ESP8266 - Hooking up via FTDI and flashing the firmware

Okay so you've sourced your ESP8266 Module, FTDI USB to TTL Adapter (also referred to as a UART Programmer) and associated parts as per the previous blog post. Now onto flashing the firmware.

Prior to flashing the firmware on your ESP8266 Module you will need to hook this up to your USB to TTL Adapter via Jumper Cables. In order to go about doing this the following pinouts will need to be observed and carefully followed (so as not to damage anything).

ESP8266 pinout:

ESP8266 ESP-01 (component side).

On the component side of the ESP8266 Module the pin layout is as follows (whilst hooking up to a USB to TTL Adapter and PSU rails please ensure the pin layout observed is from the component side and not the side with no components on):

Pin layout of an ESP8266 ESP-01 (component side).

FTDI USB to TTL pinout:

On the solder side of the FTDI USB to TTL Adapter that I've sourced the manufacturer's have conveniently labelled the pinout of each of the pins. The pin layout seems to vary from manufacturer to manufacturer though therefore please make sure to check what the exact pin layout is for the USB to TTL Adapter you've bought.

Note: Take great care not to hook up your ESP8266 to the +5v rail:

A FTDI USB to TTL Adapter.

The wiring that needs to be followed in order to hook-up both an ESP8266 and a USB to TTL Adapter is as follows (a 3.3v PSU is recommended; Please refer to Note 2 as below):

ESP8266 > USB to TTL Adapter

RX > TX
TX > RX
CH_PD > +3.3V
GPIO 0 > GND
+3.3V > +3.3V
GND > GND

Note 1:

GPIO 0 is only connected to GND for flash programming the ESP8266. Once the firmware on your ESP8266 has been flashed this GPIO pin can be left unconnected unless of course you are using both of the GPIO pins.

Note 2:

Despite wiring up the ESP8266 and USB to TTL Adapter that I'd bought as above it was observed that there were difficulties in getting the flash programming software to work the USB to TTL Adapter's virtual COM Port would more often than not disconnect immediately after flash programming. To get around this problem a MB-102 3.3v / 5v Breadboard Power Supply (PSU) Module with external 800mA AC/DC Adapter was added and the problems immediately disappeared. Flash programming worked flawlessly and the USB to TTL Adapter's virtual COM Port no longer disconnected.

The wiring was basically the same as above but instead of the +3.3V pin on the ESP8266 being connected to the +3.3V pin on the USB to TTL Adapter it was connected to the +3.3V power-rail (the +3.3V pin on the USB to TTL Adapter was disconnected from the +3.3V pin on the USB to TTL Adapter). At a guess the +3.3V pin on the USB to TTL Adapter was supplying an inadequate amount of current for the ESP8266 to work reliably.

MB-102 3.3v / 5v Breadboard Power Supply (PSU) Module

From what has been understood the ESP8266 Module needs a reasonable amount of current depending on what operating mode it is in to function correctly. Because of this I'd strongly recommend using a minimum of a 300mA - 500mA AC/DC Adapter to provide power.

Note 3:

You will more than likely conclude that an ESP8266 ESP-01 is not Breadboard friendly off the shelf so to speak. A contributor on the ESP8266 forum has designed their own ESP8266 Breadboard Adapter and many hobbyists have made their own using a small piece of veroboard. There is an excellent tutorial submitted by 'technochatter' on instructibles.com that can be found here. Instead of using an ESP8266 Breadboard Adapter you could just use Male to Female jumper wires which is the method I'd opted for. These are cheaper than buying and making your own adapter.

ESP8266 with Male to Female Jumper Wires attached.

Connecting the parts together step by step:

1). Assuming you are using a MB-102 3.3v / 5v Breadboard Power Supply (PSU) Module connect the +3.3v power rail (denoted with a red line on an MB-102) to VCC and CH_PD pins on your ESP8266 with Male to Female jumper wires.

ESP8266 VCC and CH_PD hooked-up to +3.3v power rail.

2). Connect the 0v power rail (denoted with a blue line on an MB-102) to GND and GPIO 0 pins on your ESP8266 with Male to Female jumper wires.

ESP8266 GND and GPIO 0 hooked-up to 0v power rail.

3). Connect the TX pin on the USB to TTL Adapter to the RX pin on the ESP8266 using a Male to Male jumper wire.

4). Connect the RX pin on the USB to TTL Adapter to the TX pin on the ESP8266 using a Male to Male jumper wire.

5). Connect the 0v power rail (denoted with a blue line on an MB-102) to GND on the USB to TTL Adapter using a Male to Male jumper wire.

Installing NodeMCU Firmware:

You are now ready to flash upgrade your ESP8266. The custom ROM firmware installed in this tutorial is NodeMCU. There is other firmware that is installable on an ESP8266 but I've no knowledge on the latter as this is still new to me to be completely honest.

1). Download Node-MCUFlasher from Github.com by clicking on the download zip link on the right of the page or by clicking here.

2). Unzip the downloaded .zip file taking a note of where it has unzipped to.

3). Select the 32-bit or 64-bit version depending on what version of operating system you are using. You can determine this by navigating to 'Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\System' in Explorer.

4). Assuming the required FTDI drivers have downloaded and installed successfully make a note of what virtual COM Port has been assigned to your USB to TTL Adapter.

5). Double-click on the MCUFlasher .exe file.

NodeMCU Firmware Programmer.

6). On the proviso the Com Port shown that corresponds to your USB to TTL Adapter (in this example it is Com Port 5) click on 'Flash(F)' and a progress indication should be shown. Once the flash programming has completed there should be a green tick in the checkbox on the bottom left of the window.

7). Now that your ESP8266 has NodeMCU firmware running on it I'd strongly recommend you disconnect GPIO 0 from GND (this will allow for the ESP8266 to boot normally as opposed to booting into flash mode). GPIO 0 only needs to be connected to GND in order for firmware to be flash programmed onto the device.

Your ESP8266 is now ready to play with :).

ESP8266 - First thing's first.

First thing's first.

A big auction site seems to be full to the brim with ESP8266 modules and there are several models that can be bought too. To get started on using an ESP8266 the route I'd gone down was to buy a model ESP-01.

Other parts that are recommended to get started with an ESP8266 are as follows. Links provided against several of the parts are direct links on dx.com but you can of course buy these from your preferred source by all means:

1). An ESP8266 ESP-01
- Please note that according to dx.com (24th Mar '15) the working voltage is 5v. It's 3.3v. Using 5v will destroy the device. A 'report error' submission has been sent to them. Hopefully they will amend the product information correcting this error otherwise they will more than likely find a lot of customers complaining about damaged devices.

2). A USB to TTL Converter
- Important; Make sure the one you buy has a 3.3v line as 5v will render your ESP8266 inoperable (these devices are not by any means 'voltage tolerant').

3). An MB-102 Breadboard
- An electronics prototyping block that allows for prototypes to be made up quickly without the need for a soldering iron.

4). An MB-102 3.3v / 5v Breadboard Power Supply (PSU) Module

5). Some Breadboard Jumper Cables
- Suggested buy's are a pack of male to male and female to male cables.

6). Two 470 ohm resistors

7). Two LEDs - 3mm or 5mm - Depending on your preference. What colour LED you use is up to you too. Initially I used some 5mm green or red LEDs (cannot remember which) but am using Rainbow Colour Changing LEDs in the example(s) posted on this blog.

8).  A USB Extension Cable - I've recommended buying one of these because you will otherwise need to situate your ESP8266, USB to TTL Converter in very close proximity to your PCs nearest available USB Port. With a USB Extension Cable you can put these somewhere more manageable so to speak.

Upon receiving your ESP8266 you will more than likely need to flash the firmware to a more recent version.

You can by all accounts use an Arduino to communicate with and flash the firmware on an ESP8266 but I've not got any experience with using an Arduino therefore personally opted to use an FTDI USB to TTL Converter. I'd also discovered that using a USB to UART Bridge with a Prolific chipset such as a CP2102 is permissible but again it's very important to note that this must have a 3.3v line as using 5v will render your ESP8266 inoperable.

Decided to get blogging again.

Decided to get blogging again. The intention is to blog about personal experiences with generally 'tinkering' with electronics.

To get started I'd like to post some blog entries on something that I've quite recently discovered (as have many electronics hobbyists) that is known as an ESP8266 Module. Granted I'm by no means an early-starter with this device but never the less think it's fascinating.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Using-the-ESP8266-module/

The ESP8266 is basically a WiFi microcontroller (typically costing about $5.00 USD) that has GPIO for switching on and off for example that runs on 3.3v and can be controlled via a web-browser (please do not try to use with 5v as these modules are not 'voltage tolerant').

Hope the posts are of interest. Thank you for visiting :).

Failing dismally to source some Lamborghini Super-Fly Yellow paint for applying onto a Coolermaster Cosmos RC-1000 that I'd like to get started on however literally just been stumbled across a Tweet from @MNPCTech about a product called Plasti-Dip. Sounds amazing - By all accounts this requires little / no preparation - no sanding of panels and no undercoats needed. Initially thought that this product would be available in the U.S.A. only however have read that Plasti-Dip are available this-side of the 'big-pond' too. Interesting. At a guess not only is this less hassle to apply but savings can be made also without having to settle for finishes that are not on par with automotive paints that would otherwise be bought including acid-etch, primer and lacquers (unsure whether the latter still needs to be bought however).

Antec 1200 still unfinished however finally managed to get through to someone at Antec Inc. willing to assist with parts. A big 'thank you' to them.

Slow progress on rebuilding the Antec 1200 PC Case

Slow progress on rebuilding the Antec 1200 PC Case that I've been working on unfortunately. Weather hasn't been great and with a low level of self-esteem etc. etc. getting into projects like this is a struggle - a real struggle. Anyway more photos of PC Case to follow ASAP.

Need to buy some replacement parts from Antec however despite having e-mailed and Tweeted them unfortunately no reply has been received. I've found Coolermaster post-sales support to be excellent it's a shame that Antec do not seem to be offering a similar level of support for their customers.

On the subject of Coolermaster PC Cases - Whilst I'm aware that having several projects on the go so to speak is not a great idea I'd absolutely love to put together something barely resembling the MaximumPC Dream Machine 2011 however using a Cosmos RC1000 as opposed to a Cosmos-II.

This case-mod was done by Smooth Creations USA - At a guess a similar company to MNPCTech and West Coast Mods. The workmanship from all of these companies is phenomenal in all fairness.

Pop-Riveting an Antec 1200 back together after being 'rattle-can' sprayed.

Okay now for some photos of my Antec 1200 PC Case being riveted back together. Over-all pleased with the result considering sprayed using rattle-cans. Frustrated with scuffs etc. made by Pop-Riveter kicking-back on some of the riveted holes (need to concentrate more I think) and with the fact that I'd used the wrong size screws whilst fixing the 'big-boy' Fan to the top of the chassis (resulting in paint-chips). Hoping that the scuffs and paint-chips can be successfully fixed using touch-up paint however not sure how much of a success this is likely to be. Perhaps a re-spray on these area's is needed. I'm afraid to say I really don't know.

Glorious Sun-shine this-morning. Continuing riveting together an Antec 1200 PC Case. Have had to remove some panels put back together in an incorrect order. Guess you learn as you do along unless you've written down the order in which each panel was removed initially giving a much better idea of how to go about putting it all back together again correctly.

Shall post some photos on here ASAP.

Not managed to pop-rivet Antec 1200 in its entirety however it's taking shape. Shame my pop-riveter fell to bits whilst trying to remove a pop-rivet. Several attempts to put it all back together again and thankfully it's working again - what a hassle.

Trying to gather all of the Antec 1200 Full ATX Tower PC Case parts that I'd sprayed Hycote Honda Milano Red so that it can be riveted back together. Many parts gathered dust as chassis wasn't reassembled  Anyway keen on what the end result is going to be now. Cannot source any pop-rivets that are an identical colour therefore will more than likely be using standard off the shelf pop-rivets.

eBuyer Intenso 3TB External Hard Disk Drive

Wanted to crack-on with rebuilding an Antec 1200 case this-morning failing that this-afternoon however it's absolutely chucking it down with rain and I've basically no chance whatsoever of getting this done.  - Depressed.

Considering buying an Intenso 3TB External Hard Disk Drive from eBuyer as need to configure my NAS Box in some form of RAID configuration and have only one 3TB Internal Hard Disk Drive fitted. Backed up all of my Nokia Comes with Music downloads on there and really do not want them to be lost. Understand that the manufacturer's warranty is nullified removing the drive from external enclosures however buying external hard disk drives as opposed to internal hard disk drives of the same capacity seems to be more cost effective (providing there are no drive failures of course).

Great that someone's put a YouTube video together detailing how to go about removing the hard disk from one of these Intenso External Hard Drive enclosures.

Acer Aspire Idea 500 / 510 CPU upgrade

Factory image installed onto backup hard disk drive now and machine seems to be working okay. At this stage I think that it's a good idea to upgrade the CPU and RAM.

Preliminary checks:

1). Download CPU-Z and Core-Temp to take a screen-grab of the CPU 'as is'.
2). Gather together a T7200 Socket-M CPU, some Thermal Compound (such as IC Diamond for example) and some Akasa Tim-Clean.

Step 3). Save a copy of the existing BIOS and upgrade to the most current version (already covered here). The version of the upgraded BIOS as far as I'm aware should be R02-C2.

Screen-grabs (prior to CPU upgrade):

BIOS Upgrade confirmation

Operating parameters of T5500 CPU

Thankfully the CPU upgrade has been a success. Convinced that I'd tried to upgrade one of these machines previously unsuccessfully anyway screen-grabs are as follows:

Operating parameters of T7200 CPU

Step-by-step removal of T5500 CPU and fitting of T7200 CPU. 

1). Firstly ensure that the power has been unplugged from the machine you're working on however try to keep the power lead connected so that the machine is earthed. Periodically touch a bare metal part of the chassis so that any static build-up is sufficiently discharged so as to avoid damage due to static discharge - better still wear an earthed wrist-strap - these can be bought reasonably inexpensively from eBay and from Dabs.com

2). Remove all four screws that fix the CPU Heatsink & Fan to the CPU.

3). With the CPU Heatsink & Fan removed the Socket-M locking mechanism is undone (rotating the screw anti-clockwise).

4). Clean the underneath of the CPU Heatsink & Fan as thoroughly as possible using a cloth or paper-towel and Timclean. The surrounding cushioning-pad has also been removed here - Wanted to remove in its entirety as it was very difficult to remove the thermal compound without touching this as well.

 

4). Pop the T7200 CPU into the Socket-M CPU Socket (ensure it's orientated correctly), Once the CPU is in situ lock the CPU into position. Apply some Thermal Compound onto the CPU die and reattach the CPU Heatsink & Fan. 

5). Re-connect the power and boot-up your newly upgraded machine. Hopefully all is well and it boots without any issues. Failing that ensure the BIOS has been upgraded (you'll need to replace the T7200 CPU with the original in order to check this). Should your machine not boot check that there are no bent pins. With all of the latter checks having been made at a guess it's the CPU itself that is d.o.a. - In which case it'll need to be returned to where it was bought from.

Listening to MaximumPC podcast # 194 on iTunes whilst installing another factory image onto a spare hard disk drive. Plan to upgrade the T5500 1.66GHz CPU to a T7200 2.0GHz CPU. Cannot afford to buy anything larger and faster. Upgraded two Mac Mini's using these CPUs successfully therefore hope this upgrade will be a success too.

Prior to signing off and giving my Aspire iDea 500 a thorough soak-test I've flash upgraded the BIOS so that 3GB DDR2 in total can be fitted. How this was done:

Using the WinFlash utility available through the Acer support site a backup of the existing BIOS was saved via 'File' > 'Save old BIOS'. The BIOS was then flash upgraded via 'File' > 'Update BIOS'. The BIOS file itself is not in the same folder as the WinFlash utility but up one level and can be found by entering '*.bin'. Once the relevant .BIN file was selected I'd proceeded to upgrade the BIOS by clicking on 'Update' - This is normally a very nerve-wrecking experience as failed flash upgrades can result in you 'bricking' a device - basically rendering it unusable. After a BIOS flash upgrade a machine will more than likely need to be rebooted. Hopefully all is well and the BIOS has updated without any issues. Up to 3GB DDR2 can now be installed (in the form of 1 x 1GB and 1 x 2GB) and recognized by the BIOS.

All hardware drivers re-installed  Including two Hybrid Tuners. Now need to soak-test to ensure that there weren't any other issues in addition to the PSU failing (hopefully nothing powered by the PSU was the cause of it failing).

Giving the following upgrades some thought:

RAM: 1GB was installed straight from the factory from what I'm able to recall (2 x 512MB DDR2 Sodimm's). Up to 3GB can be installed in the form of 1 x 1Gb DDR2 Sodimm and 1 x 2Gb DDR2 Sodimm (understand that 4GB is not recognised by the BIOS even with the most current version of firmware installed)

CPU: A 1.66GHz T5500 Socket-M was installed straight from the factory - The largest CPU that works from what has been understood from AVForums is a T7600 (just remember that the Motherboard only accepts 667MHz CPUs). T7200 CPU's work well with these machines also by all accounts.

DVD: A Panasonic / Matsushita UJ-845-B is fitted as standard. It'd be great to replace this with a Blu-Ray Drive however this will need to be a slot loading version (PATA as opposed to SATA).

GPU: Not upgradeable on a 500 as the Motherboard doesn't have an MXM-II Slot however there have been various achievements with GPU upgrades on AVForums and upgrading to a 9500mGS for example sounds feasable.

Hard Disk: A 250GB Sata-II was originally installed (quite noisy) - Up to a 2TB Sata-II can be fitted from what's understood however an SSD is something I'm under the impression is more appealing. Less power consumption and no noise at all.

Think that's all. Hope this PSU works okay. Several of these have failed since buying from eBuyer originally.

Going off on tangents here really considering blogging about repairing / rebuilding an Acer Aspire iDea 500/500 however just installed the MaximumPC Online App on my Windows 8 rig. (Search for MaximumPC Online in the Windows 8 Store). Look and feel of this is very good in all fairness. Not convinced that Windows 8 is more appealing over Windows 7 however haven't used the OS enough to make reasonable comparisons to be honest.

Thought that I'd compose a list of Apps that I'd recommend are installed onto a freshly installed OS (all of the one's listed below can be installed through Ninite). The HTPC that I'm working on has Win-XP MCE installed from the factory recovery media however it's intended that Win-7 failing that Win-8 are subsequently installed. I've not had any success with getting the VFD to function at all under the latter two Operating Systems however it is possible to get this to function according to what's been read on AVForums. None of the following downloads are critical one's however as a bare minimum I'd install an antivirus package and ensure that your OS has all of the most current bug-fixes and service packs installed:

1). Google Chrome - An excellent and fast web-browser (IMHO).

2). FireFox - Another excellent web-browser, not quite as fast as Chrome as far as I'm aware however in all honesty I've not been using this much since Chrome became available to download.

3). iTunes

4). VLC

5). K-Lite Codecs

6). All six of the Runtimes that are listed

7). GIMP and/or Picasa

8). Reader - Adobe PDF Reader

9). LibreOffice - An OpenOffice equivalent

10). AVG - Antivirus - Spybot and Malware Bytes can also be downloaded however I'm not convinced they're absolutely essential.

11). Online storage - As required (Dropbox in particular)

12). Image Burn, Tera Copy and Infra-Recorder

13). Compression - As required (Personally like using PeaZip however WinRAR is a popular download as well)

14). Developer Tools - As required.

Be sure to remove any bloatware / crapware from a factory image as well.

Fitted a 500GB SATA-II Hard Disk - replacing the originally fitted 250GB SATA-II Hard Disk. Now need to install apps, bug-fixes etc. etc. Cannot recommend Ninite enough for this. Absolutely brilliant site for downloading and installing Apps without having to visit the publishers websites manually. Intend to install what was GB-PVR now known as nPVR as think that this works very well with Hauppauge DVT-B Receivers. Like their web-based programming facility too (understand that MythBuntu offers the same functionality) Thankfully managed to find Digi-TV BDA drivers as well as unfortunately the manufacturer's ceased trading - a shame as really like their hardware (and cannot afford to buy Black-Gold equivalents despite liking the idea of them very much).

Further to installing Apps through the above site I'd strongly recommend installing Teamviewer - An excellent download for administering PC's and Mac's remotely. The download is available free of charge to private individuals and really does to what is say's on the tin as they say.

Replaced the PSU on my Acer HTPC. Bought from 7Komp. Excellent service and spares seem to be very competitively priced too. Thought that the originally installed PSU was working okay further to an electrolytic capacitor having been replaced however unfortunately the repair hasn't been a success. Will need to delve into this further.

Found the Notes from a Nerd Blog invaluable where replacing the PSU was concerned. No idea what the spare flying lead with 2-Pin connector on the end is for but understand it's not used on an Acer iDea 500 but is used on an Acer iDea 510.

Once this machine is running reasonably stable upgrading the CPU from a 1.6GHz to something like a 2.0GHz Socket-M CPU. Posts on AVForums reveal various successes on the subject of upgrading this particular HTPC. Interesting stuff. Considering this machine was originally sold from companies such as eBuyer during 2006 this still seems to be quite a reasonable HTPC. Personally failed dismally to get the VFD to work under Windows-8 however will need to try and get to the bottom of this again.

Re-installed OS onto my HTPC and am giving Knoppix - Runtime Live CD a try. Like the idea of creating an image .ISO as opposed to having to install an OS, updates, service-packs and having to install software again and again further to hardware / software issues. Cannot recommend Ninite enough for reinstalling applications with the absolute minimum of fuss (more like no fuss at all).

Edit: The above Live-CD wasn't a success unfortunately. HTPC would not boot into OS.

Listening to MaximumPC podcast # 198 on iTunes.