ESP-Wroom-32 - Won't Populate Get Board Info

[Jay_Perez]

Hi All,

Really have no idea what category to select for this question.

I have a ESP-Wroom-32 module.

I've been able to compile and load a sketch to it so something's working as it should.

However, I don't get any data when I click on the “Get Board Info” under the Tools menu. Tried holding the Boot and En buttons.

Can I ignore this or will this lack of communication cause future problems ?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Jay

[arduino_king2134]

have you instaled that particular board type in your boards manager?

[sterretje]

If you don't get a VID and PID, it is interesting. If you don't get a name or serial number, it's not an issue.

I'm not familiar with your board but the board info is pulled from the chip on the board that is responsible for the communication with the PC. On some boards that's a serial-to-usb converter, on others it's the microcontroller itself.

@arduino_king2134 , OP stated that he could upload so they must have the board package installed.

[yesbird]

I have the same issue - can upload, but no board info, while ESP32 Dev Module selected.
It's possible to live with it, but it's better to be sure that everithing is in order.

Still see no solution ...

[sterretje]

@yesbird
Do you get a VID and a PID when you query the board info? If yes , which ones?

[yesbird]

This is exactly what I see:

[sterretje]

The VID/PID indicates a CH340 which is a generic TTL-to-USB adapter. It will never indicate a specific board. The CH340 is e.g. also used on most clone Unos, Megas en Nanos.

[yesbird]

Thank you for reply, now I will sleep well this night :).
And at upload time I can see all necessary info about my board:

Chip is ESP32-D0WD-V3 (revision v3.1)
Features: WiFi, BT, Dual Core, 240MHz, VRef calibration in efuse, Coding Scheme None
Crystal is 40MHz

[fritigern]

I never get a VID or a PID or a serial number with any of my non-Arduino boards. I either get the ubiquitous report that it can't get the board info so I should try uploading a sketch. But the wind now blows in a different direction so I get "Native serial port, can't obtain info" which is baffling but just part of the normal randomness that is part of the Arduino IDE.

[ptillisch]

Hi @fritigern.

@fritigern

I never get a VID or a PID or a serial number with any of my non-Arduino boards.

As already explained above, the lack of a serial number is expected when using a board that has a general purpose USB to serial bridge chip (e.g., WCH CH340). However, it is unexpected that the "Board Info" dialog will not show a VID and PID when the serial port of any board is selected from Arduino IDE's Tools > Board menu, even when the board uses a general purpose USB chip.

If you are able to reproduce the "no VID or PID" problem again now, make sure you have selected the port of your Arduino board from Arduino IDE's Tools > Board menu. You can verify which port it is by the following procedure:

1. Disconnect the USB cable of the Arduino board from your computer.
2. Select Tools > Port from the Arduino IDE menus.
3. Take note of the ports (if any) listed in the menu.
4. Close the Tools menu.
   The ports list is only updated when the Tools menu is re-opened, so this step is essential.
5. Connect the Arduino board to your computer with a USB cable.
6. Select Tools > Port from the Arduino IDE menus. - If a new port is listed in the menu, that is the port of your Arduino board.

If you saw a new port appear at the last step, that is the board's port.

Select that port from the Tools > Port menu and try opening the "Board Info" dialog again. If you still don't see a VID and PID in the dialog, please post a screenshot of the "Board Info" dialog in a reply here on the forum thread so we can be sure we understand the situation correctly. In this case, please also tell us which USB to serial bridge chip is on the Arduino board. This is a black chip near the USB socket.

The chip will usually be identified by writing on the top. This might say something like "WCH CH340G" or "SILABS CP2102".

Examples:

WCH CH340

📷

SparkFun - CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

Silicon Labs CP2102

📷

SparkFun - CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

---

If it isn't clear, alternatively you can provide the link to where you bought the board from and we'll see if we can determine the chip from the product listing.

@fritigern

the ubiquitous report that it can't get the board info so I should try uploading a sketch

This often incorrect message has been removed in Arduino IDE 2.x. It will now only show "(null)" in the "SN" field of the "Board Info" dialog when the board doesn't present a serial number:

@fritigern

I get "Native serial port, can't obtain info"

This indicates you have selected the wrong port from Arduino IDE's Tools > Board menu. The "native serial port" is the serial port of the computer's built-in UART (e.g., COM1).

[fritigern]

@ptillisch, thank you for replying.
I'm on an iMac which may alter how the ports are displayed to the effect that, using the IDE, if no MCU is attached via cable, no ports show except bluetooth, when one is attached and correctly identified by the user as the board type, the IDE populates one of the port lines.
So today I have screenshot 1-the Port dialogue with nothing attached, 2- the same dialogue with the ESP32 attached, 3- the validation of a blink sketch, 4- the successful upload dialogue (and the KED was blinking before I reset the ESP32 with the botton) and 5- the meaningless and/or incorrect dialogue when I run "get Board info"
I can assure you the IDE has successfully sent the sketch to the ESP32 and it is still flashing.

Ta
fritigern

[ptillisch]

@fritigern

I'm on an iMac

I see. I can reproduce the bug of Tools > Board Info resulting in the incorrect display of the "Native serial port, can't obtain info" message when the port of a general purpose USB to serial adapter (I used a CH340 in my test) is selected.

The fault does not occur when using Arduino IDE 2.x so if this behavior causes you some difficulty then I recommend updating to the modern IDE.