I have thrown everything I can think of to get even simple code to work. One suggestion was change the driver on the usb port to match the UART on the board [image] Nothing appears in the serial monitor String receivedMessage = ""; // Variable to store the complete message void setup() { // Start the Serial Monitor at a baud rate of 115200 Serial.begin(115200); // Print an initial message to the Serial Monitor Serial.println("ESP32 is ready. Please enter a message:"); } void loop() { // Check if data is available in the Serial buffer while (Serial.available()) { char incomingChar = Serial.read(); // Read each character from the buffer if (incomingChar == '\n') { // Check if the user pressed Enter (new line character) // Print the message Serial.print("You sent: "); Serial.println(receivedMessage); // Clear the message buffer for the next input receivedMessage = ""; } else { // Append the character to the message string receivedMessage += incomingChar; } } }

[image] KimBrussow: I have a Lonely Binary ESP32 WiFi Bluetooth Development Board 8MB Flash have you seen Welcome to Lonely Binary’s ESP32 Cookbook check the ESP32 module you have - there are ESP32 and ESP32S3 versions of the Lonely Binary

[image] KimBrussow: this is my display the technical details one the link to the display are very vague - lots of photos and little else can you check the display chip is a ST7796 ?

my display is 4.0inch SPI Module MSP4020 & MSP4021 << with touch uses a 4-wire SPI communication method with a driver IC of ST7796S with a resolution in 320x480 and a touch function Touch IC XPT2046

which File>Examples>TFT_eSPI have you tried? anything on the display, e.g. white screen indicating LED backlight is working if you have an oscilloscope or logic analyzer can you see any CLK or DATA pulses on the ESP Pins? any serial monitor output?

Under the 480 x 320, I tried the examples Demo_3D_cube, Graph_2, TFT_String_Align and TFT_Meters sorry no o-scope but I do see cs_tft at a low state from my break out board .

I find it useful to print the GPIO settings just before call tft.init(), e.g. void setup(void) { Serial.begin(115200); delay(2000); Serial.println("\n\nESP32 TFT_eSPI library example TFT_Print_Test"); //Serial.println(ID); Serial.printf("TFT_MOSI %d\n", TFT_MOSI); Serial.printf("TFT_MISO %d\n", TFT_MISO); Serial.printf("TFT_SCLK %d\n", TFT_SCLK); Serial.printf("TFT_CS %d\n", TFT_CS); Serial.printf("TFT_DC %d\n", TFT_DC); Serial.printf("TFT_RST %d\n", TFT_RST); tft.init(); just to make sure the TFT_eSPI library has the settings you think it has

I did try that, however nothing appeared in the serial monitor window. I suspect the selection of my board is wrong. I contacted the mfgr. Lonely binary for clarification but have had no response. Also interesting is the board info (ide) shows this [espBordIDE] I did try the LilyGo T-display but got the error wrong board.

@KimBrussow did you ever check the thing I mentioned in post #4?: [image] ptillisch: Serial communication is done at 115200 baud. The Arduino IDE Serial Monitor must be configured for the same baud rate as set in the sketch program. Check to make sure the selection in the menu at the top right corner of the Serial Monitor panel matches the baud rate in the sketch code. If not, select the correct baud rate and press the reset button on the board to restart the sketch program. Hopefully you will then see the expected output in Serial Monitor. [image] KimBrussow: Also interesting is the board info (ide) shows this This is not significant. The Arduino boards platform framework allows the platform developer to associate a board definition with properties of a port (typically the USB VID/PID pair). This information allows the Arduino development tools to automatically identify a port as being created by a board. This is what populates the "BN" field in the "Board Info" dialog and also the board name labels you might notice sometimes appended to the port names in Arduino IDE's Tools > Port menu. These associations should only be made in cases where a board model produces unique properties. Unfortunately one of the contributors to the "esp32" boards platform inappropriately associated the VID/PID pair of the general purpose WCH CH9012 USB chip with the "LilyGo T-Display" board definition, even though those properties are not unique to the "LilyGo T-Display" hardware: fix(boards): Remove port property assoc. for non-unique VID/PID pairs master ← per1234:remove-generic-port-properties-association opened 04:46PM - 31 Aug 24 UTC [image] per1234 +0 -8 ## Description of Change The Arduino boards platform framework allows propert…ies of a port to be [associated with a board definition](https://arduino.github.io/arduino-cli/dev/platform-specification/#properties-from-pluggable-discovery:~:text=upload_port.vid%20and%20upload_port.pid%20properties). The Arduino development software will identify a port having the associated properties as that board. This should only be done for properties that are unique to the ports produced by that board model. In cases where a board model does not produce a port with properties unique to that model, it is irresponsible to associate those properties with the board definition as this will cause other models to be inappropriately identified. The authors of these board definitions associated them with non-unique USB VID/PID pairs so those associations must be removed. The `303a:1001` VID/PID pair is of the hardware CDC serial port of the native USB ESP32 chips. The others are stock VID/PID pairs of general purpose USB to serial bridge chips that are used on many different board models. ## Tests scenarios Compile for the modified boards using the platform (at 0b8eedea5cf18e2b01f80975197b85f70a36caf3) with this patch (0a8c586953327af6d38280ca10c612a82b4d1be7) applied. ## Related links Originally reported at https://forum.arduino.cc/t/i-dont-have-elecrow-crowpanel-7-0p/1293026 - https://github.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/issues/6384 - https://github.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/issues/7292 - https://github.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/issues/9702 - https://forum.arduino.cc/t/issue-with-arduino-cloud-device-recognition-esp32-dev-module-detected-as-lilygo-t-display/1295971 This is the reason why Arduino IDE identifies the port of any board that happens to have that CH9012 USB chip as a "LilyGo T-Display". However, although this can be a bit confusing, it is not a serious problem. Arduino IDE's port identification system is only a convenience feature. Just make sure you have selected the appropriate board from Arduino IDE's Tools > Board menu and you'll be just fine.

[image] KimBrussow: but got the error wrong board. for the majority of ESP32 dev boards I tend to use Tools>Board "ESP32 Dev Module" if you select Tools menu do you see something like [image] in the case of Serial not working if you run the Device Manager does COM port appear/disappear as plug/unplug the microcontroller? if not do you get any message, e.g. "USB device not recognized" disconnect everything (sensors/relays etc) from the board try a different USB port try a different USB cable (some are charge only) try EN / BOOT/ RST button combinations

I have not seen that board before. It is unlikely it is an esp32 issue, but could you change the esp32 to another, the DOIT is recommended by the RandomNerds who are respected esp32 educators.

TFT_eSPI examples don't run

Projects General Guidance

horace June 12, 2025, 8:30am 39

I have never had problems using the Adafruit_ILI9341 library
also works with the LovyanGFX library

try the pins you used with the Adafruit library with the TFT_eSPI?

Topic		Replies	Views
ESP32S3 - nothing happening on TFT 3rd Party Boards	21	1184	March 10, 2026
Newbie Arduino Display Deutsch	60	1291	August 1, 2026
ESP32 C3 and TFT 128x160 (ST7735) Displays	18	2310	September 23, 2025
ESp32 and ST7789P3 2.25" 76x284 TFT (from Estardyn) Displays	4	2143	July 12, 2026
Nano ESP32 getting stuck in boot loop with the TFT_eSPI library Nano ESP32	12	286	October 9, 2026

TFT_eSPI examples don't run

Related topics