ESPConnect is an advanced tool for managing ESP family microcontrollers without having to install desktop applications. It allows you to read and upload the contents of the chip's Flash memory. It allows you to view detailed device information such as chip family, MAC, Flash size and clocking. It also has an extensive file system manager (SPIFFS, LittleFS and FATFS) with file viewing, writing and reading. ESPConnect offers a graphical representation of the Flash partition layout and tools for backing up or restoring them.
Let's test this tool with ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-4.3 .
Connect the board to the computer, open the tool window . The serial port is selected. You don't need to load anything on the ESP32 - the program shown reads everything from outside via the virtual serial port. This works analogously to esptool.
Immediately everything becomes clear - we see information about the CPU itself, the size of the Flash memory, the capabilities of the chip, the size of the external PSRAM bone and even the Flash ID.
Similarly, we have information about Flash security and the USB-UART connection:
In the Partitions tab we have the partitions from the Flash format:
In the App tab we have information about the program, how it was compiled, etc:
SPIFFS allows you to manage the file system on your device. The whole idea is that we have to back up all the memory first, so we are unlikely to lose anything, even if we mess something up.
In Flash Tools we have the usual firmware write and read operations:
Serial monitor is simply a serial port console - RealTerm is no longer needed:
The Session Log, on the other hand, tells us what the ESPConnect was doing - you can view there what was read, what went wrong, etc:
In summary, the tool looks very promising. The whole thing is very fresh, looking at GitHub it appeared about 3 weeks ago, but in my case it even has a chance to replace esptool. Everything in one place, convenient and accessible.
And what is your opinion? Which tools for ESP do you use?
Tool in question:
https://thelastoutpostworkshop.github.io/microcontroller_devkit/espconnect/
Project repository:
https://github.com/thelastoutpostworkshop/ESPConnect
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