4 separate SparkFun Thing Plus USB-C boards with bad SD card readers?

badgersnek · September 4, 2024, 9:16pm

I’ve got 4 separate SparkFun Thing Plus C boards with the integrated microSD card reader on the back, and I haven’t been able to get a single one of them to work with the standard SD_Test.ino script. All of them are erroring with “Card Mount Failed.” I’ve tried using a 512MB card, and a 16GB card to test which have been formatted in both FAT and FAT32, but neither will work for any of them. Based on the pinout for the board, and the documentation, the SPI pins should be SCK=18, MISO=23, and MOSI=19, and I’ve been using 5 for CS consistently. I tried letting the SPI.h library figure out the default pins based on the chip (which is an ESP32-D0WDQ6), and I’ve also tried defining them explicitly. No dice on anything, but I can’t believe that I’ve got 4 bad boards. Are there any other suggestions I can try? Since the SD card is hardwired to these pins, I don’t suppose there’s a way to use an external SD card breakout board with the ESP32, is there?

PaulZC · September 5, 2024, 6:53am

Hi,

Have you selected the “SparkFun ESP32 Thing Plus C” as the board in the Arduino IDE? This ensures the SPI pins are defined correctly. CS is indeed pin 5 on that board. I tested our u-blox GNSS datalogging examples on that board - they work very well. Maybe this code will help?

github.com

sparkfun/SparkFun_u-blox_GNSS_v3/blob/main/examples/Data_Logging/DataLoggingExample1_NAV_PVT/DataLoggingExample1_NAV_PVT.ino

/*
  Configuring the GNSS to automatically send NAV PVT reports over I2C and log them to file on SD card
  By: Paul Clark
  SparkFun Electronics
  Date: October 18th, 2021
  License: MIT. See license file for more information.

  This example shows how to configure the u-blox GNSS to send NAV PVT reports automatically
  and log the data to SD card in UBX format.

  This code is intended to be run on the ESP32 Thing Plus USB-C
  but can be adapted by changing the chip select pin and SPI definitions:
  https://www.sparkfun.com/products/20168
  
  Hardware Connections:
  Please see: https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/esp32-thing-plus-usb-c-hookup-guide
  Connect your GNSS breakout to the Thing Plus C using a Qwiic cable.
  Insert a formatted micro-SD card into the socket on the Thing Plus.
  Connect the Thing Plus to your computer using a USB-C cable.
  This code has been tested using version 2.0.5 of the Espressif Systems ESP32 board package on Arduino IDE 1.8.19.

This file has been truncated. show original

I hope this helps,
Paul

PaulZC · September 5, 2024, 7:02am

I just gave the SD_Test example a try and it’s working fine for me with Arduino IDE 1.8.19, Espressif Systems ESP32 3.0.1, SparkFun Esp32 Thing Plus C:

Hope this helps,
Paul

badgersnek · September 5, 2024, 5:18pm

Thank you very much for replying, and for the test to try. The Espressif Systems ESP32 3.0.1 core board was what worked for me, or any of the 3.0.X versions, really. I had been using the “SparkFun ESP32 Thing Plus” board (there isn’t one specifically for the USB-C version), and that was what wasn’t working.

Unfortunately, that core has a boot loop conflict with the RMT peripheral I need to manage IR signals and a string of NeoPixels which makes it useless for me. The “SparkFun ESP32 Thing Plus” board doesn’t have that boot loop, which is why I didn’t think to switch them.

So, the problem is solved! Now, I just have a new one. But thank you very much! At least I know I’m not crazy.