Sending serial without serial being connected

Crispin · July 27, 2021, 9:21pm

Hi folks,

I have a sketch running on a esp32 and will run for hours when connected to the laptop and printing out serial debug. (it's very verbose)

When I plug it into the main circuit it runs for a few hours and then stops. It's connected to the wifi and mqtt and just stops publishing mqtt messages and stops replying to pings.

Could it be that I am sending serial without actually checking if(Serial)? (Bad, I know. Rectifying it now).

It's powered by a 110Ah battery with a 12->5V SM PSU and some nice big caps so not sure it's a power problem.

Just wondering.

J-M-L · July 27, 2021, 9:25pm

Sending data through Serial should not create any issue if there is no-one listening on the other side

Idahowalker · July 27, 2021, 9:40pm

Lets see the well formatted code, in code tags.

LMI1 · July 27, 2021, 10:48pm

What regulator you use and how much current your system takes. The problem could be overheating regulator.

Klaus_K · July 28, 2021, 2:06am

I would recommend you build in some application layer error checking. For MQTT I check whether the client is still connected and restart the WiFi and MQTT connection.

For some more details, Idahowalker suggestion sounds like a good plan.

Idahowalker · July 28, 2021, 2:24am

Here is some ESP32 MQTT code that runs and runs and runs and so on and so forth.

/*
   10/17/2020 Ambrose Campbell
   Project to display MQTT data on a OLED screen
*/
#include <WiFi.h>
#include <PubSubClient.h>
#include "certs.h"
#include "sdkconfig.h"
#include "esp_system.h"
#include "freertos/FreeRTOS.h"
#include "freertos/task.h"
#include "freertos/timers.h"
#include "freertos/event_groups.h"
#include <Adafruit_GFX.h>
#include <Adafruit_SSD1351.h>
#include "time.h"
//
hw_timer_t * timer = NULL;
EventGroupHandle_t eg;
#define evtDoDisplay             ( 1 << 1 )
#define evtCollectHistory        ( 1 << 2 )
#define evtParseMQTT             ( 1 << 3 )
// the events in this event groups tasks have been given a delay to avoid a possible race condition.
#define evtGroupBits ( evtCollectHistory | evtDoDisplay )
//                                                 CS GPIO_NUM_27, DC GPIO_NUM_12, DIN GPIO_NUM_13, CLK GPIO_NUM_14, RST GPIO_NUM_26
Adafruit_SSD1351 tft = Adafruit_SSD1351( 128, 128, GPIO_NUM_27,    GPIO_NUM_12,    GPIO_NUM_13,     GPIO_NUM_14,     GPIO_NUM_26 );
////
WiFiClient   wifiClient;
PubSubClient MQTTclient( mqtt_server, mqtt_port, wifiClient );
//////
// black, blue, red, green, cyan, magenta, yellow, white, lightyellow, brown
const int DataCells = 60;
int    ColorPalette[10] = { 0x0000, 0x001F, 0xF800, 0x07E0, 0x07FF, 0xF81F, 0xFFE0, 0xFFFF, 0xFFFFD8, 0xFF8040 };
int    arrayCellPtr = 0;
float  oPressureHistory[DataCells] = {0.0f};
String str_eTopic;
char   strPayload [300] = {NULL};
float  oTemperature = 0.0f;
float  oHumidity = 0.0f;
float  oIAQ = 0.0f; // Indexed Air Quality
float  oPressure = 0.0f;
byte mac[6];
int mqttOK = 0;
////
////
SemaphoreHandle_t sema_HistoryCompleted;
SemaphoreHandle_t sema_MQTT_Parser;;
SemaphoreHandle_t sema_MQTT_KeepAlive;
SemaphoreHandle_t sema_mqttOK;
////
volatile int iDoTheThing = 0;
////
void IRAM_ATTR mqttCallback(char* topic, byte * payload, unsigned int length)
{
  xSemaphoreTake( sema_MQTT_Parser, portMAX_DELAY);
  str_eTopic = topic;
  int i = 0;
  for ( i; i < length; i++)
  {
    strPayload[i] = ((char)payload[i]);
  }
  strPayload[i] = NULL;
  //log_i( "topic %s payload %s" ,str_eTopicPtr, strPayloadPtr );
  xSemaphoreGive ( sema_MQTT_Parser );
  xEventGroupSetBits( eg, evtParseMQTT ); // trigger tasks
} // void mqttCallback(char* topic, byte* payload, unsigned int length)
////
void IRAM_ATTR WiFiEvent(WiFiEvent_t event)
{
  switch (event) {
    case SYSTEM_EVENT_STA_CONNECTED:
      log_i("Connected to access point");
      break;
    case SYSTEM_EVENT_STA_DISCONNECTED:
      log_i("Disconnected from WiFi access point");
      break;
    case SYSTEM_EVENT_AP_STADISCONNECTED:
      log_i("WiFi client disconnected");
      break;
    default: break;
  }
}
////
void IRAM_ATTR onTimer()
{
  BaseType_t xHigherPriorityTaskWoken;
  iDoTheThing++;
  if ( iDoTheThing == 60000 )
  {
    xEventGroupSetBitsFromISR( eg, evtGroupBits, &xHigherPriorityTaskWoken );
    iDoTheThing = 0;
  }
}
////
void setup()
{
  /* Use 4th timer of 4.
    1 tick 1/(80MHZ/80) = 1us set divider 80 and count up.
    Attach onTimer function to timer
    Set alarm to call timer ISR, every 1000uS and repeat / reset ISR (true) after each alarm
    Start an timer alarm
  */
  timer = timerBegin( 3, 80, true );
  timerAttachInterrupt( timer, &onTimer, true );
  timerAlarmWrite(timer, 1000, true);
  timerAlarmEnable(timer);
  //
  str_eTopic.reserve(300);
  //
  eg = xEventGroupCreate();
  //
  tft.begin();
  tft.setRotation( 1 );
  tft.fillScreen(0x0000);
  //
  sema_mqttOK    =  xSemaphoreCreateBinary();
  sema_MQTT_Parser      = xSemaphoreCreateBinary();
  sema_HistoryCompleted = xSemaphoreCreateBinary();
  sema_MQTT_KeepAlive   = xSemaphoreCreateBinary();
  xSemaphoreGive( sema_HistoryCompleted );
  xSemaphoreGive( sema_MQTT_KeepAlive ); // found keep alive can mess with a publish, stop keep alive during publish
  xSemaphoreGive( sema_mqttOK );
  ////
  xTaskCreatePinnedToCore( fparseMQTT,      "fparseMQTT",      7000,  NULL, 5, NULL, 1 ); // assign all to core 1, WiFi in use.
  xTaskCreatePinnedToCore( fCollectHistory, "fCollectHistory", 10000, NULL, 4, NULL, 1 );
  xTaskCreatePinnedToCore( MQTTkeepalive,   "MQTTkeepalive",   7000,  NULL, 2, NULL, 1 ); //this task makes a WiFi and MQTT connection.
  xTaskCreatePinnedToCore( fUpdateDisplay,  "fUpdateDisplay",  50000, NULL, 5, NULL, 1 );
  xTaskCreatePinnedToCore( fmqttWatchDog,   "fmqttWatchDog", 3000, NULL, 3, NULL, 1 ); // assign all to core 1
  ////
} //setup() END
////
////
void fmqttWatchDog( void * paramater )
{
  int maxNonMQTTresponse = 5;
  //wait for a mqtt connection
  while ( !MQTTclient.connected() )
  {
    vTaskDelay( 250 );
  }
  TickType_t xLastWakeTime = xTaskGetTickCount();
  const TickType_t xFrequency = 1000; //delay for mS
  for (;;)
  {
    xLastWakeTime = xTaskGetTickCount();
    vTaskDelayUntil( &xLastWakeTime, xFrequency );
    if ( mqttOK >= maxNonMQTTresponse )
    {
      ESP.restart();
    }
  }
  vTaskDelete( NULL );
} //void fmqttWatchDog( void * paramater )
////
/*
   Collect history information
   task triggered by hardware timer once a minute
   stores history into PSRAM
   Using a semaphore to protect the PSRAM from multiple tasks access the same PSRM locations
*/
void fCollectHistory( void * parameter )
{
  int StorageTriggerCount = 119;
  bool Tick = true;
  int maxStorageTriggerCount = 120;
  for (;;)
  {
    xEventGroupWaitBits (eg, evtCollectHistory, pdTRUE, pdTRUE, portMAX_DELAY );
    xSemaphoreTake( sema_HistoryCompleted, portMAX_DELAY );
    oPressureHistory[arrayCellPtr] = oPressure;
    StorageTriggerCount++; //triggered by the timer isr once a minute
    log_i( "storage trigger count %d", StorageTriggerCount );
    if ( StorageTriggerCount == maxStorageTriggerCount )
    {
      arrayCellPtr++;
      log_i( "arrayCellPtr %d", arrayCellPtr );
      if ( arrayCellPtr == DataCells )
      {
        arrayCellPtr = 0;
      }
      StorageTriggerCount = 0;
    }
    xSemaphoreGive( sema_HistoryCompleted );
    // log_i( " high watermark %d",  uxTaskGetStackHighWaterMark( NULL ) );
  }
  vTaskDelete( NULL );
} //void fCollectHistory( void * parameter )
////
// Using a semaphore to protect the PSRAM from multiple tasks access the same PSRM locations
////
void fUpdateDisplay( void * parameter )
{
  // Color definitions
  // http://www.barth-dev.de/online/rgb565-color-picker/
  /*
    ColorPalette[0] = 0x0000; //BLACK
    ColorPalette[1] = 0x001F; //BLUE
    ColorPalette[2] = 0xF800; //RED
    ColorPalette[3] = 0x07E0; //GREEN
    ColorPalette[4] = 0x07FF; //CYAN
    ColorPalette[5] = 0xF81F; //MAGENTA
    ColorPalette[6] = 0xFFE0; //YELLOW
    ColorPalette[7] = 0xFFFF; //WHITE
    ColorPalette[8] = 0xFFFFD8; //LIGHTYELLOW
    ColorPalette[9] = 0xFF8040; //BROWN
  */
  int rowRef = 80;
  int hRef = int( oPressureHistory[0] );
  const int nextPoint = 2;
  int nextCol = 0;
  int16_t aqColor = 216; //minimum value
  for (;;)
  {
    xEventGroupWaitBits (eg, evtDoDisplay, pdTRUE, pdTRUE, portMAX_DELAY ); //
    xSemaphoreTake( sema_mqttOK, portMAX_DELAY );
    mqttOK ++;
    xSemaphoreGive( sema_mqttOK );
    vTaskDelay( 1 );
    tft.fillScreen( ColorPalette[0] );
    tft.setTextSize( 2 );
    log_i( "oTemperature %f", oTemperature );
    if ( (oTemperature >= 73.0f) && (oTemperature <= 100.0f) )
    {
      log_i( "if ( (oTemperature >= 73.0f) && (oTemperature <= 100.0f) )" );
      // green to decrease and red to increase no blue
      int tempDiff = int( 100.0f - oTemperature );
      log_i( "oTemperature %f tempDiff %d", oTemperature, tempDiff );
      int NewRed = tempDiff << 10;
      int NewGreen =  0x07E0 - (tempDiff << 5 );
      //int NewRed = ColorPalette[3] - (tempDiff << 5 ) ; // load in green decreased by temperature
      log_i( "NewRed %d NewGreen %d", NewRed, NewGreen );
      NewRed |= NewGreen ;
      log_i( "NewRed | NewGreen %d ", NewRed );
      tft.setTextColor( NewRed );
    }
    if ( oTemperature <= 0.0f )
    {
      log_i("white");
      tft.setTextColor( ColorPalette[7] ); // white
    }
    if ((oTemperature >= 32.0f) && (oTemperature < 72.0f) )
    {
      //log_i("if ((oTemperature >= 32.0f) && (oTemperature < 72.0f) )");
      //blue decreases, no red, green increases
      int tempDiff = int( oTemperature - 32.0f );
      if( tempDiff > 31 ) tempDiff = 31;
      log_i(" oTemperature %f tempDiff %d", oTemperature, tempDiff );
      int NewBlue =  ColorPalette[1] - tempDiff; // decrease blue
      log_i( "NewBlue %d", NewBlue );
      int NewGreen =  (tempDiff) << 5 ;// increase green
      log_i( "NewGreen %d", NewGreen );
      NewGreen |= NewBlue; // combine blue into newgreen
      log_i( "NewGreen or'ed %d", NewGreen );
      tft.setTextColor( NewGreen );
    }
    if ((oTemperature >= 72.0f) && (oTemperature < 73.0f) ) tft.setTextColor( ColorPalette[3] ); //green
    if ( (oTemperature < 32.0f) && (oTemperature >= 0.0f) )
    {
      log_i( "if ( (oTemperature < 32.0f) && (oTemperature >= 0.0f) )" );
      int NewBlue = ColorPalette[1]; // blue
      //blue is max for each step below 32 red and green increase by one
      //get steps below 32
      int tempDiff = int( 32.0f - oTemperature );
      NewBlue = NewBlue + ( (tempDiff) << 5); //add green
      NewBlue =  NewBlue | (xOff << 10);//add red
      tft.setTextColor( NewBlue ); // red
    } //if( (oTemperature <= 32.0f) %% (oTemperature >= 0.0f) )
    if ( oTemperature >= 100.0f ) tft.setTextColor( ColorPalette[2] ); // red
    tft.setCursor( 0, 0 );
    if ( oTemperature < 100.0f )
    {
      tft.print( "Tmp " + String(oTemperature) );
    } else
    {
      tft.print( "Tmp " + String(int(oTemperature)) );
    }
    tft.setCursor( 0, 20 );
    tft.setTextSize( 2 );
    //set humidity color
    // log_i( "%f", oHumidity );
//    if ( oHumidity < 33.0f )
//    {
//      tft.setTextColor( ColorPalette[6] ); //yellow
//    }
//    if ( (oHumidity >= 33.0f) && ( oTemperature <= 60.0f) )
//    {
//      tft.setTextColor( ColorPalette[3] ); //green
//    }
//    if ( (oTemperature > 60.0f) )
//    {
//      tft.setTextColor( ColorPalette[2] ); //red
//    }
    //below 50%
    if ( oHumidity < 49.0f )
    {
      //reduce green component, increase blue component, red @0
      //get difference from 50%
      int xOff = 2 * ( abs(50 - int(oHumidity)) ); // used to make adjustments to green and blue
      //shift xOff to the left by 5 places reduce green by xOff
      newGreen = ColorPalette[3] - ( (xOff) << 5); //green falls off by xOff
      // increase blue by xOff
      newGreen = newGreen | (xOff);
      //log_i( "ColorPalette[3] %d newGreen %d", ColorPalette[3], newGreen );
      tft.setTextColor( newGreen );
    }
    //@50%
    if ( (oHumidity <= 51.0f) && (oHumidity >= 49.0f) )
    {
      tft.setTextColor( ColorPalette[3] ); //green
    }
    // above



    
    if ( oHumidity > 51.0f )
    {
      //log_i( "humidity %f", oHumidity );
      //reduce green component, increase red component, blue @0
      //get difference from 50%
      int tempDiff = (int)oHumidity - 50;
      if( tempDiff > 31 ) tempDiff = 31;
      int newGreen = ColorPalette[3] - ( tempDiff << 5 ); //green falls off by xOff
      int newRed = tempDiff << 10;
      //log_i( "newGreen %d", newGreen );
      // increase red by xOff
      newGreen =  newGreen | tempDiff;
      //log_i( "newGreen %d", newGreen );
      tft.setTextColor( newGreen );
    }



    
    tft.print( "Hum " + String(oHumidity) );
    // set AQI text color
    if ( (oIAQ * 216) >= (90.0f * 216))
    {
      int redColor = (int)oIAQ - 90;
      redColor *= 216;
      int green = ColorPalette[3] - (redColor << 5);
      int blue = ColorPalette[1] - redColor;
      aqColor &= 0x7FF; //set green to and blue to max
      redColor = redColor << 10;
      aqColor |= redColor;
      tft.setTextColor( aqColor );
    }
    if ( oIAQ * 216 > 60.0f * 216 && oIAQ * 216 < 90.0f * 216 )
    {
      int blueColor = (int)oIAQ - 60;
      blueColor *= 216;
      aqColor &= (0x7E0 - (blueColor << 5) ); //set green reduce green by blue
      aqColor |= blueColor;
      tft.setTextColor( aqColor );
    }
    if ( oIAQ * 216 <= 60.0f * 216 )
    {
      int greenColor = oIAQ * 216;
      greenColor = greenColor << 5;
      tft.setTextColor( greenColor );
    }
    // display AQI
    tft.setCursor( 0, 40 );
    tft.print( "AQI " + String(oIAQ) );
    //
    tft.setTextSize( 1 );
    tft.setTextColor( ColorPalette[1] ); //set graph line color
    tft.setCursor( 0, 118 );
    tft.print( "  Pres: " + String(oPressure) + "mmHg" );
    hRef = int( oPressureHistory[0] );
    nextCol = 0;
    xSemaphoreTake( sema_HistoryCompleted, portMAX_DELAY );
    for (int i = 0; i <= DataCells; i++)
    {
      int hDisplacement = hRef - int( oPressureHistory[i] ); // cell height displacement from baseline
      tft.setCursor( nextCol , (rowRef + hDisplacement) );
      tft.print( "_" );
      nextCol += nextPoint;
      //place vertical bar representing a 24 hour time period.
      if ( (nextCol % 24) == 0 )
      {
        //tft.drawLine( col, row, width, height, color );
        tft.drawLine( uint16_t(nextCol), uint16_t(rowRef + 5), uint16_t(nextCol), uint16_t(rowRef + 11), ColorPalette[7] );
      }
    }
    // advance cursor to place a begin of graph marker. each letter is 5 spaces wide but graph position marker only advances 2 spaces
    // to keep cursor at begining place cursor +2 the nextCol position.
    tft.setCursor( (arrayCellPtr * nextPoint), (rowRef + 3) );
    tft.print( "I" );
    xSemaphoreGive( sema_HistoryCompleted );
    //     log_i( "fUpdateDisplay MEMORY WATERMARK %d", uxTaskGetStackHighWaterMark(NULL) );
  }
  vTaskDelete( NULL );
} // void fUpdateDisplay( void * parameter )
/*
    Important to not set vTaskDelay to less then 10. Errors begin to develop with the MQTT and network connection.
    makes the initial wifi/mqtt connection and works to keeps those connections open.
*/
void MQTTkeepalive( void *pvParameters )
{
  // setting must be set before a mqtt connection is made
  MQTTclient.setKeepAlive( 90 ); // setting keep alive to 90 seconds makes for a very reliable connection, must be set before the 1st connection is made.
  TickType_t xLastWakeTime = xTaskGetTickCount();
  const TickType_t xFrequency = 250; // 250mS
  for (;;)
  {
    //check for a is connected and if the WiFi thinks its connected, found checking on both is more realible than just a single check
    if ( (wifiClient.connected()) && (WiFi.status() == WL_CONNECTED) )
    {
      xSemaphoreTake( sema_MQTT_KeepAlive, portMAX_DELAY ); // whiles loop() is running no other mqtt operations should be in process
      MQTTclient.loop();
      xSemaphoreGive( sema_MQTT_KeepAlive );
    }
    else {
      log_i( "MQTT keep alive found MQTT status %s WiFi status %s", String(wifiClient.connected()), String(WiFi.status()) );
      if ( !(WiFi.status() == WL_CONNECTED) )
      {
        connectToWiFi();
      }
      connectToMQTT();
    }
    xLastWakeTime = xTaskGetTickCount();
    vTaskDelayUntil( &xLastWakeTime, xFrequency );
  }
  vTaskDelete ( NULL );
}
////
void connectToMQTT()
{
  // create client ID from mac address
  byte mac[5];
  WiFi.macAddress(mac); // get mac address
  String clientID = String(mac[0]) + String(mac[4]) ; // use mac address to create clientID
  log_i( "connect to mqtt as client %s", clientID );
  while ( !MQTTclient.connected() )
  {
    MQTTclient.connect( clientID.c_str(), mqtt_username, mqtt_password );
    log_i( "connecting to MQTT" );
    vTaskDelay( 250 );
  }
  log_i("MQTT Connected");
  MQTTclient.setCallback( mqttCallback );
  MQTTclient.subscribe( mqtt_topic );
}
//
void connectToWiFi()
{
  log_i( "connect to wifi" );
  while ( WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED )
  {
    WiFi.disconnect();
    WiFi.begin( SSID, PASSWORD );
    log_i(" waiting on wifi connection" );
    vTaskDelay( 4000 );
  }
  log_i( "Connected to WiFi" );
  WiFi.onEvent( WiFiEvent );
}
////
void fparseMQTT( void *pvParameters )
{
  xSemaphoreGive ( sema_MQTT_Parser );
  for (;;)
  {
    xEventGroupWaitBits (eg, evtParseMQTT, pdTRUE, pdTRUE, portMAX_DELAY ); //
    xSemaphoreTake( sema_mqttOK, portMAX_DELAY );
    mqttOK = 0;
    xSemaphoreGive( sema_mqttOK );
    xSemaphoreTake( sema_MQTT_Parser, portMAX_DELAY );
    if ( str_eTopic == topicOutsideTemperature )
    {
      oTemperature = String(strPayload).toFloat();
    }
    if ( (String)str_eTopic == topicOutsideHumidity )
    {
      oHumidity = String(strPayload).toFloat();
    }
    if ( (String)str_eTopic == topicAQIndex )
    {
      oIAQ = String(strPayload).toFloat();
    }
    if ( String(str_eTopic) == topicOutsidePressure )
    {
      oPressure = String(strPayload).toFloat();
    }
    // clear pointer locations
    memset( strPayload, '\0', 300 );
    str_eTopic = ""; //clear string buffer
    xSemaphoreGive( sema_MQTT_Parser );
  }
} // void fparseMQTT( void *pvParameters )
////
void loop() { }

Perhaps you can use it as a model.

sterretje · July 28, 2021, 2:56am

@Crispin, your topic has been moved to a more suitable location on the forum. Installation and Troubleshooting is not for problems with your project See About the Installation & Troubleshooting category

That's only needed for boards with native USB (like Arduino Leonardo or Sparkfun ProMicro). Does your ESP32 have native USB support (can be used as a HID)? And only if you don't want to loose the first bytes that the board sends.

lastchancename · July 28, 2021, 3:20am

Where’s log_i() ??

Crispin · July 28, 2021, 8:04am

Thanks for all the answers folks. Appreciated.

In terms of PSU and overheating, I do not think so but won't discount it. I am using one of these:

12V in and set to 5.1 out. It's good for 2A so well within limits.

I added the code last night - quicker than posting here - and uploaded a new copy (got to love OTA )
Sadly, this morning, it's porked again.

Somethings I am going to try:

I log the system and bus (battery and post-regulator) voltage
I will go and take some measurements now and see if the voltages are ok.
Code is nice and modular so I will comment out sections (mqtt being the first) and see where it stops failing.

C

J-M-L · July 28, 2021, 8:18am

I found that those variables buck converters are not as good as the fixed voltage conversion ones over time. Depending on the small (poor) potentiometer, you get a lot of noise on the output. There are some rare modules with a larger potentiometer (blue parallelepiped) that are of better quality. Something to double check.

Otherwise I've had good behavior with fixed voltage step-down units based on MP1584 or MP2315

Some modules also have a shutdown pin which can come handy if you want to save energy.

Idahowalker · July 28, 2021, 10:38am

I have found that those are NOT reliable power regulators. Especially for an ESP32.

First try putting an electrolytic cap on the ESP32's 3.3V pin to ground. I found that supplying the ESP32 with a switched 5V can be tricky but putting the electrolytic on the 3.3V pin to ground takes some of the trick out. I use 47uF tantalum or 470uF electrolytic cap, works pretty good on the 3.3V pin of the ESP32.

Idahowalker · July 28, 2021, 10:40am

It's a built in macro to the ESP32 core, that prints faster than serial.print();

Crispin · July 28, 2021, 2:02pm

Well, it may well be a power issue. I've just run out and checked the voltage. It was 3.7 feeding the AMS3117 on the esp32 board. Seeing as the AMS1117 has a 1V dropout, it was doing well to give an output of 2.9. The ESP and the ROM though at at the edge of what they can do. Officially 3.3v

I've adjusted it back to 5.2 and will monitor it a bit and see. The AMS is now putting out 3.3 which is perfect.

As suggested, I also have a large cap (400uF and 100nf) on the 5V side as well as a 100uF and 100nF on the 3.3V side so that should help - along with the existing onboard ones - to help any spikes which might pull it down.

Will report back as I know everyone is waiting on tender hooks

Thanks for the help

system · November 25, 2021, 2:03pm

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