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Diagnose battery-only startup failure on Waveshare ESP32-S3-RLCD-4.2#8

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clackups merged 21 commits intomainfrom
copilot/fix-wifi-and-git-status-display
Apr 17, 2026
Merged

Diagnose battery-only startup failure on Waveshare ESP32-S3-RLCD-4.2#8
clackups merged 21 commits intomainfrom
copilot/fix-wifi-and-git-status-display

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Copilot AI commented Apr 17, 2026

Problem

Device does not power up when an 18650 battery is inserted without USB. Connecting USB first allows normal PWR button operation afterward. Reported in waveshareteam/ESP32-S3-RLCD-4.2#2.

Analysis

No code changes — this is a hardware-level issue on the Waveshare board, not a firmware bug.

Findings from Waveshare factory firmware review

  • The factory program (10_FactoryProgram) contains zero power management or deep-sleep code — on/off is handled entirely by a hardware power latch tied to the PWR button
  • GPIO18 (KEY) is a plain input button, not involved in power control
  • Battery voltage is read via ADC1_CH3 through a 2:1 divider — no PMIC communication over I2C or SPI
  • Draftling's standby_enter_sleep() correctly uses EXT0 wakeup on GPIO18, but this is irrelevant to the cold-start problem

Root cause

The board's power management IC (or discrete latch circuit) likely enters shipping mode on first battery insertion. In this state:

  • VBUS detection is the only way to exit shipping mode
  • PWR button presses trigger a brief load-sense probe, but the ESP32-S3 doesn't draw enough current during the probe window to keep the output enabled
  • Once USB kicks the PMIC into active mode, the latch works normally via PWR button

Recommended next steps

  • Waveshare needs to confirm which PMIC is used and whether shipping mode is the cause
  • Test with factory firmware (01_Factory_V1.bin) to rule out any firmware-specific timing differences
  • If confirmed as hardware design behavior, a small load resistor on the 3.3V rail could work around the minimum-load threshold

Copilot AI and others added 21 commits April 16, 2026 19:37
@clackups
Fix WiFi/Git status display and Git sync crash
285b7f5 
- Run wifi_manager_connect() in a background FreeRTOS task to avoid
  blocking the LVGL render loop (UI stayed on "WiFi: connecting...")
- Register WiFi state callback to update the status bar on
  connect/error/disconnect events with proper LVGL locking
- Register Git sync callback to show sync progress, success, and
  error messages on the status bar with proper LVGL locking
- Free HTTP response buffer after git sync task completes to prevent
  memory leak that could cause crash on repeated push attempts
- Increase git_sync task stack from 16KB to 32KB to prevent stack
  overflow during HTTP operations with large payloads

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/0c16c29a-785c-4840-8cbb-dca903024eef

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups
Use consistent N * 1024 notation for WiFi task stack size
902f348 
Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/0c16c29a-785c-4840-8cbb-dca903024eef

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups
Add forward declarations for wifi_connect_task and wifi_connect_async
5a6ecfa 
Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/c795c8e1-9853-486d-a701-c7bae0b96f45

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups
Fix git sync stuck at 'syncing...' with no completion feedback
c4d5a67 
- Check xTaskCreatePinnedToCore return value in git_sync_start and
  report error via callback if task creation fails
- Set s_state to GIT_SYNC_IN_PROGRESS before creating the task to
  prevent re-entrant calls and ensure proper state tracking
- Reset s_state to GIT_SYNC_ERROR in sync_task when the operation
  fails, so the state is not stuck at IN_PROGRESS
- Check git_sync_start return value in both the menu and Ctrl+G
  handlers, showing an error status when it fails instead of the
  misleading 'syncing...' message

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/f6e3b3ec-a4d8-4c0d-a3be-d6f1f4ac1620

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups
Address review: rename variable, add wifi task creation check
8eb45bf 
Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/f6e3b3ec-a4d8-4c0d-a3be-d6f1f4ac1620

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups
Log status messages to system log in editor_ui_set_status()
0a23e1c 
Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/fbc58ba5-ae26-4ae6-81cf-ea20f9c23afb

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups
Add fsync before fclose in SD card write operations to prevent FAT co…
7691d0e 
…rruption on power loss

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/22b8dd44-ad17-478e-baca-7993d9b4013d

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups
Add status bar to file browser showing wifi status like editor
bb5f450 
Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/caddc1b3-d3ff-4d1f-87a0-75ae9f3d4a9c

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups
Show actual git sync error instead of generic 'failed to start sync' …
4c38947 
…message

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/caddc1b3-d3ff-4d1f-87a0-75ae9f3d4a9c

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups
Fix git sync task creation failure: move 17KB array from stack to SPI…
153c22b 
…RAM heap, reduce task stack to 8KB

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/d15e1fb5-d920-4ce3-affc-9ea2da19da72

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups
Fix git sync task: allocate stack from SPIRAM instead of internal DRAM
bbb66f2 
xTaskCreatePinnedToCore allocates its stack from internal DRAM, but with
BLE + WiFi active there is not enough contiguous internal DRAM available
even for 8KB.

Switch to xTaskCreateStaticPinnedToCore with a stack buffer allocated
from SPIRAM via heap_caps_malloc(MALLOC_CAP_SPIRAM). Also enable
CONFIG_SPIRAM_ALLOW_STACK_EXTERNAL_MEMORY=y which is required by
FreeRTOS to allow task stacks in external memory.

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/f361a606-4170-4f73-a1cc-d33df52b73ce

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups
Plan fixes for git sync path, .git suffix, and error reporting
e1d46c1 
Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/7e6c184d-af31-4925-b9b5-1b7ed3a2bd7a

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups
Fix git sync: strip .git from repo URL, fix error reporting, fix empt…
f100067 
…y path handling

- Strip trailing .git and slashes from repo_url (GitHub API rejects .git)
- do_push() now returns ESP_FAIL when all files fail to push
- sync_task tracks pull/push results separately; no false "sync complete"
- For GIT_SYNC_BOTH, pull 404 is non-fatal (remote dir may not exist yet)
- Pull URL avoids trailing slash when remote_path is empty

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/7e6c184d-af31-4925-b9b5-1b7ed3a2bd7a

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups
Downgrade HTTP 404 log to WARN since it is expected when checking if …
0f1e787 
…a file exists before creating it

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/c4f21365-ecaf-4ba3-8869-b451f921eac5

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups
Skip pushing unchanged files (compare git blob SHA) and auto-save edi…
36a32a8 
…tor before sync

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/604997b3-6c8c-49f4-a999-54393b049a38

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups
fix: push before pull in GIT_SYNC_BOTH to avoid overwriting local cha…
1bea8d5 
…nges

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/37a5d8e2-8925-48f2-a26a-4bb535ee1802

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups
feat: add 3-way sync state tracking to prevent overwriting local edits
59f256c 
Store per-file blob SHAs in .git_state after each sync. On subsequent
syncs, compare saved vs local vs remote to determine:
- Push: skip files not modified locally (local SHA == saved SHA)
- Pull: skip files not changed on remote (remote SHA == saved SHA)
- Conflict: if both local and remote changed, keep local edits

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/d6e00c03-e0e2-4d39-a15a-c3dfe88f5a43

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups
feat: refresh editor after git pull and make Ctrl+W toggle WiFi
7cdde04 
After a successful git sync, if a file is open in the editor, reload
it from disk so the user sees any changes pulled from the remote.

Change Ctrl+W from connect-only to a toggle: disconnect WiFi if
already connected, connect if disconnected.

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/aa9d8592-3198-4aed-91cd-0f042fe54940

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups
fix: use "disconnecting..." status for async WiFi disconnect
c2bc2d3 
Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/aa9d8592-3198-4aed-91cd-0f042fe54940

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups
fix: correct Ukrainian layout key assignments for comma/dot/slash keys
4e94d3f 
Physical comma -> б/Б, physical dot -> ю/Ю, physical slash -> ./,
matching the standard Ukrainian keyboard layout.

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/3368a6f9-1656-4253-983a-be987081ad37

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups
fix: correct Ukrainian layout shifted number row and grave key
5bb9ee6 
Shifted number row fixes (standard Ukrainian JCUKEN layout):
- Shift+3: # -> numero sign (U+2116)
- Shift+4: $ -> ;
- Shift+6: ^ -> :
- Shift+7: & -> ?

Grave key fix:
- Normal: duplicate ghe-with-upturn -> apostrophe (essential for Ukrainian)
- Shifted: ghe-with-upturn -> hryvnia sign (U+20B4)

Note: numero sign and hryvnia sign require font range extension
to display on screen (currently outside 0x20-7F,A0-FF,400-4FF).

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/clackups/draftling/sessions/efbda6a8-3203-4fc6-806a-863181f8c44e

Co-authored-by: clackups <179045798+clackups@users.noreply.github.com>
@clackups clackups marked this pull request as ready for review April 17, 2026 13:36
@clackups clackups merged commit 06119f4 into main Apr 17, 2026
2 checks passed
@clackups clackups deleted the copilot/fix-wifi-and-git-status-display branch April 17, 2026 13:36
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