ESP32 - is the Webrepl considered?

[espruino-discuss3]

Posted at 2019-11-26 by user90306

Hi,
I use Webrepl with ESP32 and MicroPython. Is as flexible as the BLE/NUS connectivity known from nRF5x world.

Just out of curiosity: is the Webrepl considered as a feature for WiFi based devices as ESP32/ESP8266.
I see that the BLE is not supported now so NUS based connectivity to run REPL remotely is not possible now.

Maybe the Webrepl needs less effort. Not to mention that the ESP32 BLE is memory consuming feature...

Thanks,
Bogdan

[espruino-discuss3]

Posted at 2019-11-26 by @gfwilliams

Hi! There's http://forum.espruino.com/conversations/318472/ which should do basically what you want.

I'd like to do it properly at some point (the link above will work normally, but won't do debug, or respond if the code crashes), but at least for me it's the same old story - I'm doing this as a business and only have limited time, so I have to spend most of my time on the boards that actually help to pay my salary.

I had considered doing a crowdfunding campaign (like micropython did) to create a shiny, polished ESP32 port - but I don't know how much interest there'd be.

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Posted at 2019-11-26 by user90306

Thank you for help.

I believe that Kikstarter-like campaign is a good idea.
ESP32 gets a lot of attention now.

Personally I am a STM32/nRF5x fan mostly because of the Cortex beauty in my eyes.:)

But what made me inclined toward ESP32/ESP8266 is the wireless connectivity and abundance of cheap boards with integrated OLED/LED displays (see LilyGO/TTGO).
Home Automation now is using Internet - I started with the STM32 & espruino (many many years ago) to send SMS with boiler temperature but now it's history. The internet is reliable & cheap now.

So I think ESP32 is the way to go now (dual core to leverage, BLE, WiFi).
I know it's difficult to compete with own boards here but what me and my friends are looking for is small board with OLED/LCD, nice case and battery/lipo compartment. Something which looks like a real product with tinkering capabilities.

So again, maybe the Kickstarter campaign is good choice to collect some money for this adventure...

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Posted at 2019-11-27 by AkosLukacs

You can use telnet to connect to ESPs.
Or how different the Webrepl is? I haven't used it, so no idea...

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Posted at 2019-11-27 by user90306

The Webrepl is client-less approach - no standalone app is required, you simply run it from the http browser. The extra feature is the file transfer capability.
I believe that client-less telnet can be also ran as part of the web browser through chrome plugins so it is not huge advantage.

I am very new user of the webrepl:
https://github.com/micropython/webrepl

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Posted at 2019-11-27 by user90306

Anyway, it's really good question about the Webrepl advantage vs telnet (&ftp) capabilities.
Frankly, you need to access webrepl client either through the remote web page or locally stored web client...

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Posted at 2019-11-27 by AkosLukacs

Oh, I see.
The installed (either native app or chrome store) versions of Espruino ide support telnet. But you have to install those.
The online version doesn't. And reading the webrepl docs, it is only able to connect encrypted websocket. But afaik neither MicroPython nor Espruino supports wss.

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Posted at 2019-11-27 by user90306

I just installed the Micropython v1.11:
esptool.py --chip esp32 --port COM3 --baud 460800 write_flash -z 0x1000 esp32-idf3-20191126-v1.11-603-gbc129f1b8.bin

and the Webrepl works smoothly.
Since I am quite new micropython user on WiFi enabled board (I used wifi less boards in the past) th eidea of "client-less" terminal was nice to me.
But agree that telnet/ftp approach is fine as long as it works on micropython;)