Trouble Flashing ESP-Home

#1

Hello all! I found an AirGradient One at the electronic recycling section of my local recycling centre. It powers on and seems to be fully functioning from my testing, however I can’t flash ESP-Home as the USB-C port is power only.

The PCB is very similar, but not the same as the latest version 9 board being sold on the site as it’s got a green 4-pin port on the PCB next to the USB-C port. From digging around I think this is some sort of business version of the AirGradient One as the model number is 8PSL which seems to be for “Special Firmware Versions”. I’m assuming the unknown green port is the data connection to the ESP32, but I can’t seem to find what port it is to even attempt flashing it.

Has anyone come across this version and knows how to proceed with flashing it?

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#2

What a unique find. I’m guessing this is one of their original closed source business models. I’ve seen pads on the boards where that green jack is but wasn’t sure what it was used for.

Your tag is for “Flashing of the Wemos D1 Mini” but this looks like one of the ESP32 models, but not sure if it is the same ESP32-C3 that is used on the open source ONE models.

We’ll let Achim reply with more information. If nothing else the sensors should be good that could be used in other projects or maybe they will sell you just the mainboard and you could add the sensors.

#3

Oh that is quite cool - it does seems to be something like that as I can’t find any reference to that PCB style anywhere.

You are right, it’s definitely an ESP32-WROVER-E so I’ll remove that tag.

It looks in really good condition so I’ll definitely salvage the sensors if nothing else can be done with the mainboard.

#4

Hey that’s great!

Yes this is indeed an old model before we went fully open source! There are not that many out there so maybe you can keep it and auction it on eBay for thousands of dollars in a few years when we are as famous a as Apple :wink:

This model needs a special flasher to change the firmware but it could be replaced with our latest board which should fit the enclosure.

The great news is that the PM and CO2 sensors for sure work with the DIY board. For temperature and TVOC it depends on the exact model.

Can you send sure more photos and I can give more information.

#5

One more thing.

It is probably difficult to flash it directly and the new firmware might not work on the wroover.

However, the existing firmware on this device should support mqtt. So you could probably send the data to HA through mqtt instead of going the ESPHome route.

Please reach out to us through our support form on our website. Happy to help.

It is great to rescue these devices from landfills!

#6

I knew I would win the lottery eventually! I didn’t think it would be in the form of an AirGradient :grin:

Getting the new main board and adding the sensors is sounding like the best option. The temperature sensors is a SHT3X and the TVOC appears to be the GY-SGP30. I can see from the spare parts section of the store that these seems to be older models of the sensors used in the current AirGradient One, do these still work with the new board?

It’s in shockingly good condition, so I’m surprised it ended up in there.

#7

I am curious where it comes from. Can you send the serial number to me through our support form?