ESP8266 WiFi Module Library

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Chips have arrived!
bafeigum • 09/26/2014 at 19:24 • 4 comments

So my chips finally passed through customs and arrived in sealed anti-static bags. I connected up the VDD and GND to a bench power supply as others have noted that these chips need quite a bit of power. I also needed to connect the CH_PD pin to 3.3V to enable the chip. Just on standby, the chip consumes about 70mA.
I connected the TX and RX lines to my Sparkfun FTDI Basic and fired up Putty just to test out some commands before I hook it up to a chipKIT. I have to talk to the chip over 115200 Baud, and 57600 does not work. I received READY in my Putty terminal and sent AT+RST. The chip spit out a bunch of boot up text which I will include later when I write a post showing the response of all of the commands. I sent AT+CWLAP and nothing... at first I received ERROR. I sent it a couple more times and actually got the chip to list the access points! I tried connecting to my wifi router, but I entered the password wrong and still received OK. I tried sending the inquiry if I was connected and the chip hung up and any command I sent after that said it was busy. All further attempts to send AT+CWLAP hang up the chip.
So I would say so far, the chip isn't as easy to use out of the box as others have stated. I will investigate further and send some more commands and write up a post detailing how the chip responds.
Work still in progress...
bafeigum • 09/11/2014 at 17:04 • 1 comment

I am still awaiting the arrival of the modules I ordered from AliExpress. I have a tracking number, but it doesn't seem valid yet. It is great reading up on the progress others who have received their modules are making! Peter has been active in the comments and has successfully sent TCP data.
I will provide another update when I receive the modules and being work on the library. I was originally going to write the library for the MSP430 microcontrollers, but it looks like many people who have received their modules are using the Arduino. I might create the library for the Arduino first so that I can get the most amount of people debugging the library. I will eventually port the library to both platforms.
More AT Command Information Found
bafeigum • 08/29/2014 at 02:28 • 0 comments

So looking around on this German forum post about the ESP8266
http://www.mikrocontroller.net/topic/342240#new
I saw that somebody translated the Chinese AT command pdf (into German which google than translated into English for me). The translation this person posted had much more information about the chip than I had seen before! I had assumed that the Nurdspace page everybody is probably already very familiar with
https://nurdspace.nl/ESP8266#Translated_datasheet
was translated from the same document and was all the information we had so I didn't bother taking a look at the actual document in Chinese. It seemed like it would be just BARELY enough to get a good library going, however a lot of information was missing like possible return values and the returned data format. It wouldn't have been impossible to figure this stuff out after getting the chip, but it would have taken longer just poking around.
Read on to see the translated document and what to expect from the List Access Points Command.
Read more »
Two ESP8266 Modules Ordered
bafeigum • 08/27/2014 at 17:56 • 0 comments

I just placed an order for two ESP8266 Modules from AliExpress for $9.50 including free shipping. The processing time is 7 days and the expected shipping time is over 2 weeks. I will be posting the currently available documentation and the translations people have posted soon. I will also create a new GitHub repository to start commiting preliminary code based off of the documentation.

Discussions

RichardS wrote 02/24/2016 at 01:32

Remember you can always get tonnes of support and help from www.esp8266.com there is much chat there about the AT command set! Have fun! Let me know if you have any specific questions.

RIchardS

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Hemant Sharma wrote 10/19/2015 at 11:27

Hello,

Thank you very much Peter Scargill !

My device is working fine after following your steps :)

Thanks & Regards

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crosofg wrote 06/27/2015 at 17:36

Can I run Node.js server on my ESP8266? I want to run MQTT Broker(mosca) on ESp so that it can listen to all the client ESP Devices.
Thanks
Gaurav

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divyaprakashiit wrote 06/12/2015 at 09:01

Lua based library for ESP . Please!!

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moxhamj wrote 11/30/2014 at 23:47

Spent a few hours with a ESP8266 module and solved the CWLAP hang problem - I thought I would share this. The fix is AT+CWJAP="","" and then power cycle the board.
Why this works. The module remembers the last wifi connection it had, even after power down. So the first time you get it working, it usually works fine. But if you move to a different AP it will keep trying to connect to the old AP, and when in this mode, AT+CWLAP will hang.
How I found this out was I typed my AP address with one mistake but it still returned an OK. So I thought I was connected but it was not. Then you try to get the AP again with CWLAP but you can't list them.
You can replicate this with AT+CWJAP="ABC","" which is a non existent AP. This will lock up the module and a number of commands will now return with "busy...". At this point, the temptation is to either get a new module, or reflash the hardware, or give up. In this locked up state (where in the background the module is constantly trying to reconnect to the ABC router), commands like CWQAP (quit) also won't work.
The module needs to be told to stop trying to connect to access points by sending it a blank access point AT+CWJAP="","" But even that won't work until you power cycle the board, and then start again with the standard startup sequence, ie AT+RST, and then AT+CWLAP should work.
For automating this with another program, there probably would need to be a dedicated pin to power cycle the board somehow, with a mosfet or transistor.
I haven't tested whether toggling the reset pin is the same as power cycling.
Hope this helps someone!
James Moxham

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deʃhipu wrote 12/01/2014 at 15:56

Most modules have the RST pin broken out, won't that work just fine without a mosfet?

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moxhamj wrote 01/22/2015 at 05:01

Sorry about the long delay, yes, great idea, and tested it today and it works by toggling the reset pin.

Discussion on this page http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/157430-Low-cost-wifi-module-ESP8266/page3 post 53 with code which turns on a LED when the internet is available. Demonstrates all sorts of other things too. Led is on if Google is available.

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Michael O'Toole wrote 11/25/2014 at 17:24

Is Serial.find case sensitive?

On Reset & Power up with the old firmware (versions 900-901), the ESP8266 responds with "ready" but on the newer firmware (902) it's responds with "Ready ..."

If it's case sensitive, waiting for "ready" will never happen once you update firmware... I don't expect it's case-sensitive but if it is...

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Boz wrote 11/24/2014 at 09:31

Man these modules suck for reliability!

3 out of my last batch of 5 were duff, responded to AT commands but would not connect.

I so feel for anyone trying to get a bad one going.

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Michael O'Toole wrote 10/22/2014 at 17:47

Finally got these little gems working...

I'm not using level shift circuitry and although the specks suggest the chip is not 5 volts tolerant, the two I tested (over many hours) are still working. I did try using resistors to create a simple level shifter but that didn't work and cost me hours of heartache...

I've added some notes here: https://hackaday.io/project/3110/log/10488-test-circuit-arduino if anyone is still having trouble connecting they might help...

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Boz wrote 10/15/2014 at 23:58

I Did not get any of my original mark 1 boards going, 4 hours of life wasted and all 5 were crap!

Rather than give up I ordered 5 more of the newer ones and had but much better luck - The newer ones have the LEDs, the extra pins AND the newer ESP8266EX chip and can have flash updated.

As the old modules do not have the flash programming pins broken out my recommendation is if your older style board does not work just dump it ($4 lost is better than no hair!) I unsoldered the chips in case I find a use later.

Newer boards playing much nicer, have tested 2 out of the 5 and both working OK, including TCP comms OK as per other successful users.

Regarding the boards, the manufacturer recommends a large capacitor in power line and 4-layer PCB, these are two layer and no cap, though they are better designed than the surface mount variety which seems to have the RF pin going through a via over the power trace and back through another via to the PCB antenna, FFS! :-)

On my multimeter max range I note the supply peaks at 356mA for a few milliseconds on power on with chip enable connected to vcc, but if you hold the chip enable low and power on you get a peak of 4mA, setting chip enable high then gives a peak of only 252mA, I will need to do a lot more experimenting if I will be using a battery and boost converter! Either way the larger capacitor on the supply pins is probably a must if you are designing a board yourself.

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markbng wrote 10/14/2014 at 09:51

I have connected a FTDI board to the ESP8266 (board shown above). I try to get communication with the ESP8266 with no luck. I know I have to connect he FTDI Txd to the Rxd of the ESP8266, etc. The board communicates with a 3.3v logic level. The ESP8266 board also get 3.3v power. So I connected the Rxd, Txd, gnd and 3V3. I try to connect to the module with a hyperterminal. The red LED is on and the blue led flashes when I send data to the module. I don't get a response. What are the settings (baud, parity, data bits, stop bits)? Which command(s) should always give a response (AT+RST perhaps)? Is there a space between AT+ and RST? Please help ;) Thanks in advance.

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atomic3 wrote 10/14/2014 at 22:36

No space.

Try 115200 or 57600 baud. Mine works on 115200 and one of my USB to TTL didn't work while a found another USB to TTL and this one works, so your FTDI board might not be able to communicate via 3.3v logic?

Did you also pull pin CH_PD high?

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markbng wrote 11/23/2014 at 13:11

It works very fine now. I also made a 3D model of this board. Please visit 3dcontentcentral.com and look for Wi07C and you will find the 3D model.
Thanks for the help. What Wi07C firmware do you recommend?

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[deleted]

[this comment has been deleted]

atomic3 wrote 10/14/2014 at 22:38

"Oops! That page can’t be found."

-Thanks.

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Mouldy wrote 10/05/2014 at 20:41

Boz...did you ever get it working?

I'm having the same problems. If I set the baud rate to 76800 (I'm guessing that's 2x38400) and reset the module (touch a ground wire to the RST pin) I get this message:

ets Jan 8 2013,rst cause:2, boot mode:(1,7)

Apart from that, nothing. Zip. Nada. Zero response to anything I send, at any baud rate. I've got the CH_PD pin held high and the GPIO0 pin held low.

I have the module with two LEDs. Should the second (blue) LED flash when I'm sending data to the module? What does it indicate? Data connection or data transmission?

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Boz wrote 10/15/2014 at 23:57

See reply above

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hackaday wrote 10/05/2014 at 17:17

No luck getting an actual TCP connection with any firmware version I could find. Closest I got was using v 9.0, which allowed me to connect to an AP with no encryption and obtain an IP.

Seems like there is confusing/contradictory information on what to do with GPIO0. It only needs to be grounded when uploading firmware. Otherwise leave it disconnected.

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Richard wrote 09/30/2014 at 19:11

Lots of AT+ command set talk at http://www.esp8266.com right now and specially a thread started to fix the current command set.... see more there.

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Richard wrote 09/30/2014 at 19:12

the direct link is http://www.esp8266.com/viewforum.php?f=14

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Nickson Yap wrote 09/30/2014 at 17:24

Hello, I have found that in order to avoid the chip from hanging (not responding) or showing "busy now..." status...
You need to induce a delay.
It does not apply to just AT+CWLAP
But I've encountered it when using AT+CIPSTART

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[deleted]

[this comment has been deleted]

SA0987 wrote 09/28/2014 at 22:12

I would look at the cloud update they provided. you need a Windows PC to get the firmware to 17 and then cloud update. I got this working much more reliably once on 00180920 (don't quote me on the exact #)

Try CWMODE=3. i have had no luck with CWMODE=1.

you are also correct JAP returns OK. the only way to know is to look for an IP address. I am working on a library to do exactly this. Works on Mega fine, but not with Software Serial and Uno/Nano.

Another item is to power the ESP8266 externally unless using Mega. And lastly, Serial connect to be sure it is all working. I find that external power works better (and necessary). All three 8266 seem resilient and working (even when accidentally using 5V)

I also have a temp sensor running http://services.toreken.net/t/phant.php using a Mega and Nano to source to systems.

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[deleted]

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Boz wrote 09/28/2014 at 01:20

Hi Peter

Interested to know what problems you had as I may be having the same and dont have 2 nights to spare! I received my modules from electrodragon while I was on holiday and started looking at them this morning

Firstly I seem to have the old model (no leds) and different firmware as everyone else as the default speed is 74880 bits per second which I finally found out by putting my seleae logic analyser on the uart RX pin. Once I changed the speed I get the following on power on:

ets Jan 8 2013,rst cause:1, boot mode:(3,5)

load 0x40100000, len 28400, room 16
tail 0
chksum 0x33
load 0x3ffe8000, len 2516, room 8
tail 12
chksum 0x5e
ho 0 tail 12 room 4
load 0x3ffe89e0, len 3120, room 12
tail 4
chksum 0x6e
csum 0x6e

However unlike everyone else I do NOT get the ready prompt and it does not respond to AT commands, also the logic analyser does not show any further transmissions after this so its not a case of the baud rate changing.

Hooked it onto my bench PSU at 3.3V and its drawing 140mA (216mA Peak), also tried my other modules in case I have a dud but its the same. I will persevere when I get back to the workshop in a few days, maybe get the scope out or try poking AT commands into it at different baud rates but so far not a promising start.

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Peter Robinson wrote 09/23/2014 at 21:10

The modules are working quite well for me now. I've posted some code and a diagram of a really simple WiFi temperature monitor on my blog (http://robinsonia.com/wp/?p=378) if anyone is interested.

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Narioinc wrote 09/20/2014 at 17:19

Thanks to all the comments, I was able to work through the ESP8266 modules I received a while back from electrodragon. I now have two of them talking to each other via TCP. But the best part is that I was able to to setup phant server (from sparkfun.com ) on my mac and have both of them publish data to the server easily.

But here is the deal. when i send the request to the phant server to store some values against keys, the http request (GET / HTTP\1.0 ) doesn't provide "OK" but somehow the request hits the server and the server is able to store the value. I am setting CIPMUX to 0 before this

Anybody can guess why this is the behaviour, I have both the esp8266 running on v091 and i have tried similar GETs against google.com and some of my own php code.

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Davide Gironi wrote 09/19/2014 at 15:39

Hello, I've read about this chip and his SDK. I'm waiting for my module to test it.
One simple question to the one who already has work on this module.
Up to you, could it be possible to:
a) use SPI (and not UART) to exachange data with this chip
b) implement a WiFi configuration protocol (and eventually app) like TI do with his Smart Config
Maybe flashing some custom user rom to the IC.
Tks!

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ESP8266 WiFi Module Library

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Chips have arrived!

Work still in progress...

More AT Command Information Found

Two ESP8266 Modules Ordered

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