Is there a tuya-cloudcutter equivalent for ESP chips that are too new for tuya-convert?

I have 2 identical devices, bought same day, same shop, same packaging, same details etched into the side.
One is WB2S v1.0.7 and already working with tuya-cloudcutter, the other is v1.1.1, but showing as MAC address from Espressif Inc.
Don't know what the actual chip is without breaking the device open and even then access to the pins is impossible without removing 1cm high blobs of solder to the plug's pins which are molded into the lower case.

Is there a technique, more advanced than tuya-convert along the same lines as tuya-cloudcutter but for ESP chips?
Am I going to have to break it open to at least confirm is it is the TYWE2S that somebody else found in the same plug (also same packaging and labeling) a year before?

Hello, what kind of plug do you have?
There is currently no alternative to tuya-convert for ESP8266, but it is still worth to make firmware dumps for ESP, because maybe then can be useful to figure out something in the future. I have myself quite a collection of ESP8266 firmwares already and I am going to publish it soon on my github.

p.kaczmarek2 wrote:

what kind of plug do you have?

UK Ultrabrite Smart Wifi Plug, just a simple switching plug

I'll have to cut into the bottom like this other guy did:

Well, in worst case, you can do lots of detailed photos and we'll count it as a teardown and will send you a little gift, if you want:
https://www.elektroda.com/rtvforum/topic3950844.html
We also accept ESP devices, as long as you provide enough generic info and template.
Where were the plugs bought?

p.kaczmarek2 wrote:

Where were the plugs bought?

They were bought in Poundland, high street shop where everything used to cost exactly 1GBP, but now it's just a name.
I think these were 3GBP each, usually 6GBP.

I'll see what I can do to document a re-flash or teardown

I am also curious to see what kind of power supply chip is used inside, is there a varistor, a filtering capacitor, etc.

p.kaczmarek2 wrote:

I am also curious to see what kind of power supply chip is used inside, is there a varistor, a filtering capacitor, etc.

Not sure what all those things look like, here's some pictures of the wb2s based device with markings visible

This looks exactly like the layout in the TYWE2S based device that somebody else explored:

p.kaczmarek2 wrote:

I am also curious to see what kind of power supply chip is used inside, is there a varistor, a filtering capacitor, etc.

HEL-7D471K Varistor
LD1117AG voltage regulator
HF152F Relay
3.3uF Cap between the Live and Neutral, is that for filtering?
Not sure what you mean by power supply chip, is that under the metal cover on the wifi board?

I'm thinking about what's the best way to cut or drill holes in the bottom to access the 1rx, 1tx, 3v3 and gnd. Do I need rst too? that's on the already exposed side.

To flash Tasmota via esptool.py, you need five signals: RX, TX, 3.3V, GND and IO0. IO0 must be grounded first, then you connect power. This will allow you to once do flash read/write operation on ESP. Once done, if you want to write/read again, you must disconnect power and reconnect it again. Long story short, IO0 must be low at boot time so ESP can enter bootloader mode.

RST signal is not needed, as you can reboot by reconnecting power.

I was hoping to hold in the button on boot to get into flash mode like on Sonoff Basic.
IO0 is round the back, behind 2 capacitors so not very easy to access

Maybe it's possible to hold the button to enter flash mode, maybe not. I don't know, it depends on IO0 connection. Is IO0 connected to button in case of this device? Feel free to try it. Usually pressing button shorts the GPIO to ground, so pressing the button on IO0 is the same as shorting IO0 to ground. Remember, IO0 must be grounded during reboot to enter bootloader mode.