Bench test D of 5 · RFID

The reader, into the sockets

No soldering on the board · 1 header on the PN532 Power: laptop USB is enough Have ready: your NTAG tags
What you add The red PN532 v3 reader, on its own labels
What passing proves The reader answers, and every tag gives the same UID every time
Already working A: board · B: speakers · C: microSD on its own bus

TipPin 1 of each socket is the square pad, the end nearest the power jack. Count from there.

Wiring · test D · 6 wires · no soldering on the board
Louder-ESP32-S3 · K1 nothing modified
test D
PN532 v3 SPI · DIP 1 off, 2 on
Same board wired in test C
test C
microSD module already in place
Same board wired in test B
test B
Supply + 2 speakers already in place
Test E · knob and buttonssockets + pads SD 39, RGB OUT 21, IR IN 07
power ground signal later steps pad = solder · pin = header pin · socket · screw = terminal
Pin budget · Louder-ESP32-S3 rev K1 8 of the build's 13 GPIO wired after test D

Tap a pin to see why it’s free, used or off limits.

this step earlier step later step free on the chip, pad not checked avoid
  • 0, 3, 45, 46 strapping pins: they decide how the chip boots
  • 8, 9, 14–17 wired on the board to the TAS5805M amp
  • 19, 20 USB: flashing and the serial console
  • 26–37 flash and octal PSRAM inside the N8R8 module
  • 7 usable, but it shares the IR receiver
  • 43, 44 UART0: fine for the SD card, the console moves to USB

Wire it, then check before power

0 of 5

Flash and check

Power: laptop USB
pio run -e d_rfid -t upload -t monitor

Or flash it from the browser, desktop Chrome or Edge, with the build note. Blank board? Do the first flash once.

What you should see 
TEST D - PN532 RFID
PN532, firmware 1.6
hold a tag against the reader...
tag: 04A3B21C5D6E80 (7 bytes)

Pass: a firmware version prints, and every tag gives a stable UID from two or three centimetres, through a sheet of paper. Write each UID down: the firmware maps them to folders later.

On my bench

✓ PASSED · READER FOUND ON HARDWARE SPI AFTER REWIRING BY LABEL

Still to do on my bench: log each tag’s UID.

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What went wrong on my bench

  • Every signal wire sat one pin over, and MISO was in P1 pin 6. me Rewired by the printed labels at both ends, the reader answered. Hardware SPI on 12, 13, 11 and 10, the same pins as the working Owlbox ESPHome build.
  • It can’t read genuine Tonies figures. the module The PN532 reads ISO 14443A only (NTAG, MIFARE). Tonies are ISO 15693. Storybox figures carry their own NTAG tag.
  • Range is two to three centimetres, worse near a speaker magnet. the module Normal for the small antenna. Worth knowing before the reader’s place in the case is fixed.

If yours fails

PN532 NOT FOUND
In order: wires off by one or MISO in the wrong socket; the DIP switches; MISO and MOSI swapped; power. Some clones want 5 V on VCC: take it from the power terminal and leave the data pins as they are.
Found, but reads no tags
Check the tags. NTAG and MIFARE work; ISO 15693 never will on this reader.
Range under a centimetre
Normal for the small antenna, and worse near a speaker magnet.
Next · test E The knob and two buttons. Sockets for the knob, three pads to solder. Go to E →