IDE: Arduino IDE (latest) windows 11 Problem: When connected, the ESP32 does not show any COM port in the Arduino IDE. Only “USB Serial” appears under Other Devices in Device Manager. Arduino boards work fine on the same IDE.
Steps Taken:
Tried both USB-C ports on laptop.
Installed CH340 drivers (no effect).
Checked Device Manager: only “USB Serial” appears.
Pressed and held the BOOT button while connecting the board(no effect)
Questions:
Should I be connecting via COM port or USB?
How to make the ESP32 show up correctly in Arduino IDE?
Are additional drivers or settings required for ESP32 C3 Mini 1?
I know the problem isnt in my computer or anything because when my arduino UNO COM shows up just fine (diff data cable)
close up board image below:
Could you show a photo of the other side of the board please?
Also can you confirm that your USB cable is a data cable and not just a charging cable?
Have you tried a different USB cable?
Regarding your COM or USB question, I believe it should come up on a COM port, but if you look in the IDE under Tools -> Port, does it show as a USB port?
BTW, I beleive these boards have either a CH343 or CP2102 UART. The CH343 is a newer chip with a different driver, so the CH340 driver is not going to help here. The topside photo should hopefully help determine which variant you have.
It is excellent troubleshooting technique to check Device Manager.
It was not certain from your description that you verified that the device you saw in Device Manager was produced by the "ESP32 C3 Mini" board (as opposed to being some unrelated device that happens to be present on your system.
In order to verify it truly is from the board, please try this troubleshooting procedure and then report the results:
This procedure is not intended to solve the problem. The purpose is to gather more information.
Disconnect the USB cable of the Arduino board from your computer.
I have a different ESP device but have the same problem with the CP210x driver. I downloaded, installed per directions. I did the diagnosing actions you describe here. My device list does not have a "Port" or "Ports (COM & LPT)" section. Turning on "Show hidden devices" gave several new items but right click did not show any new devices. I did this with the ESP connected and disconnected.
The cable involved was previously used successfully.
I had a previously working setup with a Windows 10 computer, same ESP32(s), same cable. I replaced the computer (now Windows 11), am now attempting to get exactly the same setup working with the new computer.
Select View > Devices by type from the Device Manager menus.
Open the "View" menu.
If there is a ✓ to the left of the "Show hidden devices" menu item, click on "Show hidden devices" to disable it.
Take note of the contents of the "Other devices" section of the Device Manager tree.
Connect the Arduino board to your computer with a USB cable.
Select Action > Scan for hardware changes" from the Device Manager menus.
Now please reply here on this forum topic with the answers to the following questions:
Did you see any new device appear in the "Other devices" section of the device tree after following those instructions?
If you did see a new device, what is it named?
You can repeat the procedure multiple times if you are not sure.
Note that this setting causes items to be shown in the device tree for devices that were recognized by your computer in the past, but are not currently detected. We are only interested in the devices that are actually connected to your computer and successfully recognized at the time of the experiment, so these additional "hidden devices" are irrelevant. Furthermore, they might cause confusion. This is why I recommend leaving that setting off while performing this experiment.
I'd already done that (see above).
Reboot of Windows 11 computer and connecting everything with different hardware brought it to life. After restoring all of the "failed" components back together in original config, it all worked. Not sure where the problem was but I now have success.
This procedure is not intended to solve the problem. The purpose is to gather more information.