Initial Sketch Upload

Samovar 7.00: on first start, Samovar 7.00 creates a profile with default values by itself if there are no saved settings yet. Restoring Samovar_default_settings.txt manually is not required.

Samovar 7.00: the initial installation through Arduino IDE is supported. The alternative way is to choose the board and parameters in the configurator, press "Flash" («Прошить»), then, for a new board, separately "Upload LittleFS" («Загрузить LittleFS»).

Before the first upload of the Samovar sketch to the ESP32, the computer and the board must be prepared; read about it in "Preparing the ESP32 for Upload"

When you install Arduino IDE, the program creates a new directory named Arduino in your documents. The default path is C:\User\Documents\Arduino

This directory needs to be prepared.

When installed, Arduino IDE may put nested directories into ...Documents\Arduino, including ones named libraries and tools. These directories need to be removed.

Warning, this is important!

To install the Samovar sketch correctly, you must use the libraries and tools that come in the archive with each Samovar release. Using libraries from earlier releases or from other sources will cause an error when uploading the Samovar sketch to the ESP32.

The recommendations below will help you avoid mistakes at first through inattention and the like. Later you can develop your own method.

Create a nested directory OLD in ...Documents\Arduino and drag (or cut and paste) the libraries and tools directories created by Arduino IDE during installation into the OLD directory.

If everything is done correctly, there should be no directories named libraries and tools in C:\User\Documents\Arduino\. Any other directory names are allowed.

Now download the archive with the latest firmware from this link .

Warning!
It is recommended to download the archive from the link above. That is a finished and tested version . The resource also has the Master version. This is a future version that is under development. It may not work correctly or may not work at all.

ZIP

Download the archive in ZIP format

TAR

Download the archive in TAR format (RAR, GZ)

As a rule, the archive is saved to the "Downloads" directory of your browser.
The name of the downloaded archive: Samovar-X.XX, where X.XX corresponds to the version number (all the examples below use version Samovar-7.00).

Copy (or cut and paste) the downloaded archive into the directory C:\User\Documents\Arduino\ (your path may be different)

Unpack the archive. A directory Samovar-7.00 appears.
Go inside - there will be another directory Samovar-7.00. Rename it to Samovar.
Move exactly this directory Samovar, by dragging (or cut - paste) one level up, into C:\User\Documents\Arduino\
Go into the Samovar directory. Inside there are directories and files. Move the two directories libraries and tools by dragging one level up, into C:\User\Documents\Arduino\

As a result, the following directory structure should form in ...Documents\Arduino\:

libraries - the libraries
OLD - old files
Samovar - the Samovar sketch
Samovar-7.00 - an empty directory (do not delete it, we will still need it)
tools - the tools
Samovar-7.00.zip - the archive with the original sketch.

To compile the sketch, Arduino IDE will use the directories: Samovar, libraries and tools.

Now the sketch is ready to be uploaded to the ESP32.

Connect the ESP32 to a USB port.
Start Arduino IDE.
In Arduino IDE open the file Samovar.ino from the directory ...\Documents\Arduino\Samovar\.
Upload the sketch to the ESP32 exactly as in the upload of the standard example when preparing the ESP32.

Clicking the arrow starts uploading the release to Samovar

Note.

Compiling the code can take a long time - do not worry, be patient.
Ignore the lines highlighted in red in the upload monitor - this is normal. If a critical error occurs, the upload stops and an orange bar with the error message appears.

Warning!
Some clones of the ESP32 board do not allow the sketch to be uploaded to the ESP without pressing the BOOT button.

There are two ways to upload using the BOOT button.
- If you hold the BOOT button before powering the ESP, apply power, keep holding the button for 3 seconds and then release it, you can flash the ESP and all the settings made earlier are kept. In particular, the WiFi connection settings.
- If you apply power right away and give the "Upload" command, after the sketch is compiled and the upload to the ESP32 starts, the Arduino IDE console, after several red lines, shows the message:

"Connecting ....." after which dots start to appear.

At that moment press the BOOT button on the ESP32 board, and release it when the dots stop appearing.
Pressing BOOT only puts the board into bootloader mode and does not by itself erase the Wi-Fi settings.

Installing the Web Interface.

Warning!

Starting with version 6.0 the file system in use has changed. The move to a different file system was made to optimize Samovar's speed.

After the sketch is installed, the web interface must be installed locally.

Without disconnecting the ESP32 from the computer, in the “Tools” menu select:

- ESP32 LittleFS Data Upload - for versions 6.0 and higher

- ESP32 Sketch Data Upload - for versions below 6.0.

Press the "Upload" button in Arduino IDE again and wait for the installation to finish. On some ESP32 versions you also need to use the BOOT button to upload the interface (see above).

Warning! Important!

Recently, perfectly working clones of the ESP32 board have appeared, but if you select in the “Tools” menu > Board > ESP32 Arduino>DOIT ESP32 DEVKIT V1, the web interface is not installed. If you select the ESP32 Dev Module board, the interface uploads normally.

Warning! Important!

Starting with version 6.0, provided Samovar is connected to the internet, the interface is automatically downloaded and installed without your involvement.
If you need to roll back to an older version of the sketch (for versions 6.0 and higher), the interface also rolls back to the matching version by itself.
If there is no internet connection, the interface must be installed for each version yourself - that is, locally.
The firmware compares the interface version on the server (web.samovar-tool.ru, the directory of its own version) with the local file version.txt and downloads files only if they differ. The serial monitor then prints the lines WEB interface version and Local interface version. If there is less than 64 KB of free space in LittleFS, the update is cancelled with the message "Web interface update cancelled: low disk space" («Обновление веб-интерфейса отменено: мало места на диске»). If the file system did not mount (a new board, an erased flash), the firmware formats it by itself - the message "Failed to connect to the file system, formatting..." («Не удалось подключиться к файловой системе, форматируем...»).

Addendum.

But, as it turned out, something has changed and this does not work for everyone.

Starting with version 6.20 a parameter has been added to the file Samovar_ini.h:

//#define NOT_USE_INTERFACE_UPDATE //do not use the interface update at boot

When you upload the sketch for the first time, you need to uncomment it:

#define NOT_USE_INTERFACE_UPDATE //do not use the interface update at boot

The interface will then not be updated over the internet. It can be updated only manually. Later, while setting up the sketch, you can return the line to its original form (comment it out) and see whether the update over the internet works correctly.

Tip
It is recommended to do the initial interface installation locally, over USB. The point is that if the option to update the interface over the internet is enabled, downloading and updating the interface can take a long time. During that time the interface is not displayed.

Warning.
Local LittleFS upload is supported in Arduino IDE 1.8.x with the classic uploader and in Arduino IDE 2.x with the ESP32 LittleFS Data Upload plugin.

Addendum.
In the ESP32 by Espressif Systems board package version 3.0.0 and higher, it became possible to install the interface locally with a plugin for Arduino IDE 2. The instructions are here. The plugin itself (the file arduino-littlefs-upload-1.1.7.vsix) is in the Samovar archive in the directory tools\ESP32LittleFS_Arduino IDE 2.X: copy it to the directory ~/.arduinoIDE/plugins/ (on Windows - C:\Users\<name>\.arduinoIDE\plugins\), restart Arduino IDE, press Ctrl+Shift+P and select "Upload LittleFS to Pico/ESP8266/ESP32".

Note.

On some ESP32 versions, when flashing versions 6.0 and higher using ESP32 LittleFS Data Upload the interface is still not installed. Why this happens remains a mystery. If this is the case, try several times, alternately, to flash the ESP32 both with ESP32 LittleFS Data Upload and with ESP32 Sketch Data Upload. After each flashing, check whether the interface has appeared.

After the sketch and the web interface are uploaded, reboot Samovar with the power disconnected, and then connect Samovar to your Wi-Fi network.
When Samovar is connected to your WI-FI network, open the Samovar interface on a computer by entering the IP address assigned to it, or the name http://samovar.local, in the browser address bar.

The recommended default values do not need to be loaded manually.

Samovar 7.00: if there is no saved profile yet, the firmware creates and saves the default settings itself. The file Samovar_default_settings.txt from the tools directory can be used for manual restoring, but it is not required for the first start.

To manually restore a previously saved profile, open "Settings → Other" («Настройки → Прочие»), press "Upload settings file" («Загрузить файл настроек»), select the file, press "Save" («Сохранить») and reboot Samovar. You can save your own profile with the "Download settings file" («Скачать файл настроек») button on the same tab.

Note.

If the upload of the sketch or of the Samovar interface goes wrong, you need to erase the flash memory of the ESP32 module and do the upload again.

The initial Samovar setup is finished - you can proceed to setting up the file Samovar_ini.h for your own equipment.