ESP32-S3-DevKitC-1 v1.0 gets stuck in boot

ESPHome
1

Hello everyone.
I’m trying to make a ESPHome device, using the ESP32-S3-DevKitC-1 v1.0, but when I flash it and starts, shows this and gets stuck

[18:25:43.475]ESP-ROM:esp32s3-20210327
[18:25:43.482]Build:Mar 27 2021
[18:25:43.487]rst:0x1 (POWERON),boot:0x8 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
[18:25:43.487]SPIWP:0xee
[18:25:43.487]mode:DIO, clock div:1
[18:25:43.493]load:0x3fce2820,len:0x15c8
[18:25:43.493]load:0x403c8700,len:0xce4
[18:25:43.493]load:0x403cb700,len:0x2f34
[18:25:43.496]entry 0x403c8918

After that, doesnt show nothing more.

I tried a lot of things, but they ended not working (chaging uart configuration, adding debug component, push the reset button). This is the minimum YAML I used, and didn’t work. If it matters, I’m using esphome cli (but web.esphome.io had the same result)

esphome:
    name: test_device
    friendly_name: "test_device"

esp32:
    variant: esp32s3
    framework:
        type: arduino # esp-idf didn't work neither
    board: esp32-s3-devkitc-1

logger:

At first I thought it was a problem of the board, but I flashed the hello world example from ESP-IDF and worked correctly. Please note that I’m connected to the UART USB port of the board (the same port when I tested the ESP-IDF example)

Sorry for english, I’m not native. Thanks in advance.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I wrote v1.6 but is not 1.6, actually it is 1.0!! SORRY FOR THAT

2

Any logs from that?

3

Sorry for the late response. Here are the logs from the hello world example from esp-idf

--- 0x40379114: esp_restart_noos at C:/esp/v5.5.2/esp-idf/components/esp_system/port/soc/esp32s3/system_internal.c:164
SPIWP:0xee
mode:DIO, clock div:1
load:0x3fce2820,len:0x158c
load:0x403c8700,len:0xd24
load:0x403cb700,len:0x2f34
entry 0x403c8924
I (29) boot: ESP-IDF -128-NOTFOUND 2nd stage bootloader
I (29) boot: compile time Feb 17 2026 16:55:34
I (29) boot: Multicore bootloader
I (30) boot: chip revision: v0.1
I (33) boot: efuse block revision: v1.2
I (36) boot.esp32s3: Boot SPI Speed : 80MHz
I (40) boot.esp32s3: SPI Mode       : DIO
I (44) boot.esp32s3: SPI Flash Size : 2MB
I (48) boot: Enabling RNG early entropy source...
I (52) boot: Partition Table:
I (55) boot: ## Label            Usage          Type ST Offset   Length
I (61) boot:  0 nvs              WiFi data        01 02 00009000 00006000
I (68) boot:  1 phy_init         RF data          01 01 0000f000 00001000
I (74) boot:  2 factory          factory app      00 00 00010000 00100000
I (81) boot: End of partition table
I (84) esp_image: segment 0: paddr=00010020 vaddr=3c010020 size=07c10h ( 31760) map
I (97) esp_image: segment 1: paddr=00017c38 vaddr=3fc92000 size=028c0h ( 10432) load
I (101) esp_image: segment 2: paddr=0001a500 vaddr=40374000 size=05b18h ( 23320) load
I (111) esp_image: segment 3: paddr=00020020 vaddr=42000020 size=0f2fch ( 62204) map
I (125) esp_image: segment 4: paddr=0002f324 vaddr=40379b18 size=0842ch ( 33836) load
I (132) esp_image: segment 5: paddr=00037758 vaddr=50000000 size=00020h (    32) load
I (138) boot: Loaded app from partition at offset 0x10000
I (138) boot: Disabling RNG early entropy source...
I (150) cpu_start: Multicore app
I (159) cpu_start: GPIO 44 and 43 are used as console UART I/O pins
I (159) cpu_start: Pro cpu start user code
I (159) cpu_start: cpu freq: 160000000 Hz
I (161) app_init: Application information:
I (165) app_init: Project name:     hello_world
I (169) app_init: App version:      1
I (172) app_init: Compile time:     Feb 17 2026 16:55:13
I (177) app_init: ELF file SHA256:  dc60a9647...
I (182) app_init: ESP-IDF:          -128-NOTFOUND
I (186) efuse_init: Min chip rev:     v0.0
I (190) efuse_init: Max chip rev:     v0.99 
I (194) efuse_init: Chip rev:         v0.1
I (198) heap_init: Initializing. RAM available for dynamic allocation:
I (204) heap_init: At 3FC95108 len 00054608 (337 KiB): RAM
I (209) heap_init: At 3FCE9710 len 00005724 (21 KiB): RAM
I (214) heap_init: At 3FCF0000 len 00008000 (32 KiB): DRAM
I (220) heap_init: At 600FE000 len 00001FE8 (7 KiB): RTCRAM
I (226) spi_flash: detected chip: generic
I (229) spi_flash: flash io: dio
W (232) spi_flash: Detected size(8192k) larger than the size in the binary image header(2048k). Using the size in the binary image header.
I (244) sleep_gpio: Configure to isolate all GPIO pins in sleep state
I (250) sleep_gpio: Enable automatic switching of GPIO sleep configuration
I (257) main_task: Started on CPU0
I (267) main_task: Calling app_main()
Hello world!
This is esp32s3 chip with 2 CPU core(s), WiFi/BLE, silicon revision v0.1, 2MB external flash
Minimum free heap size: 392752 bytes
Restarting in 10 seconds...
Restarting in 9 seconds...
Restarting in 8 seconds...
Restarting in 7 seconds...
Restarting in 6 seconds...
Restarting in 5 seconds...
Restarting in 4 seconds...
Restarting in 3 seconds...
Restarting in 2 seconds...
Restarting in 1 seconds...
Restarting in 0 seconds...
Restarting now.
ESP-ROM:esp32s3-20210327
Build:Mar 27 2021
rst:0xc (RTC_SW_CPU_RST),boot:0x8 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
Saved PC:0x40379114
--- 0x40379114: esp_restart_noos at C:/esp/v5.5.2/esp-idf/components/esp_system/port/soc/esp32s3/system_internal.c:164
SPIWP:0xee

Also the logs from esphome run of my minimal YAML file (it is called rgb_light.yaml)

(venv) PS D:\Documents\rgb_light> esphome run .\rgb_light.yaml
INFO ESPHome 2026.3.0-dev
INFO Reading configuration rgb_light.yaml...
WARNING 'rgb_light_test': Using the '_' (underscore) character in the hostname is discouraged as it can cause problems with some DHCP and local name services. For more information, see https://esphome.io/guides/faq/#why-shouldnt-i-use-underscores-in-my-device-name
INFO Generating C++ source...
INFO Deleting D:\Documents\rgb_light\.esphome\build\rgb_light_test\.pioenvs\rgb_light_test\CMakeCache.txt
INFO Compiling app... Build path: D:\Documents\rgb_light\.esphome\build\rgb_light_test
Processing rgb_light_test (board: esp32-s3-devkitc-1; framework: arduino, espidf; platform: https://github.com/pioarduino/platform-espressif32/releases/download/55.03.37/platform-espressif32.zip)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Verbose mode can be enabled via `-v, --verbose` option
CONFIGURATION: https://docs.platformio.org/page/boards/espressif32/esp32-s3-devkitc-1.html
PLATFORM: Espressif 32 (55.3.37) > Espressif ESP32-S3-DevKitC-1-N8 (8 MB QD, No PSRAM)
HARDWARE: ESP32S3 240MHz, 320KB RAM, 4MB Flash
DEBUG: Current (esp-builtin) On-board (esp-builtin) External (cmsis-dap, esp-bridge, esp-prog, iot-bus-jtag, jlink, minimodule, olimex-arm-usb-ocd, olimex-arm-usb-ocd-h, olimex-arm-usb-tiny-h, olimex-jtag-tiny, tumpa)
PACKAGES:
 - contrib-piohome @ 3.4.4
 - framework-arduinoespressif32 @ 3.3.7
 - framework-arduinoespressif32-libs @ 5.5.2
 - framework-espidf @ 3.50502.0 (5.5.2)
 - tool-cmake @ 4.0.3
 - tool-esp-rom-elfs @ 2024.10.11
 - tool-esptoolpy @ 5.1.2
 - tool-ninja @ 1.13.1
 - tool-scons @ 4.40801.0 (4.8.1)
 - toolchain-xtensa-esp-elf @ 14.2.0+20251107
Reading CMake configuration...
LDF: Library Dependency Finder -> https://bit.ly/configure-pio-ldf
LDF Modes: Finder ~ off, Compatibility ~ strict
Found 43 compatible libraries
Scanning dependencies...
No dependencies
Building in release mode
Linking .pioenvs\rgb_light_test\firmware.elf
Firmware metrics can not be shown. Set the terminal codepage to "utf-8" or "cp65001" on Windows.
Retrieving maximum program size .pioenvs\rgb_light_test\firmware.elf
Checking size .pioenvs\rgb_light_test\firmware.elf
Advanced Memory Usage is available via "PlatformIO Home > Project Inspect"
RAM:   [          ]   4.1% (used 13316 bytes from 327680 bytes)
Flash: [=         ]  12.6% (used 231899 bytes from 1835008 bytes)
========================================================================================= [SUCCESS] Took 54.87 seconds =========================================================================================
INFO Build Info: config_hash=0x0ce9d52b build_time_str=2026-02-17 18:23:25 -0300
INFO Successfully compiled program.
esptool v5.1.0
Connected to ESP32-S3 on COM8:
Chip type:          ESP32-S3 (QFN56) (revision v0.1)
Features:           Wi-Fi, BT 5 (LE), Dual Core + LP Core, 240MHz, Embedded PSRAM 2MB (AP_3v3)
Crystal frequency:  40MHz
MAC:                7c:df:a1:e2:7b:e8

Stub flasher running.
Changing baud rate to 460800...
Changed.

Configuring flash size...
Auto-detected flash size: 8MB
Flash will be erased from 0x00010000 to 0x00048fff...
Flash will be erased from 0x00000000 to 0x00005fff...
Flash will be erased from 0x00008000 to 0x00008fff...
Flash will be erased from 0x0000e000 to 0x0000ffff...
Wrote 232304 bytes (132748 compressed) at 0x00010000 in 3.6 seconds (513.0 kbit/s).
Hash of data verified.
Flash parameters set to 0x023f.
SHA digest in image updated.
Wrote 21056 bytes (13371 compressed) at 0x00000000 in 0.7 seconds (239.7 kbit/s).
Hash of data verified.
Wrote 3072 bytes (144 compressed) at 0x00008000 in 0.1 seconds (330.7 kbit/s).
Hash of data verified.
Wrote 8192 bytes (47 compressed) at 0x0000e000 in 0.1 seconds (536.6 kbit/s).
Hash of data verified.

Hard resetting via RTS pin...
INFO Successfully uploaded program.
INFO Starting log output from COM8 with baud rate 115200
[11:36:12.307]ESP-ROM:esp32s3-20210327
[11:36:12.314]Build:Mar 27 2021
[11:36:12.319]rst:0x1 (POWERON),boot:0x8 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
[11:36:12.319]SPIWP:0xee
[11:36:12.319]mode:DIO, clock div:1
[11:36:12.324]load:0x3fce2820,len:0x15c8
[11:36:12.324]load:0x403c8700,len:0xce4
[11:36:12.324]load:0x403cb700,len:0x2f34
[11:36:12.328]entry 0x403c8918

As I said, gets stuck at boot :expressionless: . Pushing the reset button is useless

[11:36:55.069]ESP-ROM:esp32s3-20210327
[11:36:55.076]Build:Mar 27 2021
[11:36:55.081]rst:0x1 (POWERON),boot:0x8 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
[11:36:55.081]SPIWP:0xee
[11:36:55.081]mode:DIO, clock div:1
[11:36:55.086]load:0x3fce2820,len:0x15c8
[11:36:55.086]load:0x403c8700,len:0xce4
[11:36:55.086]load:0x403cb700,len:0x2f34
[11:36:55.090]entry 0x403c8918
[11:36:56.240]ESP-ROM:esp32s3-20210327
[11:36:56.247]Build:Mar 27 2021
[11:36:56.252]rst:0x1 (POWERON),boot:0x8 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
[11:36:56.252]SPIWP:0xee
[11:36:56.252]mode:DIO, clock div:1
[11:36:56.258]load:0x3fce2820,len:0x15c8
[11:36:56.258]load:0x403c8700,len:0xce4
[11:36:56.258]load:0x403cb700,len:0x2f34
[11:36:56.261]entry 0x403c8918
[11:36:56.954]ESP-ROM:esp32s3-20210327
[11:36:56.961]Build:Mar 27 2021
[11:36:56.966]rst:0x1 (POWERON),boot:0x8 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
[11:36:56.966]SPIWP:0xee
[11:36:56.966]mode:DIO, clock div:1
[11:36:56.972]load:0x3fce2820,len:0x15c8
[11:36:56.972]load:0x403c8700,len:0xce4
[11:36:56.972]load:0x403cb700,len:0x2f34
[11:36:56.975]entry 0x403c8918

Thanks in advance

4

Don’t use both board and variant.

Your idf log shows that the board is set for 2mb flash.
I would do complete flash erase and on esphome clean the build files.
Then try again.

5

I removed the variant and board lines and neither of them worked. I also changed the flash size to 2MB but didn’t work either

6

What about:

7

Yes, I did that.

After a lot of research and testing, I suspect the board I’m using is not supported.

Looking at the board, it has the RGB LED connected to GPIO48 (v1.0), and the chip is labeled N8R2, like the one described here:
https://docs.platformio.org/en/latest/boards/espressif32/rymcu-esp32-s3-devkitc-1.html

That board matches my board’s specifications, but it still doesn’t work.

It’s possible I’m mistaken, but I don’t know what else to try.

8

Uninteresting information:

I tested another board (ESP32-C3-DevKitC-02) and I have the same problem.

esp32:
  board: esp32-c3-devkitc-02
  framework:
    type: esp-idf

I don’t know why it is happening, because I tested another board with an ESP32-C6 (Qsen-07) and works fine with this:

esp32:
  variant: esp32c6
  framework:
    type: esp-idf
9

I see no reason why it would not be supported.
Considering the problem with your C3 as well, probably your esphome/platformio setup is somehow fu…ed up. Beyond “clean build files”.
On the other hand, who defined the 2mb flash in the first place? And where?

10

try this

board: esp32-s3-devkitc1-n8r2
11

Flash 2M is wrong. N8R2 means 8M flash ans 2M PSRAM.
You can try with the board variant in my post above, and remove the flash-size and other options if you have. Try a minimized configuration first.