Upshot -- for hog32a version:
Once these are done, the board will enter the bootloader automatically.
Looks like we need to convert the .elf file to a binary image ...
See the guide to esptool
For esp32, elf2image produces a single output binary "image file". By default this has the same name as the .elf file, with a .bin extension. ie:
esptool.py --chip esp32 elf2image my_esp32_app.elf
In the above example, the output image file would be called my_esp32_app.bin.
Actually, checking just now -- platformio generates a 'bin' file directly, so no worries.
need to upload the partitions, too? See this issue
arduino esp32 partitions scheme
Setting up Heltec ESP32 on Arduino
If I first erase the chip using:
python esptool.py --chip esp32 erase_flash
And then use 'adafruit esp32 feather' in the board setup in arduino ide, it seems to just work. Not sure if I needed simply to erase the flash beforehand.
I was getting 'button press functionality' when running Meshtastic on the Quahog. I needed to change the quahog Mestastic-device code so that the 'button' was no longer GPIO 0 (default), but GPIO 19 (other pins may also work for this). This corresponds to 'release/latest/quahog_firmware_v3.bin' in Meshtastic-device-quahog on github.
'Off-grid wifi gateway' ... is this useful?
I guess if you want the Quahog up on a pole ... up to 100 feet away from the wifi gateway... then it can be powered by 12V ... so that might be useful in some circumstances ...