ESP32 cannont bootup

[t2000chris]

I'm working on this Wareshare E-Paper ESP32 driver board for about a month. A few days ago, after I turned it on overnight it kept printing out "NUL" to the serial shown below. It's still the same after I re-plug the power or press the reboot button. If I try to update a firmware, it just time out. Looks like it'll never bootup again..... Does anyone know how I can fix this? Looks like a corrupted bootloader?

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1. --- Available filters and text transformations: colorize, debug, default, direct, esp32_exception_decoder, hexlify, log2file, nocontrol, printable, send_on_enter, time
2. --- More details at http://bit.ly/pio-monitor-filters
3. --- Miniterm on COM4  115200,8,N,1 ---
4. --- Quit: Ctrl+C | Menu: Ctrl+T | Help: Ctrl+T followed by Ctrl+H ---
5. ␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀␀

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Code: [Select all] [Expand/Collapse]

1. Configuring upload protocol...
2. AVAILABLE: esp-prog, espota, esptool, iot-bus-jtag, jlink, minimodule, olimex-arm-usb-ocd, olimex-arm-usb-ocd-h, olimex-arm-usb-tiny-h, olimex-jtag-tiny, tumpa
3. CURRENT: upload_protocol = esptool
4. Looking for upload port...
5. Auto-detected: COM4
6. Uploading .pio\build\nodemcu-32s\firmware.bin
7. esptool.py v2.6
8. Serial port COM4
9. Connecting........_____....._____....._____....._____....._____....._____....._____
10.  
11. A fatal error occurred: Failed to connect to ESP32: Timed out waiting for packet header
12. *** [upload] Error 2
13. ================================================================================================== [FAILED] Took 35.26 seconds ==================================================================================================

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[ESP_Sprite]

The bootloader cannot be corrupted as it's in mask ROM. Hard to say what else is going on... do you still get a printout after you reset the ESP32, either in download or in normal mode?

[t2000chris]

Yes, I had removed it from my breadboard. No matter how I reset it, plug and unplug it, the printout just keep coming back. It's so weird..... I worked with NodeMCU-32S and Wemos ESP32 before, it never happened on those boards.

[Scott.Bonomi]

It does look like you are a couple versions out of date on the esptool.

[noweare]

I have to hold the boot btn down for a few seconds to get it to connect.