Need help setting toolchain (user guide not helpful)
Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2026 6:17 pm
Hello everyone,
TL;DR: (Debian 12) I'm just getting started and I'm already having trouble with the guide, I think I've installed the same tools twice and many steps of said official guides actually end up in errors on my side even though I've followed the steps one-on-one.
Semi-exhaustive description of the events:
I have recently started to work with the ESP32, the first thing I did was to read all the relevant documentation made by Espressif for people who are just getting started.
Said user guide is quite troublesome for me, I've managed to install the esp-idf through bash, have the set of commands work and successfully flash my board, all thanks to this official guide.
The result of this guide was this folder full of tools: (remember this one, we'll talk about it again).
After doing so I've decided to upgrade my skill/tool set and work with an IDE and started reading this guide about the Eclipse plugin.
I've followed it down to the end of it before realizing it's an incredibly old version so I ditched it, but in the meantime I've already setup the environment variables, paths and whatnot.
Fun fact, this guide asks me to run in bash:
this command doesn't even work and returns:
Considering what I've learned earlier, this is the correct command I've ran instead:
Ditched that obsolete doc, the help page on Eclipse IDE's Espressif plugin led me here, which bottom page link led me to the GitHub page, to learn about Eclipse I've then clicked here, all these documents are also pre-release, what an headache.
Anyway, I've followed the guide and most of the links, there was an error with OpenOCD or something so I had to copy a rules file manually with sudo.
At the end of the Odyssey I've ended up with: an Eclipse IDE with Espressif plugin, the Espressiff official IDE and the IME tool with which I've ended up installing ANOTHER esp-idf toolset by mistake ("mistake" as in "following exactly the guide), located here: (see? exactly like the one I've already had, but duplicated in a different location).
At the end of the day, all these tools installed, plugins, official IDE and whatnot, they're still not enough because when I try to actually work on a project I get all kind of errors.
For example, on Eclipse+plugin if I try to build the "hello_world" example project found under the esp-idf directory, I get:
I have activated the export.sh script, ran idf.py menuconfig, set env variables of the project etc. yet i can't build, I can't also neither "clean" nor flash nor anything, even though I've followed every step to the letter.
Same thing for the Espressif IDE, I get a slightly different error because on this one I didn't try an improvised solution:
(this was the same error I got on Eclipse IDE before I've tinkered with the settings).
Even though I've just got started I'm a fast learner, but the documentation is a maze and although I can keep working with the terminal I cannot give up the tools that those IDEs offer, so I need help to get things working.
TL;DR: (Debian 12) I'm just getting started and I'm already having trouble with the guide, I think I've installed the same tools twice and many steps of said official guides actually end up in errors on my side even though I've followed the steps one-on-one.
Semi-exhaustive description of the events:
I have recently started to work with the ESP32, the first thing I did was to read all the relevant documentation made by Espressif for people who are just getting started.
Said user guide is quite troublesome for me, I've managed to install the esp-idf through bash, have the
Code: Select all
idf.pyThe result of this guide was this folder full of tools:
Code: Select all
/home/USER/esp/esp-idf/After doing so I've decided to upgrade my skill/tool set and work with an IDE and started reading this guide about the Eclipse plugin.
I've followed it down to the end of it before realizing it's an incredibly old version so I ditched it, but in the meantime I've already setup the environment variables, paths and whatnot.
Fun fact, this guide asks me to run in bash:
Code: Select all
make menuconfigCode: Select all
make: *** No rule to make target 'menuconfig'. Stop.Code: Select all
idf.py buildAnyway, I've followed the guide and most of the links, there was an error with OpenOCD or something so I had to copy a rules file manually with sudo.
At the end of the Odyssey I've ended up with: an Eclipse IDE with Espressif plugin, the Espressiff official IDE and the IME tool with which I've ended up installing ANOTHER esp-idf toolset by mistake ("mistake" as in "following exactly the guide), located here:
Code: Select all
/home/USER/.espressif/v5.5.3/esp-idf/At the end of the day, all these tools installed, plugins, official IDE and whatnot, they're still not enough because when I try to actually work on a project I get all kind of errors.
For example, on Eclipse+plugin if I try to build the "hello_world" example project found under the esp-idf directory, I get:
Code: Select all
18:25:31 **** Incremental Build of configuration Default for project hello_world ****
make -j8 all
make: Nothing to be done for 'all'.
18:25:31 Build Finished. 0 errors, 0 warnings. (took 70ms)Same thing for the Espressif IDE, I get a slightly different error because on this one I didn't try an improvised solution:
Code: Select all
19:08:57 **** Build of configuration Default for project hello_world ****
make -j8 all
make: *** No rule to make target 'all'. Stop.
"make -j8 all" terminated with exit code 2. Build might be incomplete.
19:08:57 Build Failed. 1 errors, 0 warnings. (took 68ms)
Even though I've just got started I'm a fast learner, but the documentation is a maze and although I can keep working with the terminal I cannot give up the tools that those IDEs offer, so I need help to get things working.