Sloeber Passing Invalid Argument to esptool.py in Ubuntu 20.04

[emintz]

I checked the open issues.

Describe your environment

Ubuntu 20.04 on a large Intel-based system

Do you use the Sloeber product or plugin? Product

Sloeber version number
Sloeber 4.4.0.202107110422 io.sloeber.product
Sloeber, the Eclipse Arduino IDE (plugin version) 4.4.0.202107110422 io.sloeber.feature.feature.group Sloeber.io

OS: [e.g. windows 10]
Ubuntu 20.04 LTE, patched < 1 week ago

The url of the json that you used to download the platform

Sloeber: I downloaded Sloeber .zip file from the website, unpacked it, and moved the Sloeber directory into my home directory. The .zip file is: V4.4.0_linux64.2021-07-04_06-48-31.zip. I still have the file.

ESP32 Plugin: I cloned the github repository and installed the package per instructions. The package is installed as a private package. Its path is: /homd/git/arduino-esp32

I changed platform.sloeber.txt as suggested here: #1416

Here's a diff of the original and changed file:

eric@mighty-wurlitzer:~/git/arduino-esp32$ diff platform.sloeber.txt platform.sloeber.txt.original
217c217
< tools.esptool_py.upload.pattern=python3 "${tools.esptool_py.path}/${tools.esptool_py.cmd}" ${tools.esptool_py.pattern_args}

tools.esptool_py.upload.pattern=python3 "${tools.esptool_py.path}/${tools.esptool_py.cmd}" ${upload.pattern_args}
eric@mighty-wurlitzer:~/git/arduino-esp32$

My third-party index URLs are:

https://downloads.arduino.cc/packages/package_index.json
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jantje/hardware/master/package_jantje_index.json
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jantje/ArduinoLibraries/master/library_jantje_index.json
https://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_esp8266com_index.json
https://downloads.arduino.cc/libraries/library_index.json
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/gh-pages/package_esp32_index.json

The last URI is the one I added.

A image of the project properties arduino showing the board settings

Here are the project settings:

Configuration: Release [Active]
Platform folder: /home/eric/git/arduino-esp32
Board: Node32s
Upload protocol: Default
Port: /dev/ttyUSB0
Partition Scheme: Default
Flash Frequency: 80 MHz
Core Debug Level: None
Upload Speed: 921600

Describe the bug
A clear and concise description of what the bug is.

Cannot upload an empty sketch to the ESP32 Board. Sketch compiles fine

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Create an empty project
2. Click the Arduino checkmark button to compile the sketch. The sketch compiles successfully.
3. Click the Arduino --> (right pointing arrow) to upload the sketch.
4. The "Build before upload?" pop-up appears.
5. Click "Yes"
6. Sketch compiles successfully again.
7. The following commands appear on the console
   Starting upload
   Uploading project "ESP32Test" with "esptool_py"
   Launching: python3 /home/eric/git/arduino-esp32/tools/esptool/esptool.py
8. Upload fails as follows:

Output:
esptool.py v3.3-dev
usage: esptool [-h]
[--chip {auto,esp8266,esp32,esp32s2,esp32s3beta2,esp32s3,esp32c3,esp32c6beta,esp32h2beta1,esp32h2beta2,esp32c2}]
[--port PORT] [--baud BAUD]
[--before {default_reset,usb_reset,no_reset,no_reset_no_sync}]
[--after {hard_reset,soft_reset,no_reset,no_reset_stub}]
[--no-stub] [--trace] [--override-vddsdio [{1.8V,1.9V,OFF}]]
[--connect-attempts CONNECT_ATTEMPTS]
{load_ram,dump_mem,read_mem,write_mem,write_flash,run,image_info,make_image,elf2image,read_mac,chip_id,flash_id,read_flash_status,write_flash_status,read_flash,verify_flash,erase_flash,erase_region,merge_bin,get_security_info,version}
...

esptool.py v3.3-dev - Espressif chips ROM Bootloader Utility

positional arguments:
{load_ram,dump_mem,read_mem,write_mem,write_flash,run,image_info,make_image,elf2image,read_mac,chip_id,flash_id,read_flash_status,write_flash_status,read_flash,verify_flash,erase_flash,erase_region,merge_bin,get_security_info,version}
Run esptool {command} -h for additional help
load_ram Download an image to RAM and execute
dump_mem Dump arbitrary memory to disk
read_mem Read arbitrary memory location
write_mem Read-modify-write to arbitrary memory location
write_flash Write a binary blob to flash
run Run application code in flash
image_info Dump headers from an application image
make_image Create an application image from binary files
elf2image Create an application image from ELF file
read_mac Read MAC address from OTP ROM
chip_id Read Chip ID from OTP ROM
flash_id Read SPI flash manufacturer and device ID
read_flash_status Read SPI flash status register
write_flash_status Write SPI flash status register
read_flash Read SPI flash content
verify_flash Verify a binary blob against flash
erase_flash Perform Chip Erase on SPI flash
erase_region Erase a region of the flash
merge_bin Merge multiple raw binary files into a single file for
later flashing
get_security_info Get some security-related data
version Print esptool version

optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
--chip {auto,esp8266,esp32,esp32s2,esp32s3beta2,esp32s3,esp32c3,esp32c6beta,esp32h2beta1,esp32h2beta2,esp32c2}, -c {auto,esp8266,esp32,esp32s2,esp32s3beta2,esp32s3,esp32c3,esp32c6beta,esp32h2beta1,esp32h2beta2,esp32c2}
Target chip type
--port PORT, -p PORT Serial port device
--baud BAUD, -b BAUD Serial port baud rate used when flashing/reading
--before {default_reset,usb_reset,no_reset,no_reset_no_sync}
What to do before connecting to the chip
--after {hard_reset,soft_reset,no_reset,no_reset_stub}, -a {hard_reset,soft_reset,no_reset,no_reset_stub}
What to do after esptool.py is finished
--no-stub Disable launching the flasher stub, only talk to ROM
bootloader. Some features will not be available.
--trace, -t Enable trace-level output of esptool.py interactions.
--override-vddsdio [{1.8V,1.9V,OFF}]
Override ESP32 VDDSDIO internal voltage regulator (use
with care)
--connect-attempts CONNECT_ATTEMPTS
Number of attempts to connect, negative or 0 for
infinite. Default: 7.
The execution of command "python3" is done.

1. Go to '...'
2. Click on '....'
3. Scroll down to '....'
4. See error

provide the name of the board and the platform version you are using.
Provide the json url and a screenshot of project properties->arduino

Expected behavior
Sketch uploaded to the microcontroller.

Data to back up your claim
Please let me know what else is needed.

Additional context

Please let me know what information is reqired.

I apologize if I have misses something obvious, and thank you so much for developing this project. I also use it with the Arduino development environment, and I love it.

Please stay safe and well

[jantje]

That is a very well documented issue. Congrats for that.
Reading through this a couple of times I do think this is a duplicate of #1416
Note that platform.sloeber.txt is considered a temporary file and can be regenerated at any time, though I do not think this is why you have the problem. Anyway it is safer to modify the platform.txt and delete platform.sloeber.txt (if it is recreated you know your changes are taken into account as described in the workaround #1364 (comment) )
Also note that the safest way to make sure Sloeber rereads the platform.txt files is by going to project properties->Sloeber (Arduino in your version) and select apply close.
Another way around this is to get the latest nightly. At this point that is here https://github.com/Sloeber/arduino-eclipse-plugin/actions/runs/2402582489

[emintz]

Thank you.

You are 100% correct. Applying the workaround fixed it. The trick is to read it through to the end because I run on Linux.

I look forward to happy developing. Thank you once again.

-- Eric