Esp32 s3 box Support?

[jouellnyc]

Howdy. And happy new year.

Wondering if any of the esp32 s3 boxes will receive support from MicroPython?

https://www.espressif.com/en/news/ESP32-S3-BOX_video

It seems like Circuit Python supports it so maybe that helps?

https://circuitpython.org/board/espressif_esp32s3_box_lite/

The boxes look like they'd be great for those looking to avoid soldering but want a nice presentable device.

Was planning on buy and test for a project, so just trying to see what the future might look like for them.

I'll likely try one using circuit python soon. If you think it's helpful I could share my experience/details back here...

Thanks

[mattytrentini]

You can use the GENERIC_S3_SPIRAM_OCT board; it'll run fine on the ESP32-S3-Box. It's equivalent to the CircuitPython firmware.

[jouellnyc]

Oh. Excellent to hear. Thanks @mattytrentini !

[jouellnyc]

Howdy! I'm wondering if there is a suggested video driver for the ESP32-S3-Box? I have not quite gotten a reliable way to write to the ESP32-S3-Box screen, having tried a few repos.

[russhughes]

Have you tried This from https://github.com/russhughes/st7789_mpy ? Use the this tft_config.py for the ESP32 Box and Box Lite's ili9342c display.

[jouellnyc]

Yes, I got it to flash once, but having challenges now. Post good Thonny/esptool flash and it reboot, 'Invalid header' shows repeatedly. But also I have a specific XGLCD font need that was created from Windows. That font seems to crash the esp32 using st7789. I have been hesitant to raise an issue as I'm not sure the problem is which the st7789 repo per se.

FWIW, that font does work w/this repo but up [until a day or so ago] rdagger/micropython-ili9341#13) it wrote 'backwards and downwards' to the screen. (but original intent was not for the S3 Box).

Project progression was from breadboard/OLED/ssd1306, to an ili93414/3D-printed housing to the ESP32-S3-Box/Lite. (Costs/overhead for a professional package/assembly is prohibitive given my lack of CAD/CAM knowledge). Once switched to *Boxes I have been pursuing "whichever worked best" with the intent of using the XGLCD font. Thanks so much for the reply. I'm happy to test/provide any feedback.

[russhughes]

The XGLCD font won't work as it uses a different encoding style. A tool in the utils directory named font2bitmap.py converts TrueType fonts into python modules that will work with the firmware.

Repeating 'invalid header' often indicates a bad flash or the need to erase the flash before uploading the firmware.bin. ESP32S3 firmware.bin files should be flashed starting at 0x0 and not at 0x1000 like you would for a Vanilla ESP32. The last time I used the Thonny firmware flash tool, it tried to flash starting at 0x1000.

You should be able to modify the ROTATE list in rdagger'a driver to get the orientations you need. Try the values I used in my firmware, which are:

    ROTATE = {
        0: 0xc8,
        90: 0xa8,
        180: 0x08,
        270: 0x68
    }

Russ

[jouellnyc]

The XGLCD font won't work as it uses a different encoding style. A tool in the utils directory named font2bitmap.py converts TrueType fonts into python modules that will work with the firmware.

Excellent to know. Thank you very much for the insight and the utility. Will check it out.

Repeating 'invalid header' often indicates a bad flash or the need to erase the flash before uploading the firmware.bin. ESP32S3 firmware.bin files should be flashed starting at 0x0 and not at 0x1000 like you would for a Vanilla ESP32. The last time I used the Thonny firmware flash tool, it tried to flash starting at 0x1000.

I share your thoughts in that. I think it was because I was using the '-z' flag while flashing. It worked just now w/o using that flag.

You should be able to modify the ROTATE list in rdagger'a driver to get the orientations you need. Try the values I used in my firmware, which are:

ROTATE = {
    0: 0xc8,
    90: 0xa8,
    180: 0x08,
    270: 0x68
}

Indeed! I went with:

ROTATE = {
0: 0xC8,
90: 0xA8,
180: 0x48,
270: 0x28
}

With "0xC8" making it look 'normal'.

Thanks again for the replies. This is all very encouraging.

[jouellnyc]

The firmware and config do work perfectly to write to the esp box screen, and flashing as suggested:
https://github.com/orgs/micropython/discussions/10391#discussioncomment-5203911
(This is super/excellent on it's own.)

Interestingly (to me) after I do the init() call, I am able to use the ili9341 display driver code I had before and then use the XGLCD font as I was doing previously. I partly stumbled over this fact, but sharing here.

Just looking at the code in the repo suggests quite a lot of work with the custom init etc, so I am guessing once the backlight is turned on (which the ili9341 display driver does not appear to do - mainly b/c it was not designed for the s3 box in mind), the ili9341 display driver is now able to display to the screen.

Again, many thanks for this https://github.com/orgs/micropython/discussions/10391#discussioncomment-5203911!