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Document Windows pioarduino recovery #2

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53 changes: 52 additions & 1 deletion README.md
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Expand Up @@ -10,9 +10,14 @@ ESP32-based IMU sensor device for the natKit BCI toolkit. This device collects i

## Software Requirements

- [PlatformIO](https://platformio.org/) (VS Code extension recommended)
- [pioarduino IDE](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=pioarduino.pioarduino-ide) for VS Code
- natKit backend running (see main repository README)

This project uses the pioarduino ESP32 platform declared in `embeded/platformio.ini`.
Do not install the official `platformio.platformio-ide` extension alongside
`pioarduino.pioarduino-ide`; both extensions manage the same PlatformIO Python
environment and can leave it partially installed.

## Project Structure

```
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -110,6 +115,52 @@ Key configuration values are defined at the top of `main.cpp`:

## Troubleshooting

### PlatformIO fails to start on Windows

If PlatformIO reports a missing Python module such as `click`, or VS Code says
that Python dependencies could not be installed, replace the official
PlatformIO extension with the pioarduino extension:

```powershell
code --uninstall-extension platformio.platformio-ide
code --install-extension pioarduino.pioarduino-ide --force
```

Restart VS Code after changing extensions.

The pioarduino ESP32 packages contain paths longer than the legacy Windows
260-character limit. The preferred fix is to enable **Win32 long paths** in an
Administrator PowerShell, then restart Windows:

```powershell
New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem' `
-Name LongPathsEnabled -Value 1 -PropertyType DWORD -Force
```

If administrator access is unavailable, use a shorter user-scoped PlatformIO
data directory and restart VS Code:

```powershell
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable(
'PLATFORMIO_CORE_DIR',
"$env:USERPROFILE\.pio",
'User'
)
```

Then build from the firmware project directory:

```powershell
cd natKit-IMU\embeded
pio run -e release
```

The first pioarduino build downloads several gigabytes and compiles the Arduino
ESP-IDF libraries, so it can take 30 minutes or longer on Windows. If that first
pass exits successfully immediately after `Compile Arduino IDF libs`, run the
same command again to create `firmware.bin`, `firmware.elf`, and
`firmware.factory.bin` under `.pio\build\release`.

### Device won't connect to WiFi
- Verify WiFi credentials in `DevConfig.hpp`
- Ensure the WiFi network is 2.4GHz (ESP32 doesn't support 5GHz)
Expand Down