Debug error using esp-prog with VS Code and Platformio

[richardbangerter]

Any Arduino example that I try to run will compile and upload to the ESP32 Devkit C V4 either thru the JTAG or COM3 according to the following from platformio.ini.
;upload_port = COM3
upload_protocol = esp-prog
debug_tool = esp-prog

However when trying to use Start Debugging, the following appears in the Terminal window (last few lines only):
Archiving .pio\build\lolin32\libFrameworkArduino.a
Linking .pio\build\lolin32\firmware.elf
Building .pio\build\lolin32\firmware.bin
Retrieving maximum program size .pio\build\lolin32\firmware.elf
Checking size .pio\build\lolin32\firmware.elf
esptool.py v2.6
Advanced Memory Usage is available via "PlatformIO Home > Project Inspect"
RAM: [ ] 2.9% (used 15348 bytes from 532480 bytes)
Flash: [== ] 16.1% (used 211029 bytes from 1310720 bytes)

After a short pause, the following appears in the Debug Console and the Debug Controls disappear

undefinedError: Traceback (most recent call last):
File "c:\users\rbangerter\.platformio\penv\lib\site-packages\platformio\__main__.py", line 109, in main
cli() # pylint: disable=no-value-for-parameter
File "c:\users\rbangerter\.platformio\penv\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 829, in __call__
return self.main(*args, **kwargs)
File "c:\users\rbangerter\.platformio\penv\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 782, in main
rv = self.invoke(ctx)
File "c:\users\rbangerter\.platformio\penv\lib\site-packages\platformio\commands\__init__.py", line 44, in invoke
return super(PlatformioCLI, self).invoke(ctx)
File "c:\users\rbangerter\.platformio\penv\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 1259, in invoke
return _process_result(sub_ctx.command.invoke(sub_ctx))
File "c:\users\rbangerter\.platformio\penv\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 1066, in invoke
return ctx.invoke(self.callback, **ctx.params)
File "c:\users\rbangerter\.platformio\penv\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 610, in invoke
return callback(*args, **kwargs)
File "c:\users\rbangerter\.platformio\penv\lib\site-packages\click\decorators.py", line 21, in new_func
return f(get_current_context(), *args, **kwargs)
File "c:\users\rbangerter\.platformio\penv\lib\site-packages\platformio\commands\debug\command.py", line 151, in cli
from platformio.commands.debug.process.client import GDBClient, reactor
File "c:\users\rbangerter\.platformio\penv\lib\site-packages\platformio\commands\debug\process\client.py", line 26, in <module>
from twisted.internet import stdio # pylint: disable=import-error
File "C:\Users\rbangerter\.platformio\packages\contrib-pysite\twisted\internet\stdio.py", line 30, in <module>
from twisted.internet import _win32stdio
File "C:\Users\rbangerter\.platformio\packages\contrib-pysite\twisted\internet\_win32stdio.py", line 9, in <module>
import win32api
ImportError: DLL load failed: The network path was not found.

I have verified all paths, different boards in the .ini file, the usual unplug and replug, no device errors.

HELP PLEASE!