# Trouble installing Qbox ODMR firmware **URL:** \ **Category:** Support and Help Desk\ **Tags:** uc2-esp, firmware\ **Created:** [June 15, 2026, 11:25am UTC](https://openuc2.discourse.group/t/trouble-installing-qbox-odmr-firmware/123 "2026-06-15T11:25:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lionel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@lionel](https://openuc2.discourse.group/u/lionel)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2026, 11:25am UTC](https://openuc2.discourse.group/t/trouble-installing-qbox-odmr-firmware/123/1 "2026-06-15T11:25:21Z")
Hi, I bought a Qbox, and I’m having trouble installing the firmware. The first time, I installed the firmware from [https://youseetoo.github.io/](https://youseetoo.github.io/) for the ESP32-C3 ODMR Server, and everything seemed fine. However, when I tried the ODMR experiment, I noticed that the serial port could not connect to some I2C devices, such as the photodiode. Also, the RF sweep was not happening: the plot stayed constant at zero. After that, I tried to reinstall the firmware, but it did not work. I checked the board with the Arduino IDE, and I was able to upload small test scripts. This confirmed that the ESP32 is not dead, that it is actually an ESP32-C3 rather than an ESP32-S3, and that the baud rate is 115200. Then I moved to the new OpenUC2 flashing tool. I tried reinstalling the ODMR firmware, but it failed. I also tried erasing the flash, both full erase and NVS erase, and then reinstalling, but it keeps failing. Each time I try, I get a message saying that the installation was successful. Then I press “Next”, and a new window appears asking whether I want to install the firmware or check the logs. After resetting the ESP32, it does not stop beeping, as if it is trying to connect. In the serial monitor, I see this message: [12:59:41 p.m.] 0xffffffff [12:59:41 p.m.] invalid header: 0xffffffff The only way to stop the beeping is to press the BOOT button on the board while reconnecting the USB cable to the computer. I don’t know where the problem is. Could you please help me understand what might be going wrong? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![lionel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@lionel](https://openuc2.discourse.group/u/lionel)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2026, 11:39am UTC](https://openuc2.discourse.group/t/trouble-installing-qbox-odmr-firmware/123/2 "2026-06-15T11:39:34Z")
I solved with the use of Codex! The ESP32 it is booting correctly, and the I2C photodiode is now detected. Key lines from the serial output: ```auto boot:0x8 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT) openUC2 ODMR Server v1.0.0 SSID: openUC2_ODMR_619628 AP IP address: 192.168.4.1 I2C device found at address 0x29 ! TSL2591 initialized ADF4351 init ``` What happened: the openUC2 C3 firmware image from the web flasher starts with empty flash data at `0x0`, while the valid ESP32-C3 bootloader is inside the image at `0x1000`. That matches the error exactly: `invalid header: 0xffffffff`. Codex erased the flash, wrote the ODMR C3 image, **then patched the valid C3 bootloader into `0x0`.** ---
**Author:** ![benedictdied](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@benedictdied](https://openuc2.discourse.group/u/benedictdied)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2026, 2:57pm UTC](https://openuc2.discourse.group/t/trouble-installing-qbox-odmr-firmware/123/3 "2026-06-16T14:57:49Z")
Hey @lionel thanks for reaching out to us! Seems like you solved the issue already on your own. Great! Would you mind which flashing tool you used? the newer version here [UC2 ESP32 Firmware Flashing Tool](https://youseetoo.github.io/flasher.html) or the older version here [https://youseetoo.github.io/](https://youseetoo.github.io/) ? I made a walk-through of the steps that hopefully work for your setup too. I guess in case the light detection is not working, check the wiring and restart it. The sensor is only recognized during the boot phase of the esp32. I flashed the s3 version, but in your case it’s probably the c3 version. Can you confirm the issue persists? Actually, you would not need to flash the firmware at all - hopefully. so I’m curious what went wrong with the hardware. Looking forward to seeing your resonance curves! 🙂 ![Mein Film 10](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/openuc2/original/1X/5d29b09d815d719e27b5b76e021d6955790238f5.gif) ---
**Author:** ![lionel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@lionel](https://openuc2.discourse.group/u/lionel)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2026, 8:26am UTC](https://openuc2.discourse.group/t/trouble-installing-qbox-odmr-firmware/123/4 "2026-06-17T08:26:39Z")
Hi Benedict. I tried both flashers, the old and the newer ones. Looking forward start measuring! ---
**Author:** ![lionel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@lionel](https://openuc2.discourse.group/u/lionel)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2026, 10:26am UTC](https://openuc2.discourse.group/t/trouble-installing-qbox-odmr-firmware/123/5 "2026-06-18T10:26:22Z")
My first resonance with the Qbox!! Amazing job by OpenUC2 👏 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/openuc2/original/1X/251766ddd863b51d8eaf283cdae06f606b446c2f.png) ---
**Author:** ![wanghaoran1207](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85e7bf/32.png) [@wanghaoran1207](https://openuc2.discourse.group/u/wanghaoran1207)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2026, 8:51am UTC](https://openuc2.discourse.group/t/trouble-installing-qbox-odmr-firmware/123/6 "2026-06-19T08:51:49Z")
wow! What a beautiful curve! Congrats!