WLED-AP never appears

[paularmstrong]

• esp32s
• binaries tried: 0.8.5, 0.8.6, 0.9.0-b1

No matter what I do, the wireless access point never shows up. The logs from esphomeflasher are completely blank, as if the device never actually starts up.

Logs via esptool.py

$ esptool.py write_flash 0x10000 ~/Downloads/WLED_0.8.5_ESP32.bin
esptool.py v2.8
Found 4 serial ports
Serial port /dev/cu.usbserial-A900HH38
Connecting........_____....._____....._____..
Detecting chip type... ESP32
Chip is ESP32D0WDQ6 (revision 1)
Features: WiFi, BT, Dual Core, 240MHz, VRef calibration in efuse, Coding Scheme None
Crystal is 40MHz
MAC: 3c:71:bf:f9:fb:48
Uploading stub...
Running stub...
Stub running...
Configuring flash size...
Auto-detected Flash size: 4MB
Compressed 1027744 bytes to 593610...
Wrote 1027744 bytes (593610 compressed) at 0x00010000 in 52.7 seconds (effective 156.0 kbit/s)...
Hash of data verified.

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

Logs via esphomeflasher

Using '/dev/cu.usbserial-A900HH38' as serial port.
Connecting........_
Detecting chip type... ESP32
Connecting...

Chip Info:
 - Chip Family: ESP32
 - Chip Model: ESP32D0WDQ6 (revision 1)
 - Number of Cores: 2
 - Max CPU Frequency: 240MHz
 - Has Bluetooth: YES
 - Has Embedded Flash: NO
 - Has Factory-Calibrated ADC: YES
 - MAC Address: 3C:71:BF:F9:FB:48
Uploading stub...
Running stub...
Stub running...
Changing baud rate to 460800
Changed.
 - Flash Size: 4MB
 - Flash Mode: dio
 - Flash Frequency: 80MHz
Erasing flash (this may take a while)...
Chip erase completed successfully in 6.6s
Compressed 15856 bytes to 10276...
Writing at 0x00001000... (100 %)Wrote 15856 bytes (10276 compressed) at 0x00001000 in 0.2 seconds (effective 531.9 kbit/s)...
Hash of data verified.
Compressed 3072 bytes to 143...
Writing at 0x00008000... (100 %)Wrote 3072 bytes (143 compressed) at 0x00008000 in 0.0 seconds (effective 1330.0 kbit/s)...
Hash of data verified.
Compressed 8192 bytes to 47...
Writing at 0x0000e000... (100 %)Wrote 8192 bytes (47 compressed) at 0x0000e000 in 0.0 seconds (effective 3957.8 kbit/s)...
Hash of data verified.
Compressed 1034832 bytes to 591312...
Writing at 0x000a0000... (100 %)Wrote 1034832 bytes (591312 compressed) at 0x00010000 in 14.3 seconds (effective 578.9 kbit/s)...
Hash of data verified.

Leaving...
Hard Resetting...
Done! Flashing is complete!

Showing logs:

NOTE: The line from the wiki is very vague for someone unfamiliar with arduino

ESP32 (you will need to have a bootloader installed, you can flash the Arduino blink example to do that)

I believe I flashed the device with the "blink" example (though the blink example apparently is not ready out of the box and took some googling to figure out you need to add something like #define LED_BUILTIN 13 to the file before installing). I did this, it installed, then I went back and tried to install WLED again, same results.

Is there something wrong with what I'm doing? Is a step missing from the instructions?

[raoulteeuwen]

Afaik, Aircookie recommends esptool .... did you see this part on https://github.com/Aircoookie/WLED/wiki:

If you experience issues, run this command before trying write_flash again (Note: this will erase all settings stored on the ESP!)

esptool.py erase_flash

You can alternatively use my basic HTTP OTA updater sketch and upload the binary! This requires the Arduino IDE and ESP8266 core installed.

Did you try both?

[paularmstrong]

I tried all of that. Eventually, after I gave up, it connected while I was trying a manual connection (but it took a good 5 minutes for it to respond)...

One major note: OS X displayed the setup page as a dialog. It did not require navigating with a browser.

Once I got it connected to my wifi, it seemed to work. However, it seems there may be some other issue, as the wifi doesn't seem to stay on. It will work for 5-10 minutes, then disappear from the network. I had esphome flashed on this device previously and it was working just fine, so I suspect something in WLED is causing issues.

[paularmstrong]

Went back to esphome and the wifi works flawlessly. What can I do to help get WLED working?

[Aircoookie]

Hi and sorry for the issues! You could try reflashing the bootloader once again before using esptool (for example by uploading Arduino Blink sketch). I will try to find what else might be causing your issue :)

[paularmstrong]

You could try reflashing the bootloader once again before using esptool (for example by uploading Arduino Blink sketch).

There seems to be a code error in the Blink sketch. Could you recommend something different that could be uploaded that will actually compile?

[Mariu86]

If You have a error maybe it's something wrong with your settings.

[raoulteeuwen]

@Aircoookie any chance you contacting the esphome dev to exchange how you both handle wifi would be beneficial?

[paularmstrong]

If You have a error maybe it's something wrong with your settings.

Never used Arduino app for anything else. Haven't touched any settings. What could I have missed configuring?

The error is that it's missing a constant being defined.

[raoulteeuwen]

Never used Arduino app for anything else. Haven't touched any settings. What could I have missed configuring?

Did you find and use the Compile settings at https://github.com/Aircoookie/WLED/wiki ?

[paularmstrong]

Never used Arduino app for anything else. Haven't touched any settings. What could I have missed configuring?

Did you find and use the Compile settings at https://github.com/Aircoookie/WLED/wiki ?

Noob to ESPs here... what do I do with those? I used the "Quick Start Guide" higher on the page and followed the instructions under "I just want to use WLED! (install release binary)"

[raoulteeuwen]

Never used Arduino app for anything else. Haven't touched any settings. What could I have missed configuring?

Did you find and use the Compile settings at https://github.com/Aircoookie/WLED/wiki ?

Noob to ESPs here... what do I do with those? I used the "Quick Start Guide" higher on the page and followed the instructions under "I just want to use WLED! (install release binary)"

Because you mentioned "Never used Arduino app", and a remark was made about settings, i thought you might need those compile settings. But those, afaik, are only needed when you use Arduino IDE to flash stuff to your NodeMCU. You can find the Arduino IDE at https://www.arduino.cc/en/main/software . You could try it, it'll definitely make you learn something ;-) . Installation instructions for the Arduino IDE desktop app can be found at https://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/HomePage . After which you could use http://help.blynk.cc/en/articles/512105-how-to-install-blynk-library-for-arduino-ide to flash the Blynk sketch to the NodeMCU.

[paularmstrong]

Blynk? @Aircoookie and docs keep saying "Blink", which is built-in to the Arduino IDE and what I'm referencing when I say there's a compile issue.

[raoulteeuwen]

You're right, sorry, i'm mistaken...

[Aircoookie]

Hi, sorry for the trouble getting it to work. I realized that even flashing the blink sketch requires you to install the ESP32 arduino core, which is not hard, but also not trivial. I've extracted the Arduino bootloader to a .bin file for you: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NQrBwb5WJz6WSEbotW-6NrmiLJ6Hc04F/view?usp=sharing

Just flash it to your ESP32 using

esptool.py write_flash 0x0 .\esp32_bootloader.bin

and everything should work! (if it doesn't, try running the regular ESP32 flash command from quickstart again)

[Aircoookie]

@paularmstrong is this resolved?

[paularmstrong]

I switched to a D1 mini using 0.9.x and it's working

[thecompoundingdev]

I just had this problem with an ESP32S- erased, flashed, flashed bootloader in different combinations and finally saw Aircookie's response. Thanks! I flashed the esp32 bootloader binary AFTER flashing wled binary and it worked!