Web flasher won't flash Heltec V3

Support
1

I bought a pair of Heltec V3s and have tried flashing them using Chrome on my MacBook running Sonoma 14.5.

Communication appears to be working. Opening the serial monitor and resetting the Heltec results in seeing the unit’s log build as it boots into its factory LoRa mode.

To prepare for flashing, the ‘Heltec V3’ device option is selected; 2.3.13.83f5ba0 Beta is chosen; pressing ‘1200bps Reset’ blanks the Heltec’s screen; baud rate 115200; ‘Full Erase and Install’ chosen.

After clicking ‘Erase Flash and Install’, the web flasher shows this in the dialog at the bottom:

esptool.js
Serial port WebSerial VendorID 0x10c4 ProductID 0xea60
Connecting…

…And nothing else happens. After about five minutes, the Heltech boots itself back into the factory LoRa mode.

Neither unit will flash using two different USB C data cables.

Help?

1 Like
2

SOLVED!

Both Heltec V3s quickly web-flashed after:

  1. Installing the [CP210X USB to UART bridge] instead of the [CH9102 Driver] on my Intel MacBook.
  2. Disconnecting the battery before attempting to flash and powering the Heltec V3 with only the USB-C cable.
  3. Pressing and holding the BOOT / USR button while plugging in the USB cable and then quickly clicking the ‘Erase Flash and Install’ button. (The 1200bps Reset button didn’t seem to work for me.)

Both units are now communicating with each other. Hoping to catch outside traffic soon. I’m amazed at the depth of features in Meshtastic software; it’s going to take a while to explore the capabilities of this technology. Thanks to all who have contributed to make Meshtastic possible.

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3

webflasher still won’t flash my heltec v3, even so I follow the steps you describe.

I have CP210X USB to UART bridge installed.
I use chromium under fedora.

However I press the buttons, whenever I try to attempt ‘Erase Flash and Install’ it won’t connect.

Could you explain how I need to press the buttons as if I’m 5 years old?

thanks all.

4

I’d suggest trying a different USB cable. Not all cables do data.

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5

Indeed the first question is whether your Linux computer is communicating with the Heltec, whether the problem be the cable or drivers or cosmic weirdness. Try this to see:

  1. Disconnect the battery from the Heltec, if it has one
  2. Unplug the Heltec from its USB-C cable
  3. Navigate to the flasher.meshtastic.org Web Flasher page
  4. You’ll see topdown menus for Device, Firmware, and Flash - ignore them
  5. Click on the “Open Serial Monitor” button below the Firmware section
  6. Plug in your Heltec’s USB cable

Do you see the Heltec’s boot log build in the window below the Open Serial Monitor button? If so, then you can presume the computer <> Heltec’s serial connection is working (well, the Heltec-to-computer receive path, anyway.)

If that works, then here’s how this Meshtastic noob got his units to flash:

  1. Insure the battery is disconnected from the Heltec
  2. Unplug the USB-C cable
  3. Cue up the flasher web page so the ‘Erase Flash and Install’ button shows
  4. Hold down the bottom button on the Heltec, next to the USB port
  5. Keep holding it down and plug in the USB-C cable. Release the button
  6. Quickly click on the on-screen ‘Erase Flash and Install’ button

And…things automagically began working for me.

Perhaps our Meshtastic graybeards will add their insight and wisdom to this conundrum.

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6

Thank you for that debug tip. Very helpful!
I got my Linux machine to communicate with the Heltec device. And then I was able to flash the new firmware.
Thanks!