Choose your hardware

Match the firmware to the board and its flash layout. ESP32-S3 detection alone cannot distinguish an AtomS3 Lite, an AtomS3R, a custom board and an ESPurr v2 board.

Hardware	Normal build preset	What to check
M5Stack Atom Matrix	normal	ESP32, 4 MB flash, onboard MPU6886; compatibility baseline
M5Stack AtomS3 Lite	s3-normal	ESP32-S3, 8 MB layout; external IMU and Grove ear cable
M5Stack AtomS3R	atoms3r-normal	Onboard BMI270, 8 MB flash/PSRAM, optional ST7735 status screen; bring-up guide
Custom ESP32-S3 board	custom-s3-normal	Configure pins, IMU and flash layout yourself; no generic public USB bootstrap
ESPurr v2, WROOM-1-N16R8	v2-normal	16 MB flash, PSRAM, fixed 69-pixel ears and four output chains
ESPurr v2, 8 MB	v2-8mb	Distinct 8 MB layout and image family; contact capture/PSRAM off by default

The public S3 installer uses the matching recovery bootstrap. It can also put the paired normal image in slot A. The classic Atom Matrix installs normal firmware directly. See installation before choosing a plan.

Before connecting power

Check the wiring guide and the actual board labels. Both ears need the intended data inputs, suitable power distribution and a common ground. LED counts and colour order must match the physical assembly. Don't feed a full strip load through an Atom connector or join independent power sources without a planned power path.

V2 profiles are experimental. Output stays black until the source/current policy has a qualified allowance; raising a brightness slider won't override it. See current status and hardware documentation for the remaining qualification work.

The detailed profile reference owns pins, build switches, recovery presets and exact partition tables. ESP32-C6 is no longer supported.