Hey, Mike,
 
First, try unplugging and then plugging your USB cable back in.
 
Then check the board type in the Tools menu.
 
Also check the speed rate of your serial port. Most of my ESP32 boards require 115200 bps to work properly.

Thanks for the response Stephane ,
I went one further and used a different cord  checked that I had the correct board marked.the serial monitor was set at 115200. I have double checked the sketch. I remember somewhere there was info to install ports  but can’t find it and besides that I did have the ports the day before. Getting flustered. Thanks for help  though.
Mike

Thanks for the response Stephane ,
I went one further and used a different cord  checked that I had the correct board marked.the serial monitor was set at 115200. I have double checked the sketch. I remember somewhere there was info to install ports  but can’t find it and besides that I did have the ports the day before. Getting flustered. Thanks for help  though.
Mike

Mike,
 
Check each of the steps described on this page.
 
What OS are you running? macOS? Linux ? Windows ?
What is the model of your ESP32 board?
Have you thought about restarting the Arduino IDE?
Can you upload your sketch to the microcontroller?
 
Are you sure that your USB port provides enough power to your circuit?
If in doubt, use a self-powered USB hub.

I am using win 10 on my laptop, doit esp32 v1 board, the arduino ide was restarted and yes the sketch uploaded normally. The sub  from my laptop is putting out 5v

I am using win 10 on my laptop, doit esp32 v1 board, the arduino ide was restarted and yes the sketch uploaded normally. The sub  from my laptop is putting out 5v

It’s really weird… if the upload goes smoothly, the USB-UART bridge is well established, so you’ve installed the right driver.

I’m on macOS, so I can’t test on my side with Windows unfortunately.
I hope that Sara or Rui will have an idea to help you solve the problem…
I’m running out of ideas at the moment.

Restart Windows ? 😀

You should go through everything step by step to make sure you have what you need to take the next step.

The first thing is to identify the correct port in the Windows Device Manager.
 
You seem to be saying that the upload is working correctly. So, a priori, you were able to identify the right port and the Arduino IDE manages to establish a connection with your board to transfer the program to it, so the right exchange speed (115200 bps) has been defined.

So how come the port appears grayed out in the Tools menu?
For me, there’s an inconsistency here…

Once the program is started on your board, you should be able to open the serial monitor. Can you do that?

In your code, you must initialize the communication speed of the serial monitor and choose the same speed on the serial monitor window.

Try to detail the steps one by one with screenshots, because now I’m a bit lost in the diagnosis.

Thanks alot for your help Stephane, I will probably not get back to this for a few days. I may have surgery to repair broken bones in car roll over. Maybe then my head will be a little straighter.

Damn! I’m sorry to hear that.
I hope you’re okay and get well real soon.
We’ll continue this discussion when you get back.
Take care!

Hello, 
I am not seeing a port become available when I plug in the esp wroom 32 dev board.  When I connect an esp32 cam through the ftdi, there is the usual sound that the computer has recognized the board is plugged in, and then the port shows up in the arduino ide.  I’m not getting the sound or the port showing up for the development board.  Any help?

Hi.
I answered your question here: https://rntlab.com/question/connect-to-port/
Regards,
Sara