I got some ESP32 cam boards but I forgot about getting the serial communication board. As a replacement I used my arduino to get the serial communication. The firmware flashing worked using espwebtools but not using esptools and platformio/arduino ide

After a day of testing I figured all the details I needed to change. This is mostly for reference for when I get to flash them again. But may also be helpful for others, specially the platformio settings addition since the tuning of this is never mentioned on online tutorials about this

Platformio:

Add this setting into the platformio.ini file or from the project home.

upload_speed = 115200
monitor_speed = 115200

 Cable Connections:

Use 3.3v when flashing

Arduino: GND-Reset
ESP32: GND-IO0

Press Reset button on ESP32 board when the serial monitor says "Connecting.....-----....."