[SOLVED] First try at flashing NodeMCU with ESP Easy

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Winfried
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[SOLVED] First try at flashing NodeMCU with ESP Easy

#1 Post by Winfried » 15 Apr 2022, 15:20

Hello,

This is my first try at flashing a NodeMCU controller (and an OLED screen).

Before bothering with soldering, I first used Dupont female-female wires to connect the NodeMCU and the OLED screen (3V3-VCC, GND-GND, D1-SDA, D2-SCL).

Then, I connected the NodeMCU to the computer with USB, let Windows install the driver, and assign a COM port. Device Manager happily shows "Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge (COM7)".

Next, through Google Chrome on Windows, I used eMariete's "Install ESP Easy" web-based installer.

But even after several minutes, it's still spinning "Installing ESP Easy - Preparing installation" :-/

Any idea what could be wrong?

Thank you.
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Last edited by Winfried on 16 Apr 2022, 00:19, edited 1 time in total.

TD-er
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Re: First try at flashing NodeMCU with ESP Easy

#2 Post by TD-er » 15 Apr 2022, 15:35

I don't know why the installer on that website is not working.
Can you try my site to see if that's working: https://td-er.nl/ESPEasy/
It is possible that site you mentioned is serving a special build of ESPEasy, so it might not be the same binary.
But at least you can verify if there is a problem with the used flasher library, or maybe a file no longer available, etc.

Winfried
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Re: First try at flashing NodeMCU with ESP Easy

#3 Post by Winfried » 15 Apr 2022, 15:58

Thanks for the help.

After closing the web page, I tried the GUI application… and flashing worked: Even using the default speed of 115,200bps, it still took 96 seconds. Since the web script uses 9,600bps, I guess it was just very very very slow.

But after hitting the RST button, still nothing is displayed on the OLED. I wonder if I got the wiring right.

Which firmware should I try? I guess it's from the "ESP8266-4M".

https://td-er.nl/ESPEasy/

TD-er
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Re: First try at flashing NodeMCU with ESP Easy

#4 Post by TD-er » 15 Apr 2022, 16:08

If you're using a module like a NodeMCU or Wemos D1 mini, then yes you should use one from the ESP8266-4M builds.

But since I don't know what plugins are included in that build on that site, let alone if there is any other change made, I don't know if you will get the same build as intended there.

At least you can try to run ESPEasy, but then you will have a clean build with no configuration.
Since you're expecting something to appear on the display, I guess that site will try to flash an entire image with some configuration.

Flashing at 9600 baud is extremely slow and if it is flashing a full 4M image, it will take over an hour to flash.

But you can see if the flashing itself was successful, by checking if there is a new WiFI access point present called "ESPEasy".

Winfried
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Re: First try at flashing NodeMCU with ESP Easy

#5 Post by Winfried » 15 Apr 2022, 16:22

Which firmware should I try, and see if the OLED lights up?

And how should I wire the OLED (SCL, SDA) to the NodeMCU?

ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_custom_alt_wifi_ESP8266_4M1M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_custom_beta_ESP8266_4M1M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_custom_ESP8266_4M1M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_custom_ESP8266_4M2M_LittleFS
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_custom_ESP8266_4M2M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_custom_IR_ESP8266_4M1M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_custom_sdk3_ESP8266_4M1M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_display_ESP8266_4M1M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_energy_ESP8266_4M1M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_hard_SONOFF_POW_4M1M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_minimal_IRext_ESP8266_4M1M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_minimal_IRext_ESP8266_4M2M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_normal_alt_wifi_ESP8266_4M1M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_normal_ESP8266_4M1M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_normal_ESP8266_4M1M_VCC
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_normal_IRext_no_rx_ESP8266_4M2M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_test_A_alt_wifi_ESP8266_4M1M_VCC
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_test_A_beta_ESP8266_4M1M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_test_A_ESP8266_4M1M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_test_A_ESP8266_4M1M_VCC
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_test_B_alt_wifi_ESP8266_4M1M_VCC
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_test_B_beta_ESP8266_4M1M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_test_B_ESP8266_4M1M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_test_B_ESP8266_4M1M_VCC
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_test_C_alt_wifi_ESP8266_4M1M_VCC
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_test_C_beta_ESP8266_4M1M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_test_C_ESP8266_4M1M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_test_C_ESP8266_4M1M_VCC
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_test_D_alt_wifi_ESP8266_4M1M_VCC
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_test_D_beta_ESP8266_4M1M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_test_D_ESP8266_4M1M
ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_test_D_ESP8266_4M1M_VCC

I actually don't intend to use wifi once the CO2 sensor is connected. I just need to see what it says on the display.

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Re: First try at flashing NodeMCU with ESP Easy

#6 Post by TD-er » 15 Apr 2022, 17:08

See the list of plugins included in each build: https://espeasy.readthedocs.io/en/lates ... al-plugins

But like I said, these builds do not have a configuration when you flash them.
So you will not see anything show on the display after flashing these build files as you still need to setup the device yourself.

The bin file linked on that site (in the ZIP file, including a flasher program for Windows) contains a file named: ESP_Easy_mega_20201227_normal_ESP8266_4M1M.bin

The video on that site shows how to configure it, starting at around 11m30.

The site also states you need to have the CO2 sensor disconnected while flashing it via USB/serial.
Otherwise the CO2 sensor may interfere with the flashing procedure.

Winfried
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Re: First try at flashing NodeMCU with ESP Easy

#7 Post by Winfried » 15 Apr 2022, 17:59

it's OK, as I don't have the sensor connected.

After flashing eMariete's firmware, the OLED is off, and there's no wifi access point.

I'm not familiar with NodeMCU, so have no idea what plugins are and how to use them.

At this point, I'd like to check that the OLED works, before proceeding with conneccting a CO2 sensor.

What firmware should I use to get wifi to work, so I can connect and configure it through its web server?
--
Edit

I used "ESP_Easy_mega_20211105_normal_ESP8266_4M1M", the blue LED lit up twice, and the web page is stuck at "Initializing…"

--
Edit: To check if the issue was the firmware, I reflashed the controller with the NodeMCU firmware with its PyFlasher utility… and I could see its wifi access point ("FaryLink_blah"). Then, I used PyFlasher to reflash the controller with eMariete's ESPEasy firmware… and have successfully enabled the OLED display :)

Thanks very much for your help.

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