Hi all,
 
At this point I’m calling out for help, I’m stuck, and it’s been more than a week 
 
I’m trying to leverage the ESP8285 chip (with Wifi capabilities) from the MATEK F 405 WTE.
 
When I plug the FC to USB (via the USB Extender), my laptop opens the serial connection (under "/dev/tty.usbmodem0x000001"). From there I can use the INav Configurator no problem.


To get access to the embedded ESP8285, I followed the steps described here (mateksys website):
Wiring ETx (FC) to D- (USB Extender), ERx (FC) to D+ (USB Extender), as well as 4v5 and G (FC) to 4v5 and G (USB Extender).
 
I’ve been trying different configs for the cables, but despite all my efforts, the laptop does not “see” the serial connection (nothing new under /dev/tty*)
     
   

I’ve been trying to reproduce the behavior using a Raspberry Pi 4, and I get the same behavior (when plugged in directly, the FC is recognized, but nothing when I try to reach the ESP8285 using the wiring described on the Matek website)
   
   

It is worth mentioning that the ESP8285 chip itself is not “dead” since it runs the ELRS Receiver by default. I can connect to it via Wifi. Its dedicated LED is blinking on the FC:
   

Other things I’ve tried:
-              Switching ERx and ETx cable to USB Extender “D-“ or “D+” (just in case), no result
-              Using different FC pins to get 4v5 and ground.
 
Config :
-              FC : Matek F405 WTE
-              Laptop : Mac Sonoma 14.2.1
-              Firmware on the FC: 7.0.0
-              INav configurator (on mac): 7.0.1
-              No other equipment is connected to the FC (no GPS, no servos, no ESC, no SD Card…)
-              My soldering seems ok
   

Any help or direction for next steps would be greatly appreciated (even a confirmation that what I’m trying to do should work ok)!
 
Thanks a lot!
Rémi

Are you trying to flash a different firmware onto the ESP8285? If so you will need a USB-TTL cable/adapter and you must hold down the ESO boot button when plugging it in. Also you can run ESP_NodeMCU-PyFlasher to flash the firmware (not sure if there is a Mac version).

Quote:UDP Connection with INAV configurator over WiFi

• https://github.com/iNavFlight/inav-configurator/pull/1498
  
  
• https://github.com/Scavanger/MSPWifiBridge
  
  
• Tool:  ESP_NodeMCU-PyFlasher.exe
  
  
• Firmware: MSPWifiBridge_ESP-01.bin  compiled based on github.com/Scavanger/MSPWifiBridge
  
  
• Flashing with ESP_NodeMCU-PyFlasher
  
  
  1. Wire the ESP8285(ETx, ERx) into the USB-TTL adapter, with ETx on F405-WTE connected to the Rx on the USB-TTL, and ERx connected to the Tx of the USB-TTL. Wire 4v5 and GND of F405-WTE to 5V and GND of the USB-TTL
     
  2. Connect USB-TTL Adapter to PC while pressing and holding the ESP8285 boot button in.
     
  3. open ESP_NodeMCU-PyFlasher
     
  4. select Serial port of USB-TTL module,  load firmware,  select “Dual Output(DOUT)”  and “Yes.wipes all data“
     
  5. click “Flash NodeMCU“
     
  6. after flashing, Power off , then power on F405-WTE by USB or Battery.
     
  7. Wait a few seconds,  search WiFi SSID  “MSPWifiBridge”, and password is “123456789”
     
  8. If there is no automatic forwarding to the configuration page, go to http://192.168.4.1 manually. Standard login data: Username: admin, Password: 123456789
     

https://www.mateksys.com/?portfolio=f405-wte#tab-id-5

Thanks a lot mstc! Indeed I ordered a USB-TTL device online and got it to work right away!
My mistake was that I was trying to use the Flight controller "USB Extender" instead of using a proper "USB-TTL". These 2 are actually completely different devices.

About flashing the software, I followed the steps here (for Mac) via the esptool : https://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common...metry.html

Thanks again and happy flying!
Rémi