Arduino Setup

This tutorial walks through setting up Arduino IDE for ESP32-P4 development. By the end, you will have the IDE installed with the correct board package and all libraries needed for display demos.

Install Arduino IDE

1. Download Arduino IDE from arduino.cc/en/software. Version 2.x is recommended.

2. Run the installer for your platform.

3. Launch Arduino IDE and let it complete its initial setup.

Install the ESP32 board package

The ESP32-P4 requires board package version 3.2.0 or later from Espressif.

Online install (recommended)

1. In Arduino IDE, go to File > Preferences (or Arduino IDE > Preferences on macOS).

2. In the Additional Boards Manager URLs field, add:

   https://espressif.github.io/arduino-esp32/package_esp32_index.json

   If other URLs are already present, separate them with commas.

3. Click OK to save.

4. Open Tools > Board > Boards Manager.

5. Search for “esp32” and find “esp32 by Espressif Systems”.

6. Select version 3.2.0 (or the latest available >= 3.2.0) and click Install.

7. Wait for the download and installation to complete.

For more details, see Waveshare’s Arduino board manager tutorial.

Offline install

If your network blocks the Espressif server or the download is unreliable:

1. Download the offline board package from the Waveshare demo package (included on the product wiki page).

2. Extract the archive to your Arduino hardware directory:

   • Windows: C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Local\Arduino15\packages\
   • Linux: ~/.arduino15/packages/
   • macOS: ~/Library/Arduino15/packages/

3. Restart Arduino IDE. The ESP32-P4 should appear under Tools > Board.

Install required libraries

Several libraries are needed for display and GUI demos. The table below lists each one with its required version and install method.

Library	Version	Install method	Purpose
GFX_Library_for_Arduino	v1.6.0	Offline	GFX graphical library for display rendering
lvgl	v9.3.0	Offline recommended	LVGL graphical framework for HMI interfaces
displays	latest	Offline	I2C driver, screen definitions, touch driver
lv_conf.h	—	Manual copy	LVGL configuration header

Use offline installation for display libraries

While some of these libraries are available through Arduino’s Library Manager, the versions bundled in Waveshare’s demo package are pre-configured and tested for this board. Using the online Library Manager may pull incompatible versions or miss required configuration files.

Offline library installation

1. Download the demo package from the Waveshare ESP32-P4-WIFI6-DEV-KIT wiki. The relevant library files are inside the archive.

2. Locate your Arduino libraries folder:

   • Windows: C:\Users\<you>\Documents\Arduino\libraries\
   • Linux: ~/Arduino/libraries/
   • macOS: ~/Documents/Arduino/libraries/

3. Copy each library folder into the libraries directory:

   • GFX_Library_for_Arduino/
   • lvgl/
   • displays/

4. Copy lv_conf.h into the Arduino libraries root folder (the same level as the library folders, not inside any single library).

5. Restart Arduino IDE.

6. Verify the libraries appear under Sketch > Include Library. You should see all three listed.

For additional guidance on managing Arduino libraries, see Waveshare’s library manager tutorial.

Verify the installation

1. Go to Tools > Board and select ESP32P4 Dev Module (under the “esp32” section).

2. Go to File > Examples and confirm that examples from GFX_Library_for_Arduino and lvgl are listed.

3. Open a simple example sketch (such as the HelloWorld from the demo package).

4. Click Verify (checkmark icon) to compile. The build should complete without errors.

Note

If the build fails with missing header errors for lv_conf.h, double-check that you placed the file in the Arduino libraries root folder and not inside the lvgl library folder.

What to do next

Your Arduino environment is ready. Proceed to First Flash to connect the board and upload your first sketch.