ESP32-C6 co-processor firmware on the CrowPanel 7" ESP32-P4

ESPHome
1

Has anyone managed to update the ESP32-C6 co-processor firmware on the CrowPanel 7" ESP32-P4?

My C6 runs esp_hosted v2.3.0 (factory). I need to update it to v2.9.7 to get SDIO transport recovery, but the SDIO-based OTA
update fails — v2.3.0 has known transport bugs that corrupt the OTA write payload (fixed in later versions, but you need the
fix to install the fix).

The schematic shows C6 UART pads (GPIO16/17/9) but I can’t find them on the physical V1.0 PCB. Without UART access there’s no
way to flash the C6 directly.

The practical impact: WiFi via esp_hosted drops after a few minutes and can’t recover. The SDIO reinitialization feature
(v2.9.4+) requires both host and slave firmware updated, but the slave is stuck.

I’ve filed an issue with Elecrow:
ESP32-C6 co-processor UART pads on V1.0 PCB — location for firmware update? · Issue #5 · Elecrow-RD/CrowPanel-Advanced-7inch-ESP32-P4-HMI-AI-Display-1024x600-IPS-Touch-Screen · GitHub

Curious if others have the same C6 version or found a way around this. Running ESPHome 2026.1.4 with esp-idf framework.

2

Hi, first of all, sorry for the very late reply. I actually created this account just to answer you, since I’m not a Home Assistant user (at least for now).

I have the 9" version, which is basically the same. The test points are located underneath the screen; you can carefully lift it to access them and reflash the firmware.

I applied a custom firmware to enable Zigbee and WiFi on the C6 and it worked well for me. You just need to lift the screen to reach the test points.