ESPHome 2025.2.x and above - INFORMATION - PLEASE READ

[BigBobbas]

Some things to know before updating to version 2025.2.x of ESPHome
There were a number of changes in this release which will break the S3box configuration if you re-compile. You can still update the ESPHome version if you wish, but in order to maintain functionality of the S3box then do not update this device. If the device is working then there is no real need to update anyway.

An updated version of the firmware is available in the dev branch and is currently for test purposes to find the bugs etc. If you wish to try this then please feel free to do so. Make sure that you make a copy of your existing working config. You can do this by simply copying and pasting the config into a text document.
link to dev branch >> https://github.com/BigBobbas/ESP32-S3-Box3-Custom-ESPHome/tree/dev

The update will remove the ADF dependancy and also the reliancy on the external component that currently handles the audio side of things. And will use the new ESPHome speaker media player in it's place, we face a few challenges currently as the new media player doesn't yet support 'duplex' and therefore in order to play any audio, the voice assistant / microphone components need to be temporary stopped and then restarted after playing the audio, which is causing some issues that I will resolve. I have been told by Kevin the ESPHome dev looking after this side of things that duplex support will be "soon" but unfortunatly is unable to give a timescale.

The new version won't be released as stable until we are all happy that everything is working as it should be and we will also take this chance to add any additional features / pull requests that are submitted before pushing to the main branch.

To summarise.... If you are happy with the way your device is working, then don't recompile the firmware using 2025.2.x if you wish to roll back to a previous version of ESPHome there are several ways to do this depending on how you have it installed.

As always.. thank you all for your support and patience whilst I figure things out.

Rob

[ecto1a2003]

does the new mixer speaker component not solve this or is it unrelated?

https://esphome.io/components/speaker/mixer

[RunningDroid]

The mixer speaker doesn't seem fully baked yet, it requires (at least) two speaker components as input but the only other speaker component that isn't attached to hardware is the resampler speaker which may be resource intensive even though it would just be used as a passthrough.

edit: I misinterpreted the documentation, the source_speakers are created by the Mixer Speaker component.

[genehand]

I believe the mixer allows you to play multiple outputs, for ex timer/notification sounds while a song is playing. The duplexing lets you play and record without resetting the whole pipeline. In the case of the s3-box-3, there's a "popping" sound when it initializes that isn't ideal. Looking forward to duplex support again, that's what led me to this repo initially 👍

[ecto1a2003]

#133 (comment)

seems to be a working solution, havent tried myself

[damanic]

@BigBobbas
Thanks for keeping up with all the interest in this repo. May I suggest, when these issues have been resolved, that you push a release/tag that communicates the requirement for 2025.2+.

I tend not to update the S3Box unless there is a significant improvement in ESPHOME, which there seems to be in 2025.2:

With ESPHome 2025.2, which we’re releasing next week, any ESPHome-based voice assistant will support making broadcasts (more on that below), and they will also be able to use our new voice wizard to ensure new users have everything they need to get started.

It would be great to be able to come to this repo and check for releases that show tested up to version, instead of having to figure out if there has been any advancement through commit history and comments.

[bkwar201]

Was just getting around to installing this on my boxes and came across this bug.
Is it suggested to
1 - wait until you roll the updates out to address the RGB24 > RGB and the use_transparency: true > transparency: alpha_channel + w/e other fixes you have coming.
2 - just change those variables?
figured i would ask before i mux around with the 5 that i wanted to add to my HA (i am new to these esp32 boxes)

[BigBobbas]

If you don't wish to play media from HA to the boxes then the config that is currently in the dev branch https://github.com/BigBobbas/ESP32-S3-Box3-Custom-ESPHome/tree/dev should work fine. If you do want the ability to play media, we are still waiting on an update from ESPHome devs to add duplex support which will make this easier to achieve.
It is quite easy to swap between configs. Once ESPHome is flashed to the devices.

If you need further info or help please let us know, the best place for help is our discord server https://discord.gg/U3SRYCG6Kp

Cheers
Rob

[youkorr]

transparency: alpha_channel

[BigBobbas]

new dev version here https://github.com/BigBobbas/ESP32-S3-Box3-Custom-ESPHome/tree/dev
media player now working, please report any issues