Customer:
I have two Inkplate 10 units with different issues. The first one, purchased at launch, just failed today - the display went black and when powered on/off it briefly blinks white and black then stays black. I cannot flash sketches to it; the IDE shows the port as available but cannot connect to the device. This suggests a power supply problem on the board.
The second unit, purchased recently and never used until now, powers on and shows the “Welcome to Inkplate!” screen. I can connect to it and flash sample sketches, but nothing happens - the sketch runs but the display never updates and still shows the original welcome screen. I have downloaded the newest libraries and board definitions. This appears to be a faulty device.
Originally submitted via email support on 13 September 2024. Migrated to the forum for community visibility.
Soldered Support:
For the new Inkplate, try the other board definition for your model. There are two different board definitions for what appears to be the same Inkplate model but they work differently internally. You should see multiple e-radionica/soldered Inkplate board definition variants in your Tools menu. Use the other one than you’re currently using to flash the sketch, and change the board definition in the Tools menu when switching.
For the old Inkplate, the inability to flash any sketch is concerning. Please send the log from Arduino IDE when code upload fails. Upload the basic black and white sketch using the board definition you were using before - if the display blinks or does anything, it indicates you’re using the correct board definition. Also try a different USB cable and a different USB port. Did you solder anything external on the board? Code upload should always work regardless of the ePaper state - if it doesn’t, something is wrong at the hardware level, possibly a power issue as you suspect.
Customer:
I got it working by doing a completely fresh start with Arduino IDE - new library setup, new board setup, and everything else. Only then could I compile sketches without the “Wrong board definition” error message. This error was misleading because with the “e-radionica.com Inkplate 10” selection I did not get this message, so I thought I had picked the right board.
Now I have a different issue: my old 3D printed case does not fit the new board. Where can I find the 3D case printing files for this board?
Regarding the old board: the IDE tries to endlessly connect (“…—…”) but can’t connect. I replaced some of the SMD capacitors but it didn’t improve. This looks like a capacitor issue to me. Are there specific capacitors or other components that are more likely to fail?
Soldered Support:
Glad it works now. The 3D printable files for Inkplate 10’s case are available - check the project repository.
For the other board, here are things to check:
- Selected port in Tools menu
- USB cable and port capability to provide enough current
- The CH340 chip (USB to Serial communication chip) may be broken - it’s reliable but it’s a possibility
- There could be an issue with the USB CH340 software driver. Try installing it.
- Try selecting the default ESP32 board definition:
- Go to File > Preferences (Windows/Linux) or Arduino > Preferences (macOS)
- In the Additional Boards Manager URLs field, paste: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/gh-pages/package_esp32_index.json
- If you already have other URLs listed, add this one separated by a comma
- Open Boards Manager: Navigate to Tools > Board > Boards Manager
- In the search bar, type ESP32
- Find esp32 by Espressif Systems and click Install
- After installation, go to Tools > Board, scroll down, and select ESP32 Dev Module
Try uploading a blank sketch to Inkplate with this setup. Let us know the results.
Attachment omitted in migration: inkplate_10_case_3d_files.zip