ESP-01 - Upgrading the on-board flash from 512KB to 4MB

This post is about how to upgrade the on-board flash memory of ESP-01 from 512KB (W25Q40BV) to 4MB (W25Q32FVSSIG).


Step-1, follow this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyc1gCjguRU to replace the old flash memory with the new one.

Step-2, wire up the ESP-01 with CP-2102.

Step-3, Launch Arduino IDE, load the "CheckFlashConfig" sample sketch and configure the IDE according to the below photo.

Be sure to do the following before uploading the sketch to ESP-01.

- Provide external +3.3V to ESP-01 (make sure the +3.3V is connected to VCC, and the GND is connected to GND). Or, power ESP-01 with the 3V3 power output from CP-2102.

- Plug the CP-2102 module to the USB port of the computer used for firmware upload;

- First close the flash switch then the reset switch so that both GPIO0 and RST of ESP-01 are connected to GND;

- First open the reset switch then the flash switch so that both GPIO0 and RST are floating;

- Click on the upload icon to compile and upload the sketch.

The result

Note,

In the event that the sketch cannot be uploaded to ESP-01 or the execution of the sketch fails after several successful rounds, it's possible that the flash memory is not soldered properly. When this happens, carefully re-heat each pin with solder iron and remove any excessive solder then try again.

2017/6/8: Upgraded all of my ESP-01 from 512KB to 5MB flash.

References:

YOUR ESP8266 NEEDS MORE MEMORY
http://hackaday.com/2016/07/16/your-esp8266-needs-more-memory/

ESP-01/ESP-07 4Mbyte Memory Upgrade and OTA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyc1gCjguRU