Use this forum to chat about hardware specific topics for the ESP8266 (peripherals, memory, clocks, JTAG, programming)

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By Ron Freimann
#91809 Hello,

I have created my own PCB design using the ESP8266EX chip. I received my first prototypes and am in the process of testing them.

I am using Raspberry Pi and espotool.py to communicate and program the ESP8266EX chip. The connections are made according to this article https://www.instructables.com/Flash-ESP-01-ESP8266-Without-USB-to-serial-Adapter/. I have tested this with ESP-01 module and it is working fine.

First I did not have any communication with ESP because of some mistake on the board that I have now corrected. Then the esptool.py failed in "Connecting..." part.

Now it seems that esptool.py can communicate with the chip (it can detect chip, frequency, MAC address etc.), but it is still having some error which I don't understand. Please see the snip attached.

I would like to know what does this timeout of packet header mean and what packet is this? Is this related to QSPI maybe? I have measured the UART TX line with scope and I saw that there is data sent on that line so that should not be the problem.

The design is working on 2.8V which again should be fine because I have tested the ESP-01 module on 2.8V.
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By Steve Ruiz
#91835 I see this error occasionally when flashing my ESP-01 modules. I tried the Google search with no results.

When I encounter the error, I exec the command "esptool.py erase_flash" which cleared whatever problem the module had. The next flash attempt worked.

I am programming from a macOS, via a USB-UART breakout for ESP-01/ESP-01S.