DSC-BRAIN USER GUIDE · SETUP

Flashing devices over USB

How the USB flash step works, the kit roles it offers, boot-mode tips, and the fallback paths.

●  verified for 9.0.0 · firmware train 8.2.0.0

●  last verified 2026-09-17 · mirrored 2026-09-15

USB flash writes the baked binaries that shipped on the SD image to a device using the host's esptool. It does not compile anything. Later firmware updates go over the air from Settings › Devices › Firmware.

Roles offered

Role Device Order
hub The climate hub (ESP32) 1st
control DSC-Control touch panel 2nd
pot1, pot2 Soil probes 3rd
heater, heatmat, humidifier, dehumidifier Sonoff plugs (ESP8266) 4th

Probes 3 and 4 are not kit defaults and are not offered. The bridge is retired.

Doing it

  1. Setup › USB flash (#/setup). On a kit that is already commissioned, or whose hub or probes have reported, the wizard stays parked; use the ESPHome dashboard below instead.
  2. Pick the role. A role greyed out with a reason (for example missing or zero-byte file) has no usable binary on this brain; nothing can be flashed for it until a bake includes it.
  3. Connect the device with a data cable (charge-only cables show no port).
  4. Pick the port. Press Flash and wait for OK.

Boot mode

Most kit boards enter flash mode on their own. If the log says the chip did not respond: hold BOOT, tap RESET (or re-plug), release BOOT, and press Flash again. The Sonoff plugs need their case open and a USB-serial adapter on the header; hold the button while applying power.

When the Port list is empty

The shipped Pi image runs the brain in a container that has no USB passthrough, so the wizard may see no serial ports at all. Options, in order of ease:

  1. ESPHome dashboard at the ESPHome dashboard address on the kit card (port 6052) → the device → Install → Plug into this computer. This uses your browser's serial support (Chrome or Edge).
  2. A workstation with the ESPHome CLI: esphome run dsc-hub-kit.yaml from firmware/v4 with the kit's secrets.yaml.
  3. Record the debt with Skip, commission, and flash later.

After flashing

A freshly flashed hub comes up on its DSC-Setup-XXXX hotspot. Continue with Fleet Wi-Fi join. Sonoff plugs come up on your LAN and appear in Kit › Inventory when the brain finds them by the host name or IP recorded in Settings › Devices.

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DSC-Brain user guide · Flashing devices over USB · this page is edited on the site; the Notion original was retired after the mirror