Esp8266 stopped working properly

Marciokoko · 2019-09-23T23:46:03.000Z

Ill post the code but because i dont think it has anything to do with the problem, since the esp01 worked flawlessly for about a year or more, i was wondering if its something that is common, that these cheap modules stop working after some time.

The module reads a dht22 sensor and posts both t and h to an emoncms instance. All of a sudden it started missing posts and now simply doesnt post.

I thought it was a wifi issue but its in the same room as another esp01 which works fine but posts to thingspeak.com instead of emoncms. However since that faulty module wasnt connected to a voltage reg, i think powerouts which are common in my country, might have damaged the module.

As for blinking patterns, I have noticed that it stops blinking it’s onboard led now and then and that it’s not logged as a client in the router’s dhcp list.

Here is my code:

/*
 *  Simple HTTP get webclient test
 */
//THIS IS DIRECTLY FOR THE ESP8266 MCU
#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <dht.h>
#define DHT22_PIN 2//#define DHTPIN 2     // what pin we're connected to
//#define DHTTYPE DHT22   // DHT 22  (AM2302) was used
dht DHT;//(DHTPIN,DHTTYPE); //was DHT dht

const char* ssid     = "myssid";
const char* password = "mypass";
const char* host = "myserver.com";
unsigned long previousMillis = 0;        // will store last time was updated
const long interval = 180000; //3,600,000 = 3,600 seconds or 1 hr
char tempString[20];
char humString[20];

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
  delay(100);
 
  // We start by connecting to a WiFi network
 
  Serial.println();
  Serial.println();
  Serial.print("Connecting to ");
  Serial.println(ssid);
  
  WiFi.begin(ssid, password);
  
  while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
    delay(500);
    Serial.print(".");
  }
 
  Serial.println("");
  Serial.println("WiFi connected");  
  Serial.println("IP address: ");
  Serial.println(WiFi.localIP());
}
 
int value = 0;

void start_test () {
  int chk = DHT.read22(DHT22_PIN);
  float h = DHT.humidity;//dht.readHumidity();
  float t = DHT.temperature;//readTemperature();
  dtostrf(t, 4, 2, tempString);  //convert flat to char  
  dtostrf(h, 4, 2, humString);  //convert flat to char
}

void loop() {
  ///////////INSERTED millis-sample code
    unsigned long currentMillis = millis();
  if (currentMillis - previousMillis <= interval) { //when time elapsed is LESS than interval of 30 mins    
  } else { //if deltaTimeElapsed is GREATER than target interval, sample and post...
    previousMillis = currentMillis; //sets previous-0 to current-3600
    start_test(); //sample

    //now post
    delay(5000);
  ++value;
 
  Serial.print("connecting to ");
  Serial.println(host);
  
  // Use WiFiClient class to create TCP connections
  WiFiClient client;
  const int httpPort = 80;
  if (!client.connect(host, httpPort)) {
    Serial.println("connection failed");
    return;
  }
  
  // We now create a URI for the request 
  String url = String("/emoncms/input/post.json?apikey=myapikey&node=fortnite&json={\"t\":") + tempString + ",\"h\":" + humString + "}";
  Serial.print("Requesting URL: ");
  Serial.println(url);
  
  // This will send the request to the server
  client.print(String("GET ") + url + " HTTP/1.1\r\n" +
               "Host: " + host + "\r\n" + 
               "Connection: close\r\n\r\n");
  delay(500);
  
  // Read all the lines of the reply from server and print them to Serial
  while(client.available()){
    String line = client.readStringUntil('\r');
    Serial.print(line);
  }
  
  Serial.println();
  Serial.println("closing connection");
  }
  
}

I just had it unplugged for a few minutes and plugged it back in. I noticed it started blinking maybe every 3 or 5 seconds, then every 8 seconds, then it showed up in the dhcp list and in a lanscan app I have to detect IPs on my network. Soon after that the led stopped blinking and it hasnt blinked since. So basically it blinked while it connected to the network ssid and then it stopped blinking after about 5 minutes. Its still on the dhcp list because the lease is 1 hr 59 minutes, so ill check back on it to see when the lease expires...

ok and now, about 15 minutes later, the LED on the esp01 is fixed blue. Iow, not blinking and not off, solid blue However it did make a post 5 minutes ago (its programmed to make it every 3 minutes i think) so it did manage to make a post before hanging.

Marciokoko · 2019-09-24T12:01:40.000Z

So I left the module on all night after plugging it back in and even after the led froze solid last night. When I woke up this morning I noticed the led is no longer solid and actually it blinks at very long intervals. I didn’t have time to count it but it’s more than 10 seconds. So I decided to look at the emoncms and it had posted quite a bit. I plugged the module back in around 7pm, and it did it’s said negotiations for the next few minutes and it’s led froze around 8pm. I remember watching up until 9pm and the led was still frozen solid. It seems to have started posting at around 2am until now (6am)...

So I started looking back in time and noticed that I have these periods where it doesnt post and so on the graph they look like a straight line. I only started doing this around Sep 9.

Marciokoko · 2019-09-26T02:46:30.000Z

And now the module isn't registered in the dhcp list after about 3 days. And now I have to reset the esp8266.

Idahowalker · 2019-09-26T03:06:24.000Z

Can you leave the ESP8266 connected to the Serial monitor and, with debug set to give an output, see what, if any error message is produced around the crash?

Marciokoko · 2019-09-26T14:44:53.000Z

But the ESP8266 is standalone, its not connected to an MCU that I can connect to the arduino IDE. Or is there a way for me to connect it?

Idahowalker · 2019-09-26T14:50:59.000Z

Oh, you mean you are just using the ESP8266 IC and not the ESP8266 module with all the bells and whistles from Espressif. Some how it must have been booted and loaded with a program?

Marciokoko · 2019-09-26T15:05:20.000Z

Yes I programmed the ESP via a NANO, but its operating standalone, the ESP8266 esp01 module.

Idahowalker · 2019-09-26T18:39:16.000Z

You should be able to use the Arduino IDE and a USB cable to the ESP8266 and the IDE's serial monitor to read if the ESP8266 is producing error messages.

Marciokoko · 2019-09-26T19:15:56.000Z

You mean connect the esp8266 module directly to the laptop?

Idahowalker · 2019-09-26T19:52:36.000Z

Through the USB port, yes. If there is something wonky going on with the ESP8266 and it is giving out error messages, you'll be able to read them on the Arduino Serial Monitor.

Marciokoko · 2019-09-26T22:11:02.000Z

Ok but I need some special cable to connect the esp8266 to the usb-laptop though right?

Idahowalker · 2019-09-26T22:38:31.000Z

1600×1200 156 KB

1600×1200 806 KB

Two images. One shows a ESP32 connected through a USB cable to a desktop. The other image is of the ESP writing to the Arduino IDE Serial Monitor.

Marciokoko · 2019-09-26T23:34:00.000Z

Oh I don't have an esp32, I have an esp01 module:

E80E715A-F16E-44F9-A904-EAA9EAC1921E.png1000×1000 96.6 KB

E80E715A-F16E-44F9-A904-EAA9EAC1921E.png1000×1000 96.6 KB

Idahowalker · 2019-09-26T23:49:54.000Z

Oi! And it does not have a USB port. IC.

Learned something new.

Marciokoko · 2019-09-27T00:02:11.000Z

Oh hey! Guess what I just got in the mail!?!!

An esp01 programmer I had ordered a while back. So OK I took my esp01 module out of the setup I had and plugged it onto the programmer and into the USB port but when opening the Arduino ide, I get nothing. I've selected the right port and it was set at 115200 and both CR & nl.

I tried switching to 9600 and got nothing as well. The blue led lit up at power up (when I plugged the USB programmer with the esp01 into the laptop) but didn't blink after that.

Marciokoko · 2019-09-27T01:08:17.000Z

Ok I plugged it and left it more than 60 seconds and i got SM data, it is logging what it is supposed to log when connected except for the data, since its no longer connected to the dht22, so its printing this out:

connecting to santiapps.com
Requesting URL: /emoncms/input/post.json?apikey=mykeyf&node=fortnite&json={"t":-999.00,"h":-999.00}
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Server: nginx
Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2019 00:58:43 GMT
Content-Type: text
Transfer-Encoding: chunked
Connection: close
X-Powered-By: PHP/5.4.16

2
ok
0

closing connection

and so far it seems to be logging it every 180 seconds, but I know the SM stops logging even on a good board without issues, even without wifi. Iow Ive left projects connected to the serial, which after a while stop logging, so I dont see how I could tell if this will stop logging because its no longer working (esp01 issue) or because it stopped logging because normally, boards connected to the usb serial port stop logging after a long time.

Oh...

I just saw the timestamp on the log. Ok so it has logged so far
0:58:43
1:01:43
1:04:43
1:07:43

so it looks like its logging fine, so Ill let it run and post back, hopefully with an error in the SM.

Idahowalker · 2019-09-27T01:11:52.000Z

Could be the ESP is rebooting?

Marciokoko · 2019-09-27T11:52:32.000Z

No, that is expected behavior. It's meant to post every 180 seconds. The problem is that after some time it STOPS posting every 180 seconds and will never post again unless I reboot the esp01.

I just went over to check and I believe it was around 1800 last night that I started it and it's 0600 today, so that's 12 hours. The logs are still going and it's timestamp is indeed up to 12:00:00... I didn't check each log but I don't think it skipped any, but even if it did, at least it hadn't stopped.

Before it might run a full day or two and it would stop. So I'll give it a few more hours and see.

Marciokoko · 2019-09-28T16:19:21.000Z

I started Sep 27 at 1800 and it's now Sep 28 at 1018. That's weird, thats not even 24 hours, oh...it must the server timestamp. I was taking Sep 27 as the start because of my post timestamp. Ok so I believe it was Sep 26 that I started the esp01 on the USB programmer. That would make it 36 hours up to when I last counted which was actually around 7am today so 36-3=36 hours. That is equivalent to 2,160 minutes and it posts 1/3minutes so that's = 720 posts and I have 760 posts. So I guess it's working non stop, no hangs.

OK so I'll leave it 1 more day.

system · 2021-05-06T11:17:24.415Z