Unable to upload code from Arduino to Sparkfun 8266 Thing

Heres what I see when I hit “copy error messages”:

Arduino: 1.8.5 (Mac OS X), Board: “SparkFun ESP8266 Thing, 80 MHz, 512K (no SPIFFS), v2 Lower Memory, Disabled, None, Only Sketch, 115200”

Archiving built core (caching) in: /var/folders/p6/b6dyrcd141dbgcr0q67cvkw40000gn/T/arduino_cache_645490/core/core_esp8266_esp8266_thing_CpuFrequency_80,FlashSize_512K0,LwIPVariant_v2mss536,Debug_Disabled,DebugLevel_None____,FlashErase_none,UploadSpeed_115200_344249015beac3c1f172088a2c8670ae.a

Sketch uses 270780 bytes (54%) of program storage space. Maximum is 499696 bytes.

Global variables use 35888 bytes (43%) of dynamic memory, leaving 46032 bytes for local variables. Maximum is 81920 bytes.

warning: espcomm_sync failed

error: espcomm_open failed

error: espcomm_upload_mem failed

An error occurred while uploading the sketch

I’m pretty sure my board is wired up correctly. Its suppose to imitate the wiring of the two pictures below. Here are some pictures of my board

(https://user-images.githubusercontent.c … 63a959.png)

(https://user-images.githubusercontent.c … e97bb0.png)

(https://user-images.githubusercontent.c … 05c092.png)

(https://user-images.githubusercontent.c … f649b7.png)

And the goal is to completely imitate this wiring (someone else project that already works)

(https://user-images.githubusercontent.c … 989a0d.png)

(https://user-images.githubusercontent.c … 9feca3.png)

I didn’t do any soldering on the Sparkfun ESP8266 Thing for the FTDI 3.3V 6 pins because I didn’t think it was necessary when I can just connect wires from the 6 pins on the module to the FTDI. I just want to upload my code from Arduino to my Sparkfun 8266 Thing. I can show my code too but I don’t think theres any problems with it since I don’t get any errors in it. Any solutions?

Sorry, that spaghetti of wires is too hard to untangle visually. Individual pins cannot be made out. (too dark also) Please make a drawing of the 2 boards and clearly show which pins are connected by the various colored wires. Surely your MAC OS has an bitmap image editor linke MS Paint. Double check that your image matches the actual setup.

p.s. Even with stick-in connector pins you can have loose wobble contacts. Soldering may not be required for breadboard but always check for loose connections. Especially with long stiff cables.

Can you program the Thing without the wires and additional boards connected? Disconnect the connections to the other boards in a systematic manner (one part at a time). Reduce complexity until it works. Then find out what was wrong before that step.