ESP8266-01 with Mega2560 & MQTT Publish OK but no messages received

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1

I have an ESP8266-01 (AT command set, with 3.3v supply & level conversions) & Arduino Mega
My MQTT broker is Mosquitto on RPi 3

Arduino code:

#include <WiFiEsp.h>
#include <WiFiEspClient.h>
#include <WiFiEspUdp.h>
#include <PubSubClient.h>
#include <SPI.h>

IPAddress server(192,168,1,xxx); //RPi address
char ssid[] = “xxxxxxxxx”; // your network SSID (name)
char pass[] = “xxxxxxxxxx”; // your network password
int status = WL_IDLE_STATUS; // the Wifi radio’s status

// Initialize the Ethernet client object
WiFiEspClient espClient;

PubSubClient client(espClient);

//SoftwareSerial soft(2,3); // RX, TX //not used
void setup() {
// initialize serial for debugging
Serial.begin(115200);
// initialize serial for ESP module
Serial1.begin(115200);
// initialize ESP module
WiFi.init(&Serial1);

// check for the presence of the shield
if (WiFi.status() == WL_NO_SHIELD) {
Serial.println(“WiFi shield not present”);
// don’t continue
while (true);
}

// attempt to connect to WiFi network
while ( status != WL_CONNECTED) {
Serial.print(“Attempting to connect to WPA SSID: “);
Serial.println(ssid);
// Connect to WPA/WPA2 network
status = WiFi.begin(ssid, pass);
}

// you’re connected now, so print out the data
Serial.println(“You’re connected to the network”);

//connect to MQTT server
client.setServer(server, 1883);
client.setCallback(callback);
}

//print any message received for subscribed topic
void callback(char* topic, byte* payload, unsigned int length) {
Serial.print(“Message arrived [“);
Serial.print(topic);

Serial.print(“] “);
for (int i=0;i<length;i++) {
char receivedChar = (char)payload[i];
Serial.print(receivedChar);
if (receivedChar == '0')
Serial.println("Off");
if (receivedChar == '1')
Serial.println("On");

}
Serial.println();
}

void loop() {
// put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
if (!client.connected()) {
reconnect();
}
client.loop();
}

void reconnect() {
// Loop until we're reconnected
while (!client.connected()) {
Serial.print("Attempting connection…");
// Attempt to connect, just a name to identify the client
if (client.connect("AMega","xxxxxx","xxxxxxxxxxx")) {
Serial.println("connected");
// Once connected, publish an announcement…
// client.publish("command","Hello World");
// … and resubscribe
client.subscribe("switch",0);

} else {
Serial.print("failed");
Serial.print(client.state());
Serial.println(" try again in 5 seconds");
// Wait 5 seconds before retrying
delay(5000);
}
}
}

This connects to WiFi fine & to an MQTT broker running on a raspberry Pi(3)
(Mosquitto 1.4.10 as part of emonpi software from OpenEnergyMonitor)

Serial Monitor:

[WiFiEsp] Initializing ESP module
[WiFiEsp] Initilization successful – 1.3.0
Attempting to connect to WPA SSID: xxxxxxxxxx
[WiFiEsp] Connected to xxxxxxxxxxxx
You're connected to the network
Attempting MQTT connection…[WiFiEsp] Connecting to xxxxxx
connected
[WiFiEsp] Disconnecting 3
Attempting MQTT connection…[WiFiEsp] Connecting to xxxxxx
connected
(It disconnects every 30 seconds or so and reconnects)

It posts to the Pi (If // client.publish("command","Hello World"); is uncommented) but does not receive subscribed messages. – "Message arrived" is never printed
I also have an MQTT client on my android phone. This communicates fine with the RPi
Again the Arduino can publish to my phone but cannot receive with subscribe

I am not sure where to go next – everything I look at seems to be working but it won't receive subscribed topics?

UPDATE:

client.subscribe("switch",0) returns "true" so maybe the problem is with "callback"?
No messages are printed out, I have tried many different formats
I am basically wish to use this for control The messages will generally be short!

WiFiEsp.h compiles fine for the Mega where as I had problems using ESP8266WiFi.h with board set to Mega2560 (Arduno 1.6.13 with ESP core downloaded for the ESP8266)

Error:
functional: No such file or directory
#include

I wish to leave the ESP with AT command set & compile the code for the Mega not the ESP

command line publish on the Rpi works fine
$mosquitto_pub -u 'xxxxx' -P 'xxxxxxx' -t 'switch' -m '1switchon'
This is received on my android mqtt client but not the arduino

I have tried installing mosquitto on my PC....
The results are exactly the same!

I have tried an ESP8266-12 with the Mega with the same result It connects to the WiFi network & to the MQTT broker, It publishes fine client.subscribe() returns true but no messages are received

I am an amateur programmer, new to the ESP & MQTT
I am probably missing something really simple!

Any help would be appreciated

Richard

2

Please add code tags.

3

SOLVED!

Thanks for all the replies!
The problem occurs if you call
if (!client.connected())
reconnect();
& client.loop();
every loop if the ESP is connected to an arduino via a serial connection
I believe the problem is overwhelming the connection with status messages, blocking incoming messages.

The solution is to add a 100 ms delay after client.loop() or use a non blocking technique calling
if (!client.connected())
reconnect();
& client.loop();
I tried several different delays - the incoming messages came through a delay as little as 1ms but not all messages arrived & communication seemed more reliable at 100 ms

Richard