Gina

As posted in the MQTT thread, I'm definitely going to use MQTT to control the roof and have already written some code and designed the controls.  I'm pretty sure I know how to do this.  The only doubt is how well the rain detector will work.  I will be doing some experiments.

Having ordered more microUSB cables, I've found another and the one I've been using is working fine.  Oh well, can't have too many I guess 🤣.  Also, with all the ESP32 modules being fine I shall have a nice collection of those in the end too!  Also useful items...

Thanks Wim but all is sorted out.  Changed Port from /dev/ttyS0 to /dev/ttyUSB0 that fixed it and I'm now uploading again merrily 😀

Coming on nicely Dave 👍

Found an alternative BME280 breakout board on Amazon with selectable address.  I've underlined this in the description

Quote

• BME280 is a Breakout Board featuring a Bosch Sensortec ME280 Temperature, Humidity & Pressure Sensor.
• The board has selectable I2C address jumper (solder link GS2), I2C pull-up resistors, 7 pin header 2.54mm, and two mounting holes 3.5mm.
• Default setting of the board; single power rail Vdd=Vdd_IO (solder link GS1), pull-ups resistors (R2, R3) 10k, protocol selector resistor 0ohm (R1), decoupling capacitors 0.1uF on both power supply pins Vdd & Vdd_IO.
• If you connect board to both power rails VDD_IO 1.8V and VDD 3.3V be sure to remove the power rail jumper GS1!
• Supply voltage VDD main supply voltage range: 1.71 V to 3.6 V

HALJIA GY-BME280-3.3 High Precision I2C SPI Breakout Barometric Pressure Temperature Humidity Digital Sensor Module Board Compatible with Arduino Raspberry Pi ARM DIY Etc.

Edit :- Looked at the datasheet and it s=doesn't need solder links changed there's a pin that does it.

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Using the I2C Interface

Because the I2C interface does not require level shifting when used with a 5V MCU, it is typically the preferred interface to use.

The CSB (Chip Select Bus) pin determines which bus to use.  A logic HIGH selects the I2C bus.  A 10K pull-up resistor on the module pulls this pin HIGH and so the I2C bus is selected by default unless this pin is grounded.

The module supports two different I2C addresses, either 0x76 or 0x77 which allows up to 2 sensors to be used on the same bus.  The SDO pin determines which address to used.  A weak pull-down resistor on the module pulls SDO low so 0x76 is the default address if the SDO pin is not connected.  Connect the SDO to Vcc to select 0x77.

The SCL and SDA pins connect to the SCL and SDA pins on the MCU.

If more than 2 sensors are needed, then the SPI bus can be used.

Thing is, can I use two BME280s on one ESP32 and if so how?  They will both have the same address on the I2C bus.  I could use two ESP32 modules but this seems a bit extravagant.  If I need to do that sobeit - the cost is relatively small.

Now working on the other nodes/clients.  Firstly the one that was in the observatory and used an outside (in Stevenson screen) and inside the obsy.  BME280 outside and DHT22 inside.  For testing I have it indoors.  The BME280 is working fine but not the DHT22.  When I touched the DHT22 I nearly burnt my finger so I unplugged it!!  Maybe what they say about DHT22s being unreliable is right though I've used them successfully in the past on an Arduino.  Maybe I should use a second BME280 as they're considered better.

PHEW!!!

Now I just have to work out where I had go to with the MQTT network.

PROGRESS!!

Decided to look carefully through the Tools menu.  Thought I would try Port : /dev/ttyUSB0 instead of /dev/ttyS0 and looked the same until I pressed BOOT hard and it uploaded.  This was with the electrolytic capacitor connected (which appeared to do nothing!!).

Shut everything down on the Mint box and rebooted from cold.  The MQTT broker RPi switched off.  Started Arduino IDE and loaded the sketch that works on the Living Room EST32 sensor unit.  Nothing else running other than standard background stuff.  Same error!

Can't use the same cable as it's a different USB connector on an Arduino.

That says it's Windows!

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The ESP32 Flash Download Tool, just like the ESP8266 download tool, is the official Espressif Download tool that runs on Windows platform.

My underline.

41 minutes ago, wimvb said:

If two devices show the same error at the same time, I would expect the error to be somewhere else, ie it’s not the devices that are at fault. I use uPython, but I also regularly flash new firmware to the devices I use for testing. And while experimenting, I regularly swap from uPython to the Arduino IDE and back. Usually erasing flash with the esptool solves any connection problems. And don’t ignore possible faulty usb cables.

I don't know how to erase flash with the esptool.  If I did do that would the Arduino IDE still work?

Just realised that I also have several old Arduinos that I don't care about but that's a different type of board altogether.  Would that be a realistic test?

6 minutes ago, stash_old said:

Have you a std Windows OS IDE set up - if so just test the same happens when the device is plugged into that - again use  blink to start with.

If case you haven't :-

1. Have you upgraded the IDE since the last working upload ?

2. Have you updated the Mint Linux system

3. Try another cable but POWER off the Linux box first

4. If you have one try an older device not ESP32 that it doesn't matter if you corrupt it - does that work.

5. Try stopping the MQTT broker before doing an IDE upload

All long shots 😞

I don't have Windows at all other than in a Virtual Box on the Mint machine and I've never got USB to work from that.

1. No

2. No

3. See post above.

4. I do have an ESP8266 that I can try - worth risking a few quid.

5. Never stopped the MQTT broker when doing uploads before.

I was going to say the USB cable is alright as it's currently running the ESP32 Living Room sensor but that only needs power the data is over WiFi so it could be that the cable has developed a fault in one of the data lines.  I can't find another micro USB cable so have ordered some more.

Made a mistake about when the new ESP32 modules were due for delivery - it's next Tuesday not today 😡

JZK ESP-32S ESP32 Development Board 2.4GHz WiFi + Bluetooth Dual Mode Antenna Module with Ultra Low Power

I have 3 of them.  One is currently working fine and talking to MQTT and Node-RED Dashboard.  The two I'm trying to upload to have been working fine and I have uploaded to them dozens of times as I've been experimenting.  Something has happened to stop that working but I don't know what.  I don't really want to try the one that's working in case that fails too and I lose the working system (Living Room in Dashboard display).  

Connected 10µF capacitor between EN and Gnd with jumper wires and tried uploading but still no joy!  I don't think the device is dud because the USB port is recognised and it got as far as wanting the BOOT button pressed.  OTOH something is wrong.  I'm expecting 2 more ESP32 modules in the post so I'll try those.

Thanks.  Found :- [SOLVED] Failed to connect to ESP32: Timed out waiting for packet header

I guess I've worn out the BOOT push button with so many uploads!  Seems strange that a capacitor on the EN pin does what pressing the BOOT button does but sobeit...  I'll try it and also a good little mod anyway.

Yes, port is correct.

I don't have anything connected to the UART pins.  In fact this is with the ESP32 connected to nothing other than the USB.  I'm using the standard Arduino IDE upload,

Thought I had a couple of ways of determining if the ESP32s were alright or not.  SSH to the IP address and ping to the IP address.  Both failed.  Then I tried with the known working ESP32 and that failed both tests too.

Yes, definitely pressed the right button.  I've changed code so often I could reprogram an ESP32 in my sleep!

The ESPs were programmed to work with MQTT but I can't remember what as I've been swapping about too much.  I do know that each was not working as intended but was partly working.

Tried other USB ports including a USB2 rather than USB3.  Still no joy!

Any other ideas?  I have 2 more ESP32s on the way but I hope the problem is not that I killed two ESP32s.  I ordered 2 more because I expect to want 2 more not to replace duds!!!

Yes tried a reboot - no joy.  I'll try a different USB port.

"I move to OTA" - What is OTA in this case.  Guess it's not Optical Tube Assembly 🤣