esp32 wroom boot loop from bad powerup
Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2026 7:40 am
I found that it is quite easy to get an esp32 into a boot loop just by touching the power wires to a power supply enough times giving it poor power. I also found it sometimes gets into this state again possibly from falling and rising power rails.
I have the brownout detector, it just reboots over and over, and a power cycle it boots up fine.
The bootloader always works. I am wondering if anyone has seen this, and if the bootloader should be modified to either somehow powercycle the external spi flash and/or load data at a slower speed, or if an external watchdog is basically required to make the esp32 module reliable.
I have the brownout detector, it just reboots over and over, and a power cycle it boots up fine.
The bootloader always works. I am wondering if anyone has seen this, and if the bootloader should be modified to either somehow powercycle the external spi flash and/or load data at a slower speed, or if an external watchdog is basically required to make the esp32 module reliable.
Code: Select all
rst:0x3 (SW_RESET),boot:0x17 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
configsip: 0, SPIWP:0xee
clk_drv:0x00,q_drv:0x00,d_drv:0x00,cs0_drv:0x00,hd_drv:0x00,wp_drv:0x00
mode:DIO, clock div:2
load:0x3fff0030,len:6384
load:0x40078000,len:15916
load:0x40080400,len:3912
entry 0x40080644
I (53) boot: ESP-IDF v5.5.2-dirty 2nd stage bootloader
I (53) boot: compile time Jul 29 2026 05:00:00
I (53) boot: Multicore bootloader
I (55) boot: chip revision: v3.1
I (58) boot.esp32: SPI Speed : 40MHz
I (62) boot.esp32: SPI Mode : DIO
I (65) boot.esp32: SPI Flash Size : 4MB
I (69) boot: Enabling RNG early entropy source...
I (73) boot: Partition Table:
I (76) boot: ## Label Usage Type ST Offset Length
I (82) boot: 0 nvs WiFi data 01 02 00010000 00004000
I (89) boot: 1 otadata OTA data 01 00 00014000 00002000
I (95) boot: 2 phy_init RF data 01 01 00016000 00001000
I (102) boot: 3 factory factory app 00 00 00020000 00100000
I (108) boot: 4 ota_0 OTA app 00 10 00120000 00140000
I (115) boot: 5 ota_1 OTA app 00 11 00260000 00140000
I (122) boot: 6 storage Unknown data 01 83 003a0000 00040000
I (128) boot: End of partition table
I (132) boot: Defaulting to factory image
I (135) esp_image: segment 0: paddr=00020020 vaddr=3f400020 size=288c0h (166080) map
I (200) esp_image: segment 1: paddr=000488e8 vaddr=3ffb0000 size=0415ch ( 16732) load
I (206) esp_image: segment 2: paddr=0004ca4c vaddr=40080000 size=035cch ( 13772) load
I (212) esp_image: segment 3: paddr=00050020 vaddr=400d0020 size=92d74h (601460) map
I (417) esp_image: segment 4: paddr=000e2d9c vaddr=400835cc size=17fa4h ( 98212) load
I (456) esp_image: segment 5: paddr=000fad48 vaddr=50000000 size=00020h ( 32) load
E (456) esp_image: Image hash failed - image is corrupt
E (457) boot: Factory app partition is not bootable
E (462) esp_image: image at 0x120000 has invalid magic byte (nothing flashed here?)
E (469) boot: OTA app partition slot 0 is not bootable
E (474) esp_image: image at 0x260000 has invalid magic byte (nothing flashed here?)
E (481) boot: OTA app partition slot 1 is not bootable
E (486) boot: No bootable app partitions in the partition table
ets Jul 29 2019 12:21:46
rst:0x3 (SW_RESET),boot:0x17 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
configsip: 0, SPIWP:0xee
clk_drv:0x00,q_drv:0x00,d_drv:0x00,cs0_drv:0x00,hd_drv:0x00,wp_drv:0x00
mode:DIO, clock div:2
load:0x3fff0030,len:6384
load:0x40078000,len:15916
load:0x40080400,len:3912
entry 0x40080644
I (53) boot: ESP-IDF v5.5.2-dirty 2nd stage bootloader
I (53) boot: compile time Jul 29 2026 05:00:00
I (53) boot: Multicore bootloader
I (55) boot: chip revision: v3.1
I (58) boot.esp32: SPI Speed : 40MHz
I (62) boot.esp32: SPI Mode : DIO
I (65) boot.esp32: SPI Flash Size : 4MB
I (69) boot: Enabling RNG early entropy source...
I (73) boot: Partition Table:
I (76) boot: ## Label Usage Type ST Offset Length
I (82) boot: 0 nvs WiFi data 01 02 00010000 00004000
I (89) boot: 1 otadata OTA data 01 00 00014000 00002000
I (95) boot: 2 phy_init RF data 01 01 00016000 00001000
I (102) boot: 3 factory factory app 00 00 00020000 00100000
I (108) boot: 4 ota_0 OTA app 00 10 00120000 00140000
I (115) boot: 5 ota_1 OTA app 00 11 00260000 00140000
I (122) boot: 6 storage Unknown data 01 83 003a0000 00040000
I (128) boot: End of partition table
I (132) boot: Defaulting to factory image
I (135) esp_image: segment 0: paddr=00020020 vaddr=3f400020 size=288c0h (166080) map
I (200) esp_image: segment 1: paddr=000488e8 vaddr=3ffb0000 size=0415ch ( 16732) load
I (206) esp_image: segment 2: paddr=0004ca4c vaddr=40080000 size=035cch ( 13772) load
I (212) esp_image: segment 3: paddr=00050020 vaddr=400d0020 size=92d74h (601460) map
I (417) esp_image: segment 4: paddr=000e2d9c vaddr=400835cc size=17fa4h ( 98212) load
I (456) esp_image: segment 5: paddr=000fad48 vaddr=50000000 size=00020h ( 32) load
E (456) esp_image: Image hash failed - image is corrupt
E (457) boot: Factory app partition is not bootable
E (462) esp_image: image at 0x120000 has invalid magic byte (nothing flashed here?)
E (469) boot: OTA app partition slot 0 is not bootable
E (474) esp_image: image at 0x260000 has invalid magic byte (nothing flashed here?)
E (481) boot: OTA app partition slot 1 is not bootable
E (486) boot: No bootable app partitions in the partition table
ets Jul 29 2019 12:21:46