Unusually problematic XIAO ESP32-C6 setup

ric-m · June 8, 2026, 4:32pm

Although I can program the Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32-C6 via the Arduino IDE I want to use ESPHome because the device will eventually become an IoT device within the Home Assistant Infrastructure.

Normally setting up the basic device proceeds easily. But I am getting repeat errors when trying to update the device over WiFi.

First question (others will follow):
The device is a SEEED STUDIO XIAO ESP32-C6. It is fitted into the Seeed Studio Expansion board with a 1306 display. Right now, I'd be quite happy just to get to the "Hello World" stage.

The initial, default setup specifies the board as esp32-c6-devkitc-1 when choosing the ESP32-C6. Other examples for this board specify seeed_xiao_esp32c6 whilst others specify esp32-c6-devkitm-1.

Here's what I have:

esp32:
  board: esp32-c6-devkitc-1
  framework:
    type: esp-idf

The error I am getting (after the initial install via usb) and trying to update over WiFi:
"An error occurred. Improv Wi-Fi Serial not detected"

Yet the logs at this point show:

[17:29:58][D][wifi:1458]: Found networks:
[17:29:58][I][wifi:1429]: - 'my_ssid' [redacted]â–‚â–„â–†â–ˆ Ch: 6 -57dB P:0
[17:29:58][I][wifi:1429]: - 'my_ssid' [redacted]â–‚â–„â–†â–ˆ Ch:13 -75dB P:0
[17:29:58][I][wifi:1429]: - 'my_ssid' [redacted]â–‚â–„â–†â–ˆ Ch: 1 -88dB P:0
[17:29:58][I][wifi:1429]: - 'my_ssid' [redacted]â–‚â–„â–†â–ˆ Ch: 4 -91dB P:0
[17:29:58][D][wifi:1852]: Retry phase: INITIAL_CONNECT â†’ SCAN_CONNECTING
[17:29:58][I][wifi:1097]: Connecting to [redacted] [redacted] (priority 0, attempt 1/2 in phase SCAN_CONNECTING)...
[17:29:58][I][wifi:1570]: Connected
[17:29:58][D][wifi:1587]: Disabling AP
[17:29:58][C][wifi:1237]:   IP Address: 192.168.1.96
[17:29:58][C][wifi:1248]:   SSID: [redacted]
[17:29:58][C][wifi:1248]:  BSSID: [redacted]
[17:29:58][C][wifi:1248]:  Hostname: 'esphome-web-861b0c'
[17:29:58][C][wifi:1248]:  Signal strength: -61 dB â–‚â–„â–†â–ˆ
[17:29:58][C][wifi:1248]:  Channel: 6
[17:29:58][C][wifi:1248]:  Subnet: 255.255.255.0
[17:29:58][C][wifi:1248]:  Gateway: 192.168.1.1
[17:29:58][C][wifi:1248]:  DNS1: 192.168.1.15
[17:29:58][C][wifi:1248]:  DNS2: 192.168.1.17
[17:29:58][W][component:422]: wifi cleared Warning flag
[17:29:58][D][api:228]: Accept 192.168.1.50
[17:29:58][W][component:422]: api cleared Warning flag
[17:29:58][D][api.connection:2457]: Home Assistant 2026.2.1 (192.168.1.50): connected
[17:29:58][I][safe_mode:142]: Boot seems successful; resetting boot loop counter
[17:29:58][D][preferences:148]: Writing 1 items: 0 cached, 1 written, 0 failed

Which all looks OK.

I'm now at a loss. Anyone?

Karosm · June 8, 2026, 4:49pm

It should work with any board that matches your chip.
Recommended way is not to use board option at all ang go with variant.

esp32:
  variant: esp32c6

Your post does not make clear to me if your device works despite Improv error.

ric-m · June 9, 2026, 10:03am

Hello,
Thanks for the suggestion. This morning I tried editing the default YAML and was notified the ESPHome version number was out of date.

Once updated to the latest version I started over. The new default configuration does not specify "board ", just "variant: " - following exactly your suggestion. Moreover, OTA updates now started working so it looks like the WiFi connectivity has been solved.

The 1306 display also kicked in straight away with a simple Hello World. All obstacles removed!
Thanks, Ric