QT Py ESP32-Pico Flash Failures

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rjanssen
 
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Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2021 1:47 pm

QT Py ESP32-Pico Flash Failures

Post by rjanssen »

https://www.adafruit.com/product/5395

I’m looking for a little insight as I’ve been fighting with these boards for a few days now and haven’t made any progress. I’m attempting to flash two qt py esp32 boards and getting identical errors on both. I’m using a basic ESPHome image with no sensors, etc to flash the device. Any flash commands fail with the following error:
stub.png
stub.png (99.34 KiB) Viewed 91 times
If I use --no-stub the error is slightly different:
nostub.png
nostub.png (142.9 KiB) Viewed 91 times
Simply trying to identify the chip also produces errors:
chip_id.PNG
chip_id.PNG (98.67 KiB) Viewed 91 times
However, the chip seems to enter boot mode without issue. If I put it in boot mode the serial console reads:

Code: Select all

T(UART0/UART1/SDIO_REO_V2))
waiting for download
I’ve tried different machines, different cables, different baud rates, etc. I’ve tried putting electrical tape over the GPIO pins thinking maybe I’m shorting a pin and interrupting the boot loader process. No change in behavior is noted with any of these changes. Other boards program fine using this same equipment. I was able to flash these once (although the binary was the wrong arch so the devices are not booting correctly) and that’s it.

At this point I’m at a bit of a loss on how to recover these two microcontrollers. I’m seeing some similar issues on the forums with no resolution:

viewtopic.php?f=24&p=935261
viewtopic.php?p=938705&hilit=qt+py+esp32+pico#p938705

Any ideas on what to try next Amazing Adafruit Electronics Nerd-God People?

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neradoc
 
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Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2016 2:38 pm

Re: QT Py ESP32-Pico Flash Failures

Post by neradoc »

Hi, have you installed the drivers for the serial chip ?
The latest revision board with the WCH "CH9102"/"CH34X" chip particularly need it:
In the board guide: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-qt- ... -ide-setup
Dedicated guide to the WCH chips: https://learn.adafruit.com/how-to-insta ... stallation

On mac with those chips and the driver installed the serial port will appear twice:
/dev/cu.usbmodem123456789
/dev/cu.wchusbserial123456789
Try picking the wch one for programming.

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rjanssen
 
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Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2021 1:47 pm

Re: QT Py ESP32-Pico Flash Failures

Post by rjanssen »

Nope, I most certainly did not! I skimmed right over that section of the docs thinking that I had already installed that driver for another device. I was wrong, and things are working as expected now that I've installed the driver and the correct tty is available. I'm still a little stumped on why it worked the first time but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. :)

Thank you so much for your timely help neradoc!

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