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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : ESP8266: Lots to play with
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MicroBlocks Guru  Joined: 12/05/2012 Location: ThailandPosts: 2209 |
It might be easier to just source the chips and make a PCB. I am looking into this as those modules that are for sale are really not a trustworthy source at all. I experienced the same as you did and it is a total waste of time. Luckily they are not expensive, still i used paypals return insurance as i do not want to support them selling crap. I have an inquiry for 100pcs of the WROOM-02 module. Price for single piece was around 15US$, i hope with quantity that price goes down. I specifically like this module as it also has the FCC and CE certifications which is necessary when you use one in a project that you want to sell. The descriptions for this module is very confusing as flash is stated to be 4MByte, 16MByte, 32Mbits etc.. depending who you talk to or which site you look. This is probably also the reason for wildly different prices. The discription on espressif's website says 32Mbits. Microblocks. Build with logic. |
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TassyJim Guru Joined: 07/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6283 |
I have programming working well now too. I gave up on the CH340 USB-TTL adapters and are sticking with FTDI. A NodeMCU LUA Development board is on the way so more to play with although I think my main use will be with the ESP-01's as a front end for micromites. Jim VK7JH MMedit |
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Zonker Guru Joined: 18/08/2012 Location: United StatesPosts: 767 |
Wow.. I ordered the SP12E DevKit v2 boards from (USA) Banggood and they arrived from the vendor in just 2 days..! Taking a look under the Mag-Glass, they seem to sport a CH340G USB converter on board. The WiFi module model is ESP8266MOD with Vendor code AI THINKER... I am still collecting websites and data on these... 
With the USB and on-board 3.3 reg, I should be able to just "plug it in" and re-shoot the core with Basic... Will give it a go and see what happens... The modules come with the Lua code. I ordered 2, so will keep one untouched for now... Nice toy..!! 
EDIT: - Boy, this is getting confusing.. I am not sure how much Flash memory the module has and what "flasher" program to use... I love GitHub.. (not) but managed to get a copy of ESP8266Flasher.exe downloaded. I think this is what should be used for this type of module.. (i think)..  
So, next, I tried to get the Basic code for the core at GitHub.. The ESP8266Basic.ino file.. What you get looks like the C code for the project... Is this the file you pass to the flasher program..? (i think not)... (head scratching)... Not sure how to proceed.. I will just try powering up the module for now (with Lua core) and see if I can get it settled in... Any advice on how to get the MMISCOOL Basic code flashed would be a big help..!
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| mmiscool Newbie  Joined: 05/11/2015 Location: United StatesPosts: 12 |
Now I see why traffic on the site has spiked. And all of the feature requests. As to the question about the flasher. It looks like your board has a flash button on it. It also looks like it might be able to be power off of usb which is a great thing when developing and testing. Download the flasher program from the http://esp8266basic.com/download/ Place it in a folder. Run the flasher. When you run the flasher it will create a directory called build in the folder you place the exe in. This folder has the bin files in it that can be flashed using an alternative flasher if the one from the web site fails. Identify the com port number for your device and select it from the list. Select the flash size. For your module in the picture it looks like an esp-12 on a nice dev board. The ESP-12 should be 4m for the flash size. Hold down the flash and reset buttons down on the device and click the big "Flash" button in the flasher program. Release the reset button about a second after clicking the flash but make sure to keep the flash button on the module pressed. When the flasher pops up a notice with some flashing information you know you are done. Open up your favorite terminal program and connect to the com port for your device at 9600. Restart the esp. It should spit out a bit of giberish an then a nice "ESPBASIC VERSION x.xx" At this point you can connect to the device via wifi (Network name "ESP") and program it with out wires. Simply point your browser to http://192.168.4.1/edit the default password is blank so simply click log in. You can configure the auto connect options by visiting the settings page. If you do this and restart your device it will connect to the network you specified. To find out what IP address it was assigned look at the terminal when its booting up. It will spit out the IP address of the device. |
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| viscomjim Guru Joined: 08/01/2014 Location: United StatesPosts: 925 |
Welcome to the forum, mmiscool. Am just getting started with your port. Thanks for the work, it seems like this is going to be fun. I see Matherp got the I2C working, so can't wait to play with that. Zonker, I picked up a couple of boards similar to yours from banggood. I did the proceedure that mmiscool outlined. However, I did not have to hold any buttons at all. I used the 64bit version of the nodeMCU flasher and pointed to the build folder and used the 4M bin file. Worked fine. See if that works for you... |
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| MicroBlocks Guru Joined: 12/05/2012 Location: ThailandPosts: 2209 |
While the ESP8266 is getting popular it will probably be replaced with the ESP32 which is twice as fast, has two processors, one of which is used for the wi-fi, supports bluetooth, etc etc... I guess having stock in anything these days is deadly for business. Microblocks. Build with logic. |
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| viscomjim Guru Joined: 08/01/2014 Location: United StatesPosts: 925 |
In a letter written by the CEO, they claim that they will support the esp8266 for 12 years, even though the new chip is coming out. Apparently the price will also drop, (the 01s are almost free already). This is still a GREAT way to get connected. |
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| MicroBlocks Guru Joined: 12/05/2012 Location: ThailandPosts: 2209 |
Well imagine having a few hundred of those chips in stock (to get a reasonable price) and then the new one gets out. Only way to get rid of them will be selling them below the price you bought them for, because now everyone wants the shiny new one. I was bitten by this 'having stock' problem with the MX150's and soon the MX170's which no one uses anymore as better versions have arrived fora few pennies more. I did an inquiry for the ESP8266 just a few days ago, but now decide against it. As a small business the risk is too great. The electronics (technology) world is racing forward at incredible speed and it does not allow for time to get good at something anymore. getting old. 
Microblocks. Build with logic. |
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| viscomjim Guru Joined: 08/01/2014 Location: United StatesPosts: 925 |
Agree on the 150s. I JUST got rid of my last inventory of 150 that I used early on in a project that I PC boarded and did a specific function. The 150s were great for what I used them for and still are. But, yeah, I want the 170s now for sure. You are right about stocking up. things change quickly.... |
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| isochronic Guru Joined: 21/01/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 689 |
Any more info MB ? There was a mention of a possible pic32mx190 a while ago, presumably a faster/bigger '170, is that a goer ? (ed) We will shortly reach the stage where technology itself decides what technology to use..a new form of life, we will have to call it "siliconia" perhaps, maybe part of "synthia". Personally I would like a wifi jammer .. there is so much RF hash where I live, I can reliably get at least 3v @ 50 Hz hum just by applying a finger to a pin. A "digital signal generator" I guess.  |
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| Zonker Guru Joined: 18/08/2012 Location: United StatesPosts: 767 |
Thanks mmiscool for the walk through on ESP shooting..!
It seemed to work like a champ... Just got home, so I will try to get the radio attached to the network... I have TeraTerm sitting on the USB side.. If the module sits there awhile, it seems to startup the "access point"... I have a U-verse setup, with the radio sitting on the router. So, (i think) will try to attach the PC (sitting on a hard-line), to attach to a new network called "ESP".. Maybe this is one of those "RTFM" moments.. Anyway, Welcome to the forum..!! And, thanks for bring a very nice toy to the party..! Thanks Jim and Pete for getting this started..! GOD.. I love new toy's...  |
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| mmiscool Newbie Joined: 05/11/2015 Location: United StatesPosts: 12 |
The network name and password are case sensitive so just make sure you put the right info in. |
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| Zonker Guru Joined: 18/08/2012 Location: United StatesPosts: 767 |
Afternoon Gent's... I got the EPS module to respond as an access point of the wife's HP panel PC using it's WiFi radio. It seems to be working fine in this mode.. Is it possible to get it to attach to the routers radio and become part of the home network..? I tried the other mode of logging in, but can't seem to get it attached... 
I am kind of a dummy on this as I don't have any working knowledge yet..! The website manual is kinda lacking in "dummy" (step-by-step) instructions... If I can get the module to attach, then I can just log into it and start coding on any PC in the home network... I am also confused on the modules "modes of operation"... I understand so far (i think ), that when used as an access point (wap), the module will appear on the (radio equipped) PC's network list. If the module has a program saved previously, it should be running inside the module. When you log into the ESP network and open the web browser, you should see the GUI for your program "doing it's thing"... If so, I'm not sure how you would break out of program and get back into the editor... Maybe a different IP address inside..? Not sure...
Anyway, I'm not sure if the other mode of login using router based network attach is the same type of functionally or not... I would like to learn more about this WiFi system and how to create web based GUI interfaces with MicroMite based slaves connected to the WiFi module as the system status monitor... If attached to a router, can you get to the modules GUI from any PC on the planet..? This would be awesome and I suspect that this is exactly what is provided... But, do I need changes to the router to create a "pinhole" for the module to be seen from outside the home network..? And if so, How would I go about doing that... (total dummy here)... Any help clearing the fog would be great..!!!
Thanks Gent's..! |
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| mmiscool Newbie Joined: 05/11/2015 Location: United StatesPosts: 12 |
To connect to your home wifi goto the settings page and put your wifi network information in the section for station mode. Save the settings. Connect the module to your computer and pull up your serial terminal and set it to 9600. Turn the module back on and if you were successful it will spit out the ip address that can be used to access it on your home network. To get back in to the editor goto http://moduel ip/edit if you go to http://moduel ip/ it will return the page from the currently running program. To disable the admin menu bar you can go to the settings page and check the box to disable it. |
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| mmiscool Newbie Joined: 05/11/2015 Location: United StatesPosts: 12 |
As to how to make the device available out side your network on the internet you will need to port forward traffic from an eternal port to port 80 of the esp8266 ip address inside your network. Port forwarding instructions are specific to your router. I recommend you google the model number and the words "port forwarding" to get specific instructions for your model and brand. |
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atmega8 Guru Joined: 19/11/2013 Location: GermanyPosts: 724 |
Of course you can connect from all over the world. You have to configure port forwarding on the Router to the Modul in your internal Network. Chose a Port that the module is listening, default 80 ( i would change it to something differen, like 10000, or so. You have to know the public address of your router, or use something like dyndns.... After this and some minutes , you can be sure that thousands of hackers from the whole world will try to hack the device  |
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| Zonker Guru Joined: 18/08/2012 Location: United StatesPosts: 767 |
Thanks much Gent's for the step-by-step on the hookup..! Once I found the router IP address and wep key... I just typed them in and the attach went off with out a hich..! The TeraTerm screen did spit out an IP address and I used the browser to check... Sure enough, the screens are the same as in the wep mode of operation... I think where I got screwed up, was trying to go through windows network stuff instead of just entering the router network settings... Yikes..!
OK... Now for a little playtime.. We can now attach LCD based MM's and let them talk to the serial port of the WiFi module... (sweet)... I am going to have to brush up on the "html" skills again... Thanks again mmiscool for providing this neet device in it's most Basic form..!! Pun intended..!
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