Firmware writing Issues with Windows and linux using the S3 Series.



  • Where previous ESP32 based products only had one level for writing firmware (I will call this user Space Firmware) the ESP32S3's used in the S3 generation of products use a different access method more akin to the Raspberry Pi Pico based products.

    What this means is that there are two USB Drivers needed to be installed in order to fully access and write Firmware to the ESP32S3 series.

    The first driver is the JTAG/Series Com driver which allows firmware to be written into the user Space Firmware area and the second is the low lever modem access driver which allows access to the Bootloader level and is also used for making the ESP32S3 devices into HID devices (keyboards, mice, space knobs and joysticks).

    Firmwares like the flipper/Maradar makes use of the serial/usb port blocking them from being able to burn new firmwares requiring the need to access the lower level boatload mode ignorer to wipe/burn new firmware.

    Through my experiments I have discovered that on windows and linux based machines I have not been able to install the second (modem) driver resulting in the esp32S3 unable to be put into Bootloader mode. Bootloader mode access is shown on the S3 generation models by a green LED lighting up after 5 seconds.

    I am still looking into this but I need a new Windows based computer to experiment.

    This isn't an issue with the M5Stack products as it works perfectly on MAC OSX based machines and some other Windows/Linux machines used by the more Knowledgeable members. for the moment DO NOT USE the FLIPPER/MARAUDER based firmwares otherwise you will need to replace the StampS3's to continue use.