Flashing the firmware

1. Plug the screen into your computer using the socket marked UART0 (that is the text printed beside it on the back), directly rather than through a hub or a dock.
   Nothing to press: that socket puts the screen into flashing mode by itself. Linux has the driver built in; Windows usually fetches it the first time you plug the screen in.
2. Plug the screen into your computer using the socket marked USB2.0, directly rather than through a hub or a dock.
   Both sockets are USB-C, so go by the label. On a Mac this is the one that needs no driver, and in Firefox on Windows it is the only one that works at all, because Firefox cannot read from the UART0 adapter there. Two button presses and you are past it.
3. Put it into flashing mode: hold BOOT, tap RESET, then let go of BOOT.
   The screen goes black and stays black. That is what it should do.
4. Press Install and accept the terms. Your browser asks whether seemy.beer may connect to a serial device: choose Allow, then pick the screen from the list.

   This browser can't flash over USB. Open this page in Chrome or Edge on a computer and the install button will appear. Firefox works from version 151, but only through the USB2.0 socket. Safari cannot flash on any device, and on a phone only Chrome for Android can.

   ×

   Install firmware

   One check, then it writes. Your browser will ask whether seemy.beer may connect to a serial device: choose Allow, then pick the screen. It shows up as USB-SERIAL CH340 or similar on the UART0 socket, or USB JTAG/serial debug unit on USB2.0. The exact wording depends on your computer. There should only be one to choose from.

   Nothing in the list? The cable may be charge-only, or the screen may need its driver. The flashing guide covers both.

   Which screen do you have?

   Turn your screen over. Right of centre, near the top, is a line of small white text beside the logo. It ends in a version number.

   It ends in V1.0 It ends in V1.1 or V1.2 It says something else, or I cannot find it

   I accept the terms. The firmware is for my own screen only, not for modification or redistribution.

   Nothing is stored on your computer. If the install stops part way through, the screen stays in flashing mode and you can simply run it again: a half-written flash is fixed by rewriting it, which is exactly what this does.

5. Tap RESET when it finishes.
   The installer tells you when. It will also say it has restarted the screen. It has not.
6. Wait. Do not unplug it. The first time the sign starts up after the flash, it sits doing nothing for a couple of minutes. That is normal, and it is the one moment that matters. Leave it plugged in until the setup screen appears.

That is the flashing done. From here the sign updates itself and never needs USB again.

Then set it up

The sign makes its own Wi-Fi hotspot. Join that from your phone, tell the sign which Wi-Fi network to use, and choose which mode you want it to run in.

The sign walks you through the rest, so there is nothing else you need to read first.

Going to use Home Assistant mode? There is a job to do on the Home Assistant side before the sign can read anything, and the guide covers it.

If something looks wrong

The screen isn't in the list when the browser asks which device to connect

Pressing Install opens a window listing the devices your browser can see. If the screen isn't there, the cause is one of these, most likely first: a charge-only cable, a hub or dock in the way, the wrong socket, or the screen not in flashing mode. It is almost always the cable.

The screen went black and stayed black

That is what flashing mode looks like, and it means it is working. The screen comes back on its own when the flash finishes.

It has been sat doing nothing for two minutes since I plugged it in

Expected, and the one moment not to unplug it. A new sign spends its first couple of minutes updating itself before it starts, and it does that with the screen blank, which is why it looks stuck. If it does get interrupted, nothing is broken. It simply tries again the next time you power it on.

The colours look patchy or there are faint bands down the sides

A ghost of whatever was on screen when it lost power mid-flash. It fades on its own within a few minutes and only ever happens straight after flashing.

I would rather use UART0 on my Mac

You can, and then there are no buttons to press at either end. The cost is a driver: UART0 goes through a CH340 chip and macOS has no built-in one.

Install the CH34xVCPDriver from WCH, the company that makes the chip, then approve it under System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions → Driver Extensions, which is not where you would think to look. Some versions of macOS want a restart afterwards.

Windows never found the screen

Windows does not include this driver as standard. It usually pulls one down from Windows Update within a minute of the screen being plugged in, but that only happens if Windows Update can reach the internet and is not always instant.

If nothing appears, install the CH341SER driver from WCH, the company that makes the chip, then unplug and replug the screen. Linux does not need any of this: the ch341 module has been in the kernel since 2013.

I'd rather use the USB2.0 socket (it needs no driver)

It needs no driver on any operating system, because it is the ESP32-P4's own USB. In exchange it cannot restart the screen for you, so there are two extra things to do.

Before you press Install: hold BOOT, tap RESET, then release BOOT. That is flashing mode.

When it finishes: it will say it has reset the screen. It has not: that reset needs a serial bridge and this socket has none. Tap RESET yourself to start the sign.

In the device list this socket shows up as ESP32-P4 or USB JTAG/serial debug unit.

Wi-Fi drops every few minutes

The update the sign runs when it first starts up hasn't finished. Leave it powered and undisturbed through a couple of restarts and it will retry on its own, three attempts in total.

If it is still dropping after that, the sign has stopped trying so that it starts normally rather than sitting on the update for ever. Get in touch at [email protected] and we will sort it out with you.

What if the install stops part way through?

No harm done. Nothing is stored on your computer, and the screen stays in flashing mode. A half-written flash is fixed by writing it again, which is exactly what pressing Install does.