Problems Configuring A New Waveshare ESP32-S3-LCD-2-C Board

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I recently came across a Youtube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZUo0pB7qd0&t=245s) in which the presenter showed how to power up a new Waveshare ESP32-S3-LCD-2-C board and then install MicropythonOS.

As this looked interesting, I bought the exact same board from Core (SKU: WS-30308), but have experienced the following problems while following the instructions in the video.

1. Powering the board for the first time.

After powering the board via the USB C socket it fired up and presented the ‘System’ page, as shown in the video.

However, the touch functionality was inoperative and hence the ‘QMI8658’, ‘Camera’ and ‘WiFI’ screens could not be selected and displayed, as shown in the video

2. Installing MicropythonOS

As my main objective was to install MicropythonOS on the board, I proceeded to this next step in the video, hoping that in the process touch functionality would be enabled

As per the video, I did the following:-

Connect the board in boot loader mode to a computer running Linux Mint

In a Chrome browser, open the online MicropythonOS installer at ‘https://install.micropythonos.com’.

Select the version - ‘Unified build for all supported ESP32-S3 devices: version 0.18.1’
Click ‘Connect and Install’

From the Connection options choose - ‘USB JTAG/serial debug unit (ttyACM0) – Paired’

Click ‘Connect’

Click ‘Install MicroPythonOS’

Select ‘Erase Device’ and ‘Next’

At ‘Confirm Installation’ click ‘Install’

The ‘Installation’ screen displayed in sequence:-

  • Erasing

  • Installing

  • Wrapped up

  • Installation complete

On the ‘MicropythonOS’ screen click ‘Logs & Console’

On the ‘Logs’ screen select ‘Download Logs’

The log showed the following:-

[21:42:19]ESP-ROM:esp32s3-20210327

[21:42:19]Build:Mar 27 2021

[21:42:19]rst:0x15 (USB_UART_CHIP_RESET),boot:0x0 (DOWNLOAD(USB/UART0))

[21:42:19]Saved PC:0x40041a79

[21:42:19]waiting for download

After unplugging the board, pausing and re plugging it in, the screen remained blank (unlit), rather than displaying the MicropythonOS opening screen.

My installation appeared to go without any problem, except the last line of the log suggests something may have not been completed.

Subsequently, I was able to access the board via Thonny and successfully execute a simple Python script. This seems to suggest that MicropythonOS was successfully installed, but something is inhibiting the screen display.

This is my first experience with an ESP32 board. Any suggestions as to why my experience with the board, both at initial power up and installing MicropythonOS, was not as successful as shown in the video, would be appreciated.

Thanks, Fred

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Hey there, @Frederick60798,

Are you sure that the board you are using has touch screen functionality? If you’re using the WS-30308 the board does not come with a touch panel.

I think you might be confusing it with the ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-2, which is what is listed in the supported hardware. That would explain both the unresponsive factory interface and why MicroPythonOS does not initialise this board’s display.

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Jane, thanks for your reply, but I’m a bit confused.

Attached is a photo of the board I bought from Core as SKU: WS-30308.

As shown in the photo, the top of the board itself is labelled ‘ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-2’.

The photographs accompanying the entry for SKU: WS-30308 on the Core website show an identical board to what is used in the video and what I have. In the photo showing the bottom of the board, the label is partially obscured by the QC sticker but think it is covering the characters ‘Touch’.

So I guess the question is do I have a touch capable board or not?

BoardBoughtFromCore
BoardBoughtFromCore1920×1429 380 KB

Regards, Fred

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Hey there, @Frederick60798,

Identical in PCB maybe, but this product does not come with a Touch Panel. Waveshare sell the product with the sticker over the ‘Touch’ section of the PCB for that reason. It’s not sold as a touch device.

image
image700×700 55.3 KB

The product you’re after that would have touch capability is the ESP32-S3 2inch Capacitive Touch. That would then work with the MicroPythonOS.

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Jane,

Thanks for that explanation. With the knowledge that my board is one without touch capability I have been able to flash it back to the as-delivered configuration.

I would never have guessed that the QC sticker has the dual role of

  • confirming that a quality control step has been carried out
  • masking a word in the PCB label!

Can you confirm that Core is not selling the touch version? I can’t find it on the website.

Thanks very much for your help.

Fred

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Hey there, @Frederick60798,

Neither the product title nor its description states that WS-30308 has touch functionality, though I appreciate how the shared PCB design and partially covered “Touch” label could cause confusion. Glad you were able to restore the original firmware.

I’ve checked our current catalogue, but unfortunately we don’t currently stock touch-capable 2-inch ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-2. Its definitely something we might bring on in future (I know some of us here would like to play around with MicroPythonOS) so keep your eyes peeled.