Failed to prepare configuration - tried everything I can think of

ESPHome
1

I am trying to install a config into ESP8266 and ESPHome fails with

"Failed to prepare configuration
“See what went wrong.”

I tried ESP Home 2025.11.5 and ESP Home dev 2026.1.0-dev20251211, through the browser computer and through the USB in the HA machine -
with the same result every time.

log with browser install: https://pastebin.com/raw/NEas60Fc
and: https://pastebin.com/raw/UYAbqKmW

log with USB install on HA host:

I tried removing and reinstalling ESP Home, I tried dev version, I tried rebooting HA host. Same result every time.
Help.

2

Not run out of disc space have you? Looks like it is failing to unpack the library after downloading.

3

No, there’s space - it just stops at various %. I also get the same result whether I do it on my laptop or on the HA machine

4

Something weird on your yaml? How’s your esphome: configuration?

5

I found what the issue is. I am running Home Assistant on Vim1S, which consumes under 2 Watts of power - which is amazing - and handles HA fine in all aspects (including advanced addons like NodeRed etc). However, compiling firmware in ESPHome either fails, or strains it so much that the system becomes unresponsive and never finishes. I wish it was more optimised. For now, I moved ESPHome to another server out of HA and it works there.

6

And the “browser computer”?

7

It was changing nothing because when flashing through the laptop’s USB it was still compiling the firmware on the HA host.

8

What do you wish was more optimized?

I found this about the board you are using:

It looks like you are using a very low spec board that is probably sufficient for running HA but most certainly under powered for compiling.

You might also want to look here: Deprecating Core and Supervised installation methods, and 32-bit systems - Home Assistant

I saw something that seemed to imply there isn’t 64-bit support, which the next major version of HA will require.

You can also tell esphome to limit the number of simulataeous compiles to 1. This will take longer but might the succeed.

compile_process_limit

9

Yes, I am aware Vim1S is underpowered (that is the point) and that the Home Assistant team decided to antagonise a significant portion of their semi-to-more advanced users.

Thanks for the compile tip.

10

That doesn’t make sense. If you have laptop, install esphome on that and leave your VIM just for HA.

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11

The two points (underpowered and advanced) of the above sentence seem inconceivable used together.

Running HA doesn’t require much computer power, but compiling code generally benefits from it unless you really like waiting a long time. I value energy efficiency and I am practical how I apply it.

Have you measured the power consumption of your devices? Many nodes (sensor device, or power switch) using an esp or other microcontroller use half to a whole Watt. My PC that runs HA (and many other containers) idles at only a few Watts, but when I need it to compile can do so quickly because it can consume 30 or 40W. If you don’t want to go that path, do as @Karosm said and install esphome on your laptop. As long as it isn’t an underpowered Chromebook it should work fine.

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