mode is left off. Turn it back on in ExploreStars Envision ▸ Setup
▸ Envision Mode.

If OTA isn't possible

If your module has no firmware, corrupted firmware, or firmware too old to
support OTA, use the
esp32-serial-flash branch instead. As of this
release the updater tells you that within seconds of starting.

Safety

  • If a transfer fails the mount keeps its existing working firmware — just retry.
  • The ESP32 has automatic rollback: if the new firmware fails to boot, it reverts.
  • Don't power off the mount or unplug USB while the transfer is running.

Download: pmc8-esp32-ota-v2.4-ES4.2.30.zip
sha256 98e80c9242bed018a6f833d15f3f1a9881376486639e299fa5f04d585fc43120
Full instructions: OTA_QUICK_START_V2.txt, inside the zip and readable on the
esp32-ota branch.

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