Support for ESP32-MINI-1? (Adafruit Sparkle Motion Mini)

[astolarz]

Hello, I recently bought one of Adafruit's new Sparkle Motion Mini boards (based on the ESP32-MINI-1), and have so far been unable to flash anything to it. I haven't found any results for anyone running into issues or offering advice on running Rust on this particular chip so far. I get a MemData error without specifying --no-stub, and a FlashDeflData error with --no-stub.

Is the ESP32-MINI-1 different enough from a "normal" ESP32 to require its own implementation or could I just be getting some configs wrong? I'm still new to embedded programming (and Rust in general; my background is primarily C++ applications).

I found on Adafruit's YouTube channel mentioned that they discovered that GPIO 9 and 10 were not available because the ESP32-Mini module [they're] using has slightly different pin availability. They needed to make a change to the WLED project because of this.

I've looked around the code here, but there's a lot that's much lower level than my knowledge goes (and a lot of magic numbers as well).

board-info results:

Chip type:         esp32 (revision v3.1)
Crystal frequency: 40 MHz
Flash size:        4MB
Features:          WiFi, BT, Dual Core, 240MHz, Embedded Flash, VRef calibration in efuse, Coding Scheme None
MAC address:       ec:c9:ff:8a:7c:54

cargo espflash flash --no-stub results:

[2025-03-13T06:04:21Z DEBUG] Flash(
        FlashArgs {
            build_args: BuildArgs {
                bin: None,
                example: None,
                features: None,
                no_default_features: false,
                frozen: false,
                locked: false,
                package: None,
                release: false,
                target: None,
                target_dir: None,
                unstable: None,
                flash_config_args: FlashConfigArgs {
                    flash_freq: None,
                    flash_mode: None,
                    flash_size: None,
                },
            },
            connect_args: ConnectArgs {
                after: HardReset,
                baud: None,
                before: DefaultReset,
                chip: None,
                confirm_port: false,
                list_all_ports: false,
                no_stub: true,
                port: None,
            },
            flash_args: FlashArgs {
                erase_parts: None,
                erase_data_parts: None,
                log_format: Serial,
                monitor: false,
                monitor_baud: None,
                ram: false,
                no_verify: false,
                no_skip: false,
                image: ImageArgs {
                    bootloader: None,
                    partition_table: None,
                    partition_table_offset: None,
                    target_app_partition: None,
                    min_chip_rev: 0,
                },
                processors: None,
            },
        },
    ), false
[2025-03-13T06:04:22Z DEBUG] connecting to crates.io:443 at 3.163.158.4:443
[2025-03-13T06:04:22Z DEBUG] No cached session for DnsName("crates.io")
[2025-03-13T06:04:22Z DEBUG] Not resuming any session
[2025-03-13T06:04:22Z DEBUG] Using ciphersuite TLS13_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
[2025-03-13T06:04:22Z DEBUG] Not resuming
[2025-03-13T06:04:22Z DEBUG] TLS1.3 encrypted extensions: [ServerNameAck]
[2025-03-13T06:04:22Z DEBUG] ALPN protocol is None
[2025-03-13T06:04:22Z DEBUG] created stream: Stream(RustlsStream)
[2025-03-13T06:04:22Z DEBUG] sending request GET https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/cargo-espflash/versions
[2025-03-13T06:04:22Z DEBUG] writing prelude: GET /api/v1/crates/cargo-espflash/versions HTTP/1.1
    Host: crates.io
    User-Agent: ureq/2.12.1
    Accept: */*
    accept-encoding: gzip
[2025-03-13T06:04:22Z DEBUG] Chunked body in response
[2025-03-13T06:04:22Z DEBUG] response 200 to GET https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/cargo-espflash/versions
[2025-03-13T06:04:22Z DEBUG] dropping stream: Stream(RustlsStream)
[2025-03-13T06:04:22Z DEBUG] Config: Config {
        baudrate: None,
        bootloader: None,
        connection: Connection {
            serial: None,
        },
        partition_table: None,
        partition_table_offset: None,
        usb_device: [
            UsbDevice {
                vid: 6790,
                pid: 21971,
            },
            UsbDevice {
                vid: 12346,
                pid: 4097,
            },
        ],
        flash: FlashSettings {
            mode: None,
            size: None,
            freq: None,
        },
        save_path: "/Users/aaron/Library/Application Support/rs.esp.espflash/espflash.toml",
    }
[2025-03-13T06:04:22Z INFO ] Detected 2 serial ports
[2025-03-13T06:04:22Z INFO ] Ports which match a known common dev board are highlighted
[2025-03-13T06:04:22Z INFO ] Please select a port
[2025-03-13T06:04:24Z INFO ] Serial port: '/dev/tty.usbmodem59720878811'
[2025-03-13T06:04:24Z INFO ] Connecting...
[2025-03-13T06:04:24Z DEBUG] Using UnixTight reset strategy with delay of 50ms
[2025-03-13T06:04:24Z DEBUG] Boot Mode: 0x3
[2025-03-13T06:04:24Z DEBUG] Download Mode: true
[2025-03-13T06:04:24Z DEBUG] Writing command: Sync
[2025-03-13T06:04:24Z DEBUG] Writing command: Sync
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1073745920 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Attempting flash enable with: SpiAttachParams { clk: 0, q: 0, d: 0, hd: 0, cs: 0 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: SpiAttach { spi_params: SpiAttachParams { clk: 0, q: 0, d: 0, hd: 0, cs: 0 } }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1072963612 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1072963620 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: WriteReg { address: 1072963612, value: 2415919104, mask: None }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: WriteReg { address: 1072963620, value: 1879048351, mask: None }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: WriteReg { address: 1072963628, value: 23, mask: None }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: WriteReg { address: 1072963712, value: 0, mask: None }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: WriteReg { address: 1072963584, value: 262144, mask: None }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1072963612 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1072963712 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: WriteReg { address: 1072963612, value: 2147483712, mask: None }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: WriteReg { address: 1072963620, value: 1879048192, mask: None }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Flash detect failed
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Attempting flash enable with: SpiAttachParams { clk: 6, q: 17, d: 8, hd: 11, cs: 16 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: SpiAttach { spi_params: SpiAttachParams { clk: 6, q: 17, d: 8, hd: 11, cs: 16 } }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1072963612 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1072963620 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: WriteReg { address: 1072963612, value: 2415919104, mask: None }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: WriteReg { address: 1072963620, value: 1879048351, mask: None }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: WriteReg { address: 1072963628, value: 23, mask: None }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: WriteReg { address: 1072963712, value: 0, mask: None }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: WriteReg { address: 1072963584, value: 262144, mask: None }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1072963612 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1072963712 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: WriteReg { address: 1072963612, value: 2147483712, mask: None }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: WriteReg { address: 1072963620, value: 1879048192, mask: None }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Flash detect OK!
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: SpiSetParams { spi_params: SpiSetParams { fl_id: 0, total_size: 4194304, block_size: 65536, sector_size: 4096, page_size: 256, status_mask: 65535 } }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1073111164 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1073061900 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1073061908 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1073061908 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1072955412 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: SpiAttach { spi_params: SpiAttachParams { clk: 6, q: 17, d: 8, hd: 11, cs: 16 } }
    Finished `dev` profile [optimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 0.11s
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1073111164 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1073061900 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1073061908 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1073061908 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1072955412 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1073061900 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1073061904 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1073061912 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1073061900 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1073061892 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1073061896 }
Chip type:         esp32 (revision v3.1)
Crystal frequency: 40 MHz
Flash size:        4MB
Features:          WiFi, BT, Dual Core, 240MHz, Embedded Flash, VRef calibration in efuse, Coding Scheme None
MAC address:       ec:c9:ff:8a:7c:54
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: SpiAttach { spi_params: SpiAttachParams { clk: 6, q: 17, d: 8, hd: 11, cs: 16 } }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1073111164 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1073061900 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1073061908 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: ReadReg { address: 1073061908 }
App/part. size:    95,840/4,128,768 bytes, 2.32%
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: FlashMd5 { offset: 4096, size: 26656 }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: FlashDeflBegin { size: 26656, blocks: 17, block_size: 1024, offset: 4096, supports_encryption: false }
[2025-03-13T06:04:25Z DEBUG] Writing command: FlashDeflData { data: [120, 218, 173, 124, 11, 92, 19, 87, 214, 248, 204, 36, 132, 16, 70, 155, 32, 164, 138, 180, 157, 4, 131, 209, 162, 13, 160, 5, 169, 46, 9, 82, 20, 31, 91, 64, 197, 71, 235, 95, 2, 36, 66, 203, 75, 8, 245, 81, 186, 155, 193, 22, 163, 213, 111, 1, 219, 10, 174, 253, 118, 38, 109, 42, 178, 242, 9, 244, 225, 171, 108, 9, 109, 169, 237, 226, 87, 181, 237, 214, 62, 220, 82, 187, 180, 182, 246, 129, 60, 19, 32, 153, 255, 185, 51, 1, 209, 106, 183, 223, 247, 255, 251, 243, 100, 230, 158, 123, 238, 185, 231, 158, 123, 238, 185, 231, 222, 185, 151, 239, 196, 4, 181, 66, 34, 213, 255, 132, 249, 254, 253, 9, 71, 191, 184, 14, 227, 18, 218, 166, 99, 24, 7, 255, 180, 169, 98, 140, 59, 10, 72, 148, 211, 51, 144, 128, 30, 98, 0, 63, 0, 9, 128, 63, 128, 161, 180, 212, 84, 98, 161, 204, 198, 188, 124, 83, 14, 149, 87, 72, 105, 74, 35, 1, 226, 53, 57, 148, 86, 83, 58, 107, 146, 12, 51, 102, 21, 149, 88, 180, 179, 168, 173, 198, 82, 42, 219, 152, 143, 200, 140, 22, 42, 117, 49, 165, 219, 166, 209, 197, 109, 3, 138, 172, 162, 34, 11, 54, 253, 97, 221, 3, 49, 81, 5, 15, 66, 177, 252, 178, 89, 136, 5, 149, 95, 100, 204, 161, 138, 141, 37, 150, 60, 75, 94, 81, 33, 101, 49, 102, 229, 155, 40, 83, 73, 73, 81, 137, 10, 168, 11, 100, 24, 149, 87, 74, 21, 22, 89, 40, 196, 0, 101, 222, 138, 73, 178, 49, 219, 82, 84, 178, 157, 50, 22, 23, 95, 231, 165, 41, 21, 24, 252, 10, 189, 197, 84, 106, 249, 205, 133, 30, 90, 109, 184, 145, 150, 42, 205, 7, 185, 52, 57, 55, 148, 137, 46, 72, 153, 80, 102, 5, 180, 14, 233, 2, 138, 153, 75, 138, 10, 38, 148, 5, 245, 20, 153, 205, 165, 38, 11, 82, 209, 182, 219, 50, 72, 202, 43, 133, 70, 231, 21, 110, 166, 210, 127, 191, 132, 50, 25, 75, 242, 183, 83, 166, 66, 75, 73, 81, 241, 118, 170, 180, 168, 172, 36, 219, 52, 119, 238, 92, 161, 116, 82, 250, 67, 43, 111, 37, 119, 74, 129, 113, 179, 137, 202, 46, 42, 180, 24, 243, 10, 75, 169, 130, 178, 124, 75, 94, 49, 40, 89, 83, 74, 149, 154, 54, 23, 0, 183, 210, 185, 212, 67, 133, 192, 216, 146, 107, 162, 242, 141, 160, 146, 162, 66, 19, 181, 53, 47, 63, 159, 202, 50, 81, 5, 32, 188, 41, 199, 87, 71, 202, 109, 234, 120, 16, 117, 24, 178, 140, 173, 37, 121, 22, 211, 38, 232, 169, 28, 163, 197, 72, 21, 21, 155, 74, 140, 168, 185, 115, 81, 151, 82, 139, 126, 189, 173, 171, 64, 25, 208, 49, 101, 198, 124, 10, 24, 108, 42, 53, 109, 89, 4, 121, 136, 171, 143, 223, 195, 186, 141, 183, 237, 29, 100, 30, 200, 150, 76, 37, 155, 10, 64, 100, 45, 212, 148, 191, 45, 146, 226, 31, 179, 124, 166, 43, 20, 78, 79, 166, 16, 51, 108, 172, 243, 177, 181, 121, 201, 121, 2, 234, 247, 25, 171, 168, 199, 76, 219, 75, 49, 147, 185, 172, 212, 132, 173, 41, 124, 172, 176, 104, 107, 161, 144, 135, 186, 159, 127, 25, 195, 162, 162, 62, 155, 192, 204, 215, 13, 16, 43, 19, 242, 127, 163, 144, 130, 140, 55, 137, 120, 75, 147, 229, 7, 159, 165, 136, 122, 220, 84, 146, 103, 222, 126, 243, 152, 185, 173, 86, 83, 199, 233, 86, 35, 186, 248, 219, 18, 134, 135, 83, 43, 140, 89, 166, 124, 106, 194, 191, 53, 165, 200, 118, 198, 255, 173, 222, 94, 108, 162, 86, 173, 166, 30, 18, 44, 151, 162, 86, 152, 10, 55, 91, 114, 111, 203, 82, 19, 157, 67, 105, 230, 68, 221, 95, 58, 246, 171, 139, 222, 54, 246, 19, 151, 239, 251, 189, 109, 233, 7, 11, 115, 96, 140, 252, 74, 67, 111, 212, 16, 178, 153, 188, 66, 115, 209, 196, 1, 154, 183, 3, 236, 28, 217, 80, 41, 104, 174, 136, 42, 45, 0, 223, 68, 105, 11, 242, 10, 243, 10, 202, 10, 96, 232, 82, 89, 219, 193, 12, 102, 221, 126, 248, 153, 204, 70, 52, 94, 96, 252, 129, 230, 199, 122, 57, 15, 141, 168, 219, 150, 249, 253, 77, 132, 145, 148, 165, 100, 59, 226, 128, 140, 69, 247, 107, 226, 243, 246, 53, 65, 252, 188, 194, 199, 141, 249, 121, 57, 145, 192, 47, 159, 247, 1, 89, 198, 236, 199, 38, 8, 242, 191, 224, 69, 25, 65, 169, 133, 227, 28, 34, 133, 97, 110, 65, 166, 11, 207, 113, 242, 219, 123, 65, 104, 221, 152, 39, 22, 220, 231, 196, 42, 120, 15, 114, 251, 254, 138, 41, 88, 123, 131, 69, 223, 216, 168, 113, 103, 12, 115, 72, 17, 114, 71, 227, 245, 140, 115, 252, 77, 82, 221, 224, 163, 75, 127, 85, 42, 51, 120, 187, 220, 77, 40, 171, 244, 86, 92, 175, 151, 209, 228, 140, 43, 112, 206, 4, 191, 13, 38, 204, 155, 152, 240, 106, 218, 150, 109, 50, 229, 148, 82, 60, 87, 42, 59, 55, 175, 120, 66, 238, 237, 167, 21, 212, 84, 228, 112, 87, 38, 205, 135, 66, 166, 236, 199, 74, 193, 52, 193, 96, 65, 61, 69, 91, 127, 197, 35, 164, 20, 102, 23, 149, 148, 152, 178, 45, 55, 148, 188, 45, 249, 45, 27, 3, 246, 153, 151, 77, 21, 150, 21, 100, 153, 74, 110, 118, 206, 183, 43, 46, 104, 57, 215, 136, 166, 101, 232, 180, 18, 24, 77, 70, 126, 132, 160, 121, 9, 44, 10, 77, 214, 60, 119, 129, 151, 169, 180, 120, 19, 63, 14, 110, 197, 117, 241, 88, 123, 5, 239, 55], pad_to: 0, pad_byte: 255, sequence: 0 }
Error: 
  × The bootloader returned an error
  ├─▶ Error while running FlashDeflData command
  ╰─▶ Other

[SergioGasquez]

A few ideas:

• Have you tried using cargo-espflash@main: cargo install cargo-espflash --git https://github.com/esp-rs/espflash?
• Try using esptool and see if the same error still appear
• Try different usb wire (?)

[astolarz]

Using the latest espflash only resulted in better formatted FlashDeflData (all hex values, so it aligned nicely).

esptool didn't give any errors for flash_id:

esptool.py -p /dev/tty.usbmodem59720878811 --no-stub flash_id
esptool.py v4.8.1
Serial port /dev/tty.usbmodem59720878811
Connecting....
Detecting chip type... Unsupported detection protocol, switching and trying again...
Connecting.....
Detecting chip type... ESP32
Chip is ESP32-U4WDH (revision v3.1)
Features: WiFi, BT, Dual Core, 240MHz, Embedded Flash, VRef calibration in efuse, Coding Scheme None
Crystal is 40MHz
MAC: ec:c9:ff:8a:7c:54
Attaching flash from eFuses' SPI pads configuration(CLK:6, Q:17, D:8, HD:11, CS:16)...
Manufacturer: 20
Device: 4016
Detected flash size: 4MB
Flash voltage set by a strapping pin to 3.3V
Hard resetting via RTS pin...

but it would fail during write_flash (not even sure I'm doing this right)"

esptool.py -p /dev/tty.usbmodem59720878811 --no-stub write_flash 0x01000 target/xtensa-esp32-none-elf/release/esp-led-test
esptool.py v4.8.1
Serial port /dev/tty.usbmodem59720878811
Connecting....
Detecting chip type... Unsupported detection protocol, switching and trying again...
Connecting.....
Detecting chip type... ESP32
Chip is ESP32-U4WDH (revision v3.1)
Features: WiFi, BT, Dual Core, 240MHz, Embedded Flash, VRef calibration in efuse, Coding Scheme None
Crystal is 40MHz
MAC: ec:c9:ff:8a:7c:54
Attaching flash from eFuses' SPI pads configuration(CLK:6, Q:17, D:8, HD:11, CS:16)...
Configuring flash size...
WARNING: In case of failure, please set a specific --flash_size.
Flash will be erased from 0x00001000 to 0x000a7fff...
Erasing flash...
Took 2.87s to erase flash block
Writing at 0x00001000... (0 %)
A fatal error occurred: Failed to write to target Flash after seq 0 (result was 01050000: Requested resource not found)

I was using a USB-C-to-C cable that either came with one of my Apple device or Pixel phones, so I would expect it to be of good quality, but I tried a couple other USB cables I had and all had the same result.

[astolarz]

I forgot to add, I'm using a MacBook Pro with an Apple M3 Pro.

[SergioGasquez]

To me, it looks like a hw thing as both esptool and espflash behave the same way: They are able to run the board_info/flash_id command, but then when, trying to write flash they fail. Might be something related to the strapping pins as you mentioned

[astolarz]

It ended up being a driver issue 🤦‍♂️. I was able to flash my board using the solution from here, with the drivers from here. Thank you for taking the time to look into this though!

Just in case it ends up being helpful in the future, I dug through ladyada's commits a little more and found this PR to the arduino-esp32 project which contains definitions that may be useful for supporting the ESP32-Mini-1 (Sparkle Motion Mini in the PR).