ESP32 : Preparation step 1, Jtag debugger, FTDI 2232

Arduino are fun, but they have 2 major problems :

  • All is in the IDE, and the arduino IDE is good for beginners, not for "normal" use
  • Lack of debugging capabilities

The arduino-cmake-stm32 deals with the first issue, for both Arm cores and Atmel cores.
The stm32 has SWD capabilities, so at least when using stm32, you can debug (plus they are much more powerful than the Atmel Arduino boards)

Stm32 + arduino-cmake-stm32+ your favorite IDE+ ST LINK/Black Magic = :)

Now let's have a look a the ESP32 from espressif.
They are a bit more expensive, but they contain a LOT of hardware features (ADC/DAC/Bluetooth/Wifi/....)

They do support the arduino API,  back to square 1.

First thing first, debugging.

The ESP32s do not support SWD interface, but they do support the jtag interface.

You can uses a FTTDI 2232 H board , available for ~ 10$ on ebay to do jtag/usb conversion.

I bought that one a few months back : Ebay link (it is not sponsored, buy wherever you want)

Hardware setup

I've used the following wiring scheme :
        Signal  | Wire   |  FT PIN | ESP32 Pin
  • TCK: WHITE : AD0 : IO13
  • TDI : GREY   : AD1 : IO12
  • TMS : BLUE : AD3 :  IO14
  • TDO : PINK : AD2 :   IO15
So let's remove the usb connector and solder instead an old USB cable
Additionally, 3D print a small enclosure to put everything in


There is some spare wires to use the 2nd uart later on

Software Setup -1 : Arduino

We'll use the pure arduino setup for now, and switch to arduino-cmake-stm32 later on
Add "https://dl.espressif.com/dl/package_esp32_index.json" to preferences->Additional Board Manager
You can now select Esp32 dev as device. Let's upload a random example  and check it works.
It does.


Software Setup -2 : Open OCD

Now we have to install the espressif version of open ocd that can be downloaded from here :
https://github.com/espressif/openocd-esp32

And then the usual 
  bash bootstrap
  ./configure --prefix=/usr/local
  make

It does not compile, you need to remove "-Werror" from Makefile
  make install

Rename /usr/local/bin/openocd to /usr/local/bin/openocd-esp32

Put the following file in /usr/local/share/openocd/scripts/interface/ftdo/esp32_2232.cfg (i copied it from here )

  interface ftdi
  ftdi_vid_pid 0x0403 0x6010
  ftdi_channel 0
  ftdi_layout_init 0x0038 0x003b
  transport select jtag
  adapter_khz 5000
and test. 5000 is 5MHz jtag speed, lower it if you have too much troubles.
/usr/local/bin/openocd_esp32 -f interface/ftdi/esp32_2232.cfg -f board/esp-wroom-32.cfg

And it seems to work

Info : JTAG tap: esp32.cpu0 tap/device found: 0x120034e5 (mfg: 0x272 (Tensilica), part: 0x2003, ver: 0x1)
Info : JTAG tap: esp32.cpu1 tap/device found: 0x120034e5 (mfg: 0x272 (Tensilica), part: 0x2003, ver: 0x1)
Info : esp32: Debug controller 0 was reset.
Info : esp32: Core 0 was reset.
Info : esp32: Debug controller 1 was reset.
Info : esp32: Core 1 was reset.
Info : cpu0: Detected debug stubs @ 3ffc0c84
Info : Listening on port 3333 for gdb connections

Next is to update arduino-cmake-stm32 to be able to use a nicer development environment.










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