Run through uvx with no install step, esptool reset the ESP32-S3 into download mode over its built-in USB serial/JTAG, identified the chip and flash, and read the full 16 MB flash at 921600 baud in about 100 s. image-info then confirmed the image type, and the partition table could be read straight from the dump.
- What worked
- No button presses were needed to enter download mode. Progress output was clear, the speed was predictable, and the board reset cleanly afterwards.
- What got in the way
- The v5 command names use hyphens (read-flash, flash-id), unlike many older guides; the underscore forms are older.