- Fri Jan 23, 2015 6:50 pm
#8046
cendev wrote:
exact same look my friend, no process been made.. my supplier sent some more of these same modules and got only one of them flashable but ends with an error at %99.. and still unusable.
As i mentioned before, these modules has AT firmware on them (replaced the spi flash chip with an ESP-01 and there it was..) but no response.. absolutely nothing..
Hello cendev,
It has been a few weeks I think since I last followed up here. Since my last post I have been quite busy with other projects. I have made contact with Espressif regarding the issue, not really any solution offered by them except that I was told that the supplier I purchased them from did something incorrect to cause the problems. While I was at it I signed their NDA and got access to a few more documents that weren't already floating around the net, which of course were no help to the current situation and I can't disclose due to the NDA. If you are interested in the other documents just go to the Espressif website and request to sign the NDA, it takes them about 2 to 4 days for the whole process. I have since decided to turn the remainder of unopened modules into something else to be sold on Etsy, up-cycle and get my money back!
I ended up having a friend of mine that has access to some pretty crazy testing equipment at his employer check out a few of my crappy modules and determined that something on the ESP8266EX chips was rendering them inoperable. He said most issues are usually due to a dirty foundry where the chips were produced as well as poor quality control standards.
I have to say that the hardware reference design is quite impressive and they pack an unbelievable amount of functionality into such a small chip but they completely fail to support the hobbyist market. It is obvious that unless you want 10,000 chips they aren't going to have a formal conversation with you.
If you find a good supplier then by all means stick with them. Electrodragon does enough business and checks their products in some fashion that I would trust they don't have many issues in their supply chain, especially because anyone supplying them probably would like to continue their business with them because they are a very well known go-to for hobbyists.
I recently purchased 2 of this module:
ESP8266-Serial-Port-WIFI-Wireless-Transceiver-Send-Receive-Module-IO-Lead-Out.jpg_50x50[1].jpg (1.3 KiB) Viewed 4761 times
from here:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/ESP8266-Serial-Port-WIFI-Wireless-Transceiver-Send-Receive-Module-IO-Lead-Out/32254810086.htmlBoth modules work very well.
I would like to also advise others of potential issues they might be unaware of since I helped at least 2 other people already on another site sort out some unrelated issues where they were unknowingly using USB RS232 TTL adapters labeled as 3.3v but were actually outputting 5v vcc and 5v logic levels.
To everyone buying USB RS232 TTL adapters: Some adapters are not what they say they are. Get your meter out and check your voltage from GND to RX, GND to TX, GND to VCC and make sure you get 3.3v, no higher than 3.6v or you will kill your modules before you even get started.
After sending my supplier pictures and videos of my testing showing 5 bad modules they still insisted they couldn't be bad, oh well. I now also have a friend who speaks Mandarin, Cantonese, and English that does my bidding for me. Having dealt with overseas manufacturing in other industries at no other time did I feel I needed someone to do this for me, but then again I was present at factories to explain things and things were different as I wasn't dealing with electronics.
Order in small quantities first, test, order small again, test, order big if successful. The modules are now starting to make their way onto Amazon shipped via Prime for $7 to $15 a piece.
Best of luck.
