10

I had an ESP32cam working for a few days then started getting that message at boot up. Reloaded the program and still no camera.disappointed

Error:

ets Jun  8 2016 00:22:57

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:0x3fff0018,len:4
load:0x3fff001c,len:1216
ho 0 tail 12 room 4
load:0x40078000,len:9720
ho 0 tail 12 room 4
load:0x40080400,len:6364
entry 0x400806b8


Brownout detector was triggered

Serial monitor

Camera label: HW-297 OV2640

In program:

#define CAMERA_MODEL_AI_THINKER

Board selection: ESP32 Wrover Module

Board selections

e-lab innovations
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5 Answers5

17

Brownout detection is a hardware feature that shuts down the processor if the system voltage is below a threshold, also known as the "brownout voltage". This is to preserve memory contents and avoid corruption.

You are getting this message because your board is not correctly powered. The underlying reason could be one of many things:

  • The USB cable is of poor quality, or too long.
  • Your computer's USB port cannot supply enough power to the board.
  • The ESP32Cam is defective
  • Other components in your circuit are not correctly wired up, affecting the power supply.

I would try to power the ESP32Cam with another USB cable, a different computer, or an external 5V power supply. If all of that doesn't help, it could be that your board is broken.

mikevanis
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  • But I am using power source from 12v 2A and used a 5v regulator (on the L298 motor driver board) – e-lab innovations Feb 12 '20 at 03:19
  • What kind of regulator are you using? Just because your power supply can give out 12V / 2A doesn't mean that your regulator is rated for that much. Also, does your regulator have decoupling capacitors on the input and output? – mikevanis Feb 09 '21 at 22:39
  • I had this issue while flashing a new board. I changed from a random cable connected to a usb hub to a different random cable connected directly to my PC's usb port and it resolved my problem. – user8675309 Feb 28 '22 at 19:34
6

Another option is to disable the brownout detector.

#include "soc/soc.h"
#include "soc/rtc_cntl_reg.h"

// in setup()
  WRITE_PERI_REG(RTC_CNTL_BROWN_OUT_REG, 0);
Jack828
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2

I had this issue as well. I solved it by taking the following steps:

  1. I originally had the ESP32-CAM powered off the 3.3V supply from my FTDI, but I then found it works better when supplied by 5V.

  2. I had to jumper together the two pins marked in magenta to program the ESP32-CAM and then remove the jumper when I wanted the board to actually run:

enter image description here

  1. I had to select the "AI Thinker ESP32-CAM" in the Board Manager:

enter image description here

Mark Setchell
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  • How do you debug if it is connected to 5v supply without an FTDI to your laptop/desktop? – soham Aug 26 '22 at 04:24
2

i had terrible brownout issues. struggled for days - tried everything on the forums.

Solution - just connect the desktop power to the esp32-cam and all my troubles disapeared.

seems the esp32-cam runs so close to the 5v power limit, that 5v from a desktop power supply is required when connected to the computer's usb port. not quite enough power and that makes all the difference.

clive klugman
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0

TLDR; Atfer programming, power the camera module from a good quality external 5v power supply, plugged into the 5v pin on the module. You should try to remember to disconnect the pwr from the programmer once programming is complete - the serial monitor will still work.

I had a similar experience to Clive, lots of problems when booting but in my case, the BROWN OUT message didn't always appear and often just the camera init failed.

In the end I powered the 5v pin on the module from a 5v supply and tried to remember disconnect the pwr pin from my 'FTDI' programmer. I forgot often and no damage appears to have occurred.

Every online guide I saw has pwr from the programmer going to the 5V pin on the module even though when jumpered for 3v3, the programmer VCC is at 3v3. I connected it to 3v3 on the module instead though this didn't fix the brownout issues.

TheIan
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