Introduction: M5Stack MultiApp Advanced Firmware Installation Tutorial

By http://bit.ly/1nformatica
About: Here I show repairs I have done and share the techniques and tools I use. Also electronics projects and other stuff like photography, 3D printing and computer related.

I am a big fan of the M5Stack ESP32 module. It looks very professional unlike my usual “rats nest” of prototype boards and wires!

With most ESP32 development boards you can only run one program / App at a time but now on the M5Stack you can choose between many Apps via a menu. Neat huh?!

The Apps include:

  • Dual Channel Oscilloscope
  • WebRadio
  • Weather Station
  • WebServer with web based SD File manager
  • SD Browser
  • Tools
    • Wifi Packet Monitor
    • Wifi Scanner
    • I²C Scanner
    • DHT Sensor reader
    • Stopwatch
  • Games

The video shows the build and the following steps explain the process.

Step 1: Ardunio IDE Out, PlatformIO IDE In!

The first challenge is that we cannot use our beloved Arduino IDE for this project. Time for change and change is good, right?! Go to GitHub:

https://github.com/botofancalin/M5Stack-MultiApp-Advanced

Here you can see the instructions for installing PlatformIO and other requisites. First step is to download the repository and unzip it to somewhere you can easily find it e.g. desktop.

Now download and Install Visual Studio Code

https://code.visualstudio.com/

And the PlatformIO Extension https://platformio.org/get-started

Now Install ESP32 Framework on PlatformIO. For me this happened automatically once PlatformIO was installed. Also at this time look for any updates which will be flagged.

Time to apply the PlatformIO Patch, simply copy the contents of the PlatformIO_Patch directory under the M5Stack-MultiApp-Advanced-master folder on your desktop to your .platformio directory.

Step 2: Flash the M5Stack With the Precompiled Firmware

The flashing instructions can be found in the Precompiled Firmware folder under the M5Stack-MultiApp-Advanced-master folder on your desktop.

1. run ESPFlashDownloadTool_v3.6.4.exe

2. Select ESP32 DownloadTool

3. Select firmware File “M5StackMultiApp.bin”

4. enter address for file: 0x10000 (done by default)

5. Select the COM PORT on Download tool Check in your device manager the M5Stack COM port number.

6. Hold RESET key pressed on M5Stack

7. Click START on Download Tool and release the Reset key

After flashing, press reset key to start the M5Stack

Step 3: Build and Flash M5Stack MultiApp

Open the MultiApp Project folder in PlatformIO.

Navigate to the src folder and load the main.cpp file.

Click the BUILD button located in the lower left hand corner of the Visual Studio task bar. You will see some warning messages in yellow but hopefully after a while you will see the green “SUCCESS” message!

Now hit the Upload arrow button and wait for another green “SUCCESS” message and the MultiApp menu should appear on the M5Stack – congratulations!! You can now explore the Apps.

Get your M5Stack here: M5Stack ESP32

Or Here : M5Stack ESP32