Suddenly (I'm not sure if it is related to the latest VM I'm using 2021.106.0) I'm getting an error when trying to publish:

SPIFFS Error*: mkspiffs.exe or mklittlefs.exe not found!

In my board.txt I have:
# Force LittleFS Usage for ESP8266
runtime.tools.mkspiffs.path=notTheToolYoureLookingFor

It has all worked previously. I have mklittlefs in the folder:
C:\Users\nigel\AppData\Local\arduino15\packages\esp8266\tools\mklittlefs\2.5.0-4-fe5bb56

I haven't updated my ESP8266 build.

Any ideas?

Could you attach the build output with the Verbose and Show Build Properties set (instructions at top of page in yellow box)?

If you add the below to the board.txt does it work?
[code]runtime.tools.mklittlefs.path=C:\Users\nigel\AppData\Local\arduino15\packages\esp8266\tools\mklittlefs\2.5.0-4
-fe5bb56[/code]

Email sent.
Very strange..
I tried the above and it 'worked' but still no data on the esp.
After various tests (getting desperate!) I swapped to another project and that worked correctly.

Swapping back to my original project. commenting out the complete path lines and everything started working again..

As I say, very strange.

This has come back to haunt me again..
The 'SPIFFS Error*: mkspiffs.exe or mklittlefs.exe not found!' message started to appear so I added the lines:

Code (]# Force LittleFS Usage for ESP8266
runtime.tools.mkspiffs.path=notTheToolYoureLookingFor

runtime.tools.mklittlefs.path=C:\Users\nigel\AppData\Local\arduino15\packages\esp8266\tools\mklittlefs\2.5.0-4-b40a506[/code):

In one project this works ok and the upload works. In another project, with exactly the same lines in the board.txt file it doesn't work. Verbose output shows nothing of relevance: [code]ESP8266FSUpload.exe ## recipe.wwwfiles.upload.pattern "c:\program files (x86)\microsoft visual studio\2019\professional\common7\ide\extensions\c2d2aslw.nu3/ESP8266FSUpload.exe" -serial.port=192.168.0.184 -build.path="C:\Users\nigel\AppData\Local\Temp\VMBuilds\HPController\esp8266_generic\Debug" -target_platform="esp8266" -runtime.tools.mkspiffs.path="notTheToolYoureLookingFor" -board.name="Generic ESP8266 Module" -upload.verbose=True -upload.resetmethod=--before default_reset --after hard_reset -upload.speed=256000 -platform.path="C:\Users\nigel\AppData\Local\arduino15\packages\esp8266\hardware\esp8266\2.7.4" -project.name="HPController.ino" -project.path="C:\Users\nigel\Documents\Arduino\HPController" -tools.esptool.cmd="C:\Users\nigel\AppData\Local\arduino15\packages\esp8266\tools\python3\3.7.2-post1/python3" -runtime.tools.esptool.path="C:\Users\nigel\AppData\Local\arduino15\packages\esp8266\tools\esptool\0.4.12" -compiler.path="C:\Users\nigel\AppData\Local\arduino15\packages\esp8266\tools\xtensa-lx106-elf-gcc\2.5.0-4-b40a506/bin/" -build.spiffs_start="0x300000" -build.spiffs_end="0x3FA000" -build.spiffs_pagesize="256" -build.spiffs_blocksize="8192" -network.password=j3ss1cam -network.auth_upload=yes -network.port=8266 SPIFFS Error*: mkspiffs.exe or mklittlefs.exe not found!

If I comment out the 'runtime.tools.mkspiffs.path=notTheToolYoureLookingFor' line then a spiffs file is correctly created and uploaded. Uncomment to force LittleFS and I get the error.

I don't understand why, with essentially identical board.txt files and entries it is working perfectly on one project but fails on another.

What to try next?

Thanks for the report.

So we can see what is happening, would it be possible to enable the below options:
vMicro > Compiler > Verbose
vMicro > Compiler > Show Build Properties
vMicro > Uploader > Verbose

Then for each project do a build, and attempt the SPIFFS upload, and attach the logs as txt files?

For some, unexplained, reason it's started working again. I didn't do anything to fix it, it just 'happened' - not something I like as it doesn't solve the problem..

Next time it happens I will do - I'd love to get to the bottom of it!

Thanks for letting us know, if you enable the verbose settings then if it happens the log will be available in full to investigate.

Everything worked fine until ..I went on holiday and powered off my pc for 10 days.
Now the problem is back..
I've enabled everything and sent the output.

I checked the path and mklittlefs.exe is there

I also tried adding the path in the board.txt - didn't work either.

Further investigations...
The publish failed when I opened VS and just published without having built the project.
I then built the project (no changes to the code so I hadn't built it again)
Now it looks like mklittlefs has run as it runs after the project is built.
Trying Publish again and it now works correctly.

So it seems the project has to be built for the publish to work.

I've sent the output files for when it fails, my build and then when it succeeds.

It seems this problem is still present in the latest build.
I've been testing how to replicate and it's very easy..

- Open any esp8266 sketch.
- Add a data folder if it doesn't have one
- Create a single html file in the folder (I guess it could really be any sort of file just so there is content)
- Publish server data files - it will fail with LITTLEFS Error*: mkspiffs.exe or mklittlefs.exe not found!
- Build the project
- Publish server data files - it will work

Additionally..
- Change the board to a different one
- Publish server data files - it will fail with LITTLEFS Error*: mkspiffs.exe or mklittlefs.exe not found!

Adding the runtime.tools.mklittlefs.path= to the board.txt makes no difference.

Additionally, looking at the verbose output from both outputs (successful and fail) the runtime.tools.... isn't in the build string.

Thanks for the update.

To allow this to work properly, a build must be done first for the project + board + FSType + configuration.

https://www.visualmicro.com/page/ESP8266-SPIFFS-and-LittleFS-FileSystems.aspx

We will look at improving this in the future.

Ok, thanks for the information.
The docs only say a build has to be done for FatFS, not for LittleFS.

Apologies, we have updated this for the older software as well (< 21.09.17.0 Tab on LittleFS Section).