Step by Step Guide on How to flash the ESP-01

Step by Step Guide on How to flash the ESP-01

ESP-01
ESP-01

So, you have bought your ESP-01 and are not sure if its pre-flashed or you need to do something with it, you may just want to make sure you have the latest firmware anyway.  The best bet is to open your favourite programming software and try the module.  If it’s not working at all or behaving weirdly then the chances are that you need to flash a new version of the firmware onto it.  This is something that’s relatively easy but only when you know how and if you type it in a search engine there are lots of websites out there trying to get you to use weird versions of the ESP firmware so you need to be careful.  I’ll go through what hardware to use to flash it, where to get the firmware and where to get the tool to upload the firmware to the chip.

The good news is that the tools and firmware are all free on the Espressif website but even then it’s not completely clear what to get and even the documentation provided isn’t too clear on what to do for beginners so I will go through it all here.

What hardware do I need?

I put together a flashing circuit specially for this purpose and keep it set up on my breadboard so that it’s there when I need it.  The two main odd looking items you will need are a USB-to-TTL converter so that you can plug in your USB port on your PC to upload the firmware and the ESP-01 has a weird pinout so I find its best to use an ESP-01 breakout board/adapter.  Other than that, it’s just a couple of buttons and resistors.  Here is the USB to TTL (sometimes called FTDI) converter I use, it’s a couple of pounds on your favourite electronics or auction site and has a 3.3v option which is ideal for the ESP-01 though there are plenty of other options out there:

USB to TTL Converter
USB to TTL Converter
USB to TTL Converter
USB to TTL Converter
ESP-01 Breakout Adapter
ESP-01 Breakout Adapter
ESP-01 Breakout Adapter
ESP-01 Breakout Adapter

Here is the schematic:

ESP-01 Flashing Schematic
ESP-01 Flashing Schematic

And finally, here is a picture of it all setup on the breadboard:

ESP-01 Flashing Circuit on Breadboard
ESP-01 Flashing Circuit on Breadboard

DON’T PLUG IT IN WITHOUT READING THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW FIRST

What tool do I need to download to flash the ESP?

To flash the ESP-01 you need the Espressif Flash Download Tool which you can download for free from their website in the support -> download -> tools section.  Link here:

https://www.espressif.com/en/support/download/other-tools

Downloading the Espressif Flash Download Tool From the Website
Downloading the Espressif Flash Download Tool From the Website

It’s not just for ESP-01, works for others too as you can see.  Download that to a folder of your choice and unzip that file.  Next you need to download the firmware files you are going to flash.

What firmware do I need and where do I get it?

There are lots of different firmware versions out there and they all have different functionality, some fix bugs and some improve performance.  Obviously, some may induce bugs and decrease performance too, so I try to go for a stable version rather than the absolute latest issue.  The firmware files can be downloaded individually or as part of a software development kit, I normally go for the software development kit as it has all the files that work together.  You can download these again from the Espressif website in the support -> download -> SDK & Demos section.  Link here:

https://www.espressif.com/en/support/download/sdks-demos

Downloading the ESP-01 Firmware From the Espressif Website
Downloading the ESP-01 Firmware From the Espressif Website

All of the stable versions should be shown, you can see the latest at the time of writing is ESP8266 NONOS SDK V3.0.0.  Simply hit download and save it to a location on your computer, if it redirects to a github page then scroll down to the bottom and download the source code .zip file from there.  Unzip the file and now you have all the things you need to flash the chip.  All of the binary files you need to flash are in there, you may need to navigate around the files to locate all the ones you need but you should be able to find the following:

  • blank.bin
    • Location:  ESP8266_NONOS_SDK-3.0.0\bin\blank.bin
    • Flash Address:  0xFB000
  • esp_init_data_default.bin
    • Location:  ESP8266_NONOS_SDK-3.0.0\bin\esp_init_data_defaultv08.bin
    • Flash Address:  0xFC000
  • blank.bin
    • Location:  ESP8266_NONOS_SDK-3.0.0\bin\blank.bin
    • Flash Address:  0x7E000
  • blank.bin
    • Location:  ESP8266_NONOS_SDK-3.0.0\bin\blank.bin
    • Flash Address:  0xFE000
  • boot_v1.6.bin
    • Location:  ESP8266_NONOS_SDK-3.0.0\bin\boot_v1.6.bin
    • Flash Address:  0x00000
  • user1.1024.new.2.bin
    • Location:  ESP8266_NONOS_SDK-3.0.0\bin\at\512+512\user1.1024.new.2.bin
    • Flash Address:  0x01000

Flash the ESP-01!

Now you have done all the groundwork to flash this thing its time to put it all together and do the job, exciting times!  Open up the Espressif Flash Download Tool, you should be able to open the file straight from the folder you downloaded without having to install anything and it will open something like this:

Opening up the Espressif ESP flash download tool
Opening up the Espressif ESP flash download tool

Click the top one for the ESP8266 Download Tool and it should open up this page:

ESP8266 Download Tool Window
ESP8266 Download Tool Window

Some of those may be blank and you may have different boxes ticked, don’t worry, I’ll run through what to tick.

  • Assign the binary files to the flash address as above.
  • Pick CrystalFreq as 26M from the dropdown
  • Click the SPI SPEED button 40MHz
  • Click the SPI MODE button QIO.
  • Click the FLASH SIZE radio button for 8Mbit.

So now it should look like this:

ESP8266 Download Tool Window Adding Binary Files
ESP8266 Download Tool Window Adding Binary Files

Ok now you are ready to plug in, when you plug the USB in you need to do the following to put the ESP into programming mode:

  • Hold down the reset switch (SWI 1)
  • Hold down the flash switch (SW 2)
  • Release the reset switch (SWI 1)
  • Release the flash switch (SWI 2)

Make sure you select the COM port you are using from the drop down and set the baud rate to 115200:

ESP8266 Download Tool Select COM port and baud rate
ESP8266 Download Tool Select COM port and baud rate

Now just press start and it will sync then download then finish the flash!

ESP8266 Download Tool Synchronizing
ESP8266 Download Tool Synchronizing
ESP8266 Download Tool Finished Flashing
ESP8266 Download Tool Finished Flashing

Runescape – How Does Lootshare Work and What Are Lootshare Points?

What is lootshare?

Lootshare is a way to split up drops for a team or friends chat.  Its used a lot for masses (whether it be the friends chat or group system).  To use lootshare, you need to be in the friends chat with lootshare enabled or group at all times.  You can turn on lootshare by clicking on the little icon at the bottom right corner of the friends chat interface:

Lootshare Icon - Toggle - Money Bag
Lootshare icon Toggle

Lootshare will split drops between the players that have lootshare enabled. You will see in game messages such as “You have received: 63,166 Coins” or “Junglebiscuit has received: 1 Bones” for all drops a boss drops at a time. The player with the highest lootshare points (discussed below) will have the best chance for the drops. For the formal write up on the RS wiki, check out: https://runescape.wiki/w/LootShare

What are lootshare points?

Lootshare points, also called LSP or lootshare potential, is the background system that determines who gets drops in a lootshare group.  Each person has a certain amount of points.  No one is able to check or see how many points they have; this is why there is sometimes mystery behind people’s LSP as there’s no real way to ever know yours or anyone elses.  Basically the higher your LSP, the higher chance you have at getting drops!

Lootshare points reset down to zero eventually.  Jagex has confirmed that this is at 10% per day.  So, if you don’t use, you lose it!  If you are at 10m LSP and do not boss for a day, tomorrow you will only have 9m LSP, then the next day you’ll only have 8.1m LSP, then 7.29m, and so on.  The same works with negative LSP going closer to 0 from the other side.

Pets are NOT effected by lootshare and are instead based on the top dpser or highest damage dealt by a single person.  This person will be the one who gets a roll at the boss pet.

Another important note: you have to be within 16 squares of a boss for lootshare to work, same as normal drops, and you will not see or receive anything if you are too far away.

Here are some examples:

1. There is a 10 person mass. One person gets a 10m drop (say a Cywir wand or similar). The person who got the drop is lootshare picks up the drop and owns the 10m item. Everyone in the group, including the person who got the drop, now gets a split of the lootshare points. This is the item value divided by the amount of people with lootshare turned on (i.e. 10m/10=1m). Each person gets 1 million lootshare points, but the person who got the wand also loses 10m points to have a net of -9m lsp.

2.  A 23 person AoD mass gets a Praesul Codex worth 493m.  Each person gets 21.43m LSP points.  The person who got the codex is now at -471.57m LSP.

3. A Vindicta mass is going on with 9 people. There is an uber rare drop of 1 dragon bone.  Each person gains about 263 gp of LSP.