I've been trying to upload some files to my nodemcu ESP12E for a few days now. Initially I was using macOS to flash the firmware using esptool and upload files using ESPlorer. After 4 days of trying and only getting gibberish as seen in the screenshot below, I resigned to install a virtual machine with Windows on it. It didn't help at all though because I'm getting the exact same thing.
The drivers have been installed on both OSes. The node says on the back to select baud rate of 9600. I can flash a custom firmware with esptool or nodeMCU_flasher (built from http://nodemcu-build.com). But it doesn't seem to be recognize by ESPlorer.
Where is the culprit here? Is it the firmware? Is my board about to die?
Any help is appreciated.
Thank you!
TL;DR
I'm trying to make this project. I'm unable to connect to nodemcu ESP12E to upload the files. Only getting this output (see attached image).
https://www.instructables.com/id/Motorized-WiFi-IKEA-Roller-Blind/