ESPDUINO-32 doesn't mine when UART is not active

[PSLLSP]

ESPDUINO-32 with UART HL-340 (1a86:7523), flashed with NerdMiner firmware 1.6.3, flashed with WebFlasher. Configured to mine at vkbit.com mining pool. Device has chip ESP-WROOM-32. Board has no BOOT button (that should be connected to GPIO0, active in LOW). My board us not genuine but some clone from AE; it has label HW-729.

PDF with schematic. Button on the board is connected to GPIO0 and the same GPIO pin can be controlled with signals DTR and RTS. When I press the button, board reboots. Blue LED is connected to GPIO2. Schematic has button EN1 that is connected to EN pin but I think it is missing on the ESPDUINO-32 board.

The schematic is wrong. :-( The schematic is not ESPDUINO-32 but for module with 38-pin header... Schematic miss some other parts that are on ESPDUINO-32 board... I cannot find real schematic fir this board. Web "doit.am" is down and manufactures of board clones do not publish any documentation... :-( Wemos was manufacturing similar board, "Wemos D1 R32", but I cannot find any documentation for it.

This looks like schematics for "WeMos D1 R32":

The button on the ESPDUINO-32 board is connected to RST header and it controls EN pin. It looks like button KEY1, that should control BOOT (GPIO0) is missing... GPIO0 is not on any header pins, GPIO0/BOOT signal is controlled only from UART (signals DRT & RTS) and that is the source of this issue...

I do not see 10k pullup resistor for GPIO0 in "D1 R32" schematics, it could be the issue... UPDATE, resistor added but issue is not fixed, maybe that situation is better but board still sometimes enters "not mining: state after reset...

When ESPDUINO-32 board is power with DC connector (12V DC), it mines, blue LED blinks fast! But there is no BOOT button, so it is difficult to change miner configuration, to enter WiFi configuration mode... Voltage at GPIO0 pin is in this state 3.84V.

When ESPDUINO-32 is connected to USB charger, I measure about 4V at pin GPIO0; it doesn't enter mining state. When it is connected to PC and serial terminal is active, GPIO0 has voltage about 3.2V and it mines at full speed... I can close serial terminal and miner still runs at full speed but GPIO0 has voltage 0V in this case... When I reset it, GPIO0 is set to 4V and miner doesn't start to mine.

When it is connected to PC and serial console is active, ESPDUINO-32 starts to mine, blue LED blinks fast. no issue.

When it is connected to the same PC, with the same USB cable and USB port but serial terminal is not active, it doesn't mine. Blue LED is "ON" after reset and after about 50s it starts to blink slowly, like ESPDUINO-32 is in WiFi configuration mode. But I do not see NerMinerAP network in the air. The same happens when it is connected to USB charger.

This is what I see in serial console (console has to be activated few seconds after reset, when blue LED is ON):

$ miniterm /dev/ttyUSB0 119200
--- Miniterm on /dev/ttyUSB0  119200,8,N,1 ---
--- Quit: Ctrl+] | Menu: Ctrl+T | Help: Ctrl+T followed by Ctrl+H ---
*wm:AutoConnect: FAILED for  50523 ms
*wm:StartAP with SSID:  NerdMinerAP
*wm:AP IP address: 192.168.4.1
Entered Configuration Mode
Config SSID: NerdMinerAP
Config IP Address: 192.168.4.1
*wm:Starting Web Portal 
Failed to connect and hit timeout

Initiating tasks...
[MONITOR] started
>>> Completed 0 share(s), 0 Khashes, avg. hashrate 0.00 KH/s
>>> Valid blocks: 0
>>> Block templates: 0
>>> Best difficulty: 0.000
[MINER]  0  Started runMiner Task!
>>> 32Bit shares: 0
>>> Temperature: 47
>>> Total MHashes: 0
[MINER]  1  Started runMiner Task!
>>> Time mining: 0  00:00:53
>>> [i] Miner: newJob>false / inRun>false) - Client: connected>false / subscribed>false / wificonnected>false

[WORKER] Started. Running (Stratum) on core 1
TimeClient setup done
[Error] - current status: 6
>>> Completed 0 share(s), 0 Khashes, avg. hashrate 0.00 KH/s
>>> Valid blocks: 0
>>> Block templates: 0
>>> Best difficulty: 0.000
>>> 32Bit shares: 0

I am not sure if this issue is there from the beginning and I missed it for 2 months or something was broken on the chip. I was doing a cleanup today, I have found that this device doesn't mine on the pool so I started to checking what is wrong. I re-flashed firmware but nothing was changed.

This is what I see when serial terminal is active and I press RESET; no issue, it mines:

$ miniterm /dev/ttyUSB0 119200
--- Miniterm on /dev/ttyUSB0  119200,8,N,1 ---
--- Quit: Ctrl+] | Menu: Ctrl+T | Help: Ctrl+T followed by Ctrl+H ---
ets Jul 29 2019 12:21:46

rst: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:0x3fff0030,len:1184
load:0x40078000,len:13192
load:0x40080400,len:3028
entry 0x400805e4
NerdMiner v2 starting......
No display driver initialized
Initializing...
SPIFS: Mounting File System...
SPIFS: Mounted
SPIFS: Loading config file
{
  "poolString": "pool.vkbit.com",
  "portNumber": 3333,
  "poolPassword": "x",
  "btcString": "btcWalletWasHere.NMDUINO",
  "gmtZone": 0,
  "saveStatsToNVS": false
}
*wm:[ERROR] parameter IDs can only contain alpha numeric chars 
AllDone: 
*wm:AutoConnect 
*wm:Connecting to SAVED AP: RouterAP
*wm:AutoConnect: SUCCESS 
*wm:STA IP Address: 192.168.10.126

WiFi connected
IP address: 192.168.10.126
PoolString: pool.vkbit.com
portNumber: 3333
poolPassword: x
btcString: btcWalletWasHere.NMDUINO
TimeZone fromUTC: 0

Initiating tasks...
[MONITOR] started

[WORKER] Started. Running (Stratum) on core 1
Client not connected, trying to connect...
[MINER]  0  Started runMiner Task!
[MINER]  1  Started runMiner Task!
TimeClient setup done
CONNECTED - Current ip: 192.168.10.126Resolved DNS and save ip (first time) got: 167.114.0.221

TimeClient NTPupdateTime >>> Completed 0 share(s), 0 Khashes, avg. hashrate 0.00 KH/s
>>> Valid blocks: 0
>>> Block templates: 0
>>> Best difficulty: 0.000
>>> 32Bit shares: 0
>>> Temperature: 47
>>> Total MHashes: 0
>>> Time mining: 0  00:00:03
>>> [i] Miner: newJob>false / inRun>false) - Client: connected>false / subscribed>false / wificonnected>true
[WORKER] ==> Mining subscribe
  Sending  : {"id": 1, "method": "mining.subscribe", "params": ["NerdMinerV2"]}

  Receiving: {"id":1,"error":null,"result":[[["mining.notify","fdd2efea"]],"fdd2efea",4]}
    sub_details: fdd2efea
    extranonce1: fdd2efea
    extranonce2_size: 4
[WORKER] ==> Autorize work
  Sending  : {"params": ["btcWalletWasHere.NMDUINO", "x"], "id": 2, "method": "mining.authorize"}

  Sending  : {"id": 3, "method": "mining.suggest_difficulty", "params": [0.0001]}
  Received message from pool
  Receiving: {"id":2,"error":null,"result":true}
  Parsed JSON: Success
>>> Completed 0 share(s), 0 Khashes, avg. hashrate 0.00 KH/s
>>> Valid blocks: 0
>>> Block templates: 0
>>> Best difficulty: 0.000
>>> 32Bit shares: 0
>>> Temperature: 48
>>> Total MHashes: 0
>>> Time mining: 0  00:00:04
>>> [i] Miner: newJob>false / inRun>false) - Client: connected>true / subscribed>true / wificonnected>true
  Received message from pool
  Receiving: {"id":null,"method":"mining.set_difficulty","params":[16384]}
    Parsing Method [SET DIFFICULTY]
    difficulty: 16384.000000000000
  Received message from pool
  Receiving: {"id":null,"method":"mining.notify","params":["286a8d","c8d2d1c00318a481e5e150bee9d0579b92c27d400001721a0000000000000000","02000000010000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000ffffffff170350a50c5c766b6269742e636f6d5c","ffffffff034d3f53000000000016001427e04fe106a94b902e0f35ce87e0531b0ff47f33a534b640000000001976a914d66b6f65ce5b6b16d512e3ec2affe9eb5dbafbd888ac0000000000000000266a24aa21a9ed4f8771a6354f227590ea98272eef4f95fa13297559446eb5af59319feecf38f700000000",["3b238287119ca983751072f7e598117d2dc91bb57703f164cb5f4430cc360a90","5c297be613d055579e6e2cb45475da54c9b55cc04ed68e206ad22b9c2032528e","800741ea9939adbc5d6eaed6ad64987b8d65785826f4637623ff18dc078cd853","d80fc5f9c8d53978f78fc245ededc34dc0247493cb7715b4f9f10714b6e7f8a6","1b1187bda38278942d66b10ae95e6b07edfc6e8c5f417e58d7602da2af222b1a","b525cf9efa028d1e197e59213ab6dabcd34f6bd5734076cd1d0651a046b62032","d4a510a8a0ce6dbe5e6f26a175e4bad00ae8f054034dc6dab5c49700914efc45","60cf7ada055bd88d05a8aa69ffed2388ae6f85aeb6944079ba71434257bfbaf2","f30dc659441af87f74f92a36b73e1f112a046c26e52a5236d7184c09aa28ec47","99a37fa63a3247de8e99a26935a49ecb650df28899c4b85a9b47df2f9a998a99"],"20000000","1703ba5d","65be5ec1",false]}
    Parsing Method [MINING NOTIFY]
    target: 00000000000000000003ba5d0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
    coinbase: 02000000010000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000ffffffff170350a50c5c766b6269742e636f6d5cfdd2efea00000001ffffffff034d3f53000000000016001427e04fe106a94b902e0f35ce87e0531b0ff47f33a534b640000000001976a914d66b6f65ce5b6b16d512e3ec2affe9eb5dbafbd888ac0000000000000000266a24aa21a9ed4f8771a6354f227590ea98272eef4f95fa13297559446eb5af59319feecf38f700000000
    merkle sha         : ced31bf7d24fcee6c117019582d88782e25eb45d9b2ebede8298417bc8b80c50
  Received message from pool
  Receiving: {"id":3,"method":"mining.set_difficulty","params":[0.0001]}
    Parsing Method [SET DIFFICULTY]
    difficulty: 0.000100000000
>>> STARTING TO HASH NONCES
>>> STARTING TO HASH NONCES
>>> Completed 0 share(s), 39 Khashes, avg. hashrate 38.16 KH/s
>>> Valid blocks: 0
>>> Block templates: 1
>>> Best difficulty: 0.000
>>> 32Bit shares: 0
>>> Temperature: 48
>>> Total MHashes: 0

---

I tried and build duino-coin miner for ESP32 duino-coin@ESP32 and I see the same issues. When serial console is not active, it doesn't start and doesn't mine. When serial console is active, it mines. When it is powerd from DC connector, it mines. It proves that something is wrong with the hardware (design issue). duino-coin was designed for Arduino IDE and ESPDUINO-32 was designed as "Arduino" board. duino-coin doesn't use WiFi manager, WiFi and all miner details are hardcoded in source code. Something is wrong with ESPDUINO-32 hardware...

---

My board has UART HL-340 and one explanation could be that original design used different UART (with the same pinout) and that UART had different electrical properties of DTR & RTS signals. I have found that I have two other ESP-WROOM-32 modules those have the same UART (HL-340) and those mine fine; these modules have two buttons and no power DC connector... UART chip is HL-340 (1a86:7523 QinHeng Electronics HL-340 USB-Serial adapter), it is identified in Linux as HL-340; it is handled by "CH341 driver".

Other explanation could be that UART is not genuine but it is a "fake" chip, cloned design from other manufacturer; it is a clone but not a perfect clone... Or that UART chip has a defect.

Info about CH340 UART.

[paelzer]

Hello hello, would you share pictures of your ESPDuinos front and backside and also the pinout that you use? Maybe it is similar to the one that I have, so I can give it a try as well?

Boris

[PSLLSP]

I have this board (source AE):

My board doesn't have capacitor close to UART; maybe it has different UART chip (but with compatible pinout). Both boards do not use crystal oscillator, it is missing on the board...

My ESPDUIONO-32:

I believe this is the same board, just another clone from other manufacturer... Well, it is not the same, PCB differs in layout of crystal oscillator (close to UART, only pads).

I tried to fix the issue by adding 10k pull up resistor between 3.3V and GPIO0. At first I thought that the issue was fixed but after several test I do not think it was fixed, maybe it is better. Board still enters "not mining" state, it could be randomly when it is powered from USB connector. This is the picture of board patched with 10k pull up resistor:

[paelzer]

Hello

I have tested with my board which is labeled as ESP32 D1 R32. I have similar issue. It works perfectly fine and is connected to a 5V power supply only. No serial connection. Sometimes after reset it doesn't instantly starts mining. But later, after around ten minutes it starts mining, so I'm not sure if this is really a hardware issue.

I flashed the board with PLATFORMIO using the Nerd Miner V2 master branch and I selected the ESP32 2432S028R as env.

Only one thing I changed compared to the default library setup for ESP32-2432S028 - I have setup IO22 as TFT_CS pin. By default IO15 is setup as TFT_CS pin but for this one is no socket soldered on the board.

Actually I didn't check how this behaves with other boards I have here as I usually didn't really check if they had connection issues before your post.

I will try this as well.

Boris

[paelzer]

Btw this is the board I used:

Boris