Filesystem images created with the `default_16MB.csv` or `large_spiffs_16MB.csv` partition tables fail to upload

[CoryCharlton]

Board

Unexpected Maker FeatherS3 (but likely any board with a 16MB flash)

Device Description

Unexpected Maker FeatherS3

Hardware Configuration

Nothing connected

Version

v2.0.5

IDE Name

PlatformIO

Operating System

Windows 10

Flash frequency

80Mhz

PSRAM enabled

yes

Upload speed

460800

Description

If you create a filesystem image using default_16MB.csv or large_spiffs_16MB.csv it fails to upload (see: espressif/esptool#795).

A custom partition table such as the following works fine:

# Name,   Type, SubType, Offset,  Size, Flags
nvs,      data, nvs,     36K,     20K,
factory,  app,  factory, 64K,     4M,
spiffs,   data, spiffs,  ,        10M,

Sketch

Not related to a specific sketch.

Debug Message

esptool.py v4.3
Serial port COM10
Connecting....
Chip is ESP32-S3 (revision v0.1)
Features: WiFi, BLE
Crystal is 40MHz
MAC: f4:12:fa:42:03:2c
Uploading stub...
Running stub...
Stub running...
Changing baud rate to 460800
Changed.
Configuring flash size...
Flash will be erased from 0x00c90000 to 0x00ffffff...
Compressed 3604480 bytes to 6617...
Writing at 0x00c90000... (100 %)

A fatal error occurred: Invalid head of packet (0x6F): Possible serial noise or corruption.

Other Steps to Reproduce

No response

I have checked existing issues, online documentation and the Troubleshooting Guide

• I confirm I have checked existing issues, online documentation and Troubleshooting guide.

[pauldupuyjr]

Confirm same "Invalid head of packet (0x6F)" error with Unexpected Maker ProS3 16M board [ESP32-S3 (revision v0.1)] and that the custom partition table here fixes the issue in PlatformIO 2.5.5.

[SuGlider]

@CoryCharlton - Could you please test the UM FeatherS3 with the Arduino IDE?
I tested Arduino IDE and a S3 Board with 32MB Flash and it worked fine.

Configuration for the UM board in the IDE would be:

[SuGlider]

The Arduino Core 2.0.5 uses esptool.py v4.2.1

[CoryCharlton]

@SuGlider I updated the title to be more clear that the issue appears to be related specifically to default_16MB.csv or large_spiffs_16MB.csv partition tables.

I browse the repo but I'm not clear which partition table csv at https://github.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/tree/master/tools/partitions corresponds to the "16M Flash (2MB APP/12.5MB FATFS)" you show in the UI. If you can point me to the correct file I can compare the differences to see if anything jumps out.

That being said I'm not in a position right now to test the Arduino IDE but I did test earlier using default and large spiffs and encountered the same error I did when using PlatformIO or the esptool directly.

[CoryCharlton]

Then again the data in the large_spiffs_16mb.csv looks accurate: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TukMJ4aA4ZDjClvgUbY9OfiUPdwDmbYCW7Wj_OyY7aU

I modified large_spiffs_16mb.csv to make the spiffs partition 6.5MB instead of the default 7MB which leaves 0.5MB free space and it uploaded fine.

# Name,   Type, SubType,  Offset,   Size,  Flags
nvs, data, nvs, 0x9000, 0x5000,
otadata, data, ota, 0xE000, 0x2000,
app0, app, ota_0, 0x10000, 0x480000,
app1, app, ota_1, 0x490000, 0x480000,
spiffs, data, spiffs, 0x910000, 0x680000,

So this may not be an issue with the partition tables or Arduino Core and the esptool issue might still be the cause (I'll let you two teams fight it out :P)

Whatever side the issue is on this could be worked around in this repo by reducing the size of the spiffs partitions in default_16MB.csv and large_spiffs_16MB.csv by 1KB so the partition table / last partition doesn't fill the entire flash (see my comment on the esptool issue)

[SuGlider]

Have you consider that it could be a Flash chip failure? Or even a bad cable issue...
Can you try it in some other equivalient board/cable?

[SuGlider]

Another possible test, would be to lower the flashing baud rate to, maybe, 115200...
I had a chip that I only could completely flash it when in 115200 baud.