wifi softap did not work in 3.3.8

[arslabs]

Board

esp32c3 0.47" OLED

Device Description

tested on esp32c3 with 0.47" OLED and esp32c3 super mini.

Hardware Configuration

nothing connected to the board. just tried to test wifi.

Version

v3.3.8

Type

Bug

IDE Name

Arduino IDE 2.3.8

Operating System

MacOS Tahoe 26.3.1

Flash frequency

80MHz

PSRAM enabled

no

Upload speed

921600

Description

My code using wifimanager works in esp32 core v3.3.7 without any problem. But softap ssid by wifimanager did not be shown on wifi list in my laptop and smartphone after updating to 3.3.8.

Sketch

#include <WiFi.h>
#include <WebServer.h>
#include <WiFiManager.h>
#include <ESPmDNS.h>
#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>

#define RXD1 18 
#define TXD1 17

WebServer server(80);
WiFiManager wm;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);

  wm.setConfigPortalTimeout(180);
  if(!wm.autoConnect("HDMI-Matrix-Setup")) {
      ESP.restart();
  }

  MDNS.begin("hdmi-matrix");
}

void loop() {
}

Debug Message

app1 : addr: 0x00150000, size:  1280.0 KB, type:  APP, subtype: OTA_1
             spiffs : addr: 0x00290000, size:  1408.0 KB, type: DATA, subtype: SPIFFS
           coredump : addr: 0x003F0000, size:    64.0 KB, type: DATA, subtype: COREDUMP
------------------------------------------
Software Info:
------------------------------------------
  Compile Date/Time : Apr 22 2026 11:11:39
  Compile Host OS   : macosx
  ESP-IDF Version   : v5.5.4
  Arduino Version   : 3.3.8
------------------------------------------
Board Info:
------------------------------------------
  Arduino Board     : ESP32C3_DEV
  Arduino Variant   : esp32c3
  Arduino FQBN      : esp32:esp32:esp32c3:UploadSpeed=921600,CDCOnBoot=cdc,CPUFreq=160,FlashFreq=80,FlashMode=qio,FlashSize=4M,PartitionScheme=default,DebugLevel=debug,EraseFlash=none,JTAGAdapter=default,ZigbeeMode=default
============ Before Setup End ============
[   563][D][esp32-hal-uart.c:845] uartSetPins(): Attaching pin 20 to UART0 as RX
[   564][D][esp32-hal-uart.c:849] uartSetPins(): Attaching pin 21 to UART0 as TX
[   564][I][esp32-hal-periman.c:141] perimanSetPinBus(): Pin 18 already has type USB_DM (38) with bus 0x3fc93c08
[   565][I][esp32-hal-periman.c:141] perimanSetPinBus(): Pin 19 already has type USB_DP (39) with bus 0x3fc93c08
*wm:AutoConnect 
*wm:No wifi saved, skipping 
*wm:AutoConnect: FAILED for  47 ms
*wm:StartAP with SSID:  HDMI-Matrix-Setup
*wm:AP IP address: 192.168.4.1
*wm:Starting Web Portal

Other Steps to Reproduce

No response

I have checked existing issues, online documentation and the Troubleshooting Guide

• I confirm I have checked existing issues, online documentation and Troubleshooting guide.

[lbernstone]

WiFi has had some variable name changes in 3.3.8 that may need to be changed in the library. Test with something like OTAWebUpdater.ino that uses the library directly. If that works, you will need to report the issue at the WiFiManager repo.