E cpu_start: Failed to init external RAM; continuing without it. (ESP32S3-N16R8) (AIS-2249)

[BaladewaOpsec]

Checklist

• Checked the issue tracker for similar issues to ensure this is not a duplicate
• Read the documentation to confirm the issue is not addressed there and your configuration is set correctly
• Tested with the latest version to ensure the issue hasn't been fixed

I have some issue with ESP32 PSRAM Board, its ESP32S3-N16R8. I have set all SDKConfig according to datasheets like QSPI, Octal and etc. And tried all the settings but at the end it will shows the error anyway, I am sure its have PSRAM Module and there's no periphal connected.

How often does this bug occurs?

always

Expected behavior

It should look like this

I (xxx) esp_psram: Found 8MB PSRAM
I (xxx) heap_init: Adding external RAM to heap

Actual behavior (suspected bug)

E (162) octal_psram: PSRAM chip is not connected, or wrong PSRAM line mode
E (162) esp_psram: PSRAM enabled but initialization failed. Bailing out.
E cpu_start: Failed to init external RAM; continuing without it.
E (169) octal_psram: PSRAM chip is not connected, or wrong PSRAM line mode
E (176) esp_psram: PSRAM enabled but initialization failed. Bailing out.

Actuall

Error logs or terminal output

I (102) esp_image: segment 1: paddr=0001a544 vaddr=3fc92f00 sizeESP-ROM:esp32s3-20210327
Build:Mar 27 2021
rst:0x15 (USB_UART_CHIP_RESET),boot:0x18 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
Saved PC:0x40377a1e
--- 0x40377a1e: esp_cpu_wait_for_intr at F:/esp/esp-idf/components/esp_hw_support/cpu.c:64
SPIWP:0xee
mode:DIO, clock div:2
load:0x3fce2820,len:0x1700
load:0x403c8700,len:0xec0
--- 0x403c8700: _stext at ??:?
load:0x403cb700,len:0x31c0
entry 0x403c894c
--- 0x403c894c: call_start_cpu0 at F:/esp/esp-idf/components/bootloader/subproject/main/bootloader_start.c:25
I (28) boot: ESP-IDF v5.5.2 2nd stage bootloader
I (28) boot: compile time Jan  6 2026 21:48:19
I (28) boot: Multicore bootloader
I (29) boot: chip revision: v0.2
I (31) boot: efuse block revision: v1.3
I (35) qio_mode: Enabling default flash chip QIO
I (39) boot.esp32s3: Boot SPI Speed : 40MHz
I (43) boot.esp32s3: SPI Mode       : QIO
I (47) boot.esp32s3: SPI Flash Size : 16MB
I (51) boot: Enabling RNG early entropy source...
I (55) boot: Partition Table:
I (58) boot: ## Label            Usage          Type ST Offset   Length
I (64) boot:  0 nvs              WiFi data        01 02 00009000 00006000
I (71) boot:  1 phy_init         RF data          01 01 0000f000 00001000
I (77) boot:  2 factory          factory app      00 00 00010000 00100000
I (84) boot: End of partition table
I (87) esp_image: segment 0: paddr=00010020 vaddr=3c020020 size=0a51ch ( 42268) map
I (102) esp_image: segment 1: paddr=0001a544 vaddr=3fc92f00 size=02e24h ( 11812) load
I (105) esp_image: segment 2: paddr=0001d370 vaddr=40374000 size=02ca8h ( 11432) load
I (112) esp_image: segment 3: paddr=00020020 vaddr=42000020 size=13b68h ( 80744) map
I (132) esp_image: segment 4: paddr=00033b90 vaddr=40376ca8 size=0c1a0h ( 49568) load
I (144) esp_image: segment 5: paddr=0003fd38 vaddr=50000000 size=00020h (    32) load
I (150) boot: Loaded app from partition at offset 0x10000
I (151) boot: Disabling RNG early entropy source...
E (162) octal_psram: PSRAM chip is not connected, or wrong PSRAM line mode
E (162) esp_psram: PSRAM enabled but initialization failed. Bailing out.
E cpu_start: Failed to init external RAM; continuing without it.
E (169) octal_psram: PSRAM chip is not connected, or wrong PSRAM line mode
E (176) esp_psram: PSRAM enabled but initialization failed. Bailing out.
I (182) cpu_start: Multicore app
I (197) cpu_start: GPIO 44 and 43 are used as console UART I/O pins
I (198) cpu_start: Pro cpu start user code
I (198) cpu_start: cpu freq: 160000000 Hz
I (199) app_init: Application information:
I (203) app_init: Project name:     camera_test
I (207) app_init: App version:      1
I (211) app_init: Compile time:     Jan  6 2026 21:48:04
I (216) app_init: ELF file SHA256:  0f7a989a7...
I (220) app_init: ESP-IDF:          v5.5.2
I (224) efuse_init: Min chip rev:     v0.0
I (228) efuse_init: Max chip rev:     v0.99
I (232) efuse_init: Chip rev:         v0.2
I (236) heap_init: Initializing. RAM available for dynamic allocation:
I (242) heap_init: At 3FC96638 len 000530D8 (332 KiB): RAM
I (247) heap_init: At 3FCE9710 len 00005724 (21 KiB): RAM
I (252) heap_init: At 3FCF0000 len 00008000 (32 KiB): DRAM
I (257) heap_init: At 600FE000 len 00001FE8 (7 KiB): RTCRAM
I (264) spi_flash: detected chip: boya
I (266) spi_flash: flash io: qio
I (269) sleep_gpio: Configure to isolate all GPIO pins in sleep state
I (275) sleep_gpio: Enable automatic switching of GPIO sleep configuration
I (282) main_task: Started on CPU0
I (292) main_task: Calling app_main()
I (292) main_task: Returned from app_main()

Steps to reproduce the behavior

1. Setting menuconfig according to datasheets

sdkconfig.txt

2. Flash, tried 40MHz/80Mhz

Project release version

V.5.5.2

System architecture

Intel/AMD 64-bit (modern PC, older Mac)

Operating system

Windows

Operating system version

Windows 10

Shell

CMD

Additional context

I already tried all the settings, like PSRAM OPI/PSRAM QUAD and everything won't work, I just met an dead end.

[100312dog]

@FirzzyFunTWO
This is an ESP-IDF issue. I suggest asking about it on https://github.com/espressif/esp-idf.

Here's my sdkconfig.txt. Not sure why yours and mines is so different.

You can runidf.py save-defconfig to save a sdkconfig.defaults file which only includes the configs that differs from the default.
sdkconfig.defaults.txt