@macsbug Thank you!

@agreedk thanks! I guess that means I have to figure out how tall a font is in pixels, and how wide the phrase is, ugh. Feels very imprecise and clunky.

Thanks @ajb2k3 but I'm writing this particular code in C++ / Arduino so I'm using M5.Lcd

I'm trying to create a text area on the screen where I can write some text (like a sensor value) and then periodically replace this with new text somehow. I can't find anything about how to do common operations like this. How do I erase the prior value and replace it with the new value? thanks

I have a python app that is monitoring the voltage of a rapidly changing signal (think audio amplitude) from a sensor and I am driving the width of a rectangle shape, modulating the width with the value of the signal. I would like to have a smooth update frequency of about 30 per second. Basically I want to emulate the look of old fashioned VU meters, either the electromechanical kind of the 60's or the LED bars of the 80's. I don't know the best way to do this. I.e. do I draw the rectangle, then erase it, then draw the new rectangle at the new width? I tried a couple of different approaches but they didn't look correct. Thanks.

I was finally able to Erase and get things back to normal.

@bschwahn I would think a digital sensor would be much more accurate and easy to use than an analog one. Once you figure out what library you need for the protocol e.g. this might help https://randomnerdtutorials.com/esp32-multiple-ds18b20-temperature-sensors/

@ajb2k3 Thanks. I referenced my attempt with Burner in the original post. I tried a subsequent time and it finally worked. So I think I'm good now. It's not clear to me how Burner could ever work if a program is attached to the serial port -- does Burner not require the serial port itself?

@ajb2k3 thanks but when you say “wipe” using Burner which operation are you talking about? In my post I show the output from an attempt to use M5Burner. I agree with your theory that The unit is running my sketch which is either holding up the serial connection or doing something similar. What I don’t understand about this unit is the apparent lack of a factory reset using the buttons somehow and starting from scratch with a boot strap or something similar. Is there no such function?

No response ( no display or sound) upon plugging in usb power. Was working fine until I tried uploading a sketch. Burn fails. I am getting a response to ls:

ls /dev/tty.wch*
/dev/tty.wchusbserial537E0144481

File "/Applications/M5Burner.app/Contents/Resources/packages/tools/serial/serialposix.py", line 268, in open
raise SerialException(msg.errno, "could not open port {}: {}".format(self._port, msg))
serial.serialutil.SerialException: [Errno 16] could not open port /dev/tty.wchusbserial537E0144481: [Errno 16] Resource busy: '/dev/tty.wchusbserial537E0144481'

Any suggestions?