Updating the sketch

Samovar 7.00: updating through the Arduino IDE is supported. As an equal option, you can run the configurator of the new release and press "Flash" («Прошить»); LittleFS is uploaded with a separate "Upload LittleFS" («Загрузить LittleFS») button and replaces the web interface files (user files in LittleFS may be lost in the process). The configurator stores your values in the user_config_override.h file next to the sketch - copy it to the directory of the new release, and the settings will be kept. You can also flash over Wi-Fi: the "Update" («Обновить») button finds Samovar on the network if "Allow Wi-Fi update" («Разрешить обновление по Wi-Fi») is enabled in the "Network" («Сеть») section (USE_UPDATE_OTA).

 

 

As new versions come out, updating will become necessary. A new release may come with new or changed  libraries and tools. Therefore, to avoid errors, it is recommended each time to use exactly the libraries and tools that are in the archive  of the specific release.

 

 

 

 

Using the section Initial sketch upload we prepared a certain structure of files and directories in  ...Documents\Arduino. We will continue based on the previous organization.

 

Prepare the ... Documents\Arduino\ directory in the following order:

 

This way only the OLD directory remains in the ... Documents\Arduino\ directory.
And inside OLD there will be: the Samovar-7.00 archive, and the Samovar-7.00 directory with the nested Samovar directory.
This storage system rules out errors during updates, lets you use the previous settings for the new release and, if necessary, quickly roll back to the previous or an even earlier  version.

 

Next we proceed step by step, as in the first installation: "unpack" the new release in  ... Documents\Arduino\ until the previous directory structure is obtained. Accordingly, the archive and the directory obtained from the archive will have the new version number in their names.
But now we do not upload the sketch to the ESP right away; first we make the necessary settings in the Samovar_ini.h file. This can be done in two ways:

 

1. The right way.
For convenience you will need special programs that can compare two different files, visually showing the differences between them.

The recommended program is WinMerge — (A compare and merge tool for Windows that can compare both files and folders, showing the differences in a visual text form . The program is easy to use and has a Russian interface.)
Or a more advanced, but also harder to learn,  program  Notepad++ with the installed plugin Compare.

 
An example using  the WinMerge program.
To compare, you need to select two different Samovar_ini.h files
First select the file from the OLD directory, where we have just moved the previous Samovar version. It is located at: ... \Documents\Arduino\OLD\Samovar-7.00\Samovar\

Take the second file from the directory with the new Samovar release. It is located in ... \Documents\Arduino\Samovar\

 

The program compares both files and highlights the lines with differences.

 

The differences will be highlighted in a lighter tone. You can edit the values on the right manually, or you can place the cursor on the left and give the command "Copy to Right" («Копировать направо»).

This way, line by line, the settings file is adjusted for your equipment. When all edits are done, click the "Save" icon

The main thing is not to mix up that the old settings file is on the left, and the file Samovar will work with is on the right.

 

When updating through the Arduino IDE, compare Samovar_ini.h of the new and previous releases and carry over only your own values. Do not paste the old Samovar_ini.h over the new one: even a small release may contain new required parameters.

If the new release introduces new Samovar functions, you must edit the Samovar_ini.h file, otherwise the new functions will be unavailable and Samovar will not work correctly.

If the settings were made in the configurator, you do not need to edit Samovar_ini.h: your values are stored in user_config_override.h, which overrides Samovar_ini.h. It is enough to carry this file over to the new release.

 

The setup is finished. You can upload the sketch to the ESP. Since this is an update of a previously installed sketch, you will not have to set up the Wi-Fi connection again and you do not need to load the default settings.
When updating, you can already skip connecting  the ESP to the USB port and update the firmware "over the air"

 

 

 

 

Something in the new release did not please you, or it does not work correctly. You want to go back to the previous versions. With this system of storing old versions, it is very simple.

Prepare the ... \Documents\Arduino directory as for an update:

From the Samovar directory, move by dragging (or cut and paste)  one level up, into ... \Documents\Arduino\,  the two directories libraries  and tools.

That is all. You can upload the sketch to the ESP.
Later, when updating to a new version, you will just need to clear the ... \Documents\Arduino  directory by deleting Samovar, libraries  and tools. There is no need to move them to OLD, since they are already there and we used a copy.

 

When updating the sketch you can already  use Arduino IDE versions  2.x.x. But these versions do not have the item "ESP32 LittleFS Data Upload", and without the plugin you will not be able to update the interface locally. Accordingly, if Samovar has no access to the internet, the web interface will not be updated.

 

 

 

When using different versions of the Arduino IDE you need to install them in different directories. For this it is enough to add the version number to the directory name.

 

The PlatformIO configurator uses core 2.0.17 and the same partition table (partitions/samovar.csv); nothing needs to be added.

 

Questions and answers. FAQ