How to Setup Node MCU for IOT (ESP8266 Board)

Hello there Engineers and Hobbyists, in this tutorial, we will Explore the most popular IOT Platform Available on market so Called NODE MCU, and we will configure and test the Board with our Trusted Blink Sketch, So let’s get started.

also for my Indian Fans, here is a Hindi Version of same video

Node MCU is basically, an Open Source IOT (i.e. Internet of Things) device, which is similar to Arduino, and can be coded using an Arduino IDE, but it’s not Arduino, not even close to it, as Arduino is all about Hardware power, and Node MCU is more like Software power, Arduino has more IO ports and Better Compatibility all over, on the other hand, Node MCU has better RAM and Storage, and it has inbuilt WIFI module. So that’s a little Overview of our Board

Since there are two Versions of NODE MCU, check for the USB interface that your Board has, in my case, I am using the AMICA Board, which has CP2102 USB interface IC, other option that is available is CH340/CH341 USB interface ic, you can find both the Drivers files attached in this step

Once installed,

1. you can open your Arduino IDE
2. Go to preferences of your IDE
3. in the Additional Board URL, paste http://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_esp8266com_index.json Link
4. under board manager, search for ESP8266 Board and install it.

Now, here is a Problem that I faced while installing the board, saying "Error Downloading the Board Data" even you might face it, so now in this case,

you can solve this error by following the steps

1. first of all open Your Folder where Arduino IDE is installed on your Computer
2. open your ARDUINO data Folder
3. Delete the Package index temporary file named "package_index.json.tmp"
4. restart your IDE.

if the previous step doesn't fix your problem, follow these steps.

1. open Command Prompt on your System.
2. paste “setx _JAVA_OPTIONS -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true “ on your Command Prompt
3. Press Enter
4. restart your IDE

Once you have installed the Board to your IDE successfully, following the steps

1. simply plug your NODE MCU to System
2. open your Examples and under the ESP8266, open the blink code,
3. select the board to be Node MCU 12E
4. it will automatically select the Presets required for this board
5. leave everything intact
6. upload the code

Since this Process and setup is quite complicated, let’s summarize it.

Step 1: Download the Drivers according to your USB communication Chip.

Step 2: Paste the URL in Preference and download the ESP8266 Board.

Step 3: in case of Error, Delete the Temporary File and Paste the Command in Command Prompt.

Step 4: Select the Proper Board and Upload the Blink Sketch Code.