Basically, as the title says, I have purchased this ESP32-S3-Pico Microcontroller and I seem to be having issues with connecting to windows. It will show up as an unknown device, I have tried two different devices, letting windows find a driver, using waveshares’ drivers, different cables in different ports and I can’t seem to get it to work. Do note, that I did have it working fine, until I installed micropython’s program into it, and then it started having tons of issues like disconnecting, however, I did use waveshares official downloader for it.
Thanks in advance for any help!
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Hi Maddie,
If you use a default S3 image are you able to get to the REPL? MicroPython - Python for microcontrollers
I’ve got one somewhere, I’ll let you know how I go!
EDIT: I used the same tool and .bin file with the setup:
(Set the COM Port to the higher number, the USB Hub is a nice addition but a bit annoying)
Yielding the REPL after the above instructions
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Along with following Liam’s instructions, also check if you are using a good-quality USB cable capable of data transfer. Some cables are designed only for charging and may not work for data transfer. Try different USB cables and also test the microcontroller with different USB ports on your computer.
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So nothing shows up, not even a COM8 or COM10 like it did before when it worked, and the application you are showing, wont even show any ports. I have now tried 3 different cables. All cables happily work with my phone, and my mouse (power and data), and I have used 2 type a to type c and one type c to c, and none of them work, and I still get the “Windows could not recognise the most recently plugged in device” error.
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Like my other comment, I definitely know I am, as they do work, but just not with the esp. Honestly, I am starting to think its not to do with the esp32 chip, but the CH343 that actually communicates with the device. Is there a way to flash software on to that by accident, and any possible way to undo that if it is?
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Okay, I am curious to know, when windows says there is two com ports (COM8 and COM10) are they two different devices, or the same device?
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Hi Maddie,
With the board plugged in, hold down the boot button and tap reset, then release boot. Hopefully one will appear after this process.
If that doesn’t work I’d try and uninstall the device (be careful if you are using your computer to program other microcontrollers).
Worst possible outcome would be using a UART programmer like the ESP-PROG.
Same device, both the ESP32-S3 through the CH343 and the ESP32’s onboard USB.
Micropython’s only able to access one or the other, its strange that the Wiki shows UART as default.
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what do you mean uninstall the device? the drivers? also tried the above and no luck, tried holding then plugging in, held after plugging in and neither worked.
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Hi Maddie,
Yeah uninstalling the drivers.
If you open up the properties in device manager are there any leads to what may have caused it?
Reinstalling the CH343 drivers after the fact should get you the COM ports back.
Do you have another computer you can check the drivers on?
Do you recall any error messages after trying to flash micropython?
The ESP32 download mode will work regardless of any programs flashed to the external flash.
Would it be possible to send through a photo of how you have your board set up?
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there was no errors whennit installed, it was almost a delayed effect. it happened after I unplugged it for night, and the next morning it refused to do anything. I also installed a fresh install of windows, and installed the drivers, still nothing shows up, and it doesn’t even add itself to device manager so I can at least try and force it to use a specific driver, so im very stumped.
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I can send through a photo later tonight as well.
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Hi Maddie,
This may seem like a minor thing but are you using a USB hub by any chance? Sometimes they can play havoc with your COM ports so worth checking.
If the COM ports aren’t appearing it can only be a few outcomes and you’ve already ruled out the cables.
Expressif lists two drivers that are required for the ESP32-S3 on their documentation so it might be worth double checking you have both installed from the links on this page.
If it’s not the cable, or drivers, then it must be the hardware, but it seems more likely to be a corrupted driver since the board was working previously.
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I have tried a laptop (Surface Book 2), and my PC, in the motherboard directly, the front IO and tried hubs on both of them. Ill double check the drivers later tonight, and see if that fixes the issue.
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nope, installed both, tested before restarting computer, and after and still get the unknown device error.
thats the response I get from plugging it in, and I cannot see it in device manager still.
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Hello Maddie
When I connected my piico initially in bootstrap mode to my PC ( Windows 10)
Thonny / Options / Interpreter showed that I was using port COM 1
Once I had booted up the connection disappeared and the device was declared busy.
However when I eventually looked at the Thonny Options again, I saw that USB Serial Device (COM4) had appeared as an option.
I selected COM4 on the Thonny Options and normal service was resumed.
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Hi Maddie,
Seems like this can only be a hardware fault after the troubleshooting you have done. Can you reply to your order confirmation email with a link back to this thread? Then we can process an RMA for it.
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Hi, I have purchased 2 of these ESP32-S3-Pico and I am having the same problems. Both have more or less the same issues. Both of them is not recognised as a USB device sometimes. There seems to be confusion of which COM port to use. They are both very flaky - pity because of the attractive price and specs. I am very experienced with Microprocessors/controllers - programming STM32, Teensy, Firebird, etc,etc.
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Additional - what would a comparable board be to this. I have tried various in Platformio and Arduino 2.1 but all seem to have issues. The closest I seem to get is the Unexpected Maker Pico - when they work of course
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Hi Mike,
I haven’t used these boards or run into any issues that you wouldn’t face using a normal ESP32.
The board this is copying is a Pico: Raspberry Pi Pico W with Soldered Male Headers | Core Electronics Australia
Hi Mike.
I’ve got similar problems with a bunch of Wemos ESP32-S2 devices.
I updated the drivers as in a previous reply from someone above, but the problem persists.
Connect to USB, put into bootloader mode via RST & 0 buttons.
Thonny recognises the device on COM8.
Upload micropython for ESP32-S2 (as downloaded by Thonny).
Upload finishes and I get a message about being unable to reboot the device and to manuially reset it. After that, it becomes totally unresponsive to Thonny. (It offers a WebREPL address of 192.168.4.1:8266 but that just times out.)
So they’re now back in the “some other time” drawer!
I feel your pain.
