Electrical – ESP8266-01 not working: red LED barely lit after reflashing from FTDI board

esp8266power

I'm trying to make my ESP8266-01 work with a simple FTDI board, wired like this schematic:

ESP8266-01 Wiring diagram for reflash mode

From here.

Everything works nicely when in "Flash mode" (even with ESP8266 NodeMCU Flasher or doing everything within Arduino IDE). But when I disconnect GPIO 0 from ground pin from FTDI, everything seems to freeze. Symptoms:

  • FTDI LEDs are all lit (both green LEDs and red LED).
  • ESP red LED is barely lit, almost completely turned off.
  • Nothing is recognized in my computer.

Notes:

  • I've tried plugging GPIO 0 into VCC. Nothing works too.
  • I'm powering the entire setup with USB current only.

What am I doing wrong? Could this problem be solved only with external power supply? If yes, how much current does the ESP8266 require?

Best Answer

You are trying to power the ESP8266 from the on-board regulator of the USB-serial converter, who is not able to supply the current required to actually run the ESP8266 WiFi. (You might be able to run an application on the ESP8266 that doen't enable the Wifi).

Use a 3.3V supply than can provide at least 400 mA.

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