ESP8266 Community Forum

Hi!

I am new to esp8266. Bought a couple of esp8266-01. They responded to the AT command in the Mac Arduino Serial Monitor but showed an old firmware version and did not connect to wifi. Downloaded a few recent versions of firmware and 3 or 4 different flash tools. No matter what, the re-flash (download) of firmware onto the esp8266 stops at some 45 to 50 percent done, with an error. I am using the Mihappy 3.3v 5.5v Ft232rl Ftdi Usb to Ttl Serial Adapter Module from Amazon. Tried adding a 2 uF capacitor between the +3.3V and ground. Also used a pull resistor to the +3.3V from the Reset in case electrical interference caused the reset. Nothing works. In case it matters, I use Windows 32 flashers running Windows XP on my Mac laptop, in Parallels Desktop.

Will greatly appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.

Can you do a diagram of your connections or a picture if its followable.
What does the uploader say at that point?

Sorry I cannot post picture right now. The details of the connections are
1) Ft232rl grougn to esp ground
2) Ft232rl (jumper set to 3.3v) 3.3V to esp Vcc
3) Ft232rl TX to esp RX
4) Ft232rl RX to esp tx
5) esp GPIO0 to ground
6) esp CH_PD to 3.3v
no other connections.

The flasher shows MAC addresses, opens port, and starts downloading firmware. The progress bar (in one flasher, number of percent done in another) shows progress from 0% to some 45%. The 45% varies at different attempts, rarely it is in the single digits, most times 40-45, once or twice went up to 50%.

The error message is something like "error writing to esp" - I am away from it now, will give exact error message tomorrow.

My thinking is it might be the Ft232rl 3.3V power not feeding enough current. If for some reason esp needed more milliamps as progressively more of the firmware was uploaded, that would explain the problem, Will try a separate supply next.

Any other suggestions?

- install a bigger cap directly on the pins of the module
- use short and shielded cables for rx and tx
- choose lower baud rates