ESP32-S3 USB serial controller as first class interface?

[davidzuhn]

I would very much like to see the USB/JTAG controller serial interface be a full replacement for a UART interface, allowing me to remove the CP2102 from my design and simplifying the BOM.

When I try to use this interface the way that I use the UART interface, it seems like the USB serial is a secondary target (not fully functional or tested). This work is done with the espresso ESP32-S3-DevKit and using esp-idf v5.0-dev-1452-g93106c9348 (reported by git described). I'm using a Mac running macOS 12.2.

Using the getting-started/hello_world example, everything works just fine using both devices (USB serial controller = /dev/tty.usbmodem21401, UART = /dev/tty.SLAB_USBtoUART)

Using the system/console/basic example, when building for target esp32s3, but with no other changes to the sdkconfig file, I get the following when using "idf.py monitor -p /dev/tty.usbmodem21401":

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....
I (325) example: Command history enabled

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Use UP/DOWN arrows to navigate through command history.
Press TAB when typing command name to auto-complete.

Your terminal application does not support escape sequences.

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Done

and the device does not accept input. The similar command using the UART device (in the same window) works just fine and I get console interaction as I have become accustomed to when using the UART.

Additionally, when compiling the same example on Raspberry Pi 4 (aarch64, Debian bullseye), the console app when run through the USB/JTAG controller (/dev/ttyACM0) get this far:

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...
I (273) sleep: Enable automatic switching of GPIO sleep configuration
I (280) cpu_start: Starting scheduler on PRO CPU.
I (0) cpu_start: Starting scheduler on APP CPU.
I (326) example: Command history enabled

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and hangs with no further output and no response to keyboard input. Ctrl-] doesn't exit, and only killing the idk_monitor.py script gets me back to the shell. Using the UART device (/dev/ttyUSB0) works as expected.

And then back on the Mac when I configure the build with ESP_CONSOLE_USB_SERIAL_JTAG=y, the build (again, of the system/console/basic example) fails with:

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/Users/zoo/esp32/esp-idf-latest-20220204/examples/system/console/basic/main/console_example_main.c: In function 'app_main':
/Users/zoo/esp32/esp-idf-latest-20220204/components/console/esp_console.h:91:18: error: 'CONFIG_ESP_CONSOLE_UART_BAUDRATE' undeclared (first use in this function); did you mean 'CONFIG_ESP_CONSOLE_UART_NUM'?
     .baud_rate = CONFIG_ESP_CONSOLE_UART_BAUDRATE, \
                  ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/Users/zoo/esp32/esp-idf-latest-20220204/examples/system/console/basic/main/console_example_main.c:69:49: note: in expansion of macro 'ESP_CONSOLE_DEV_UART_CONFIG_DEFAULT'
     esp_console_dev_uart_config_t uart_config = ESP_CONSOLE_DEV_UART_CONFIG_DEFAULT();
                                                 ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/Users/zoo/esp32/esp-idf-latest-20220204/components/console/esp_console.h:91:18: note: each undeclared identifier is reported only once for each function it appears in
     .baud_rate = CONFIG_ESP_CONSOLE_UART_BAUDRATE, \
                  ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/Users/zoo/esp32/esp-idf-latest-20220204/examples/system/console/basic/main/console_example_main.c:69:49: note: in expansion of macro 'ESP_CONSOLE_DEV_UART_CONFIG_DEFAULT'
     esp_console_dev_uart_config_t uart_config = ESP_CONSOLE_DEV_UART_CONFIG_DEFAULT();
                                                 ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a lark, I tried compiling examples/system/console/basic using USB CDC (ESP_CONSOLE_USB_CDC=y), which fails to compile:

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/Users/zoo/esp32/esp-idf-latest-20220204/components/esp_system/port/soc/esp32s3/usb_console.c:77:1: error: static assertion failed: "usb_osglue_*_int is not multicore capable"
 _Static_assert(SOC_CPU_CORES_NUM == 1, "usb_osglue_*_int is not multicore capable");
 ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Are these issues that are expected to be resolved before the chip goes into full production?

[chegewara]

Maybe this example is better?
https://github.com/espressif/esp-idf/tr ... onsole_usb

[davidzuhn]

The system/console_usb example is using USB managed by the main CPU and not the new-to-the-ESP32-{C3,S3} USB/JTAG controller. It is also hardcoded to the ESP32-S2 (see the sdkconfig.defaults file). Removing that entry and attempting to build for the ESP32-S3 results in this:

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/Users/zoo/esp32/esp-idf-latest-20220204/components/esp_system/port/soc/esp32s3/usb_console.c:77:1: error: static assertion failed: "usb_osglue_*_int is not multicore capable"
 _Static_assert(SOC_CPU_CORES_NUM == 1, "usb_osglue_*_int is not multicore capable");
 ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Same as I reported in the original message when defining ESP_CONSOLE_USB_CDC=y).

[michalk]

I have this need, and am interested if you found a solution.

[ESP_igrr]

Hi all,

USB_SERIAL_JTAG support has been recently added to the console/basic example, please see the updated instructions here: https://github.com/espressif/esp-idf/tr ... erial_jtag

We will be backporting this update to release/v4.4 as well.

[michalk]

I am porting my application to the ESP32-S3 from the Teensy. With the DevKitC, I can use two USB cables and program over one, and get the serial console over the other (with UART). Now, I need to get a serial port working natively on the ESP.

I am using the Arduino framework in Platformio, and do not have any experience with the ESP-IDF. I've cloned the repo with the serial examples, but it won't compile in Platformio. I'm not sure if I should port my code to ESP-IDF, or try to make the serial console work in Arduino framework. Some pointers would be appreciated if Platformio is even viable for this.