I’ve got a nasty issue; when trying to install a new ESP (12F, Lolin or another small form factor type) the first part goes as planned; “prepare for first use”. I use by the way the USB connector on the pcb.
It is the step after that which is stonewalling me; for some reason when configuring Wifi it gives a time out.
I have tried:
reset the ESP
disconnect the ESP
and after one of those steps retried to configure wifi but nope.
Now a twist; I’v use an old bin file, in this case a D1 mini and installed it on the ESP12F. Would you know; it connects to wifi.
So what is going on here? An ESP 8266 WROOM S3; no problems what so ever… an ESP 12F or another small one is a no go.
Before anyone asks; no YAML available as I can not get the unit into ESPHOME.
The only file I can include is the log file after a reset, see below.
As one would expect it is void of any logical addresses, Wifi network as it is not defined…
So, anyone out there who knows what is going on?
[20:40:55][C][safe_mode:084]: Unsuccessful boot attempts: 0
[20:40:55][I][app:073]: Running through setup()
[20:40:55][C][component:163]: Setup logger took 0ms
[20:40:55][C][component:163]: Setup preferences took 0ms
[20:40:55][C][component:163]: Setup web_server_base took 0ms
[20:40:55][C][component:163]: Setup captive_portal took 0ms
[20:40:55][C][wifi:060]: Starting
[20:40:55][C][wifi:060]: Local MAC: 48:3F:DA:04:CC:1C
[20:40:55][C][wifi:276]: Setting up AP:
[20:40:55][C][wifi:276]: AP SSID: ‘esphome-web-04cc1c’
[20:40:55][C][wifi:276]: AP Password: ‘’
[20:40:55][C][wifi:291]: IP Address: 192.168.4.1
[20:40:55][D][wifi:507]: Starting scan
[20:40:55][C][component:163]: Setup wifi took 35ms
[20:40:55][C][component:163]: Setup esphome.ota took 0ms
[20:40:55][C][component:163]: Setup safe_mode took 0ms
[20:40:55][C][component:163]: Setup web_server.ota took 0ms
[20:40:55][W][component:287]: api set Warning flag: unspecified
[20:40:55][C][component:163]: Setup api took 8ms
[20:40:55][D][wifi:507]: Starting scan
[20:40:55][C][component:163]: Setup improv_serial took 14ms
[20:40:55][C][component:163]: Setup mdns took 2ms
[20:40:55][I][app:120]: setup() finished successfully!
[20:40:55][I][app:185]: ESPHome version 2025.9.0 compiled on Sep 18 2025, 00:30:56
[20:40:55][I][app:187]: Project esphome.web version 25.9.1
[20:40:55][C][logger:273]: Logger:
[20:40:55][C][logger:273]: Max Level: DEBUG
[20:40:55][C][logger:273]: Initial Level: DEBUG
[20:40:55][C][logger:279]: Log Baud Rate: 115200
[20:40:55][C][logger:279]: Hardware UART: UART0
[20:40:55][C][captive_portal:122]: Captive Portal:
[20:40:55][C][wifi:661]: WiFi:
[20:40:55][C][wifi:444]: Local MAC: 48:3F:DA:04:CC:1C
[20:40:55][C][wifi:449]: SSID: [redacted]
[20:40:55][C][wifi:456]: BSSID: [redacted]
[20:40:55][C][wifi:456]: Hostname: ‘esphome-web-04cc1c’
[20:40:55][C][wifi:456]: Signal strength: 31 dB ▂▄▆█
[20:40:55][C][wifi:467]: Channel: 1
[20:40:55][C][wifi:467]: Subnet: 0.0.0.0
[20:40:55][C][wifi:467]: Gateway: 0.0.0.0
[20:40:55][C][wifi:467]: DNS1: 0.0.0.0
[20:40:55][C][wifi:467]: DNS2: 0.0.0.0
[20:40:55][C][esphome.ota:075]: Over-The-Air updates:
[20:40:55][C][esphome.ota:075]: Address: esphome-web.local:8266
[20:40:55][C][esphome.ota:075]: Version: 2
[20:40:55][C][safe_mode:018]: Safe Mode:
[20:40:55][C][safe_mode:018]: Successful after: 60s
[20:40:55][C][safe_mode:018]: Invoke after: 10 attempts
[20:40:55][C][safe_mode:018]: Duration: 300s
[20:40:55][C][web_server.ota:235]: Web Server OTA
[20:40:55][C][api:205]: Server:
[20:40:55][C][api:205]: Address: esphome-web.local:6053
[20:40:55][C][api:215]: Noise encryption: NO
[20:40:55][C][improv_serial:032]: Improv Serial:
[20:40:55][C][mdns:213]: mDNS:
The log says to me that it is connected to Wi-Fi, but the network is not providing an address to the device.
There are too many unknowns to provide much help here. It does look like you have some things okay.
Your device can work sometimes
Your cable can work sometimes for both power and data.
Getting new FW on an esp and getting it to connect requires a long list of things to work correctly. Normally they all do and the magic happens. When the magic doesn’t just happen, you have to figure exactly where it failed and why.
There are probably 17 different ways to install (and maybe some that don’t require an install at all) esphome and get a device ready. It is magical when it just all works. Since I have experienced it not working, I generally go old school.
Is the esp dead?
I connect it with USB to my PC and see if it can communicate using a terminal program. I typically use Terra term, other people use putty.
If I can see the device logging info to the terminal, I know the device is alive and has some FW in it.
I install esphome independently (of HA) so I can use the command line to tell esphome what to do and know EXACTLY what the YAML it is using is telling it to do.
It is possible your device is a little bit defective and needs extra help to work well.
As I mentioned in the topic; the ESP is not dead as I can load an old ESP-bin file onto it and it works. Therefore the ESP 12F is okay, it is just -well if only- that the step for configuring Wifi fails and ends with an error: “time out”.
As that step doesn’t result in connecting it to my Wifi there is no YAML due to the fact that it can no show up in ESPHome.
Also mentioned in the topic; installing from scratch i.e. prepare for first use, works like a charm so no connectivity issues with the pc or esphomeweb.
In my opinion all your questons are ruled out by the above.
Except that it doesn’t work. Not working can be for one or more of MANY reasons. The fact it communicated with the PC once doesn’t mean it works correctly in every way it needs to.
Right now with the information you have provided the best I can say is, “it’s a mystery”.
Having faced that type of challenge before, one technique that has worked is explaining the problem in great detail to someone else. I have see that process result in a great answer from the person doing the explanation, since the process made them see what they were not able to see before.
If I was trying to solve the problem you have, I would install esphome on a different PC and work through getting started with the command line.
Unfortunately this suggests using docker and that really just complicates things. I use Python and pipx.
Install Python (which should include pip)
Install pipx: pip install pipx
Install esphome : pipx install esphome
This will create a virtual environment for esphome and allow you to run it from the command line. You can then create a minimal YAML to compile, download, and run. This should help identify exactly what is not working as expected.
Well, I’ve given up. It seems to be related to some specific ESP’s. Like I mentioned it works fine for a 32WROOM S3 or a ESP Cam module. So I’ll try to find types that do work and maybe in the future I’ll come back to it but unlikely.
Have you scanned wifi to see if it is in AP mode? You should also be able to access esphome folder through the File Editor in HA. Any yaml created should be there.