M5StickC Plus2 Operation Guidance

Operation Guidance

This product is an IoT open-source development board that can be flashed with a system and reprogrammed. New users may encounter situations where the device has no system state due to incorrect operation, leading to failure to boot. This is not a quality issue. Simply re-flashing the official firmware will restore normal operation. It is similar to deleting system files on a computer, causing the system to fail to boot, but the hardware itself is fine.

Factory Firmware

When the device encounters operational issues, you can try re-flashing the factory firmware to check if there is any hardware malfunction. Refer to the following tutorial. Use the M5Burner firmware flashing tool to flash the factory firmware onto the device.

Description of M5StickC Plus2 Image: The image displays the M5StickC Plus2 development board, a compact, yellow device. It features a 1.14-inch color LCD screen (135x240 resolution) on the front. Below the screen are three buttons labeled 'BUTTON A', 'BUTTON B', and 'BUTTON C' (which also serves as the power switch). On the side, there's an Ext. 8-Pin connector. The top edge has a magnetic connector and a HY2.0-4P port. The board is labeled with key components: ESP32-PICO-V3-02, 8M FLASH, 2M PSRAM, MPU6886 (6-Axis IMU), RTC BM8563, ST7789V2-1.14" display controller, BUZZER, IR TRANSMITER, and a 200mAh battery. It also shows a USB-C CHG/PROG port. A list of "DIFFERENCES" compares memory sizes (FLASH 4M -> 8M, NO PSRAM -> 2M PSRAM), communication interfaces (CH552 -> CH9102), battery capacity (120 -> 200mAh), and power management (AXP192 -> TIMER POWER).

FAQ

Q1: Why is my M5StickC Plus2 black screen/won't boot?

Solution: Use M5Burner to flash the official Factory Firmware, such as the "M5StickCPlus2 UserDemo".

Description of Image: The image shows the M5StickC Plus2 connected to a large black power bank. Another image shows the M5Burner software interface, listing various firmware options for different M5Stack devices. For the M5StickC Plus2, it shows "UIFlow_StickC_Plus2" (v1.14.3), "M5StickCPlus2 UserDemo" (v0.1), and "M5StickCPlus-FactoryTest" (v1.0), with options to download or burn.

Q2: Why is it working time only 3 hours? Why does it 100% charge in 1 minute, and turn off when the charging cable is removed?

Solution: The firmware "Bruce for StickC plus2" is an unofficial firmware. Flashing unofficial firmware can void your warranty, cause instability, and expose your device to security risks. Proceed with caution. Please burn back official firmware.

Description of Image: The image again shows the M5StickC Plus2 connected to a power bank. Another image shows the M5Burner software interface, highlighting the "Bruce for StickC plus2" firmware (v1.9.1) with a link to its GitHub repository and a warning dialog box. The dialog states: "This is an unofficial firmware. Flashing unofficial firmware can void your warranty, cause instability, and expose your device to security risks. Proceed with caution. Are you sure you want to continue?" with options to "Continue" or "No". The "CatHack Firmware" (v1.4) is also listed as an unofficial option.

Firmware Flashing Guide

This section provides step-by-step instructions for flashing firmware onto the M5StickC Plus2 using the M5Burner tool.

1. Preparation

Refer to the M5Burner tutorial to complete the firmware flashing tool download, and then refer to the image below to download the corresponding firmware.

Download link: https://docs.m5stack.com/en/uiflow/m5burner/intro

Description of M5Burner Interface: The screenshot shows the M5Burner software with a list of available firmwares. The M5StickC Plus2 is selected, and options like "UIFlow_StickC_Plus2" (v1.14.3), "M5StickCPlus2 UserDemo" (v0.1), and "M5StickCPlus-FactoryTest" (v1.0) are visible, each with a "Download" or "Burn" button.

2. USB Driver Installation

Driver Installation Tip: Click the link below to download the driver matching your operating system. The driver package for the CP34X (for the CH9102 version) can be downloaded and installed by selecting the installation package corresponding to your operating system. If you encounter issues with program download (such as timeout or "Failed to write to target RAM" errors), try reinstalling the device driver.

• Windows Driver: CH9102_VCP_SER_Windows
• macOS Driver: CH9102_VCP_SER_MacOS v1.7

Port Selection on MacOS: On MacOS, there may be two available ports. When using them, please select the port named wchmodem.

3. Port Selection

Connect the device to the computer via a USB cable. After the driver installation is complete, you can select the corresponding device port in M5Burner.

Description of Port Selection Dialog: A dialog box within M5Burner prompts for port selection. It includes fields for "COM:" (e.g., COM5) and "BaudRate:" (e.g., 1500000), with dropdown menus to choose the specific serial port and communication speed.

4. Burn

Click "Burn" to start the flashing process.

Description of Burning Process: The M5Burner software displays a "Burning" progress window. It shows a log of the flashing operation, indicating the percentage of data written. Upon successful completion, it displays messages like "Wrote 2220144 bytes... Hash of data verified." and "Burn successfully, click here to return".