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Cannot connect to Wifi after Firmware upgrade

I have a SCK2.1 kit. It was not reading temp or noise correctly. I decided to upgrade firmware to ESP_firmware_092.bin.

I was able to connect to its wifi network and update the firmware using my mobile device. It said update complete.

I now can get the pulsating red LED but no wireless network shows up on my mobile device as it did before.

I tried a factory reset and several resets and on/offs but same issue.

Not sure where to go from here.

Have you had a look at the troubleshooting documentation ?

I have tried tons of stuff!!

Today when i plugged the board in to my mac it dod come up as a disk drive so I loaded the Firmware as the upgrade shows. I still do not see the wifi to set it up.

I used screen and I can talk to the board. I did put it in network mode, but no wifi signal seen.

It sits in a continuous loop showing:
SP off…
ESP on…
configRestarting ESP…
ESP off…
ESP on… config
Mode: network
Publish interval: 60
Reading interval: 60
Wifi credentials: Smart - riverg
Token: 123456
Mac address: not synced
SCK > Restarting ESP…
ESP off…
ESP on…
Restarting ESP…
ESP off…
ESP on…
Restarting ESP…
ESP off…

I’m lost !!!

I do not have a Mac, or an operational kit.
But it’s obvious that the data board isn’t communicating effectively with the esp. we can focus on that for further checks as follow:

  1. With power off (USB unplugged and battery disconnected) remove urban board from data board and check the double row of pins it plugs into. They must all be straight.

  2. With urban board removed examine closely (magnifying glass or your phone camera) around the ESP sub-board. Does anything look out of place. ? Is there any debris ? Also check beneath.
    2a. When you are running the system, what kind of surface is the board sitting on ? I suggest to put it on top of the silvery gray bag that it came in, rather than a tabletop or paper.

  3. Plug in the urban board and confirm that it’s fully pushed into the connector all they way around, and the urban board is flat and parallel to the data board in both dimensions.

  4. Do you have anything plugged in to the AUX (4 pin nylon) connector? If so remove it.

  5. Reconnect only the USB plug and also connect to your PC. What LED’s light up, and what colour, and are any flashing ?

  6. Redo the console checks you did previously. Has anything changed ?

  7. Try connecting to the SmartCitizen Wifi again. Is the wifi network available for connection when you refresh the list ?

Please respond with your results copy the above checks and insert your results as comment at each step.

  • With power off (USB unplugged and battery disconnected) remove urban board from data board and check the double row of pins it plugs into. They must all be straight. VERIFIED

  • With urban board removed examine closely (magnifying glass or your phone camera) around the ESP sub-board. Does anything look out of place. ? Is there any debris ? Also check beneath.
    2a. When you are running the system, what kind of surface is the board sitting on ? I suggest to put it on top of the silvery gray bag that it came in, rather than a tabletop or paper. IT IS PLACED ON A WOODEN TABLETOP. I DO NOT SEE ANY DEBRIS AND BLEW AIR ON BOTH SIDES OF THE PCB.

  • Plug in the urban board and confirm that it’s fully pushed into the connector all they way around, and the urban board is flat and parallel to the data board in both dimensions. DO I NEED THE SENSOR BOARD PLUGGED IN TO CONNECT THE WIFI. IT IS GLUED INTO AN OUTSIDE BOX.

  • Do you have anything plugged in to the AUX (4 pin nylon) connector? If so remove it.

  • Reconnect only the USB plug and also connect to your PC. What LED’s light up, and what colour, and are any flashing ? WHEN I PLUG IN THE BOARD THE WHITE LED IS ON SOLID. THE BLUE WIFI LIGHT IS ON. THE USB LED FLASHES. WHEN I CLICK THE ON/OFF BUTTON THE LED CHANGES FROM WHITE SOLID TO RED SLOWLY PULSATING.

  • Redo the console checks you did previously. Has anything changed ? CONSOLE SHOWS THE SAME:

interval: 60

Reading interval: 60

Wifi credentials: Smart - riverg

Token: 123456

Mac address: not synced

SCK > Restarting ESP…

ESP off…

ESP on…

[B[BRestarting ESP…

ESP off…

ESP on…

Restarting ESP…

ESP off…

ESP on…

Restarting ESP…

ESP off…

  • Try connecting to the SmartCitizen Wifi again. Is the wifi network available for connection when you refresh the list ? I DO NOT SEE ANY WIFI NETWORK

Hi George

The sensor that’s not responding is located on the urban board. If you are going to verify connection and “is it now working” as the next step, the sensor board must be plugged in.

Basic checks completed ok, but symptoms remain unchanged. Perhaps @oscgonfer you can look at this thread and provide some further insight.

@george one further thing I thought of….
Do you have 2000 mAh LiPo battery that came with the kit ?
Is it connected ? If you have one, please ensure it is connected.

Similarly,
Is there a 32Gb micro SD card inserted in the carrier ?

Thirdly the dump of output above indicates that the SAMD21 thinks the ESP board is working. But you cannot see the boards wifi network identifier. So you have a further issue. We need to look at wifi connection.

it is necessary to push a button to make the internal WiFi available for connection. The LED flashes a certain way to confirm the on boarding mode. The SD MUST be inserted, because during on boarding a config file is written out to the SD.

Only when you have followed the correct steps, your phone or PC can see the network and connect to it. It can be tricky. Please review the instructions in the area of on boarding in the documentation.

HI @george

When you did the update, did you also upgrade the SAMD21?

This week or the next we will have a new firmware release (0.9.8 for SAMD21, 0.9.3 for ESP). Maybe its worth upgrading both again…

Sorry for the inconvenience!

I plugged the sensor board in. Same results:

ESP on…

Restarting ESP…

ESP off…

ESP on…

Restarting ESP…

ESP off…

ESP on…

Restarting ESP…

ESP off…

ESP on…

Restarting ESP…

A battery did not come with my kit. No battery is connected.

I only have a 8M SD Card. I tried plugging it in, but same issues. Does it have to be a 32M SD Card? No SD card came with my kit.

When I reset the card the LED comes on solid white, the blue Wifi LED is on. The USB LED flashes.

When I hit the on/off button once, the LED changes to Red pulsating. Wifi LED is on. USB LED flashes.

Using the screen command I get:

Restarting ESP…

ESP off…

ESP on…

Restarting ESP…

ESP off…

ESP on…

Is there a way to set the Wifi parameters using the screen command?

Yes, I updated SAM21 also.

Both no battery and 8m sad card should be ok.

This is definitely one for @oscgonfer at this point. Beyond my experience….
Prima facie :
ESP card is asked to start, it tries to start, then fails, resets and recycle. This says to me maybe esp is feeling Ill.
1.
Was there a time when this particular kit actually worked. If so, was there something happened when it stopped working ?

It could be firmware I guess and there is new firmware due next week I am informed. So it’s not long to wait. I am waiting for it, too

  1. Yes the kit did work. The only issue was the noise level sensor was not reading correctly. When I tried to do a firmware upgrade it stopped working.

  2. I will try the new firmware when released.

Please confirm that when you upgraded the firmware, both data board and esp firmware was completed.

These two firmwares talk to each other, they must speak the same language, so if not already updated, suggest esp needs to be done too.