Flashing WLED Firmware

The ESP8266 and ESP32 microcontrollers can be easily re-flashed if you have a microUSB data cable.  It needs to be a data cable and not simply a charging cable.

Once you have located one, there are three pieces of software that you will need.

1) CP210x VCP Driver – his allows your computer to recognize the ESP8266 when it is plugged in.

Windows:  https://www.silabs.com/documents/public/software/CP210x_Windows_Drivers.zip

Mac: https://www.silabs.com/documents/public/software/Mac_OSX_VCP_Driver.zip

2) ESPHomeFlasher – this is the flashing utility
Windows: https://github.com/esphome/esphome-flasher/releases/download/1.4.0/ESPHome-Flasher-1.4.0-Windows-x64.exe
Mac: https://github.com/esphome/esphome-flasher/releases/download/1.4.0/ESPHome-Flasher-1.4.0-macOS.tar

3) WLED Firmware – I have customized versions available for the Duo2Go and Tetra2Go: 
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1XVffFzPUyI6bxxVbd-8a5q2whyF9Xca7?usp=drive_link

Duo2Go:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1XTHyEjKzVbt0RqKl1cgdqS0FzrvmLMUU?usp=drive_link
(If you have a Duo2Go and a micro-USB version of the ESP8266, I suggest using the 0.13 image, If you have a USB-C version of the ESP8266, you can safely use the overclocked 160MHz version of 0.14.4)

Download and install #1 and #2
Download #3 and remember where you saved it.

Next, while making sure that NO POWER CABLE  is attached into the Duo/Tetra, connect the MicroUSB data transfer cable into the ESP8266/ESP32 and plug the other end into your computer’s free USB port. (Simple USB charging cables will NOT work! It must be a data transfer cable)

You should hear a notification sound from Windows, denoting that the device is installed.

Then open up the ESPHomeFlasher software.
If the ESP8266/ESP32 is installed properly, you should see an item under the “Serial Port” dropdown that looks like “COM#”.  There should be only one - select it.
Under “Firmware”, browse to the bin file that you downloaded above.

Then – click the “Flash ESP” button. The blue light on the ESP8266/ESP32 should go out while it is flashing. When the output gets to 100% (you can disregard the garbage text that happens after this), the blue light will come back on. You can safely unplug the MicroUSB cable from the ESP8266/ESP32 and re-attach power to the Duo/Tetra.

When it powers back up it should be a fresh install, just like it was when you first received it.