Sonoff is very popular for DIY home automation, but you can make it even better by loading new firmware onto it. Learn how to connect a USB-to-Serial converter to ANY model of Sonoff, even ones that haven’t been released yet!
This episode isn’t just a series of steps to follow: it’s a tutorial on how to reverse engineer the connections to the ESP8266 / ESP8285 microcontroller in an unknown circuit, and put it into bootloader mode ready to receive new software.
- USB-to-Serial converter with 3.3V mode
- Sonoff Programming Adapter
- Microscope used for this video (version with a camera included)
- Microscope used for this video (version without a camera included)
ESP8266 Strapping Pins
The strapping pins set the boot mode of the microcontroller. Typical ESP8266 circuits have an arrangement similar to this:

In the Sonoff, GPIO15 is pulled low to 0V, and GPIO2 and GPIO0 are pulled high to 3.3V.
If GPIO0 is held low (0V) during startup, the ESP8266 will go into bootloader mode and be ready to receive a new program uploaded via the serial connection on the TX and RX pins.
You can often find the appropriate connections on the PCB by tracing out the pins on the microcontroller. The relevant pins on the ESP8266 and ESP8285 can be found in these locations:

With only a couple of exceptions, most Sonoff models include a 4-pin header on the PCB that exposes GND, 3.3V, TX, and RX.
You can use a USB-to-Serial converter to connect this header to your computer by USB, so that you can upload a new program. You can make an adapter cable using these connections:

It’s a simple cable to hand-wire, but that can be annoying so to save time I designed a simple adapter that you can use between a USB-to-Serial adapter that uses the common “FTDI” pinout and the Sonoff:

The adapter makes it very easy to connect to most Sonoff models. Make sure you use a USB-to-Serial adapter that runs at 3.3V because it’s not safe to connect 5V. Doing so could damage the ESP8266 microcontroller.

Sonoff Basic Pinout
More detail to be added here soon.
Sonoff POW / TH10 / TH16 Connections
More detail to be added here soon.
Sonoff 4CH Pro Connections
More detail to be added here soon.
Sonoff Slampher Connections
More detail to be added here soon.
Sonoff B1 Connections
More detail to be added here soon.
Sonoff Touch Connections
More detail to be added here soon.