I would need help to get started on ESP32 .. on Mac !

Hi!  It's me again.

As I was saying, it seems the new MacBook (with M1 processor), does not recognize the ESP32 MCU as I connect it to the USB port.  In fact, my old MacBook didn't recognize it either.  However, they both do recognize the Arduino NANO, the UNO and the MEGA2560 boards without any problem.  The new MacBook recognizes also the FTDI-232 and the CP2102 USB to TTL boards .. (but not Flashtree's « ATTiny Programmer board ») ?!? 

My homework :  In the Arduino IDE, the ESP32 boards are installed properly as well as the examples.  All seems okay, but it seems the IDE does not recognize the board.

More homework .. : I dusted off an old PC Laptop (running on Windows 7) and I installed the Arduino IDE and all the boards I needed, to replicate the Mac configuration, with the same results .. at the exception that I had to install a CH340 driver, that failed to install properly, over and over again.  I tried the same installs on another mini notebook one of my kids once had, also running on Windows 7 .. with the same failing results when came to the CH340 driver.  I'm at loss.

Is someone in this fine community successfully installed the ESP32 boards on a MacBook (or a Mac/iMac) and can program it without any issues ?

I hope I can read from you in a timely matter.  I do realize it's the holidays and we're in a pandemic and all, so when you have a minute, I would appreciate your point of view and I'm open to all suggestions from you part.

Have a great new year y'all, and talk to you later !!

Yours truly,

Daniel_Lachance.

@daniel_lachance 

Welcome to the forum.

I'm not using the M1 (yet) nor ESPs, but I'm wondering if you have installed the CH340 driver on the M1 and if so, did it install successfully ?

Good. day, @will, and Happy new year to you and your family.

Since a few devices using CH340 chip for communication are working great, I suspect it has installed properly, but I yet fail to seek a compatible CH340 driver for the Mac.

If you have a link to provide for me to try, I would be more than happy to try it, however, on my version of ESP32, there is no CH340 chip.  Instead, it seems they are using a CP2102 chip.  Is this at all possible ?

As for the M1 processor, man, it's CRAZY fast as compared to its previously used I7 processor.  It even beats the I9 processor used in the existing version of the MacBook Pro for some tasks like video format conversions so I'm happy with my MacBook Air. 🤣

Thank you for responding so fast to my help line.  I really appreciate it.  I hope I can read you soon .. but at your leisure.  No rush.

Have a great evening, Will.

Yours truly,

Daniel.

@daniel_lachance 

Maybe this will help it's onto a mini, but I'd hope the procedure is the same ...

Wow, @will.  You're fast !!  LOL

This guy (on the video) seems to be operating at a much greater speed that I.  I had to rewind his video every 10 seconds to grab at least a bit of his procedure.  Hahaha !!

I'll try not to brick my system by doing what he does and I'll get back to you after this process .. in a day or two. I'll try to keep up with him.  LOL !!

Thanks for your time and I'll talk to you soon, my friend.  Have a great evening.

@daniel_lachance 

He says he made another video (linked with that one) which describes some preparation as well.

I hope it can solve your problem, or at least narrow down the cause.

@daniel_lachance 

Here's another video with him making some changes relevant to problems during ESP32 installation and some fixes needed to install the Arduino IDEas well.

Well, I thing I got a hint here.  I didn't install Python.  From what I can see, it's needed to program the ESP Series of MCU.  I'll do just that and see.

Thank you for your precious time and the Head's Up !!  We'll talk soon I hope.

Best regards !

Posted by: @daniel_lachance

Well, I thing I got a hint here.  I didn't install Python.  From what I can see, it's needed to program the ESP Series of MCU.  I'll do just that and see.

You shouldn't need to install Python, the Mac should have it installed already.

Start a terminal session and type the command

which python

and it'll tell you the directory of the python app your system uses.

Good day, Will.

Installing pip, (from the instructions depicted in Espressif.com), I have a syntax error in this procedure.  I don't know if I should continue further, since pip seems not to have installed properly.

As for Python, I did what you told me and I got that:

daniellachance@MacBook-Air-de-Daniel ~ % which python

/usr/bin/python

Do you think I should continue further in the « Install Prerequisites » section .. that consists in entering the following command (in terminal) ?

« sudo port install make ninja dfu-util »

Thank you for your assistance.  Regards !

@daniel_lachance 

That proves that you already have Python installed, so you can eliminate that step.

As I said, I haven't done any of this myself, so I can't provide any personal experience. I was hoping that the videos would provide the information you needed.

@will

Of course.  I was forgetting about this important factor.  I'll refer to the video you kindly provided to get more information.

I thank you very much for your time and I will make sure I'll keep you updated for any developments on this topic.

Thank you for your time and I hope we'll talk soon.

Best Regards, Daniel.

Good day, Will.

A quick update on the problem I had with ESP32.  I found the solution and solved the problem.

What threw me off at first is that some ESP32s have the CH340 ou CH341 chip to interface with the USB port.  Mine has a Silicon Labs' CP2102 chip.

All I had to do is go to the Silicon Labs website and download the proper CP2102 USB to UART Bridge VCP Drivers and install the package.  All my devices were instantly recognized by my MacBook Air and Arduino.

Since then, I could compile and run sketched successfully without a glitch.  I'm now a happy man !  LOL

Thank you again for your time and patience.  It was greatly appreciated.

Have a great day and a good week.

@daniel_lachance 

Excellent, I'm glad that you've solved that problem so easily 🙂