user21402: I did a bit of playing with my new ESP-12e, but suddenly it kind of fails on me. It gives me some weird looks it didn't give me (as much) before.

This is what the Serial Monitor prints when I try to run a very simple sketch. When I restart the module, it just adds some more of these chars.
The following is the code for that:
const int statusLED = 16;

void setup() {
  pinMode(statusLED, OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(statusLED, HIGH);

  Serial.begin(115200);
  Serial.write("The ESP-12e has started.");
  delay(500);
}

void loop() {
  delay(1000);
  digitalWrite(statusLED, LOW);
  delay(1000);
  digitalWrite(statusLED, HIGH);
}

This doesn't even involve the WIFI...
These are my board settings:
Board: Generic ESP8266 Module
Flash mode: QIO
Flash frequency: 40MHz
CPU frequency: 80MHz
Flash size: 4M (3M SPIFFS)
Upload speed: 115200
And finally, if it might help, how I connected the module:

All connections are solid, so that shouldn't be a problem. The connection board has GPIO15 printed on it twice, but the one I connected to the LED is actually GPIO16. I noticed that the onboard LED of the ESP-12e doesn't light on anymore.
I use the CP2102 USB to UART module.
Thanks!
Rogier

user17211: Check what baud rate is serial window displaying. It should be the same as defined in your code. 

21402: <p>I did a bit of playing with my new ESP-12e, but suddenly it kind of fails on me. It gives me some weird looks it didn't give me (as much) before.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/L6EUc.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/L6EUc.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p><strong>This is what the Serial Monitor prints when I try to run a very simple sketch.</strong> When I restart the module, it just adds some more of these chars.
<strong>The following is the code for that:</strong></p>

<pre><code>const int statusLED = 16;

void setup() {
  pinMode(statusLED, OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(statusLED, HIGH);

  Serial.begin(115200);
  Serial.write("The ESP-12e has started.");
  delay(500);
}

void loop() {
  delay(1000);
  digitalWrite(statusLED, LOW);
  delay(1000);
  digitalWrite(statusLED, HIGH);
}
</code></pre>

<p>This doesn't even involve the WIFI...</p>

<p><strong>These are my board settings:</strong><br/>
<em>Board: Generic ESP8266 Module<br/>
Flash mode: QIO<br/>
Flash frequency: 40MHz<br/>
CPU frequency: 80MHz<br/>
Flash size: 4M (3M SPIFFS)<br/>
Upload speed: 115200</em><br/></p>

<p><strong>And finally, if it might help, how I connected the module:</strong><br/>
<a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Wn1U.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/6Wn1U.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a>
All connections are solid, so that shouldn't be a problem. <em>The connection board has GPIO15 printed on it twice, but the one I connected to the LED is actually GPIO16.</em> I noticed that the onboard LED of the ESP-12e doesn't light on anymore.</p>

<p>I use the CP2102 USB to UART module.</p>

<p>Thanks!<br/>
Rogier</p>
 17211: <p>Check what baud rate is serial window displaying. It should be the same as defined in your code. </p>
