Step by step instructions for flashing iSpindel on a Mac

inspindel-mac.md

Step by step instructions to flash iSpindel on a Mac 🍎⚡🧪

I compiled this list after quite a while of flipping back and forth between opensourcedistilling.com/ispindel.de/reddit/homebrewtalk/youtube trying to piece together what exactly was needed to make this work on MacOS. Follow the steps below and you'll have a flashed iSpindel.

Quick Notes

• Charging is done via USB-A > USB-C cable. This will not charge via USB-C > USB-C. You'll know it's charging when you see a solid red light. Fully charged = solid blue light.
• This process may not work on the new M1 macs.

Flashing procedure

Open a new terminal window and enter each of these commands one at a time:

• mkdir ispindel
• cd ispindel
• curl -fsSL https://github.com/universam1/iSpindel/releases/latest/download/firmware.bin -O
• curl -fsSL https://github.com/igrr/esptool-ck/releases/download/0.4.13/esptool-0.4.13-osx.tar.gz --output esptool.tar.gz
• tar -xzvf esptool.tar.gz --strip-components=1
• ./esptool

If this is your first time flashing, a dialog box will open complaining that this application has been blocked and is possibly malware. It's not. You'll see this because the flashing tool is cross platform and not signed with an Apple Developer ID. Here's how we get around this:

• Go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General
• Click the lock in the bottom left corner and enter your password to enable admin access
• Where it says "System software from esptool was blocked..." press "Allow"

Now back to the flashing. Ensure iSpindel is fully charged and the USB-C cable is disconnected, plug in the micro-USB cable, and power on the iSpindel. In your terminal window:

• ls /dev/tty.usbserial-1460 - verify that you see that exact path echoed back to you. If you see No such file or directory, skip ahead to troubleshooting
• ./esptool -vv -cd nodemcu -cb 921600 -cp /dev/tty.usbserial-1460 -ca 0x00000 -cf ./firmware.bin

It will take about 30 seconds to complete. As soon as it's done you'll see the program exit and the blue light on the D1 will flash once per second. At this point you're done with the flashing. Turn the iSpindel off and disconnect micro-USB cable.

Post Flash

Getting to the configuration menu

• Power the iSpindel on
• Click the reset button 4 times in quick succession. You should see a blue light flash once per second.
• Click the wifi icon in the top right menu bar > Other Networks and connect to iSpindel000
• Go to http://192.168.4.1/ and you'll be presented with the iSpindel configuration menu where you can change settings and enter calibration info.

Basic setup - there's alot of settings available to you, but these should be the first ones you make:

• Click the button for "Configuration" and set your wifi ssd/password.
• If you have multiple iSpindels, consider changing "iSpindel Name" to properly identify them on your network (incrementing to iSpindel001 or whatever is fine)

Calibration

• Do your initial offset calibration: https://www.opensourcedistilling.com/ispindel-offset-calibration/
• Do your 25deg tilt calibration: https://www.opensourcedistilling.com/ispindel-25-degree-calibration-in-pure-water/
• Refine your calibration forumula: https://www.ispindel.de/docs/Calibration_en.html

Flashing software removal (optional) - if everything is working and you have no more iSpindels to flash, you can safely remove the flashing tool and firmware we downloaded. Go back to your terminal window:

• cd ..
• rm -rf ispindel

Additional

• Brewfather setup: https://docs.brewfather.app/integrations/ispindel

Troubleshooting

• When I entered ls /dev/tty.usbserial-1460 it returns No such file or directory.
  • This path is where the iSpindel is mounted in MacOS. First, ensure the iSpindel is powered on and try a different micro-USB cable. Sometimes cheap ones lack data pins. If that still doesn't work, it's possible that some D1 boards can use different mount paths. To figure out what the correct mount path is, make sure the iSpindel is off and run ls /dev/tty*. Next turn the iSpindel on, wait 3 seconds, and then rerun that command. Compare the two lists - do you see a new mount point that wasn't there in the first one? If so, thats likely the iSpindel. Copy it and make sure you enter it into the flash command like so: ./esptool -vv -cd nodemcu -cb 921600 -cp MY_CORRECT_PATH -ca 0x00000 -cf ./firmware.bin
• I went to http://192.168.4.1/ and it just spins/nothing happens.
  • Turn the iSpindel off and back on again and put it in configuration mode. Make sure the blue light is blinking once per second, then look for it in your wifi list and reconnect. Occasionally MacOS will interpret it as an access point authentication page and pop open a small square window in the center of your screen before it allows other browsers to connect to it.