I am trying to get NodeMCU flashed onto my basic ESP8266-01 and I'm having the weirdest issue...

I've flashed the regular build onto it (the newest NodeMCU float edition) and it worked just fine. I then move the GPIO0 pin off of GND and move the RST pin from GND to reboot and the blue light goes solid and when I read the output on any serial terminal (or ESP8266 or whatever), it's just a nonstop stream of junk like:

GöGöØR†p8”öGöGöÙR]†p8´öGöGöÙ]†08”¶G¶GöÙR†p8”öGöGöÙR]„p8´öGöGöÙ]†p8”öG¶GöÙR]†08”¶GöGöØR†p8”öGöGöÙR]†p8´öGöGöÙ]†08”¶G¶GöÙR†p8”öGöGöÙR]†p8´öGöGöÙ]†p8”öG¶GöÙR]†08”¶GöGöØR†p8”öGöGöÙR]†p8´öGöGöÙ]†08”¶G¶GöÙR†08”öGöGöÙR]†p8´öGöGöÙ]†p8”öGöGöÙR]†08”¶G¶GöØR†p8”öGöGöÙR]„p8´öGöGöÙ]†p8”öG¶GöÙR†08”¶GöGöÙR]†p8”öGöGöÙ]†p8´öGöGöÙ]†08”¶G¶GöÙR†p8”öGöGöÙR]„p8´öGöGöÙ]†p8”öG¶GöÙR†08”¶GöGöÙR]†p8”öGöGöÙR]†p8´öGöGöÙ]†08”¶G¶GöÙR†p8”öGöG...

I just flashed it to 0x00000 - was I supposed to flash a blank file at some point? If so...where? This is driving me nuts. It can't be that hard..

Thanks for any help!