This example demonstrates how to flash an Espressif SoC (target) from another MCU (host) using esp_serial_flasher. Two ESP32 chips are used in this case. Binaries to be flashed from the host MCU to the Espressif SoC can be found in binaries folder and are converted into C-array during build process.

The following steps are performed in order to re-program targets memory:

UART1 through which the the new binary will be transferred is initialized.
The host puts the target device into the boot mode and tries to connect by calling esp_loader_connect().
The binary file is opened and its size is acquired, as it has to be known before flashing.
Then esp_loader_flash_start() is called to enter the flashing mode and erase the amount of memory to be flashed.
esp_loader_flash_write() function is called repeatedly until the whole binary image is transfered.

Note: In addition to the steps mentioned above, esp_loader_change_transmission_rate() is called after the connection is established in order to increase the flashing speed. This does not apply for the ESP8266, as its bootloader does not support this command. However, the ESP8266 is capable of detecting the baud rate during connection phase and can be changed before calling esp_loader_connect(), if necessary.

Connection configuration

In the majority of cases ESP_LOADER_CONNECT_DEFAULT helper macro is used in order to initialize loader_connect_args_t data structure passed to esp_loader_connect(). Helper macro sets the maximum time to wait for a response and the number of retrials. For more detailed information refer to serial protocol.

Hardware Required

Two development boards with the ESP32 SoC (e.g., ESP32-DevKitC, ESP-WROVER-KIT, etc.).
One or two USB cables for power supply and programming.
Cables to connect host to target according to table below.

Hardware connection

Table below shows connection between the two ESP32 devices.

ESP32 (host)	ESP32 (target)
IO26	IO0
IO25	RESET
IO4	RX0
IO5	TX0

Note: interconnection is the same for ESP32, ESP32-S2 and ESP8266 targets.

Build and flash

To run the example, type the following command:

idf.py -p PORT flash monitor

(To exit the serial monitor, type Ctrl-].)

See the Getting Started Guide for full steps to configure and use ESP-IDF to build projects.

Configuration

For details about available configuration options, please refer to the top level README.md. Compile definitions can be specified in the command line when running idf.py, for example:

idf.py build -DMD5_ENABLED=1

Binaries to be flashed are placed in a separate folder (binaries.c) for each possible target and converted to C-array. Without explicitly enabling MD5 check, flash integrity verification is disabled by default.

Example output

Here is the example's console output:

...
Connected to target
Transmission rate changed changed
I (2484) serial_flasher: Loading bootloader...
Erasing flash (this may take a while)...
Start programming
Progress: 100 %
Finished programming
I (4074) serial_flasher: Loading partition table...
Erasing flash (this may take a while)...
Start programming
Progress: 100 %
Finished programming
I (4284) serial_flasher: Loading app...
Erasing flash (this may take a while)...
Start programming
Progress: 100 %
Finished programming
I (11934) serial_flasher: Done!
I (11273) serial_flasher: ********************************************
I (11273) serial_flasher: *** Logs below are print from slave .... ***
I (11273) serial_flasher: ********************************************
Hello world!