Unable to install to ESP32-S3 (LilyGO T-Display-S3)

ESPHome
1

Just got my new Lilygo T-Display-S3 with ESP32-S3 chip. Seem to be unable to install anything to it using ESPHome. Keep getting:

Configuration does not match the platform of the connected device. Expected an ESP32 device.

See some other people having issues with S3 boards in this forum not being detected correctly.

Is this a known issue and might there be a workaround, or just not supported at this time?

ps tried all of the board configs from here, but keep getting the same error

2

well sort of known issue ! It’s a brand new ESP version and so not yet supported officially by ESPHome (ESP32 Platform — ESPHome) so you have to wait a little or code yourself the processor specs :wink:

3

I read preliminary support for ESP32-S3 (and S2 and C3) was added almost a year ago, so was hoping it would be able to use them. :wink:

4

I managed to get it to flash while directly connected to my HA installation, with the following board config:

esp32:
  board: esp32-s3-devkitc-1
  variant: esp32s3
  framework:
    type: arduino
    version: 2.0.3
    platform_version: 5.0.0

It also runs fine, but haven’t been able to get the screen working, the backlight does light up though. Current display setup:

display:
  - platform: st7789v
    model: custom
    height: 172
    width: 320
    offset_height: 0
    offset_width: 0
    backlight_pin: GPIO38
    cs_pin: GPIO6
    dc_pin: GPIO7
    reset_pin: GPIO5
    rotation: 90°

Probably needs some tweaking. Might be related to the fact that it needs a custom version of the TFT_eSPI library…

5

open-source project are not always going very fast and can depend of underlaying libraries used by ESPHome that needs update too but manual solution works fine for most new releases of ESP :wink:

excellent :+1:

have you checked logs af boot of ESP ? it often guve some clues about problem :wink:

6

Yes, no errors there. All seems fine. But I can only check limited logs through wifi, as the USB serial port is not exposed to my linux device when the module is not in BOOT mode.

7

Not sure to understand what you mean :confused: Through Wifi you should get all logs displayed automatically after flashing and you should be able to get it through USB too after flashing :wink:
Could not find schematics of that device as Lilygo is a specialist of boards with naughty design bugs :confused:

8

You are right there :slight_smile: I haven’t found any schematics either. I was able to determine the display pins (I think) by checking T-Display-S3/lib/TFT_eSPI/micky_commit.patch at ebec56d02c5e87aa1f4cf522d27f678849e3dafe · Xinyuan-LilyGO/T-Display-S3 · GitHub but guess more work is needed to get this custom connected display working.

9

Yeah good luck with it :wink: and looks like we are not only ones looking for schematics: Where is the schematic for this board · Issue #12 · Xinyuan-LilyGO/T-Display-S3 · GitHub

1 Like
10

I totally thought it would’ve been supported too and bought two. Let me know how I can help.

Edit: Actually, I see you are looking at a different model than me. I have the Lilygo Screen-4.7-S3 eInk display. Schematics for that are found here.

11

@hapklaar have you made any progress with this board? I have the same and it’s sitting on my desktop.

12

I haven’t really, but you can take a look here where landonr has made some progress. It’s not really ready for production yet and hope to see some more progress there.

13

They uploaded a schematic for the board:

1 Like
14

I made this repo which uses tft_espi on the s3

to install it you have to use the command line, or build the package using the modern format and install it via https://web.esphome.io/

3 Likes
15

Hi all, I’m considering to buy one but I’d like to know: did you get it to work properly for your projects using ESPHome? Would you advise buying one?

16

I would say no. ESPHome has no support for the display yet, so you can’t use the standard way of addressing the screen. I also haven’t been able to convert my sketches to what is needed for this module to work.

You could check the following link for some extra info, and some work already done and decide for yourself if you’re up to it :slight_smile:

1 Like
17

For those of you (like me) who are interested in the LILYGO® T-Display-S3 because it is sold with a nice case but don’t want to risk it with the board not being fully compatible there’s an alternative.

There’s an ESP32 TTGO t-display that also has the case option. It uses the same st7789 display driver but suposedly (I have to recieve the display and test it) it uses SPI which is fully suported by esphome.

When the board arrives I will confirm it. But it seems like a solid alternative. The only difference between the two is the ESP32 model

18

If you mean the original T-Display, that works fine, but has a much smaller screen. The T-Display-S3 now also works without a problem. You only have to include an external component and use it in the display section, like so:

esphome:
  name: tdisplay_s3_01

external_components:
  - source: github://landonr/lilygo-tdisplays3-esphome
    components: [tdisplays3]

esp32:
  board: esp32-s3-devkitc-1
  variant: esp32s3
  framework:
    type: arduino

...
display:
  - platform: tdisplays3
    rotation: 270
...
4 Likes
19

Awesome!!

I will see if I can change the order then.

Thanks :slight_smile:

20

any luck ? looking to dso this as well