All of the peripherals connected to the ESP32 have working code roughed out.  A work around for the cpu panic issue with the TFT_eSPI init was figured out to update the project from esp library 2.0.14.  The ESP32 lockup issue was related to the usb_serial.begin() function and was fixed in 2.0.15 so that got resolved as well.  The IR library doesn't support V3 of the ESP Ardunio library so still stuck on major rev 2 for time being.  The light sensor library worked well without any issues.  I couldn't find a good RTTTL library, the buzzer output was pretty low as well but at least made noise.  The IR led output was pretty disappointing.  Resistor was sized for 80 mA current (100 mA is rated max).  The transmissions were barely detectable on camera screen.  The stock remote IR leds show up pretty brightly when viewed with camera.  Need to resize resistor to drive at 300-500 mA to see if that makes these LEDs usable.  Started looking for some alternate ones as well.

Haven't started any MSP peripheral work yet.  Power via the cradle and battery was tested and both seem to work.  Haven't tested battery charging yet.  One of the remotes from eBay had a battery that was below the protection board cutoff.  It seems to be working after a slow charge back up to 3.6 volts direct to battery terminals and then charged up to 4.2 with one of the eBay remotes.