Hi Hans.
If you try to upload any other project after that one, does it work?
What is your board? Is it the ESP32-CAM AI-Thinker? Does your board have an external antenna?
Regards,
Sara

Hi Sara
every other project with uno/nano gives normal output to the serial monitor. This problem only arises with these sketches an with this board. Problem from FTDI board?
The cam board? Don’t know. Its from Amazon https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B07QS7VFMJ
No external antenna. Signal is strong enough, every earlier module from your course worked without problems.
Must be another reason. Sketch has been downloaded today, only modified with my wlan credentials.
Regards, Hans.

Hi Hans.

I’m sorry for taking so long to get back to you.

I understand that this project is not working for you. But, if you upload other code to your ESP32-CAM does it work?

Did you ever get the Serial Monitor to work properly with the ESP32-CAM? If not, it may be something related with the FTDI programmer. Try double-checking the connections and ensure that the wires are with a secure fit.

Also, double-check with a multimeter that it is outputting 5V.

If you can provide more details, maybe I can come up with other ideas.

Regards,
Sara

Hi Sara,
as I told you, all other projects from your book until this one worked without problems with the same board.
The serial monitor did not work at all with the ESP32-CAM board, the output is only garbage.
The serial monitor works with all other projects with uno/nano.
The connections to the FTDI programmer are ok, otherwise the upload would fail.
Yes, the programmer provides 5V.
That means – I have two problems.

1. no usable serial monitor
2. ESP32CAM active in WLAN, but not reachable

Are there known problems with certain programmers? Mine is from Amazon,
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B01N9RZK6I
The CAM-board is connected in WLAN, but not reachable with my browser. Any possibility, that there is a small error in the sketch??
Regards, Hans.
 

Hi Hans.
Your FTDI programmer seems to be the same as ours.So, it shouldn’t be the problem, unless it is faulty.
The code is not the problem. I tested the code again and everything is working fine with my ESP32-CAM.
So, that might be a problem with your board? I don’t know… I am out of ideas of what can be causing the issue :/
Do you have another board to experiment with?

Regards,
Sara

Hi Sara,
I expect a new FTDI in some days. I will report.
Thanks so long.
Regards, Hans.

Ok, then let me know if it solved your issues.
Regards,
Sara

Hi Sara,
strange things happen on the 1st of April… I tested all units from module 2 again and voila! even  unit 5 works. I don’t know why. Thank you very much for your patience.
The problem with the serial monitor is still there, but the new FTDI did not arrive until today. If it is there, I will let you know, if it works with it.
Regards, Hans.

Hi Hans,

I haven’t necessarily been following your problem from the beginning, so I’m not sure I can answer it in a relevant way, but it reminds me of something that might resonate in your mind:

Do you develop with Visual Studio Code and the Arduino plugin provided by Microsoft?

Because if so, the explanation is probably this one:

Since the release of VS Code version 1.43.0, many users have noticed that they could no longer access the serial monitor, even though the board was well recognized and uploads went smoothly, and everything worked in the Arduino IDE as well. It turns out that it was due to a bug in the Arduino plugin, which no longer supported the new version of node.js that was integrated in the new version of Electron, and so in VS Code. This problem seems to have occurred several times in the course of VS Code’s evolution, and the latest version was no exception.

The good news is that on March 26th, Microsoft released a new version of the Arduino plugin: version 0.3.0 which fixes this bug. Take a look at the Change Log:

Fixed Issue [#980]

Support Electron v7. Fix issue of “Unable to use serial port in VS Code Version 1.43.0”.

There, I guess your problem was most likely caused by this malfunction. And that’s what explains its sudden solving these last few days…

Regards,
Steph

Hi Steph,
thanks for your answer. No, I’m doing nothing with MS. I have the standard IDE, running on Linux-Mint 19.1. My uno/nano are working perfect with the serial monitor. Only this ESP32 board doesn’t. I think, the reason could be a problem with the FTDI programmer. Programming works, but perhaps there is a problem with the way back from the ESP32 trough the FTDI to my Linux? I’ll keep working on it.
Thank you anyway for thinking about it.
Regards, Hans.

Okay, actually, I was completely out of line…

I’m sorry I can’t help you any further, I haven’t experienced FTDI programmers yet…

Hi Hans.
I’m glad it is working now. Sometimes, inexplicable things happen with electronics.
Thanks Stéphane for trying to help us out.
Regards,
Sara