Software Setup
Download and install the arduino software (IDE), found at https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software
In the Arduino IDE open the preferences dialog and enter the following URL as "Additional Boards Manger URL":
http://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_esp8266com_index.json
Go to "Tools" > "Board: " > "Boards Manager ...", search for "esp" and install "esp8266 by ESP8266 Community", version 2.5.2 (or newer) (https://github.com/esp8266/Arduino):
Now go to "Tools" > "Board: " and choose your ESP8266 board.
If you aren't sure which board you have, select "LOLIN(WEMOS) D1 R2 & mini".
Set CPU frequency to 80 MHz and Flash size to "4M (1M SPIFFS)", leave upload speed at 115200 (you can try to set it higher, if it doesn't cause connection problems).
Set the "IwIP Variant" to "v2 Lower Memory".
Plug your board into a free USB port on your PC.
Select the detected COM port in the Arduino IDE.
Download these 2 libraries from Github (green "Clone or download" button) and extract to Arduino libraries folder.
(On Windows: "Documents\Arduino\libraries" or full path: "C:\Users\rama\Documents\Arduino\libraries")
https://github.com/me-no-dev/ESPAsyncTCP
https://github.com/me-no-dev/ESPAsyncWebServer
Go to "Sketch" > "Include Library" > "Manage Libraries ..." and install the following libraries by searching for them and installing:
- ESP8266-ping by @bluemurder
https://github.com/bluemurder/ESP8266-ping
- if using a Git client, checkout gbs-control (https://github.com/ramapcsx2/gbs-control.git)
- (alternative): download the current master .zip (https://github.com/ramapcsx2/gbs-control/archive/master.zip) Extract the zip archive. If necessary, rename the folder to "gbs-control" (removing "-master").
- start the Arduino IDE by opening gbs-control.ino
You should be able to build the software by choosing "Sketch" > "Verify / Compile" (or clicking the tick mark in the tool bar).
Please verify that you have connected the ESP board correctly to your computer via USB and that the correct COM port is chosen.
Now you should be able to upload the compiled sketch to the board via "Sketch" > "Upload" (hit "Ctrl + U" or by clicking the right arrow in the tool bar). This could take a while for the first compilation.
Gbscontrol offers several options, all via an interactive web page that is served from the ESP8266 via WiFi.
Here is how you access this control panel in the default AP (Access Point) mode:
- Start up your ESP8266, the LED on the module should come on
- The ESP8266 opens up a new WiFi Network with the name "gbscontrol"
- Connect your PC or Smartphone to the gbscontrol network (default password: 'qqqqqqqq')
- Open http://gbscontrol (or http://gbscontrol:80) (or http://gbscontrol.local) in a browser
The control panel should load.
The next (optional) step is to connect the ESP8266 to your home network.
- Click on the System tab and then on "Connect to WiFi Network"
- Enter your home network SSID (you can scan for it) + password
- Click "Connect"
- The ESP8266 restarts and will be reachable via:
- IP (have a look at the debug output in the Arduino software)
- address "http://gbscontrol.local" (requires mDNS support from the operating system, sometimes the router provides support)
- address "http://gbscontrol:80", "http://gbscontrol" or just "gbscontrol"
Note: The ESP8266 remembers this network, so it will always try to connect to this network first (this can be cleared via Arduino IDE). If it can't connect, it will revert to AP mode.
That's it!
Head over to the other Wiki pages if you want further information.
This setup guide has been lifted with permission from @toblum and his nice McLighting project ;)
https://github.com/toblum/McLighting/