I decided to play with MicroPython on an ESP8266 and started with MicroPython documentation page appropriately titled Quick reference for the ESP8266. It was almost (but not entirely) smooth sailing with the inexpensive Wemos D1 Mini clone(*) I had on hand.

I had recently switched desktop computers, with a fresh installation of Windows, so everything had to be reinstalled. Starting with Python, since I need that to run esptool tool to flash Espressif devices. It got its own virtual Python environment with venv and I could start working with the ESP8266.

I verified that flash size matched 4MB as per Amazon product listing with esptool.py --port COM4 flash_id

Then the first step in MicroPython directions: erase whatever might be in flash: esptool.py --port COM4 erase_flash

Followed by flashing the board with MicroPython, version 1.17 was the latest as of this writing: esptool.py --port COM4 --baud 460800 write_flash --flash_size=detect 0 esp8266-20210902-v1.17.bin

esptool.py v3.1
Serial port COM4
Connecting....
Detecting chip type... ESP8266
Chip is ESP8266EX
Features: WiFi
Crystal is 26MHz
Uploading stub...
Running stub...
Stub running...
Changing baud rate to 460800
Changed.
Configuring flash size...
Auto-detected Flash size: 4MB
Flash will be erased from 0x00000000 to 0x0009afff...
Flash params set to 0x0040
Compressed 633688 bytes to 416262...
Wrote 633688 bytes (416262 compressed) at 0x00000000 in 9.4 seconds (effective 537.1 kbit/s)...
Hash of data verified.

Leaving...
Hard resetting via RTS pin...

That looked good! But I thought I'd verify anyway: esptool.py --port COM4 --baud 460800 verify_flash --flash_size=detect 0 esp8266-20210902-v1.17.bin

esptool.py v3.1
Serial port COM4
Connecting....
Detecting chip type... ESP8266
Chip is ESP8266EX
Features: WiFi
Crystal is 26MHz
Uploading stub...
Running stub...
Stub running...
Changing baud rate to 460800
Changed.
Configuring flash size...
Auto-detected Flash size: 4MB
Flash params set to 0x0040
Verifying 0x9ab58 (633688) bytes @ 0x00000000 in flash against esp8266-20210902-v1.17.bin...
-- verify OK (digest matched)
Hard resetting via RTS pin...

This all looked good, but during this process I found communication with my board was unreliable. Occasionally I would fail to connect:

esptool.py v3.1
Serial port COM4
Connecting........_____....._____....._____....._____....._____....._____....._____

A fatal error occurred: Failed to connect to Espressif device: Invalid head of packet (0x08)

The frustrating part is that I don't know what causes this, all I could do is retry until it worked. I didn't notice anything I did differently between the times that worked and the times that failed. Is it the ESP8266? Is it the CH340 serial port bridge? Is it my USB cable? I can't tell. The good news with MicroPython is that, once it is flashed, I could work via serial port without further headaches with esptool.

I remembered that PlatformIO Visual Studio Code had a serial port monitor, and it was indeed able to connect. But as the name stated, it was only a monitor and while I could see a MicroPython prompt I couldn't type any commands back. Looking around Visual Studio extension marketplace I found a serial terminal extension published by Nordic Semiconductor. This allowed me to type commands into the MicroPython prompt and verify it worked, but frustratingly I could not copy/paste in this terminal. So much for a modern integrated environment! I returned to trusty old PuTTY for my MicroPython serial terminal needs and got to work.

(*) Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.