ESP32-S3 firmware #10206

smhodge42 · 2022-12-13T00:52:45Z

smhodge42
Dec 13, 2022

I don't have a problem erasing flash and loading firmware on an ESP32-S3 on a Espressif ESP32-S3-DevKitC-1 board, using the instructions on the Micropython website. No errors are reported. But when I try to open a REPL session I get a continuous, non-stop display of "invalid header: 0xffffffff" messages. I used the firmware file "GENERIC_S3-20220618-v1.19.1.uf2", and also tried the ".bin" version. I tried decreasing the upload baud rate to 115,200. There no longer seems to be a "-- verify" option in but I assume it now automatically verifies because I get a "hash of data verified" message. version is 4.4 and the command lines used were:

esptool.py --port com14 erase_flash
esptool.py --port com14 --baud 115200 --chip esp32-s3 write_flash -z 0x1000

The development board is a genuine Espressif board, not a knock-off, purchased a couple of months ago and it worked just fine out of the box, using Visual Studio Code and Platform I/O to load a small "blink led" C++ program.

But I really want to use Micropython, having used it on pyboards for a few years, with never a problem loading firmware on them. Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

Answered by smhodge42

Dec 11, 2023

I got the same results with the latest daily versions.

However, the problem is solved. I had accidentally used PSRAM pins 36 and 37 for an I2C bus and when originally setting that up I had missed the (obvious) note in Espressif's documentation for the DevKitC about not using those pins when the module has PSRAM. My bad. I have ordered an N8 (no PSRAM) version of the DevKitC which should allow me to use my existing setup until I get around to moving those I2C lines somewhere else.

Thanks for everyone's help.

View full answer

davefes · 2022-12-13T01:52:11Z

davefes
Dec 13, 2022

Try:

esptool.py --chip esp32 --port com14 erase_flash

and then

esptool.py --chip esp32 --port com14 --baud 460800 write_flash -z 0x1000 esp32-20220618-v1.19.1.bin

change to your .bin file. Also, you might need to change the --chip to your variant.

4 replies

smhodge42 Dec 13, 2022
Author

It gives the error messasge:
"A fatal error occurred: This chip is ESP32-S3 not ESP32. Wrong --chip argument?"
...which is correct, since it is indeed an S3 version. If I change it to "esp32-s3" (or "esp32s3", curiously both work), it works just fine. Except that it doesn't work when I try to open a REPL session. That's the problem. I can erase flash and load new firmware just fine.

smhodge42 Dec 13, 2022
Author

Here is the output, looks pretty convincing to me:

esptool.py v4.4
Serial port COM14
Connecting....
Chip is ESP32-S3 (revision v0.1)
Features: WiFi, BLE
Crystal is 40MHz
MAC: f4:12:fa:e6:49:40
Uploading stub...
Running stub...
Stub running...
Configuring flash size...
Flash will be erased from 0x00001000 to 0x0015cfff...
Compressed 1421968 bytes to 940979...
Wrote 1421968 bytes (940979 compressed) at 0x00001000 in 83.2 seconds (effective 136.8 kbit/s)...
Hash of data verified.

Leaving...
Hard resetting via RTS pin...

smhodge42 Dec 13, 2022
Author

Now I am getting a different message when I attempt to open a REPL session on COM14:

ESP-ROM:esp32s3-20210327
Build:Mar 27 2021
rst:0x7 (TG0WDT_SYS_RST),boot:0x8 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
Saved PC:0x40043ac8
SPIWP:0xee
mode:DIO, clock div:1
load:0x3fce3808,len:0x43c
load:0x403c9700,len:0xbec
load:0x20736177,len:0x6c6c6163
Invalid image block, can't boot.
ets_main.c 329
ESP-ROM:esp32s3-20210327
Build:Mar 27 2021
rst:0x10 (RTCWDT_RTC_RST),boot:0x8 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
SPIWP:0xee
mode:DIO, clock div:1
load:0x3fce3808,len:0x43c
load:0x403c9700,len:0xbec
load:0x20736177,len:0x6c6c6163
Invalid image block, can't boot.
ets_main.c 329
....
repeating forever

Maybe the "invalid image block, can't boot" message is a clue?

Maybe the "GENERIC_S3" firmware file (see original post) doesn't work for this DevKitC-1 board?

Wind-stormger Dec 14, 2022

Wrong flash address.

mattytrentini · 2022-12-13T03:42:16Z

mattytrentini
Dec 13, 2022
Collaborator Sponsor

Explicitly which ESP32-S3-DevKitC-1 board is it?

We've had a few reports that the Octal SPI (for flash/psram) variants have had some issues. I'd actually thought that they should work with standard (quad) SPI but it may not be the case...

0 replies

smhodge42 · 2022-12-13T17:08:07Z

smhodge42
Dec 13, 2022
Author

It is the N8R8 version, with ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N8R8 module.

0 replies

Wind-stormger · 2022-12-14T06:05:12Z

Wind-stormger
Dec 14, 2022

I am familiar with this problem, lucky.
ESP32-S3-WROOM-1U-N8R8 ,flash: 8 MB (Quad SPI),PSRAM: 8 MB (Octal SPI)
Currently, you can only download this firmware: https://micropython.org/download/GENERIC_S3/
Choose the file with the extension .bin to download.
Connect the USB cable to the USB port on the development board, not the UART port.
Press and hold the BOOT button, press the RESET button once, and release the BOOT button, which makes the chip enter the bootloarder mode.
Do it by esptool:

esptool.py --chip esp32s3 --port COM14 --baud 460800 write_flash -z 0x0 Xxxxxxxxv1.19.1.bin

Pay attention to replace the correct serial port number and file name.

4 replies

Wind-stormger Dec 14, 2022

I'm pretty sure this firmware will work because it doesn't use PSRAM.

Wind-stormger Dec 14, 2022

Soon you can download the firmware using Octal SPIRAM. #8689

sheetaljain01 Nov 12, 2024

Hi,

I have created a custom firmware for the ESP32-S3 and obtained the following files: micropython.bin, bootloader.bin, and partition-table.bin.

While uploading the firmware using the following command:

python3 -m esptool --chip esp32s3 --port COM5 write_flash 0x1000 bootloader.bin 0x8000 partition-table.bin 0x10000 micropython.bin

my ESP32-S3 keeps rebooting and shows this error continuously:

ESP-ROM:esp32s3-20210327
Build: Mar 27 2021
rst:0x10 (RTCWDT_RTC_RST), boot:0x8 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
SPIWP:0xee
mode: DIO, clock div:1
load: 0x3fce3808, len: 0x43c
load: 0x403c9700, len: 0xbec
load: 0x20736177, len: 0x6c6c6163
Invalid image block, can't boot.
ets_main.c 329

This error keeps repeating. Can you help me troubleshoot the issue?"

projectgus Nov 12, 2024
Collaborator

@sheetaljain01 The bootloader offset for ESP32-S3 should be 0x0 not 0x1000. Only the original ESP32 chip uses 0x1000.

(Tip: If you do a normal build then the build process actually prints the flashing command at the end. Or you can do make deploy BOARD=my_board PORT=portname to have the MicroPython build system run esptool directly.)

smhodge42 · 2022-12-14T16:46:31Z

smhodge42
Dec 14, 2022
Author

Thanks. That worked. I have the REPL. I am curious, however. You say this firmware doesn't use PSRAM but I'm uploading exactly the same file, except to address 0x0 instead of 0x1000. In fact, yesterday I tried uploading the "normal" way to address 0x0 and it didn't work. Is it something to do with the USB port (versus the UART one) and/or manually using the bootleader?

6 replies

glenn20 Dec 9, 2023

ESP32S3 devices should have their firmware written to offset 0 (-z 0x0) (see the flashing instructions at https://micropython.org/download/ESP32_GENERIC_S3/). The original ESP32 devices required firmware to be written at offset 0x1000. This is very likely the source of your "invalid header" errors, as the device is expecting a bootloader at offset 0x0.

smhodge42 Dec 10, 2023
Author

I did write to address 0, see above.

sophiedegran Dec 11, 2023

On Esp32s3 dev-kit-c1 N8R8 the 8MB flash are QD and 8MB psram are OT
On esp32s3 dev-kit-c1 N16R8 and N32R8 flash is OT (and psram OT)
As they have been changed between 1.21 and 1.22 on making image I suggest you to try a dayly image (I think it should works)

smhodge42 Dec 11, 2023
Author

I got the same results with the latest daily versions.

However, the problem is solved. I had accidentally used PSRAM pins 36 and 37 for an I2C bus and when originally setting that up I had missed the (obvious) note in Espressif's documentation for the DevKitC about not using those pins when the module has PSRAM. My bad. I have ordered an N8 (no PSRAM) version of the DevKitC which should allow me to use my existing setup until I get around to moving those I2C lines somewhere else.

Thanks for everyone's help.

Answer selected by projectgus

smhodge42 · 2024-01-13T22:59:02Z

smhodge42
Jan 13, 2024
Author

I finally got around to trying the N8 (no PSRAM) version, but I still get the same error messages (in red) when the board is reset:
E (287) quad_psram: PSRAM ID read error: 0x00ffffff, PSRAM chip not found or not supported, or wrong PSRAM line mode
E (288) esp_psram: PSRAM enabled but initialization failed. Bailing out.
I am using the latest firmware v1.22.1 (non Octal on the N8), on an Espressif (not a clone) ESP32-S3 DevKitC-1, not plugged into any motherboard.
It seems like Micropython is unable to gracefully know when PSRAM is (legitimately) not present.
Is that correct?

1 reply

Ruisute Feb 26, 2024

Hi, sorry for bothering; did you make it work for micropython? im doing a proyect about build a "beginners Car" (MIR in other words) for university, i tried to use VSC enviroment (Pymakr) but it didnt work, i have the same logs in terminal and it says that "safe boot cant be done",

i have the same esp32s3 kit (the one with 2 usb C ports).

Ruisute · 2024-02-26T07:38:23Z

Ruisute
Feb 26, 2024

Well guys, i could finally flash my esp32s3, just change the 0x1000 by 0

0 replies

guavuavcycayfayqvqu · 2024-07-14T09:36:04Z

guavuavcycayfayqvqu
Jul 14, 2024

Same problem with esp32 s3 china clone. (Note : flash at 0x00 not 0x10000)

0 replies

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ESP32-S3 firmware #10206

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