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wiki/wiki/microcontroller.md

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Microcontroller

Microcontroller are small computers on an integrated circuit. It contains a processor, memory and programmable in- and output.

ESP32

The ESP32 is a cheap and low-energy microcontroller made by Espressif Systems. It features Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Some variants of this chip also include LoRa-capability and can be used to communicate via Meshtastic.

Flash Firmware on the ESP32

This section especially focusses on the ESP32S3 microcontroller. For other microcontroller of the ESP32-xx family the process should be similar.

  • Download ESP RF Test Tool and Test Guide
  • Download Firmware of ESP32S3
  • Open EspRFTestTool_vX.X_Manual.exe
    • Select the ESP32S3 as ChipType
    • Select the correct COM for your ESP
    • Set the BaudRate to 115200
    • Click open
    • Click Select Bin and search for your ESP32S3 Firmware (probably named xiao_esp32s3_firmware.bin or similar)
    • Left of the Select Bin button select USB and Flash for the two drop-down options
    • Click Load Bin
    • After the upload of the data a completion message should appear
  • The ESP32S3 is completely flashed

Programming Mode

When connecting an ESP32 to the computer it needs to be in programming mode. If it is not in programming mode it will show up as port but will encounter Write Timeout Errors when trying to flash programs or firmware onto it. To put the ESP32 in the programming mode press and hold the Boot-Button (usually labeled B). Then press and release the Reset-Button (usually labeled R). Afterwards release the Boot-Button. The board now should be in programming mode and it should be possible to upload and flash programs or firmware onto it. This section is based on a Reddit comment by cmatkin.