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Re: WIFI Witty / Gizwits ESP-12F module

PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 9:26 am
by MosheB
Any one can help with this?
I have 2 WITTY and no one work with the RGB , any proposal?

Re: WIFI Witty - use board to program other boards

PostPosted: Fri Mar 24, 2017 1:47 pm
by darshkpatel
I was wondering how do i use the Daughter board / Programming Board provided with this to program just the esp8266 module , without the breakout.
which pins do i connect ? I understand i need to connect TX and RX and GND pins , what about the RST and stuff ? and also which pull up or pull down resistors to use ? and where ?

Re: WIFI Witty / Gizwits ESP-12F module

PostPosted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 9:11 am
by alex_g
I have done this with my Witty and it works just fine!
Flashed my ESP-07 with a NodeMCU "cloud build", using esptool with absolutely no problems. It was one of the reasons I got a Witty board, actually, and it seems to do just what I wanted.

Connect TX , RX and GND like you said.
I have also connected GPIO0, you have to do this.

For good measure I've also connected GPIO15, it may not be absolutely necessary but... note that the Witty board does some clever stuff so you don't have to hold the flash button for flashing, it pulls the voltages low correctly for you. I seem to remember that this has something to do with some special signal (GPIO15), I'm not too sure - perhaps someone more knowledgeable can comment.

RST is optional but I've connected mine as it's handy to have a button when connecting to ESPlorer.

Remember to run the chip being flashed on 3.3V not 5. It may(will!??) blow otherwise, unless it's got a built-in 3.3V regulator.
(Funnily enough I was a bit worried about RX being at 5V from the daughterboard, so I put in a voltage divider to drop it a bit. Guess what? I wouldn't work like that! Strange. Maybe it would have with a logic level converter, I dunno. However, once I connected RX-RX directly it worked just fine. The Witty top-module is connected like that, anyway)

I'm going to try it on an ESP-05 soon, I'll let you know how that went, later.

====

PS.
1) I no longer think that connecting GPIO15 is necessary (at least not on ESP-07). I had it connected wrong, to GPIO5 (doh) and it still worked fine.
2) I was unable to flash either ESP-01 or even register the ESP-05 with this setup. I don't know why. Maybe it's the setup, maybe it's me, maybe the chips are bad. I'll wait until I get one of those USB adaptors I've ordered for the ESP-01 and then try again.

Apart from that I'm very pleased - I will mainly be flashing ESP-07s because I need the antenna. I program/test the code on the Witty, remove the top module, plug in the one to be programmed and voila! Perfect.

I have also made a "breakout-breakout" board for my Witty, simply a "sandwich-filling" veroboard between the top and bottom modules, which allows me to test the pins properly, just like a proper devkit board. I'll probably end up removing the stupid LED and the LDR.

I'd actually written up a review when I first got it, here (it was my second ESP8266 module then), I'll put up some pics of my program-flashing setup and the "breakout-breakout" board if anyone is interested.

But my overall impression is that the unit runs just about perfectly for what I want.

Re: WIFI Witty / Gizwits ESP-12F module

PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2017 3:52 pm
by alex_g
There you go:

ESP-07 being programmed on a Witty base.
I have added my sandwich "breakout-breakout" board, so that I can access pins while it's being programmed. (Obviously I won't need it once it's on its own pcb, only while it's plugged into the USB board.) The power unit is merely converting 5v (right rail) to 3v3(left rail). I won't be needing it once I've got the proper regulator on the ESP-07 board.

breakout1.jpg

I'm rather pleased with how easy it all worked out.
Note the original Witty top half waiting forlornly in the foreground. ;)


=====

PS. A few days later...
I have now obtained one of those USB stick things for communicating with the ESP-01, and it works. All my ESP-01s identified correctly and flashed with it -- well, they did after I remembered to ground GPIO0, anyway. Which is good as I already have a few of those earmarked for various tasks.

However, even after knowing that they are OK, and after connecting them carefully, I was still unable to get them to talk through the Witty base. Everything looks right, the blue LED flashes when data is transmitted (TX and RX are crossed for this chip, unlike Witty and ESP-07 and co.), but all I get back from esptool is (12x)

Code: Select allCouldn't connect. [<class '__main__.FatalError'>; Timed out waiting for packet header]. Retrying...

A fatal error occurred: Failed to connect to ESP8266


I thought this may be of interest to someone. I know there are issues with esptool and ESP-01, saw something to that effect on github. Anyway, I can get everything going (one way or another) now, but it would be good to know exactly what is not working...

So, to recap, at the moment I can only flash the ESP-07s with the Witty base not the ESP-01s.