How to write the complete firmware package to the ESP32-C3 straight from your browser, using the web installer at lisy.dev/swrep/misc/FA_Control/flasher/.
This is the exceptional route. The everyday way to get a new version onto the device is the over-the-air update described in § 9 of the User Manual, which needs nothing but the device’s own web page. Read on when that route is not enough.
The cross-references below point at GitHub rather than at neighbouring files: this page is also published on its own next to the installer, where the other documents do not exist.
Contents
The NAMES menu is missing. Naming files live on their own storage area of the flash chip, and the map that describes that area — the partition table — is never touched by an over-the-air update. A device that has only ever been updated over the air therefore does not know the area exists: tile 07 · NAMES simply does not appear. That is not a fault, it is the designed fallback; everything else works. The only cure is a full installation, because only that writes the partition table.
A new or blank board. A fresh ESP32-C3 has no bootloader and no firmware. It cannot serve a web page, so it cannot update itself. Something has to write the first complete image, and this is that something.
A rescue. If the device no longer boots — an interrupted flash, a corrupted partition, a bad experiment — a full installation puts it back into a known state.
If none of these apply, use the over-the-air update instead. It is quicker, needs no cable and no computer.
| Browser | Chrome or Edge on a desktop computer. The installer talks to the USB port through the Web Serial API, which Firefox and Safari do not have. |
| Cable | A USB-C cable with data wires. Many charging cables carry power only; with one of those the device lights up and no port ever appears. |
| Internet | The page downloads the firmware files and the flashing tool while you use it. |
| Access | Physical access to the ESP32-C3 board and its DIP switches. |
Nothing has to be installed — no ESP-IDF, no driver package, no Python. The ESP32-C3 appears to the computer as a serial device on its own.
Set DIP switch 1 to ON. DIP 1 is the power switch. With it OFF the chip is in deep sleep, and in deep sleep it drops its USB port — the browser dialog will then list no device at all, however good the cable is. This is the single most common reason the installer appears not to work.
Make sure the machine is not under FA_Control’s control. Press RELEASE CONTROL on the device’s own page first, or simply switch the pinball machine off. Flashing resets the ESP32-C3 in the middle of whatever it was doing, and you do not want that to be a half-finished coil pulse.
Leave the device powered throughout. The USB cable supplies it; do not unplug while the log is still running.
Connect the ESP32-C3 to your computer with the USB-C cable.
Open FA_Control_flasher.html in Chrome or Edge. If a red banner reads WEB SERIAL NOT AVAILABLE, you are in the wrong browser.
Check the PACKAGE box. VERSION shows which firmware version is about to be installed; below it are the four files and the addresses they go to.
Press ⚡ FLASH VIA USB. The four files are downloaded first — you can watch this in the log — and then the browser asks you to pick a device.
Pick the ESP32-C3 in the dialog and confirm. It usually shows up as USB JTAG/serial debug unit or under the name of the serial chip. If the list is empty, see Troubleshooting.
Watch the progress bar. Each file is reported by name and percentage; the whole package is roughly 1.2 MB and takes about a minute. Do not unplug the cable and do not close the tab.
When the status reads DONE — DEVICE IS RESTARTING, the device reboots on its own. You may unplug it.
Open the device’s page again. If it had Wi-Fi credentials before,
it rejoins your network and is reachable at
http://fa-control.local. If not, it opens its own
FA-Control network — see §
4 of the User Manual. Tile 07 · NAMES should now be
there.
The installer writes to four addresses and erases nothing else, so most of what the device knows survives:
| Wi-Fi credentials | kept — they live in a separate area (NVS) that is not written |
| Uploaded naming files | kept, if the device had the naming area already and is running v1.18 or newer. Coming from an older version the area moves (see below), so it starts out empty — as it does on a device that is getting the partition table for the first time. |
| Coil pulse time and the selected naming file | kept — same area as the Wi-Fi credentials |
| The choice of which firmware slot to boot | reset to the first slot, which is the one just written |
If you want a genuinely blank device, that is a job for
esptool.py erase_flash on the command line — the web
installer deliberately does not offer it.
Coming from a version before 1.18. That release enlarged the two firmware slots, which moved the naming area to a different place on the chip. The files that were there are not carried over — the new area starts empty and you upload them again through 07 · NAMES. Wi-Fi credentials, pulse time and the selected naming file are unaffected. This is a one-time cost of the new layout; installations from 1.18 onwards keep the files.
The device dialog is empty. In order of likelihood: DIP 1 is OFF and the chip is asleep; the cable has no data wires; the cable or port is loose. Flip DIP 1 to ON, replug, and press the button again.
“Failed to connect” or the log stalls at Connecting. The chip is not answering in time. Hold the BOOT button down, press and release RESET, then let BOOT go — that forces the download mode — and start the flash again.
The download of the firmware files fails. The page fetches them from lisy.dev; check the internet connection. If you opened the page from a local file rather than from lisy.dev, this can also be the browser refusing the cross-origin request — use the online page.
The flash was interrupted. Nothing is broken that a second attempt cannot fix. The device may not boot in between; simply run the installer again from the start.
No progress at all and no error. Close other programs that might be holding the serial port — a terminal, the ESP-IDF monitor, an IDE. Only one program can own the port at a time.
The package consists of these four files, written to these addresses:
| File | Address | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
bootloader.bin |
0x0 |
Second-stage bootloader |
partition-table.bin |
0x8000 |
Map of the flash — this is the file that brings the naming storage |
ota_data_initial.bin |
0xf000 |
Which firmware slot to boot; reset to the first one |
FA_Control.bin |
0x20000 |
The firmware itself |
They are built and published by
build_and_deploy_full.ps1 and live in lisy.dev/swrep/misc/FA_Control/esptool/,
alongside a version.txt that the installer page reads to
show the version.
With ESP-IDF installed, the same thing happens locally with
idf.py -B C:\Users\bonta\esp\build\fa -p COM7 flashNote flash, not app-flash — only the former
writes the partition table.
Why the partition table matters, and why an over-the-air update can never supply it, is explained in Technical Reference § 6.2.2.