[SOLVED] Upload to Firebeetle 2 ESP-32E results in the error Property 'upload.tool.serial' is undefined

Using Arduino Avrdude, stk500, Bootloader issues
1

Hi,

When I upload to a FireBeetle 2 ESP-32E I get the following error:

Property 'upload.tool.serial' is undefined

Edit: I am using Arduino IDE version 2.1.0
I have installed the board package provided by DFrobot.
I had a problem with that package so I installed the package found in the link below.
The link also has a solution for the problem, but the solution is for Windows( I am using macOS).

I followed the advice there until I came to part where I need to edit a file called "boards.txt".
There I got stuck because I do not know where that file is on MacOS.

Please let me know if you need more information.
Sorry if this is in the wrong section.
Thank you in advance :grinning:.

2

Hi @v205

Which version of Arduino IDE are you using (e.g., "2.0.1")? The version is shown on the window title bar and also in the Help > About dialog.

I ask for this information because I want to give you the appropriate instructions for the IDE version you are using.

3

Hi @ptillisch,

I am currently using Arduino IDE 2.1.0.
I also have one of the older IDE’s installed. I haven’t checked which one that is.
Let me know if you need more information. :grinning:

4

OK, I'm going to ask you to post the full output from the upload when in verbose mode.

:exclamation: NOTE: These instructions will not solve the problem. They are only intended to gather more information which might provide a clue that eventually leads to a solution.

Please do this:

  1. Start Arduino IDE 2.1.0.
  2. Select File > Preferences from the Arduino IDE menus.
  3. Check the box next to Show verbose output during: ☐ compilation
  4. Check the box next to Show verbose output during: ☐ upload.
  5. Click the OK button.
  6. Attempt an upload, as you did before.
  7. Wait for the upload to fail.
  8. You will see a "Upload error: ..." notification at the bottom right corner of the Arduino IDE window. Click the COPY ERROR MESSAGES button on that notification.
  9. Open a forum reply here by clicking the Reply button.
  10. Click the <CODE/> icon on the post composer toolbar.
    This will add the forum's code block markup (```) to your reply to make sure the error messages are correctly formatted.
    Code tags icon on toolbar
  11. Press Ctrl+V.
    This will paste the error output from the upload into the code block.
  12. Move the cursor outside of the code tags before you add any additional text to your reply.
  13. Click the Reply button to post the output.

In case the output is longer than the forum software will allow to be added to a post, you can instead save it to a .txt file and then attach that file to a reply here:

  1. Open any text editor program.
  2. Paste the copied output into the text editor.
  3. Save the file in .txt format.
  4. Open a forum reply here by clicking the Reply button.
  5. Click the "Upload" icon (Upload icon) on the post composer toolbar:
    Upload icon on toolbar
  6. Select the .txt file you saved.
  7. Click the Open button.
  8. Click the Reply button to publish the post.

Alternatively, instead of using the "Upload" icon on the post composer toolbar as described in steps (5) - (7) above, you can simply drag and drop the .txt file onto the post composer field to attach it.

1 Like
5

Hi @ptillisch,

Thank you.
I have followed your instructions with the Mac OS equivalents.
I have also turned the setting "complier warnings" to all.
Please let me know if this is a bad idea.
The error was to long so I placed it in a text file as requested.
Thank you again. :grinning:
Here is the file(it's pretty large at 358.6 KB):

6

OK, here are the instructions:

  1. If Arduino IDE is running, select File > Quit from the Arduino IDE menus.
  2. Open the file at the following path using any text editor:
    /Users/foo/Library/Arduino15/packages/esp32/hardware/esp32/2.0.8/boards.txt
    :exclamation: The Library folder is hidden by default. You can make it visible by pressing the Command+Shift+. keyboard shortcut.
  3. Add the following line anywhere in the file:
    dfrobot_firebeetle2_esp32e.upload.tool.default=esptool_py
  4. Save the file.
  5. Start Arduino IDE.

Now try uploading again. Hopefully the error will no longer occur.

Please let me know if you have any questions or problems while following those instructions.

1 Like
7

I submitted a fix for the bug to the ESP32 boards platform developers:

1 Like
8

Hi,
@ptillisch
Thank you so much! :smiley:
The solution works.
I only wanted to add that I could not open the file by doing the following.
I used the App TextEdit. After that I tried opening the file with the terminal.
It said access denied.

I solved that problem by manually going through the listed locations.
And changing the listed file.

9

You are welcome. I'm glad it is working now. Thanks for taking the time to share your findings.

I should add that the fix I submitted to the ESP32 boards platform was accepted by the developers and included in the 2.0.9 release of the platform. So those using the latest version of the platform will not be affected by the bug you discovered, and anyone who is still affected can solve it in a more convenient manner by using the Arduino IDE Boards Manager to update to the latest version of the platform.

1 Like
10

After I edited the file.
I got an update for that platform.
So hopefully nobody will get this problem again.
Thanks again. :grinning:

1 Like
11

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