ESP32 Mac troubleshooting

A collection of links related to troubleshooting ESP32 development on MacOS.

Allow Kext loading

System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General

Screenshot of mac os settings pane with the tile security & privacy highlighted

screenshot of the security & privacy menu at the tab general, with the window under allow apps downloaded from highlighted, this is where potential errors will show up, if any

If there is an error message in the red box area, GateKeeper is interrupting the driver’s operation. If this is the case, click ‘Allow’ and confirm with administrator password, then restart your computer.

screenshot of the settings pane - security and privacy with message System software from developer Intel Corporation Apps was blocked from loading and a button ALLOW next to it

Bypassing gatekeeper on Mac OS

Mac OSX Silabs driver

You need to work around a safety measure called Gatekeeper which is a little different per OS operating system. Follow instructions below for your OS or google “disable gatekeeper on mac [insert your version here, e.g. monterey]” More info here

Mojave (10.14.x)

How to disable GateKeeper

sudo spctl --master-disable

High Sierra (10.13.x)

The allow button in the settings menu might not work, then to disable checking altogether:

Shut down your Mac
Start again while holding mac+ R during boot to enter recovery mode
Open a terminal window
type the following command and press enter

```
spctl kext-consent disable
```
Reboot
Try install driver again

Sierra (10.12.x)

How to disable GateKeeper
```
  sudo spctl --master-disable
```

El capitan (10.11.x)

Yosemite (10.10.x)

Legacy driver must be installed, instead normal one.

After starting the Arduino IDE, make sure it can communicate with the ESP32 module

If communication is possible, you can select /dev/cu.SLAB_USBtoUART (for other than Mac OSX, this name might be different) as shown in the picture below.

screenshot of Arduino window with menu Tools-Port-SLAB_USBtoUART selected
If communication is not possible, SLAB_USBtoUART will not show up (for other than Mac OSX, this name might be different.)

Arduino Esp32 communication failed