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OTA of factory image

Posted: Mon Nov 18, 2019 5:13 pm
by kbaud1
If you power a new ESP32 from the factory, it will produce a WI-FI AP with a name like "ESP_0BE0DD". I have tried this with 6 devices, old and new. WROOM-32 and 32D. This is the default behavior before the device is programmed by the user.

What can we do with this AP? I would imagine some pretty cool things right? no.

The gateway is 192.168.4.1

If we connect a web browser to that, we get "this site can't be reached". hmm. ok. Maybe it is trying to help us feel a sense of accomplishment by figuring out the special method? Or maybe, to meet other ESP lovers by encouraging us to go on a forum and spend hours reading through 9 pages of posts only to not find anything that helps? It knows what I really need apparently. Was it to get this project done? no.

My ESPs are such playful little rascals...

If we try apps on a smart phone like, EspTouch:SmartConfig or ESP8266 SmartConfig or ESP SoftAP Prov or IOT Maker do they work? Well, you have to understand that some require you to connect to the esp32 AP and some require you to connect to your home/business AP first. And then they either autodetect the AP you are connected to or you select it from a list. In both cases, they ask for a password. is this for the ap you are already connected to? sometimes. sometimes not. try both! Do any of them work? Nope.

SmartConfig was developed by TI back in the 90's. They know how to get stuff done. But do any of their tools work with ESP? Not so far. but it is still light outside.

Ahh. so nice to get that hobby feel from tools you are you trying to use to make money. You know, like ham radio. That feeling when you got it to work that you and only you, passed into an area that few are able to. A barrier to entry that filters out those with not a lot of time to waste. That somehow validates you as a person obsessed (but maybe not actually successful in you know, ways that get stuff done). Only the truly dedicated make it this far. And you are one of those brilliant few. You didn't get much else done. but that is ok. friends and family are so complicated for some reason? why spend time on the application when just trying to program it could give a sense of accomplishment?

Maybe I should just read the docs? I don't know why I didn't think of that! Must be an idiot?

https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esp ... m/ota.html

Or.... what was it? Google it? Ok!

https://randomnerdtutorials.com/esp32-o ... ogramming/
https://lastminuteengineers.com/esp32-o ... duino-ide/

Look at the official examples? Sure.

https://github.com/espressif/esp-idf/tr ... system/ota

Weee. Those are hours I would like to get back...

but seriously. how the frack does this factory OTA work? Maybe we were stupid to design the esp32 into a commercial product that we plan on manufacturing thousands of before finding out that the OTA from the factory may not actually work. That we need a guy named Roger to plug and unplug each unit from the CM for something simple. you know, like programming it?

Re: OTA of factory image

Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2019 2:05 am
by WiFive
Where did you read that modules come from the factory with the ability to be programmed ota? Do any other manufacturers do this?

Re: OTA of factory image

Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2019 9:41 am
by jcsbanks
Dev boards from various sources might have firmware, but modules we had from Espressif directly do not and this is the standard AFAIK.

Re: OTA of factory image

Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2019 2:14 pm
by kbaud1
These are modules from a tape and reel and also some from dev boards. they all produce the quixotic APs.

Re: OTA of factory image

Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2019 2:22 pm
by kbaud1
so what do these factory APs do? I assume they are useful for something?

Re: OTA of factory image

Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2021 5:21 pm
by dbuijsma
It's been a while, but this question is answered here: viewtopic.php?t=10258
It is running https://github.com/espressif/esp32-at which is meant to interface with a host over uart.

You need to reflash it to do anything interesting. If you just want to play you should flash micropython or moddable or nodemcu.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=hfS8zA9nL7I