Of course, having posted this I just spotted instructions for resetting the device’s auto-bootloader. I will give that a try later today or tomorrow and see if it address the problem. I’ll update this post when I’ve done that.
Update:
Hidden-reset button (inside the 3.5mm headphone) had no effect. I tried with esptools v4.7 as well, and could never get a connection, simply:
> .\esptool.exe --port=COM4 chip_id
esptool.py v4.7.0
Serial port COM4
Connecting......................................
A fatal error occurred: Failed to connect to Espressif device: No serial data received.
For troubleshooting steps visit: https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esptool/en/latest/troubleshooting.html
Reading the thread further, I found someone reporting an issue with the Windows drivers.
Looking at my device manager, I too have the 2023 drivers:
Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge
Silicon Laboratories Inc.
4/13/2023
11.3.0.176
So I’ve downloaded:
CP210x Windows Drivers
v6.7.6
9/3/2020
Ran the installer CP210xVCPInstaller_x64.exe, went to the device in Device Manager and opted to select from files on my computer to switch to this driver version. Replugged the device, still no effect. Nothing will connect, can’t read the chip or flash anything at all with esptool.
Trying all of that, I turned off the device, loaded up PuTTY, connected it and turned it on.
For awhile there is nothing, then after power cycling/reset/reconnecting it I did at one point see output on the terminal, but only after switching the device off:
ets Jun 8 2016 00:22:57
rst:0x10 (RTCWDT_RTC_RESET),boot:0x3f (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
flash read err, 1000
ets_main.c 371
ets Jun 8 2016 00:22:57
rst:0x10 (RTCWDT_RTC_RESET),boot:0x2f (UART_BOOT(UART0))
I’m rather new to esp32s, but I’m honestly unsure what else to do at this point.