Connect ESP8266 in Ubuntu

I received my ESP-launcher board a few days ago, 2 ESP8266 module and a ESP32 dev kit have also been ordered but I decide to leave them for later use, would stick to the launcher board at this stage.

The SDK for ESP8266 is based on linux, the user manual suggest you to install a virtual machine in Windows and do your job under windows. I don't know why they do this, probably because their download tool is for Windows only ? For me that doesn't make sense. I won't waste my hard drive space to install a virtual machine while I already have a Ubuntu installed as a dual boot.

The simplest way to play with a ESP8266 is to use the AT command, you just need a terminal and a USB port. There is already a USB-UART chip FT-232 on the ESP-launcher board, and the good news is Ubuntu has built-in driver for it.

You don't need to turn on the launcher to check the FT-232's status. Connect the USB cable and go to the terminal in Ubuntu, use this command to check if the USB-UART chip has been recognized:
lsusb

See the second one from the last : Future Technology Devives International, Ltd FT232 USB-Serial (UART) IC

When it's correctly driven, you will get a new TTY device and that is the AT terminal to use. Use "ls /dev" command to check the devices and search for "ttyUSBn", on my computer, it's ttyUSB0.

Unfortunately, Ubuntu doesn't come with a proper terminal software to communicate via these serial ports, you have to download the "minicom" software. It's easy just use "sudo apt-get install minicom" form the terminal.

run minicom in the terminal, you have to use "sudo minicom" otherwise it will not run. For the first time, use "sudo minicom -s" to enter setup and set the serial port to the USB, be sure to set it to 115200, 8N1, like this:

When everything is set, turn the ESP-Launcher on, ta-da! you see the "ready!" from the ESP8266!

Now let's try some AT commands: AT+GMR displays the version information the ESP8266 chip, and AT+CWLAP displays the wifi hotspots arround:

Remember, you have to use Ctrl-m + Ctrl-j at the end of AT command, or use
ENTRE+Ctrl-j , seems the ESP8266 needs a Windows like end-of-line mark.

Connect to the WiFi :

That's it! You can't do much with just a terminal and ESP8266, to have more fun you have to do some programming, either program the ESP8266 itself or connect an external MCU, I'll try it later and write a post then.