---
id: install-OSX
title: OSX Install
sidebar_label: OSX
---

(Here's some quick tips and [troubleshooting](#troubleshooting) on installing the device code from OS-X, thanks to @android606)

First time using LoRa for anything, just checking it out.

I bought a T-Beam on eBay, followed the instructions to install the firmware here:
[https://github.com/meshtastic/Meshtastic-esp32](https://github.com/meshtastic/Meshtastic-esp32)

I'm using a Mac for this, so that might account for differences in the steps to get it working. I just swapped out my SSD last month, I'm using a pretty fresh install of OS X 10.15.3/Catalina.

I got it working fairly smoothly, but there were two hang-ups I thought I'd mention:

1. I am about 0% familiar with Python, so there were some issues getting esptool.py working. Basically, this OS X comes with Python 2.7 and no pip. Pip installed okay, so I used it to install esptool. Esptool appeared to install correctly, but I couldn't get it to work to save my life. Simply typing "esptool.py" doesn't work, and I just don't know enough python to figure out why. For some reason, it installs but isn't in the \$PATH anywhere, and I don't know where it went. Python 2.7 kept giving me warning messages about being old and unsupported, so I figured that might be a hint that I should upgrade.

   I ended up doing this:

   - brew install pyenv (to install pyenv)
   - pyenv install 3.7.7 (to install and select python 3.7.7)
   - pyenv global 3.7.7 (to select the new version of python)
   - brew install pip (to install pip3)
   - pip3 install --upgrade esptool (note I specifically had to use "pip3", not "pip")

   ...then I was able to execute esptool.py

2. esptool.py didn't work though, because the virtual com port wasn't showing up as a device. I had to install a driver from Silicon Labs, which I got here:
   [driver for the CP210X USB to UART bridge from Silicon Labs](https://www.silabs.com/products/development-tools/software/usb-to-uart-bridge-vcp-drivers)

After I installed that, esptool.py was completely happy and the firmware loaded right up.

### Troubleshooting

**1. Running into trouble when installing `esptool` via brew**

- Make sure that `openssl` is installed first:

```
brew install openssl
```

- Set some flags in your bash/zsh/whichever profile for `esptool` to install [cryptography](https://cryptography.io/en/latest/installation) as a dependency correctly:

```
export LDFLAGS="-L/usr/local/opt/openssl/lib"
export CPPFLAGS="-I/usr/local/opt/openssl/include"
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="/usr/local/opt/openssl/lib/pkgconfig"
```

- attempt a reinstall of esptool

```
pip3 install --upgrade esptool
```

**2. I can't see the usb device as `/dev/tty[something]`:**

- Driver config successfully tested on Big Sur v11.6.2: https://github.com/WCHSoftGroup/ch34xser_macos