Hi folks
Upon reading about the much loved Wemos ESP2286 WiFi board, I see it has a micro USB for - I assume - uploading sketches to the board. Now, I've had previous bad experience with serial comma when I bought a Nano, as I discovered my particular Mac is not compatible with the CH340 chipset, and needs FTDI to communicate via serial USB.
So, my question is: does the Wemos D1 ESP2286 WiFi card allow communication via Arduino IDE via FTDI? Or is it only CH340?
Thanks all!
Better fix your Mac driver problem. Many boards from China use the CH340.
Can't help you there, but I've seen several posts here that have fixed that problem.
Don't like this site, but it could be a start.
Leo..
The manufacturer's driver for the CH340 is not compatible with macOS Sierra. On this thread you will find links to modified CH340 drivers that will work with Sierra:
https://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=428349.0
The mblock.cc link looks the most promising to me, but I don't have a mac so I can't say for sure:
pert:
The manufacturer's driver for the CH340 is not compatible with macOS Sierra. On this thread you will find links to modified CH340 drivers that will work with Sierra:
CH341SER_MAC No longer works in macOS Sierra - IDE 1.x - Arduino Forum
The mblock.cc link looks the most promising to me, but I don't have a mac so I can't say for sure:
http://www.mblock.cc/posts/run-makeblock-ch340-ch341-on-mac-os-sierra
Thanks Pert!
Alas, I recently bought a Nano which uses the CH340 serial chip, and had to return it because I simply could not get it to create or open a serial port using any of the plethora of drivers I tried. The only thing I didn't do was try the terminal update kext because I also read somewhere that this also sometimes caused system crashes.
So, my options are limited. I need to find another way of programming any ESP8266 I buy, or, find one that uses something other than CH340 USB-serial.
Any advice?
Oh, I am on El Capitan.
You can program an ESP8266 using the TTL (Rx,Tx,Vcc,GND) like devices.
An FDTI based such as the FT232 Serial to USB can be used with the arduino IDE.
I currently use one like this to program the boards I just had printed via a few header pins:
The NodeMCU boards may be compatible for prototyping?
Better still...buy a budget laptop and put linux on it :P.
Ha! Nice one!
Linux frightens the bejeysus out of me! I daren't go to the Terminal on my Mac 
Anyway... if I were to use one of those FT232 boards you linked to, how would I connect it all up to the ESP8266 board to upload sketches etc?
Dump the Mac.
It's a "Walled Garden".
Honestly, go and have a try with Ubuntu. It is very "out of the box" nowerdays. Seeming as Apple just about stole everything the open source community have made/developed, you'd not miss much.
Having a linux machine or partition is probably one of the better things to start getting used to. Many specialist tools you may end up wanting are made by people who use linux...and won't be pushed to make Windows/Mac versions anytime...probably ever.
Same; I use the FTDI 3.3v/5v. I use a 10pin ribbon header connector (connected to ESP-01) soldered to a male header (interfaced to FTDI). It works well.
Example Wiring:
As far as programming the ESP8266 12F, there are guides online.
It involves:
GPIO15 needs to be HIGH
Pull the GPIO 0 pin to GND.
Pull RST to ground
Release RST
Release GPIO 0
Unit is now in Programming mode.
Upload sketch...simple as Rx -> Tx and Tx-Rx on the USB/TTL bridge. ENSURE 3.3V as to NOT COOK YOUR MCU!
Having a board with buttons for Reset (tied to RST pin) and Flash (Tied to GPIO 0 pin) is useful...note the suggestion of a NodeMCU board which has the buttons and extra bits already (like the TTL/USB interface) on for you to prototype.
Then if you ever go on to make your own board, you can add the 2 buttons, couple of resistors and a pin header for easy re-programming and a Serial link for debugging:
Here is my latest weather station...
Supposedly on the production line and I'll have my PCBs end of next week.
You can see on the right hand side, I have a header that is for the FT232 board to plug in to so I can program and get Serial output from the ESP8266 12F.
I currently use an Uno (as USB<>Serial bridge) to load sketches in a "bare" ESP12E/F.
The Uno has a blank/new sketch loaded, so the MCU doesn't talk to the Serial chip (no reset wire needed).
Power comes from the 3.3volt pin of the Uno, with a 470uF smoothing cap on the breadboard.
The Uno can provide 150mA (not 50mA as in the datasheet), and that seems to be enough for testing.
The ESP12 draws an average of 80mA in AP mode, and maybe less in station mode (depends on your router).
RX of the Uno via a 1k resistor to RX of the ESP, 2k2 from there to ground.
TX connected directly to TX of the ESP.
The rest of the wiring as in this guide.
Leo..
Some terrific information here folks, many thanks to all who've replied, your input is much appreciated. Thanks!
