Basics project 109b ESP8266 ESP-12E module – Another way to flash with SONOFF Tasmota firmware

Basics: Project 109b

Project name:  ESP8266 ESP-12E module – Another way to flash with SONOFF Tasmota firmware

Tags: Arduino IDE, ESP8266 ESP-12E module, Nodemcu v3, Lolin, SONOFF, Tasmota Firmware

Attachments: NONE

In this project, you needed these parts (Dear visitors. You can support our project buy clicking on the links of parts and buying them or donate us to keep this website alive. Thank you):

1. Micro USB cable 1 pc

2. ESP8266 ESP-12E module 1pc

General

We will learn how to flash SONOFF Tasmota firmware on the ESP8266 ESP-12E module using the ESP-EASY.

Understanding the Tasmota

Tasmota is an alternative firmware for ESP8266 based devices with easy configuration using webUI, OTA updates, automation using timers or rules, expandability and entirely local control over MQTT, HTTP, Serial or KNX. Written for Arduino IDE and PlatformIO.

It was initially written for Sonoff devices, but it supports devices from many other brands like Electrodragon, MagicHome, AriLux, Blitzwolf, and Allterco. You can also install it on development boards like the Wemos D1 mini and the ESP8266 NodeMCU.

You can read more about it here.

Understanding the ESP8266 ESP-12E WI FI module (LoLin NODEMCU V3)

You can read more about it here.

Signals and connections of the ESP8266 ESP-12E WI FI module (LoLin NODEMCU V3)

TX – transmit pin. GPIO pin

RX  – receive pin.  GPIO pin

3V3 (or 3V or 3.3V)- power supply pin (3-3.6V). 

GND ( or G) – ground pin.

RST – reset pin. Keep it on high (3.3V) for normal operation. Put it on 0V to reset the chip.

EN – Chip enable. Keep it on high (3.3V) for normal operation.

Vin – External power supply 5VDC.

D0-D8 – GPIO (General Purpose Input Output) pins 

D5-D8 – SPI interface

D1-D2– I²C/TWI Interface

SC (or CMD) – (Chip Select) – the pin that the master can use to enable and disable specific devices. GPIO pin

SO (or SDO) – Master In Slave Out (MISO) – SPI communication. The Slave line for sending data to the master. GPIO pin

SK (or CLK) – SCK (Serial Clock) – SPI communication.The clock pulses which synchronize data transmission generated by the master. GPIO pin

S1 (or SD1) – Master Out/Slave In (MOSI). SPI communication. The Master line for sending data to the peripherals. GPIO pin

S2 (or SD2) – GPIO pin

S3 (or SD3) – GPIO pin

VU (or VUSB) – external power 5VDC.

A0 – ADC output.

RSV – reserved

Wiring

Connect your ESP8266 ESP-12E module with micro USB cable to your PC USB port.

Step by Step instruction

1. Preparation

1. Go to Github and download the latest release of Espeasy. By the time of doing this project the latest release is Release mega-20200426. You need to download the Zip file – ESPEasy_mega-20200426.zip.

2. After download completed, we need to extract two files from this ZIP archive – esptool.exe and FlashESP8266.exe.

3. Go to Github and download the latest version of tasmota.bin.

2. Flashing

1. Double click on FlashESP8266.exe. All three files esptool.exe, FlashESP8266.exe and tasmota.bin should be in the same folder of your PC. Select COM-port and Firmware file. Click on Flash button.

2.The flashing process starts.

3. When the flashing process completed click on OK button.

3. Testing

1. Unplug the ESP8266 ESP-12E module from USB port and plug in again.

2. Download and install any of these software tools: Terminal, USR-TCP232-Test V1.4, AiThinker_Serial_Tool_V1.2.3, coolterm, sscom3.2 , KiTTY, putty,tera term, Access port , Termite.  We use AiThinker_Serial_Tool_V1.2.3 which files you just need to unzip.

3. Open AiThinker Serial Tool. You need to select COM port (where your ESP8266 ESP-12-E module attached to, we have COM12 and baud rate (115200). Click on Open Serial button.

4. Type the command ssid1 YourWiFiSSID and click on Send button.

5. Type the command password1 YourWiFiPassword and click on Send button.

6. You will see that web server is active on tasmota_……. with IP address…. message. In our case it is 192.168.1.210.

7. Open any web browser and type http://yourIPaddress (in our case http://192.168.1.210)

8. Congrats!! You have done it. You can configure your SONOFF Tasmota module now.

Summary

We have learnt how to flash SONOFF Tasmota firmware on the ESP8266 ESP-12E module using the ESP-EASY.

Thank you for reading and supporting us.

Libraries:

• No libraries required for this project

Project resources:

• See attachments on the beginning of this project description