I’m a software guy, but interested in IoT devices. I know almost nothing about the physical aspects of electronics. I have purchased a Sonoff ESP2866-based switch that I’d like to flash with different software, and I’ve looked at the following video on how to do it
I’ve managed to solder the pins to the board, but I don’t know what interface to buy to connect the pins to the USB interface on my computer (a Macintosh, by the way). Any guidance will be greatly received. S t u a r t .
Hey Stuart,
Thanks for getting in touch. It sounds like you need an FTDI device capable of connecting your ESP to your Mac and reprogramming it. I’ve never used the Sonoff devices though, so that process might need to be investiagted further. Check this cable out though -
Okay, it’s been a while since I started this journey, but I’m back to looking at programming the ESP device again. In the meantime I’ve spoken to a friend who has done some programming of an ESP device using his Mac with some success. My situation is a little different however.
In my friend’s case, his ESP board has a built-in USB port allowing for direct connection to his Mac. In my case the Sonoff board simply exposes the pins for a serial connection to the board. I’ve managed to solder a series of connectors to the Sonoff which will give me access to its programming interface.
I purchased the FTDI cable mentioned earlier in this thread. And this is where I’m now stuck.
I have the following software installed:
macOS 10.13.5
Arduino 1.8.5 (with the Generic ESP2866 module installed)
Hey Stuart,
I’ve not had any experience with connecting a device to a Mac OS and from what I recall, it’s a little different to normal. Perhaps there’s someone from the community that might’ve dealt with the process on a Mac?
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