Getting a gift of ESP8266 modules is more fun than frustrating. A few days ago my wife gave me a red box with three ESP8266 modules inside. These ones came are SparkFun ESP8266 modules . They are so tiny and only have 8 pins.
First things first
I had to learn how to program them before I could monkey with them. Connecting an FTDI module to the ESP8266 was pretty easy, but I needed to use a little breadboard to help me along the way.
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Well, I started this post quite a while back. I don’t even remember all of what I did at the time. I found those little ESP8266 devices in a box while I was cleaning stuff up, or straightening up my maker area. They are still put together and have batteries taped to them, but not hooked up. I think they have lost their programming because when I hook up the batteries the devices don’t talk with each other. Now I have to learn the programming all over again.
Speaking of learning to program, I have been messing around with some cheap Chinese Arduino UNO boards. My Mac will not recognize them without setting the Mac to not check the driver as legitimate. I don’t want to monkey with the OS that much. The cheap Arduinos do not use FTDI for programming. They use a CH340G or a CH341G chip. I can download the driver and ask my Mac to not check the driver signing. But that sets it up as don’t check any driver signing. I don’t thing I want to have it not check even legitimate drivers. So, I am going to use a Windows laptop, or a Raspberry Pi to program those cheap Arduinos.
Hmmm, I am reading that Adrian Mihalko has patched the driver for Sierra and that it is signed. I will try it out. Well, The read-me says that If-and-only-if the device is still not recognized to disable the System Integrity Protection. Oh, Yeah, just what I don’t want to do.
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I installed the drivers and rebooted. They work very well. Now I don’t have to use the Italian made Uno that I bought first, from RadioShack. It was about $35, but I thought I would like to try it. Tried it. Got addicted. Never looked back.
Now I am going to have to get back to the ESP8266 modules and learn to program them again.
G
Oh, on my work phone I changed the “signature” for when sending an email. It is a iPhone 4s. I know. They don’t have the money to replace it. The previous one started having battery issues. Everyone else is getting an iPhone 6s+ or so. They replaced the 4s with a used 4s that someone else had given up. Hey, the battery lasts longer and it has a OtterBox case. It is tough being the redheaded step-child.
I had offered to purchase a battery and install it, if they would reimburse me the cost of the battery. They didn’t like that idea. Six months later they found another 4s. It lasts almost all day. I can easily deal with that.
Oh Yeah! I kept reading other people’s email signatures and theirs would say, “Sent from my iPhone 6s+”, or “Sent from my iPhone 7”, or “Sent from my Samsung Galaxy 7”. So, now my iPhone 4s signature says, “Sent via ESP8266 Borg Cube”. What else is there? Tetrahedron?