ESP32-GATEWAY wired ethernet not working

[hugo]

Hi,

Sorry for breaking in to this conversation, but it seems that I also experience this exact same issue. There are however a few differences:
- I'm using an ESP32-GATEWAY board
- the board started to work fine. It just died last weekend while working on my project, but ethernet has worked perfectly well in the weeks before.

I bought 2 boards a few months ago (from Mouser) and I've received rev. C (if that makes any difference). I tried loading the ethernet example on the board I was working on, but noticed the same behaviour: dhcp server is offering an ip, but the board is not responding to the offer (it should respond with DHCPACK). After swapping the board for the other (still new and untouched), ethernet worked with the same example.

I tried swapping network and usb cables and tried my laptop instead of my desktop pc (for flashing), but I cannot get the first board to work again. When trying the second board, the same cables and code work perfectly well.

I (also) have to conclude that the hardware started failing and that ethernet is broken since. Offcourse failures can happen, but should I be worried that the other device can fail as well in a (relatively short) time?
If I recall correctly the issue occurred after resetting the device, I did not flashed it at that point.

In the mean time I've ordered 2 new boards from Olimex webshop, hoping to get another batch or revision so that at least i have some spare boards available.

[LubOlimex]

Thanks for the feedback. I've separated this post in a own post.

I am not sure what caused the fault in your first board, reset is unlikely reason. Resetting revision C ESP32-GATEWAY might temporarily bug the Ethernet, but after re-programming and standard power-up it should work fine. If it certainly seems like a hardware fault then it might have been caused by accidental short-circuit; static electricity, or potential difference between different sources of power attached at the same time to the board. Overall I recommend you to consider some sort of case for the board to prevent such issues from occurring in future. Also be careful when attaching different peripherals of the board.

Since you purchased new ESP32-GATEWAY boards, consider this:

The newer revisions of ESP32-GATEWAY have differences in the Ethernet design compared to older revisions. Major changes were introduced in revision D, we no longer use external quartz but like most other designs use the ESP32 clock. I recommend you to check the details here: https://github.com/OLIMEX/ESP32-GATEWAY/tree/master/HARDWARE

Updated software was published here: https://github.com/OLIMEX/ESP32-GATEWAY/tree/master/SOFTWARE/Newest-board-revisions

and also in the newest releases of the ESP32 for Arduino IDE package.

[hugo]

Thank you very much for your quick and detailed response!

The most probable cause would be potential differences I guess. During developing the board is connected via usb (which supplies power) and also to a 5v power supply, to supply power to the connected display and other small parts. Could that potentially cause issues?

The board is build in a case, which has chassis connectors for usb/ethernet, so it's protected against most external influences or accidents on my desk

Well, perhaps I just have had bad luck.

Thanks for your explanation about the newer revisions, I will get through them.

[LubOlimex]

The most probable cause would be potential differences I guess. During developing the board is connected via usb (which supplies power) and also to a 5v power supply, to supply power to the connected display and other small parts. Could that potentially cause issues?

Yes. I recommend you to measure the voltage between the two grounds. Disconnect the LCD supply from the setup - and measure its GND with the GND of the setup/USB. Refer to this blog post and the third picture shows how to measure: https://olimex.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/bevare-non-grounded-tv-monitors-can-damage-your-olinuxino/

[hugo]

Thanks for your explanation, it's much appreciated! I will measure the circuit to see if there is indeed a potential difference. Perhaps it's best practice to use an usb isolator as mentioned in your link to the blog page, to prevent this issue at all. If I knew earlier, i ordered that at the shop as well

[hugo]

Well, I couldn't resist myself and ordered an USB-ISO anyway. It seems like a nice device to have in my toolkit anyway

[hugo]

I just did some measurements and I was a little shocked to see that the potential differences were up to 59 volts.
Do I understand correctly that I am save when using an USB-ISO?

[LubOlimex]

A bit high yes, can easily cause damage, especially during power ups and connect-disconnect actions.

Your computer is safe from the ESP32 setup when using USB-ISO. If anything extremely bad happens, only up to USB-ISO there would be damage.

You should consider another power supply for the LCD.

[hugo]

You should consider another power supply for the LCD.

Thanks for your suggestion, I will definitely do that.

Thanks for all your support!