Unable to connect device to main Wifi AP

Support
1

Hi team! Fantastic project, thanks! :smiley:
I am trying to connect one of the devices to my main AP in the house, with an external antenna outside as a sort of basestation.

I cannot connect it to the Wifi though, I’m using the meshtastic python script to set the parameters like this:

meshtastic --set wifi_ap_mode false --setstr wifi_ssid Meshtastic_NET --setstr wifi_password xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When I check the info with ‘meshtastic --info’ everything come back fine, but on the device status screen it still shows the SoftAP MeshtasticAdmin and it’s details.

The hardware I am using is the TTGO T3 V1.6-20180606 boards.

I have tried:

  • Reflashing different boards several times using the command line
  • Changing the details of the SoftAP, --info shows correctly on the command line but it does not change on the device status screen or what it actually broadcasts
  • Rebooting - changes persist when checking with --info but the screen and reality do not

I’m getting a little stuck now and haven’t been able to find an answer on the forum or in Github. Does anyone have any idea please? Thanks! :smiley:

2

What is the file name of the binary you are using to upload to your device?

Can you send me a link to where you purchased the TTGO T3 V1.6? I’m have not tested with that one and may need to double check the schematic.

3

Filename: firmware-tlora-v2-1-1.6-EU865-1.1.31.bin
Devices: LILYGO®TTGO LoRa32 V2.1 _ 1.6 Versie 433/868/915Mhz ESP32 LoRa OLED 0.96 Inch Sd kaart Bluetooth WIFI Draadloze Module ESP 32 SMA|Elek. Schakeling| - AliExpress

Thanks!

4

That board doesn’t have the button I was checking for.

Could you do me a favor and file a bug with this information?

I’ll see if I can put out a fix soon and send you a custom firmware binary to work around this.

1 Like
5

Sure thanks! Do you mean the User button by any chance? It’s configured to use pin 12 (as defined here Meshtastic-device/configuration.h at bce2c9347bc480521e6b7be0dda174cbccf3f7b9 · meshtastic/Meshtastic-device · GitHub) - and when I short pin 12 to ground I can cycle through the menus.
Or was it something else? Just curious :slight_smile: Thanks!

1 Like
6

Issue opened - Unable to connect device to main Wifi AP · Issue #647 · meshtastic/Meshtastic-device · GitHub

7

Thanks.

Just making sure that I have not misread the board configuration…

Other than a reset button and a power switch, there’s no other button on your device?

8

No, nothing at all. It has an SD card reader and I think that is the only ‘unusual’ thing.

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9

The board configuration in the project is wrong — it says there’s a button on pin 12.

For this board, we won’t be able to use the AP admin mode but I’ll get it working for the regular WiFi modes.

Thanks!

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10

Ah but a lot of users are adding the button to Pin 12 (I tested it and it works great). I think it is still good to have it as an option as it is not hard to fit.

What’s strange though, is that even with nothing connected to the pin it defaults to starting in it’s own AP mode - which I thought had to be enabled in an option or by holding down user button (i.e. if it was on 12) and resetting? Maybe it needs to be pulled up?

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11

OK, so I flashed version 1.1.20 and that works fine to connect to the AP. And by default when you first boot it does not go into it’s own AP mode. So there was some change between 1.1.20 and now that did it.

The button connected to 12 still works too, so I don’t think we need to worry about anything with regards to that.

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12

I didn’t realize people were adding buttons to 12. Is there a write up on that? I can make it work for both use cases.

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13

Scratch that. I found the problem.

Checking in the fix shortly.

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14

This is the fix:

Because your board was not designed for a button, there was no external pull up resistor. To support you adding a button, someone (Kevin?) turned on the internal pull up. I was not checking for that when enabling the admin mode of the AP.

I suspect you’re unblocked at the moment and don’t need me to send you a private build? I’d happily do so to thank you for finding the bug. If you can wait, it’ll be in the next alpha build.

1 Like
15

I’m a complete noob and I’m using the same LoRa32 board (T3 V_1.6 20180606). I found somewhere on this forum pin 12 as user button was implemented a while back. I also connected BN-180 GPS (I believe this uses U BLOX NEO 8N module and 18mm2 antenna) to pins 36 and 13.

I find this setup much better than T-beams as it is much easier to find a suitable enclosure and place user button on a more suitable location, and BN-180 seems to be working much better (much faster to lock onto sat signal) Also, cost of BN-180 is comparable to getting a better antenna for NEO6 T-Beams.

2 Likes
16

I wasn’t aware of that board until this thread. I’m going to order myself one to try it out. I think having access to an SD card slot could be fun.

2 Likes
17

Hi McHamster, no it’s OK but thanks a lot! - In the meantime I had disabled the softAP and rebuilt the package and it worked fine (though I stupidly in my rush built from master and not the tag, so encountered other problems). I will rebuild it from the latest release tag later with your changes.

Thanks again and hope once I become more familiar with the project I can help out!

1 Like
18

@rodavrow, can you help me understand this fix, did you have to put in your own pull up resistor and comment out internal pull up?

Thanks

19

The problem was in my code. I didn’t realize that any boards didn’t have a button and one was being soldered on.

I’ve fixed the code and it’s checked into GitHub.

20

So if I was to clone Git repository, compile and build for this board, this fix will be implemented?

I’m sorry I’m still learning. Thanks for understanding.