Sorry to double post, I don't see an edit option for my previous post.
I will take screen caps of everything as soon as I get home. I had to install the espressif/arduino stuff in root for some reason, it would not allow it in normal.
I'm still getting used to running Linux again, but i dont think I missed anything in the setup instructions.
This article may help for USB serial port problems. The board should appear as /dev/usbttyUSBn where n starts at 0 even if the IDE is not running or installed.
Remove the current installation. When re-installing, cut-and-paste the lines in the instructions to avoid typos.
I use ESP32 Arduino on Ubuntu 14.04 with a variety of ESP32 boards.
Good point about the IDE version gdsports. Often people think they're using the latest when they do apt-get arduino. LtShinySides, which IDE version are you using?