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Is my ESP32 module broken?

Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2020 10:39 pm
by MuchMore
Hey,
I have an ESP32 module that seems to have failed gradually. I used it for code development so it was flashed lots of times.
First it started bootlooping after being on for ~4h. Thought I had a bad solder joint. Now it is stable for less than 1s
When manually holding the reset down for a long time it can be flashed successfully.
The general error message on the com port is: rst:0x1 (POWERON_RESET),boot:0x13 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
However once it started to bootloop it just writes trash to the console. So it does never reach any codes I have written.

Can it be that I have flashed it to many times? I use the preference library, however I only read settings on startup and write only if the user made changes.
Or can this behavior result from an overloaded and broken gpio pin?

P.s.: On the hardware side I have reset and gpio 0 pins with 10k pulled high. All gnd and 3.3V pins have decoupling caps, and 470u right next to the module. I also checked with an oscilloscope if any pin is jumpy.

Re: Is my ESP32 module broken?

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2020 2:55 am
by ESP_Sprite
Are you sure your power supply is stable and powerful enough as well?

Re: Is my ESP32 module broken?

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2020 8:13 am
by MuchMore
ESP_Sprite wrote: Are you sure your power supply is stable and powerful enough as well?
Yes, I have checked if the power lines are jumpy. There is at max 15mV Noise, and 25mV jump after manuell reset.

Re: Is my ESP32 module broken?

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2020 6:19 pm
by MuchMore
Today the module worked fine for 317 minutes, absolutely undisturbed. Then it freaked out.
After Manual reset this is the Error message. However it seems that this will not help at all.
And any reset does not help. Only if it is powered off over night.

Code: Select all

rst:0x1 (POWERON_RESET),boot:0x13 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
flash read err, 1000
ets_main.c 371 
⸮ts Jun  8 2016 00:2⸮ets Jun ⸮ets ⸮ets Jun`⸮ets Jun  8 2016 00:22:57

rst:0x1 (POWERON_RESET),boot:0x13 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
flash read err, 1000
ets_main.c 371 
ets Jun  8 2016 00:22:57

rst:0x10 (RTCWDT_RTC_RESET),boot:0x13 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
configsip: 0, SPIWP:0xee
clk_drv:0x00,q_drv:0x00,d_drv:0x00,cs0_drv:0x00,hd_drv:0x00,wp_drv:0x00
mode:DIO, clock div:2
load:0x3fff0018,len:4
load:0x3fff001c,len:1216
ho 0 tail 12 room 4
load:0x40078000,len:9720
ho 0 tail 12 room 4
load:0x40080400,len:6364
entry 0x400806b8
ets Jun  8 2016 00:22:57

rst:0x1 (POWERON_RESET),boot:0x13 (SPI_FAST_F⸮ASH_ets Jun  8 2016 00:22:e7

rs⸮:0x1 (POWERON_RESET),boot:0x13 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
configsip: 0, SPIWP:0xee
clk_drv:0x00,q_drv:0x00,d_drv:0x00,cs0_drv:0x00,hd_drv:0x00,wp_drv:0x00
mode:DIO, clock div:2
load:0x3fff0018,len:4
load:0x3fff001c,len:1216
ho 0 tail 12 room 4
load:0x40078000,len:9720
ho 0 tail 12 room 4
load:0x40080400,len:6364
entry 0x400806b8
Fatal exception (0): IllegalInstruction
⸮pc1=0x40081213, epc2=0x00000000, ⸮ets J⸮n  8 2016 00:22:57
⸮ets Jun  8 r⸮ets Jun  8 ⸮ets Jun

My current guess is that either the chip or the flash has lifted from the board, and now it will occurs with thermal difference. But I tried heating and cooling the module to exclude this issue.

Re: Is my ESP32 module broken?

Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 3:37 am
by ESP_Sprite
That is one sick puppy... looks almost like the power supply or the /EN line is intermittent. I don't think it's the flash, seeing it even resets during the signon message, but it's hard to say what actually *is* wrong from just this output.