How to re-burn the firmware for ESP8266 module?

1. Build the circuit

Connect ESP8266 and SunFounder R3 board.

../_images/connect_esp8266.png

2. Burning the firmware

  • Follow the steps below to burn the firmware if you are using Windows.

    1. Download firmware and burn-in tool.

    2. After unzipping, you will see 3 files.

      ../_images/bat_firmware.png

      • BAT_AT_V1.7.1.0_1M.bin: The firmware to burn to the ESP8266 module.

      • esptool.exe: This is a command-line utility for Windows.

      • install.bat: This is the command package for Windows system, double click this file will run all the commands inside the file.

    3. Double click install.bat to start the firmware burning. If you see the following prompt, the firmware has been installed successfully.

      ../_images/install_firmware.png

      Note

      If the burn-in fails, please check the following points.

      • Reset the ESP8266 module by inserting the RST on the ESP8266 Adapter to GND and then unplugging it.

      • Check if the wiring is correct.

      • Whether the computer has recognized your board properly, and make sure the port is not occupied.

      • Reopen the install.bat file.

  • To burn the firmware, follow these steps if you are using a Mac OS system.

    1. Use the following commands to install Esptool. Esptool is a Python-based, open-source, platform-independent utility to communicate with the ROM bootloader in Espressif chips.

      python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip
python3 -m pip install esptool

    2. If esptool is properly installed, it will output a message such as [usage: esptool] if you run python3 -m esptool.

    3. Download firmware.

    4. After unzipping, you will see 3 files.

      ../_images/bat_firmware.png

      • BAT_AT_V1.7.1.0_1M.bin: The firmware to burn to the ESP8266 module.

      • esptool.exe: This is a command-line utility for Windows.

      • install.bat: This is the command package for Windows system, double click this file will run all the commands inside the file.

    5. Open a terminal and use the cd command to go into the firmware folder you just downloaded, then run the following command to erase the existing firmware and re-burn the new firmware.

      python3 -m esptool --chip esp8266 --before default_reset erase_flash
python3 -m esptool --chip esp8266 --before default_reset write_flash 0 "BAT_AT_V1.7.1.0_1M.bin"

    6. If you see the following prompt, the firmware has been installed successfully.

      ../_images/install_firmware_macos.png

      Note

      If the burn-in fails, please check the following points.

      • Reset the ESP8266 module by inserting the RST on the ESP8266 Adapter to GND and then unplugging it.

      • Check if the wiring is correct.

      • Whether the computer has recognized your board properly, and make sure the port is not occupied.

      • Reopen the install.bat file.

3. Test

  1. On the basis of the original wiring, connect IO1 to 3V3.

    ../_images/connect_esp826612.png

  2. You will be able to see information about the ESP8266 module if you click the magnifying glass icon(Serial Monitor) in the upper right corner and set the baud rate to 115200.

    ../_images/sp20220524113020.png

    Note

    • If ready doesn’t appear, you can try to reset the ESP8266 module(connect RST to GND) and re-open the Serial Monitor.

  3. Click on NEWLINE DROPDOWN BOX, select both NL & CR in the drop down option, enter AT, if it returns OK, it means ESP8266 has successfully established connection with R3 board.

    ../_images/sp20220524113702.png

Now you can continue to follow 1.1 Configuring the ESP8266 to set the working mode and baud rate of the ESP8266 module.