- Mon Aug 10, 2015 9:24 pm
#25611
I spent some time installing ESP8266 Arduino tonight. There were frustrations, and then the sweet taste of success. Here is my story - with a happy ending and the hope that I might save others some time...
For this installation, I am using an XP machine (because I can't throw out things that work and are still useful). I like to think of it as repurposing.
Installed version 1.6.5 with no problems.
Entered an appropriate .json file into preferences. (In this case I used the staging version http://arduino.esp8266.com/staging/pack ... index.json , but I also tried the stable version).
Used the board manager to install the ESP8266 board after the entry had dutifully shown up after adding the .json entry in the previous step.
Try as I might, I could not get past loading "esptool-0.4.6-win32.zip" - that was the point that the installation choked....over and over again.
Eventually I started looking into the .json file and, especially the entry "":"https://github.com/igrr/esptool-ck/releases/download/0.4.5/esptool-0.4.5-win32.zip"
I went to the URL...well actually, I had to back off of the URL and then go forward to get to that directory. Sure enough, I could not download the file by hand (browser - IE8 or the most recent Firefox). It was, suspiciously, the only HTTPS URL in the .json that I needed.
Skip ahead over a lot of painfully remembered javascript switches and headaches and uploading newer versions and a bit of WTF utterances. I decided to take another approach and moved over to a WIN7 machine. Installed the IDE and the board manager worked as it should and the ESP8266 interface installed without any whining at all.
Thoughts of having to give up on my old XP machine entered my mind and, I tell you, that was unacceptable. Before doing so, I went to manually download the esptool-0.4.5-win32.zip and...using Win7, I could do it!
Well, maybe I could just get the files and install them manually. that did not work so well, but I noticed that the Arduino software was kind enough to stick all of the files in a packages directory. This is located in a users/appdata area not the arduino proper directories. So, for example, on an XP machine this is c:\Documents and Settings\user (whomever it is - administrator or whatever)\Application Data\Arduino15\staging\packages and there they were zip files up to the offending file that had an entry but 0 length.
Nice, because I think I can get Arduino to fix it for me. I hand installed esptool-0.4.5-win32.zip and, searching through the .json file, I also hand installed win32-xtensa-lx106-elf-gb404fb9.tar.gz because the entry in the .json is after the esptool failure. The main file for me, http://arduino.esp8266.com/versions/1.6 ... 70995a.zip, was already in the directory since the entry was before the failed esptool file.
OK, all set now. I left the .json file in preferences, booted up, went to the board manager and hit install. It Worked!! Seeing the files already existed, it didn't download any and just went right to the install.
So far, so good, but I had to test out compiling and running an actual program. I have *very* little experience with the ESP8266. The only project I have done is here https://communities.intel.com/message/315749#315749 and it was just a little exploration. But, I knew I had a working chip to try.
So, I hooked up an FTDI and after a few connection (grounding an IO, which I forgot is needed for flashing) and baud rate pains, I got the WiFiScan example program to compile and run. WoofreakingHoo
I don't know why an HTTPS URL is causing problems, but I do know that It's nice when things work...cheers.
For this installation, I am using an XP machine (because I can't throw out things that work and are still useful). I like to think of it as repurposing.
Installed version 1.6.5 with no problems.
Entered an appropriate .json file into preferences. (In this case I used the staging version http://arduino.esp8266.com/staging/pack ... index.json , but I also tried the stable version).
Used the board manager to install the ESP8266 board after the entry had dutifully shown up after adding the .json entry in the previous step.
Try as I might, I could not get past loading "esptool-0.4.6-win32.zip" - that was the point that the installation choked....over and over again.
Eventually I started looking into the .json file and, especially the entry "":"https://github.com/igrr/esptool-ck/releases/download/0.4.5/esptool-0.4.5-win32.zip"
I went to the URL...well actually, I had to back off of the URL and then go forward to get to that directory. Sure enough, I could not download the file by hand (browser - IE8 or the most recent Firefox). It was, suspiciously, the only HTTPS URL in the .json that I needed.
Skip ahead over a lot of painfully remembered javascript switches and headaches and uploading newer versions and a bit of WTF utterances. I decided to take another approach and moved over to a WIN7 machine. Installed the IDE and the board manager worked as it should and the ESP8266 interface installed without any whining at all.
Thoughts of having to give up on my old XP machine entered my mind and, I tell you, that was unacceptable. Before doing so, I went to manually download the esptool-0.4.5-win32.zip and...using Win7, I could do it!
Well, maybe I could just get the files and install them manually. that did not work so well, but I noticed that the Arduino software was kind enough to stick all of the files in a packages directory. This is located in a users/appdata area not the arduino proper directories. So, for example, on an XP machine this is c:\Documents and Settings\user (whomever it is - administrator or whatever)\Application Data\Arduino15\staging\packages and there they were zip files up to the offending file that had an entry but 0 length.
Nice, because I think I can get Arduino to fix it for me. I hand installed esptool-0.4.5-win32.zip and, searching through the .json file, I also hand installed win32-xtensa-lx106-elf-gb404fb9.tar.gz because the entry in the .json is after the esptool failure. The main file for me, http://arduino.esp8266.com/versions/1.6 ... 70995a.zip, was already in the directory since the entry was before the failed esptool file.
OK, all set now. I left the .json file in preferences, booted up, went to the board manager and hit install. It Worked!! Seeing the files already existed, it didn't download any and just went right to the install.
So far, so good, but I had to test out compiling and running an actual program. I have *very* little experience with the ESP8266. The only project I have done is here https://communities.intel.com/message/315749#315749 and it was just a little exploration. But, I knew I had a working chip to try.
So, I hooked up an FTDI and after a few connection (grounding an IO, which I forgot is needed for flashing) and baud rate pains, I got the WiFiScan example program to compile and run. WoofreakingHoo
I don't know why an HTTPS URL is causing problems, but I do know that It's nice when things work...cheers.
