ESP8266 Community Forum

- Wed Aug 05, 2015 9:06 pm #25140 Do you leave GPIO0 always to GND ?
It should be LOW only during the UpLoad mode. When you try to run SerialMonitor, since you have "REST - FTDI green wire", it Reset the ESP again, and enter again in UpLoad mode again, not even running your sketch.

- Thu Aug 06, 2015 12:31 am #25155

Howdy,
I wonder what the "FTDI green wire" is connected to? Why have you not connected the REST to +ve? My understanding is that when REST goes to ground, the device resets. When you activate your USB -> UART, that may be driving REST low and resetting the device. I didn't see TX and RX described as connected in your description. What do you believe that the connection to REST is doing for you?

Neil

Hey sorry, I somehow missed those. TX and RX are connected to RX and TX respectively on the FTDI cable (i.e. TX to RX and RX to TX). Looks like when I was tired last night I unplugged the RX line and plugged in into ground thinking it was a different wire LOL. That's why the module "broke" and wouldn't flash.

The green wire on the FTDI is CTS which triggers a reset automatically before flashing so I don't have to manually reset it.

- Thu Aug 06, 2015 12:32 am #25156

Do you leave GPIO0 always to GND ?
It should be LOW only during the UpLoad mode. When you try to run SerialMonitor, since you have "REST - FTDI green wire", it Reset the ESP again, and enter again in UpLoad mode again, not even running your sketch.

Hmm that could be it... I'm going to try with GPIO0 low only during flashing and will disconnect the reset wire and see if that works. It's still strange though because I literally changed nothing with my setup compared to when it was working previously.

Trying now, I'll report back.

- Thu Aug 06, 2015 12:38 am #25157

Do you leave GPIO0 always to GND ?
It should be LOW only during the UpLoad mode. When you try to run SerialMonitor, since you have "REST - FTDI green wire", it Reset the ESP again, and enter again in UpLoad mode again, not even running your sketch.

You were totally right!! It was the CTS pin on the FTDI cable causing the reset and then going into upload mode because GPIO0 was still held low! If I just unplug the REST wire before opening the serial monitor all is well after flashing (I can leave GPIO0 grounded the whole time).

I'm still curious as to how this ever worked for me before, but oh well, at least I know how to use it properly now.

Thanks guys, case closed!