ESP32 Forum

The capacitor is faulty!

The 1µF capacitor between the EN (enable) pin and GND (ground) is defective. Initially, it shows high resistance, but eventually shorts to ground. If you have a capacitor that handles contact debouncing, inspect it carefully. If possible, remove it and see if the ESP boots up normally.

That'd do it. Fyi, it means the board probably had some mechanical trauma, causing the ceramic capacitor to crack. If the layers of conductive and non-conductive material then aligns up just right, both sides will be connected and the capacitor will short out.