ESP8266 Community Forum

Hi,

I've tried searching for software serial, but I can't find a definitive answer about whether software serial has been ported or is possible.

I found some postings about someone trying to connect to a GPS via serial and not use the standard serial connections, but I don't think there was a definitive answer in that thread.

i.e The problem with connecting to another device, is that its possible that you won't be able to upload firmware to the ESP8266 if there is another device connected to the ESP8266's UART connections.

Well, it may be possible to put the other device into reset and perhaps have some resistors between the device and the ESP8266 so that when it was in reset, it doesn't drive the TX line, but SoftwareSerial would be another option is its been ported.

Thanks

Hi Roger,
I've seen this one about a week ago, it is Receiver-Only for now, but I think the TX can be added with not much effort.
https://github.com/scottwday/EspSoftSerial

(There is also https://github.com/plieningerweb/esp8266-software-uart, but this one is NOT under ArduinoIDE)

There is also an option of calling Serial.swap(); — this will move UART pins to GPIO 13/15 at runtime. This way you can have both serial adapter and GPS receiver connected to the 8266 at the same time. One will work during code upload, the other will work when sketch starts running.

Thanks @iggr

Serial swap sounds like the best option, as once the device is running it won't need debug or upload via UART

Cheers

Roger