Connecting your ESP32 to the wireless network is a crucial step in setting up your IoT device. Many people have had issues with this step, and it can be frustrating when you realize you have to do it later.
Making sure your device can access the internet is also important. If your device cannot access the internet, then it will not be very useful. Many people have made this mistake as well.
Having a solid knowledge of how to set up the WiFi on your ESP32 is a must! It is good to know that we are going to check some of the most common mistakes people make when setting up their WiFi and how to fix them.
Unfortunately, some errors are more serious than others. One such error is a fatal error occurred: failed to connect to ESP32: timed out waiting for packet header. This error has been reported by many users and tends to be more serious than first thought.
Why would I get one?
Espressif Systems, the company that designs and manufactures the Esp32 chip, updates their SDK (Software Development Kit) quite often. As they add new features to the SDK, you will have to update yours to use them.
As you develop your project, you will be using different versions of the SDK. While you are developing your project using one version, Espressif Systems may release a new version.
If you do not update your SDK to the latest version, you run the risk of something called “timed out” errors. This means that it took too long for information to transfer between your computer and the chip, so it canceled the transaction.
This is probably due to your computer being older or having low memory which causes there to be a delay in transferring information.
What should I do?
If you get a fatal error that says “Failed to connect to Esp32: Timed out waiting for packet header,” then you should first check your cables and make sure they are plugged in properly.
If the cables are fine, then you may have to reset the board. To do this, you have to hold down a couple buttons on the board itself. It can be tricky, but try your best to reset the board.
Another thing you can do is update the firmware on the board. This may fix the issue if it is a software issue. Check Espressif Systems’ website for updates and instructions on how to install them.
Does this mean my file is corrupt?
No, this usually means that the code is too large for the chip to handle. The Esp32 processor has a limited amount of memory and processing power, so there is a limit to how large of a program it can handle.
Many people run into this issue when trying to upload the Arduino IDE onto the chip. The Arduino IDE requires a lot of memory and processing power, so people often have to try several different versions to find one that works.
You can try trying to shrink your code down until it works or you can get a smaller chip that can accommodate your code.
How can I fix it?
If you are getting a connection error when trying to connect your device to the server, try changing the port that the device uses to connect. By default, most devices use the 80 port, but you can change this to any valid port between 1 and 65535.
If you are having trouble connecting to your own local WiFi, try disabling security on your router and/or changing the security type. Some routers have very strict settings that might be blocking communication between your computer and device.
If none of that works, then there might be a problem with your router itself. Try testing other devices on your router to see if they connect properly, or try replacing the router with another one to test if it is defective.
Try updating all of your devices and software to the latest versions as well! This usually fixes some bugs that occur in older versions.
Where did I get the file from?
The file that was mentioned in the article as the culprit was a firmware file. The author said that he had tried to update the firmware on his device, but an incorrect file type was put onto the device, and it tried to update it anyway.
The wrong file type apparently caused the device to go into emergency mode, which is when it reboots constantly. When it tries to update itself, it can no longer do so because of the wrong file type.
This is very strange, as most devices only accept one correct firmware file type. It is hard to imagine how this happened, but maybe he downloaded the wrong file type and thought it was correct? Maybe he got the file from someone else and it was not the original one? We do not know.
Either way, if you have this problem then try checking your device for any other files that are not the original ones but are similar. Then try removing them and re-downloading the original ones to see if that fixes it.
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