Flashing Custom Firmware on ESP8266

Getting ready

ESP8266 is a low cost micro-controller that runs at 80Mhz with a WiFi. It is an excellent and affordable solution for Internet of Things. In this tutorial and short video you will learn how to deploy ESP8266 on breadboard, how to build a custom firmware from source code written in the C programming language and how to flash the firmware on the device. The following hardware components are required:

• MOD-WIFI-ESP8266-DEV or ESP8266 from another vendor
• breadboard
• jumper wires
• power supply and adapter
• USB to serial cable, for example: USB-Serial-Cable-F or USB-Serial-Cable-M
• personal computer with MS Microsoft Windows or GNU/Linux distribution

Flashing New Firmware on ESP8266

Perform the following step to build from source and to flash firmware on ESP8266:

• Deploy ESP8266 and the power supply on the breadboad.
• Connect USB to serial cable to pin 3 and 4 of ESP8266 as in the video.
• Install ESP8266 SDK on your personal computer following these instructions
• Get the source code of existing application of ESP8266, for example this very simple Hello World, or create your own application from scratch.
• Type make to build firmware.
• Type make flash with appropriate permission, for example with sudo on Ubuntu, to flash the firmware on ESP8266 as shown in the video. Please note that option flash depends on the configuration at Makefile and may vary in some cases.