Flashing Guide
This guide walks you through installing the firmware onto your ESP32 x86 PC board.
Requirements
- The ESP32 x86 PC board
- A USB-C cable (data-capable)
- A computer running Windows, macOS, or Linux
- A microSD card (FAT32 formatted, 32GB or smaller recommended)
- Internet connection (the board downloads OS images on first boot)
1. Install the Arduino IDE
Download and install the Arduino IDE from
arduino.cc/en/software.
2. Add ESP32 board support
- Open File → Preferences.
- In Additional Boards Manager URLs, add:
https://espressif.github.io/arduino-esp32/package_esp32_index.json
- Open Tools → Board → Boards Manager.
- Search for esp32 and install version 2.0.17.
3. Install the FabGL library
- Open Tools → Manage Libraries.
- Search for FabGL.
- Click Install.
4. Open the sketch
- Download the project firmware PCEmulator_Flux.
- Extract files from .ZIP
- Keep all the project files together in a single folder with the same name as the
.ino file.
- Open the
.ino file in the Arduino IDE.
5. Configure the board settings
Under the Tools menu, set the following:
| Setting | Value |
|---|
| Board | ESP32 Wrover Module |
| Partition Scheme | Huge APP (3MB No OTA/1MB SPIFFS) |
| PSRAM | Disabled |
| Upload Speed | 921600 |
| Flash Frequency | 80 MHz |
6. Select the port
- Connect the board to your computer with the USB-C cable.
- Open Tools → Port.
- Select the port that appears for your board.
7. Upload
- Click the Upload button (the right-arrow icon) in the Arduino IDE.
- Wait for compilation and upload to complete. You will see Done uploading when finished.
8. First boot
- Connect the board's VGA port to a monitor.
- Connect a PS/2 keyboard and mouse.
- Insert the microSD card.
- Power the board.
On first boot the emulator will:
- Ask you to connect to WiFi — select your network and enter the password using the keyboard.
- Download the selected operating system disk image to the SD card.
- Sync the date and time from the internet, then restart automatically.
After the restart, the machine selection menu appears. Choose a configuration and press Run to boot into DOS.
9. Everyday use
Once an OS image is on the SD card, the board boots straight to the machine selection menu — no WiFi or download needed.
Press ALT + PRINT SCREEN at any time during emulation to open the SYSREQ menu, where you can:
- Restart the emulator
- Restart the machine
- Mount a different floppy or disk image
- Re-sync the date and time from NTP
You're ready to go. Select a machine, press Run, and you're at C:\>.