esp8266/wrl-13678 flashing problem: csum err

Development Boards ESP32
1

I’m having a terrible time trying to get the WRL-13678 flashed.

I’ve tried external power to the ESP8266 and serial comms though

an FTDI232 (which seems to work, per se). The tx/rx lights

on both the ftdi and esp flash while the Arduino IDE shows

progress and ends with “closed bootloader”. However, when

‘run’ (GPIO0 pull-up to 3.3v) the serial output of the ESP

(at 74880) shows:

ets Jan 8 2013,rst cause:2, boot mode:(3,4)

load 0x4010f000, len 1384, room 16

tail 8

chksum 0xef

csum 0xef

csum err

ets_main.c

I have GPIO2 floating (I have tried it with 3.3v and pull-up

to 3.3), GPIO0 to GND when programming, and pull-up to

3.3v (and 3.3v direct) when trying to ‘run’). I’m using the

Arduino IDE to program it, using the “Generic ESP8266 Device”

entry from the ESP8266.com/arduino.igrr.me git repo.

As a sanity check, I just flashed the “blink” sketch to the

8266 Thing Dev board with no problems.

I’ve been at this for several days, and would really

like to find a way to successfully program the 13678.

(A couple of posts to the forums @ esp8266.com have gone

unanswered)

If there are ANY suggestions of how to trouble shoot/correct

this condition, I’d really appreciate your suggestion insights.

Thanks!

2

GPIO02 needs to be pulled up high to program the flash chio. If it happens to be read as a low because of RF noise on the pin then it’s trying to do SD-card boot. Definitely pull it up with a resistor to get that potential error out of the way first.

But the most important part, the FTDI232 internal voltage regulator does not supply sufficient power to the ESP8266. It gives 50 mA max. If you intend to program over the air with that as it’s supply is definitely not going to suffice. The wifi radio is hungry. Adding a big capacitor between GND and 3.3 V to buffer might help. But I wouldn’t want to skimp on it. Make sure it is reliably fed.

3

Right. I’m powering the 8266 with an external PSU (set for 3.4V, showing

a 60mV draw (max)).

Pin outs are:

FTDI 8266 PSU

GND GND GND

VCC POS3.3

CH_PD POS3.3

RX TX

TX RX

GPIO0 GND (to program)

GPIO2 POS3.3v

RST float

I’m using the esp8266.com Arduino library, the “Generic 8266 Device” board,

DIO and an upload speed of 115200.

I’ve tried with RST floating, GND and POS3.3

All combos give the same result:

ets Jan 8 2013,rst cause:2, boot mode:(3,0)

load 0x4010f000, len 1384, room 16

tail 8

chksum 0xef

csum 0xef

csum err

ets_main.c

(crc is always 0xef)

From flash mode to run mode, the only pin I’m changing is GPIO0

(fm GND to float, respectively).

I’ve also tried with GPIO2 tied to POS3.3v and pulled up w/10k ohm

resistor.

Any other thoughts?

4

Sorry, your pin out table doesn’t show right because of differing character widths, or not enough spaces. It is not aligned. So without certainty I emphasize the 8266 Vcc pin should not be connected to the 3.3 volt supply of the FTDI. I think you can leave that one disconnected. Instead connect it to your external supply and use that to source the pull-ups.

rst cause:2

That was a reset caused by the reset pin. So don’t keep that 8266 pin floating either. Pull it up if you are uncertain of the presence of an internal pull up resistor.

See table 1-1 in https://espressif.com/sites/default/fil … ses_en.pdf

Also, which Arduino IDE version are you using? I’ve had better flashing succes with version 1.6.12 in combination with the ESP8266 Arduino core. The latest, or 1.8.1, didn’t always work correctly on my end.

5

Thanks, Valen.

Here’s a better formatted table.

I’ve tried RST low/high/pulled high (10k ohm resistor)

Same cause (rst cause 2)

I’ve seen the reset cause list before, as well as the

mode values.

I’m using Arduino 1.8.1 – I get the same results with

1.6.5 (r5) and 1.6.12

6

Did you try to add capacitors between Vcc and GND? There might be a very short supply voltage glitch. You won’t see that on a multimeter. Other than that I’m out of ideas. If you have acces to a oscilloscope I suggest you analyse what happends to the voltages on the pin when it fails.

7

Hello uncle4,

Did you solved your issue? I am working with an ESP8266EX and have a very similar issue:

21:31:35.930 → load 0x4010f000, len 1384, room 16

21:31:35.930 → tail 8

21:31:35.930 → chksum 0xef

21:31:35.930 → csum 0xef

21:31:35.930 → csum err

21:31:35.930 → ets_main.c

thanks,