rudy wrote:I don't have time to read all the new posts here, for that I apologize. But I will make the assumption that you are trying to program the devices in the breadboard in your picture. If that is the case the problem as I see it that setup. The problem looks to be your bad connection practices. Let me state this plainly The ESP12F does is designed to work with a supply of 3.3 volts. And you title for the thread is completely wrong. If you were to change that to "my crappy ESP12F setup needs 5v and not 3.3" then I would not have an issue and it would be your opinion about your situation and not a blanket statement about the ESP12F.
If you feel it is an issue with the setup I would be happy to know what it is that is crappy. This replicates on perf board circuit as well it is not related to the bread board, I have now provided detailed information including schematics of the current set up I am working with.
rudy wrote:The problem looks to be your bad connection practices.
Not very helpful, again point exactly what you feel is bad connection practises.
Feel free to show me the bad connection practises with the following, it is not hard to solder a piece of wire to a pin and connect to either ground or VCC.
GND -> ground ( Wire soldered from pin )
VCC -> 3.3v / 5v also has a 100uf cap (Wire soldered from pin)
CH_PD -> 3.3v / 5v (10K soldered from pin)
GPIO15 -> GND (10K soldered from pin)
GPIO2 -> 3.3v / 5v (10K soldered from pin)
RST -> 3.3v / 5v (10K soldered from pin)