I’m trying to install the Somfy RTS controller from this GitHub to an ESP32 with Ethernet. Since the board has no USB connector, I’m using a TTL-USB adapter for the connection to my computer. But it’s always throwing an error message in the various flashing tools. I’m very new to that area, never have implemented something with Arduino/ESP. But regarding the GitHub Readme it should be very straight forward.
I connected the adapter to my ESP following this guide.
Trying the ESPhome Web tool, I’m getting the following error (after some minutes of “connecting”):
There is one red LED on the ESP board and one on the USB adapter. 2 LED’s at the USB board are flashing. I can’t find any boot button.
When using the flash download tool (using the settings from the GitHub repo, ChipType ESP32-D2WD, WorkMode Develop) there is no progress after clicking on start, only some dot’s appearing in the console:
You should be connecting to the 3v3 on the ESP32 and the 3v3 on the adapter. From what I can tell on the adapter the jumper should be set to 3v3 and the 5v tap should not be connected.
After that the RXD on the adapter should connect to TXD on the esp32 and the TXD on the adapter should connect to the RXD on the esp32. Of course the GND on the adapter should connect to the GND on the esp32. Finally, jumper IO0 to GND on the ESP32 and power up the board. It should now be in UART firmware mode.
Once you have flashed you will need to remove the jumper from IO0 and it should now run the bootloader from the correct location. Use web.ESPHome.io as it is the most user friendly.
It is the two pins on the upper right of the board with the ESP32 chip facing upward. These are labeled sometimes as RX0 and TX0. There is some confusion with the RS485 port on some boards. These too are sometimes labeled RXD and TXD since they are uart pins.
I have now ordered a Wifi based ESP32 board (this one).
Now, everything is working like a charm, except of one thing: The whole board is only working while connected via USB cable with my PC. As soon as I switch to a PSU, it’s not working anymore (It’s not connecting to Router, only time to time, but only for seconds. AP mode works well).
I’ve tried around 11 different chargers (smartphone chargers, Anker PSUs, Raspberry Pi chargers, camera chargers).
I’ve also installed WLED for a quick test, and that one worked with one of my Raspberry Pi Chargers. I then flashed it back to the SomfyRTS package. AP mode again worked well, but as soon as I connect it to the router, it’s not working anymore (even with the same power supply, which worked for WLED). It’s again only working when connected to my computer.
After flashing the firmware did you remove power then the jumper on IO0 → GND and let the device boot? Also, at that point you need to switch to the 5v pin on the ESP32 for that external power supply. Only do this with the power completely disconnected. You also should not have the ethernet cable attached when initially flashing as there is no protection over the ethernet pins.
Update: It’s not the PC connection, it’s the USB C Hub connection which makes it work. I’ve disconnected my Notebook from the Docking station but the ESP board still works (HP G5 Docking station).
While directly connected to my desktop PC it’s also not working.
The WT32-ETH01 does not have a USB port. How are you connecting to the USB C Hub? If you have connected both 5v and 3v3 at the same time then you have likely damaged the board.
That is very odd. Am I reading this correctly that when it is plugged into a powered hub it works fine but when you connect it to a power adapter it does not.
