Guide to LILYGO T-SIM7000G ESP32 development board -How to update a firmware

We will learn how to update a firmware of LILYGO T-SIM7000G ESP32 development board.

Tag: Project 600b Guide to LILYGO T-SIM7000G ESP32 development board – AT communication. Acoptex.lt

Project resources

• Sketch: None;

• Libraries: None;

• Other attachments: None.

Parts required

1.LILYGO T-SIM7000G ESP32 development board 1set

2. USB Type A to USB C data cable 1pc

Understanding the LILYGO T-SIM7000G ESP32 development board

You can read about it here – Guide to LILYGO T-SIM7000G ESP32 development board- AT communication

Signals and connections of LILYGO T-SIM7000G ESP32 development board

The onboard indicator light description:

• the red indicator LED near the upper right of the switch is only on when the battery is connected, and it is always ON when the USB is connected. It indicates that the battery is charging. If the battery is not connected, it may be FLASHING;
• the green indicator LED which is below the red indicator LED lights up only when the battery is fully charged, and it is always ON when the battery is connected;
• the status indicator LED (red color) is close to the side of the SIM7000G antenna. If the SIM7000G starts normally, it will always be ON. If it does not start normally, it will be OFF. It cannot be turned off by software.
• Close to the status indicator is the network indicator LED (red color), it indicates the network status, it can be closed by software.

The following pictures show the pinout of the T-SIM7000G ESP32 development board.

This is the pinout for version V1.0.

Dimensions

Pinout for the improved board V1.1.

Dimensions

Do wiring

Version 1.

1. You will need to solder the USB directly to the contacts. Connect USB type A male connector to the PC/laptop USB port with USB female to USB male data cable.

Version 2.

2. You can solder pin header to the contacts and connect to USB port of laptop/PC via USB to TTL converter

Step by Step instruction

Please note that in order to use the board you need to solder pin headers.

1.Preparing for operation / Do wiring

1.Please note that if you want to test the micro SD card features, you should only insert a micro SD card, after uploading the code and have it formatted on your PC/Laptop.

2.Insert a nano SIM card. Please note that to use LTE and GPRS you need a nano SIM card with data plan. It can be expensive in some countries. I recommend to use a SIM card with a prepaid or monthly plan, so you will know exactly how much you spent.

3.Connect the Full Band LTE antenna (SIM) and connect the GPS antenna.

4. Connect LILYGO T-SIM7000G ESP32 development board USB Type-C interface with USB Type A to USB C data cable to PC/Laptop USB port.

2. Get the present version of your board firmware with AT Commands

AT commands are used to control MODEMs, as is the case of the SIM7000G. In the case of the ESP32, you send the AT commands via serial communication protocol. Then, the modem responds back also via serial communication. There are four types of AT commands: test; read; set; execution. You can find the complete list of AT commands for the SIM7000G here.

You can use different software tools: Terminal, USR-TCP232-Test V1.4, AiThinker_Serial_Tool_V1.2.3, coolterm, sscom3.2 , KiTTY, putty,tera term, Access port and so on. We recommend you to use AiThinker_Serial_Tool_V1.2.3 or sscom3.2, as you can save your AT commands and it’s very easy to use.

1.If you have many devices connected to your PC/Laptop then you need to find your LILYGO T-SIM7000G ESP32 development board USB port number. If it’s just LILYGO T-SIM7000G ESP32 development board connected to USB port of your PC then go to next step. Please note that we use Windows 11. Go to Search and type Control panel, then select it. In Hardware and Sound section click on View devices and printers. Scroll down and in Unspecified find your USB-Enchanced-SERIAL CH9102 (COM..). In our case it’s COM3.

2. We are using AiThinker Serial Tool V1.2.3. So we downloaded and unzipped the folder. Find and click on AiThinker Serial Tool V1.2.3.exe to open the program.

3.Select portNum – (We have COM3), BaudRate leave as 115200, DataBits – 8. Click on Open serial button.

4. The modem will start. If you see the AT OK it means that your board is ready for AT communication and you can start to send AT commands.

5. Type AT+GMR and click on Send button to request TA revision identification of software release. We have version – 1529B08SIM7000G.

3. Flashing another firmware to LILYGO T-SIM7000G ESP32 development board

For using this USB to UART Converter you need a software tool. Most of the development tools like MikroC Pro, Arduino has a UART Tool along with it. You can use different software tools: Terminal, USR-TCP232-Test V1.4, AiThinker_Serial_Tool_V1.2.3, coolterm, sscom3.2 , KiTTY, putty,tera term, Access port and so on. We recommend you to use AiThinker_Serial_Tool_V1.2.3 or sscom3.2, as you can save your AT commands and it’s very easy to use.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTES:

Before doing firmware update:

• 1.Check your board firmware version. Enter “AT+GMR” and press Send button. Returns the TA revision identification of software release, for example: “Revision:1529B08SIM7000G OK”.
• 2.Always make sure that you have your firmware version on hands so you can restore previous version if next firmware version is bad.
• Read all information about firmware update available on Web.
• Just think if you really need to do it as it is a risk to damage the board!!!
• If you decided to do it make sure that the next firmware version which you are planning to upload is not older than existing.
• Make sure that you have USB to TTL converter if you use the Version 2 Wiring.

1.Connect USB type A male connector to the PC/laptop USB port with USB female to USB male data cable.

2.Download SIM7000X Driver and unzip the package. Open the PC/laptop Device manager and follow the steps below to add the driver. On Windows 11 go to the Search, type Device manager and press Enter. The Device manager window opens. Right-click on SimTech SIM7000 record in Other devices. Choose Update driver.

3.Click on Browse my computer for drivers and find the folder with SIM7000X drivers on your laptop/PC.

4.Click on Next button.

5.Click on Close button. Follow the above steps to install the driver for the remaining ports that are not installed.

6. You will have similar results after updating the driver.

7. Download and unzip firmware folders to C:\Firmwares.

• 1529B01SIM7000G
• 1529B04SIM7000G
• 1529B05SIM7000G
• 1529B08SIM7000G

8.Download and unzip SIM7000 QDL V1.58.zip. Double-click on sim7000 qdl v1.58 only for update.exe file to open the update tools.

10. Update tools window opens. Go to Load(Platform for version 1.34) and left-click on MDM9206(SIM7000Serries).

11.Go to Browse and select the folder with firmware. Click on X.

12. Click on Start to start the process. The port will be detected automatically (in our case it’s Sim Tech HS-USB Diagnostics 9001 (COM4)). When you will see this note in Info section – Waiting switch To Download Mode…

It means that the new port (QHSUSB_BULK) does not have any driver installed. After adding the driver according to the previous steps to install the driver, click Start again to continue.

14.If Info is Update Success!, click on Stop to stop the process. The firmware update has been completed.

15.Open the AiThinker_Serial_Tool_V1.2.3, select AT Port (We have COM3) for the port.

16.Type AT+GMR and click on Send button to request TA revision identification of software release. We have version – 1529B05SIM7000G.

Wrapping up

We have learnt how to update the firmware of the LILYGO T-SIM7000G ESP32 development board.

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