After upgrade of esp-idf framework, I get errors when compiling

maxgerhardt · August 7, 2025, 6:30pm

Ah actually, this is a current bug.

github.com/platformio/platform-espressif32

tool-esptoolpy@2.40900.0 unconditionally imports intelhex, causing ModuleNotFoundError for ESP32 builds

opened 03:33PM - 04 Aug 25 UTC

Summary After updating to platform = espressif32@6.12.0, PlatformIO installs too…l-esptoolpy@2.40900.0. This version of esptool.py contains the following unconditional import: from intelhex import HexRecordError, IntelHex This causes builds to fail with: ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'intelhex' —even when the project doesn't use .hex files and doesn't require intelhex. Environment Details - PlatformIO Core: 6.1.18 - Platform: espressif32@6.12.0 - Tool: tool-esptoolpy@2.40900.0 - Python used by PlatformIO: "~\Local\Programs\Python\Python311\python.exe" - Host OS: Windows 10 (Git Bash + VSCode) - Framework: Arduino - Board: nodemcu-32s How to Reproduce 1. Use a basic PlatformIO platformio.ini: platform = espressif32@6.12.0 board = nodemcu-32s framework = arduino 2. Ensure intelhex is not installed in the Python environment used by PlatformIO 3. Run platformio run or call a build script 4. Observe this crash: File "...tool-esptoolpy\esptool\bin_image.py", line 16, in <module> from intelhex import HexRecordError, IntelHex ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'intelhex' Expected Behavior - If .hex functionality is unused, intelhex should not be required - Builds should succeed without forcing intelhex installation Actual Behavior - Even .bin-only ESP32 builds fail due to an import in bin_image.py that is not guarded by a try-except Suggested Fixes 1. Move the from intelhex import ... inside the function that needs it 2. Or wrap in a try-except ImportError block and emit a clear message if .hex usage is triggered 3. Or add intelhex to tool-esptoolpy's install-time requirements Workaround Manually install intelhex into the Python environment used by PlatformIO: "~\Local\Programs\Python\Python311\python.exe" -m pip install intelhex Impact This silently breaks ESP32 builds for users after updating to espressif32@6.12.0, even for projects that don't need .hex support. The crash is non-obvious and unrelated to the user's code or libraries.

Delete C:\Users\<user>\.platformio\packages\tool-esptoolpy to try to force the installation of the latest package version for that.