AtomS3 Lite + Atomic Echo Base: unable to build an ESPHome Voice Satellite

Configuration Voice Assistant
1

Hello,

I am trying to build a Home Assistant voice satellite using M5Stack hardware, but I have been stuck for several days.

My hardware:

  • M5Stack AtomS3 Lite (ESP32-S3FN8)
  • M5Stack Atomic Echo Base (microphone + speaker module that plugs into the AtomS3 Lite)

At first, I followed the Home Assistant "13$ Voice Remote" guide based on the M5Stack Atom Echo, but I later realized that this guide is for the older Atom Echo ESP32, not the AtomS3 Lite + Atomic Echo Base combination.

I tried several ESPHome YAML configurations.

The original Atom Echo configuration using:

esp32:
  board: m5stack-atom
  framework:
    type: esp-idf

does not work and results in:

invalid header: 0xffffffff

I then switched to:

esp32:
  board: esp32-s3-devkitc-1
  variant: esp32s3
  framework:
    type: esp-idf

This one boots correctly and connects to Home Assistant.

However, with a YAML I found for an AtomS3 + Echo Base setup, I still have several issues:

  • The LED never turns on.
  • The Voice Assistant integration reports:
The voice assistant is unable to connect to Home Assistant

To play audio, the voice assistant device has to connect to Home Assistant to fetch the files. Our test shows that the device is unable to reach the Home Assistant server.

The ESPHome logs show that the device is connected:

WiFi:
  Connected: YES

api:
  Noise encryption: YES

So the ESPHome API connection seems to be working.

I also get repeated warnings:

[micro_wake_word] Not enough free bytes in ring buffer to store incoming audio data.
Resetting the ring buffer.

and:

[psram] Available: NO

The YAML I tested contained:

psram:
  mode: octal
  speed: 80MHz

but the AtomS3 Lite apparently does not have PSRAM.

My assumption is that:

  • the YAML I am using is not actually designed for AtomS3 Lite + Atomic Echo Base,
  • the GPIO assignments for audio/LED are incorrect,
  • some specific audio initialization may be missing.

Has anyone successfully built a working setup with:

  • AtomS3 Lite + Atomic Echo Base + ESPHome 2025/2026 + Home Assistant Voice Assistant?

I am mainly looking for:

  • a working ESPHome YAML,
  • the correct GPIO mapping (I2S microphone, speaker, LED, button),
  • any required initialization steps for the audio hardware.

Thanks for your help!