<![CDATA[M5Dial - questions before buying]]>Hello
I am using ESP32 dev boards for a while, so the M5Dial looks like a great product for my projects. I have some concerns which I want to consult with the forum about, as I am not sure what features are used and blocked for the M5Dial needs.
1- Can I program and upload the product from VisualStudioCode (VScode)?
2- Can I utilize ESPnow? I can give up WiFi as I think they can't work together.
3- Can I use both cores of the ESP32?
4- Only 2 IOs and I2C is available for external applications, correct?
5- Are the 2 GPIOs fully in & out? no restrictions?

Thank you
Yigal

]]>https://community.m5stack.com/topic/6559/m5dial-questions-before-buyingRSS for NodeThu, 30 Apr 2026 11:56:20 GMTMon, 17 Jun 2024 11:38:44 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to M5Dial - questions before buying on Mon, 17 Jun 2024 18:18:52 GMT]]>@YigalB FreeRTOS is baked in.
All four are GPIO.
The drawing has a minor notation error and to simplify things for new Users there is a suggestion that Port A, red, is I2C and Port B, black, is one in and one out.
But they are all General Purpose Input-Output.
https://www.espressif.com/sites/default/files/documentation/esp32-s3_datasheet_en.pdf
page 16 I/O mux

]]>https://community.m5stack.com/post/25587https://community.m5stack.com/post/25587Mon, 17 Jun 2024 18:18:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to M5Dial - questions before buying on Mon, 17 Jun 2024 16:07:32 GMT]]>Thanks for the fast and good answers! Few clarifications:

@teastain said in M5Dial - questions before buying:

2- Can I utilize ESPnow? I can give up WiFi as I think they can't work together.
-ESP-NOW works great and my projects are one-or-the-other, but with some tricky control they can share the WiFi band.
[Yigal] Very good. ESPnow is exactly what I need. I don't want/need to rely on WiFi.

3- Can I use both cores of the ESP32?
-Yes in FreeRTOS.
[Yigal] Are you sure FreeRTOS is required? So far both cores are working well for me without FreeRTOS. One core is for endless sensors reading, while the other core is ready for ESPnow communication handling. I assume I can keep on the same way, unless I miss something.

4- Only 2 IOs and I2C is available for external applications, correct?
-Correct, both 'ports' have identical usability I2C and or GPIO
5- Are the 2 GPIOs fully in & out? no restrictions?
-Essentially they are 4 ESP32 GPIO
[Yigal] Understood. 4 GPIOs are available (or 2 with I2C which is about the same).
Which GPIOs are these? I just wanted to make sure these are not the limited ones.

]]>https://community.m5stack.com/post/25582https://community.m5stack.com/post/25582Mon, 17 Jun 2024 16:07:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to M5Dial - questions before buying on Mon, 17 Jun 2024 15:08:22 GMT]]>

1- Can I program and upload the product from VisualStudioCode (VScode)?

-Yes, the examples are available for Python/UIFlow and Arduino IDE, but other editors like PlatformIO and ESP-IDF work fine

2- Can I utilize ESPnow? I can give up WiFi as I think they can't work together.

-ESP-NOW works great and my projects are one-or-the-other, but with some tricky control they can share the WiFi band.

3- Can I use both cores of the ESP32?

-Yes in FreeRTOS.

4- Only 2 IOs and I2C is available for external applications, correct?

-Correct, both 'ports' have identical usability I2C and or GPIO

5- Are the 2 GPIOs fully in & out? no restrictions?

-Essentially they are 4 ESP32 GPIO

]]>https://community.m5stack.com/post/25581https://community.m5stack.com/post/25581Mon, 17 Jun 2024 15:08:22 GMT