ESP-WROOM-32 Module: Crashing under Python Script on Armbian

[Jordan1x]

Hi everyone,

I recently got an ESP-WROOM-32 Development Board to use as a companion board for my Armbian SBC setup. My goal is to have the ESP32 collect sensor data and send it to the Armbian host over serial or WiFi. It works okay at first, but after a while running a Python script, the ESP32 crashes or stops sending data.

 

Setup Details:

Armbian running on a Banana Pi (or similar SBC)

ESP-WROOM-32 connected over serial (USB-to-TTL) and also configured via WiFi

Python script (on the Armbian side) reads from the serial port / receives via a simple socket over WiFi

Power supply is stable; using 3.3 V TTL logic on ESP and stable USB power

 

Now here are my issues:

Script runs fine for some minutes (5–10), then suddenly no data from ESP3. ESP32 sometimes reboots (observed via onboard LED), sometimes appears alive but unresponsive. Logs show no obvious error messages; serial just quiet or times out

 

I've tried lowering the serial baud rate. Added delays / sleeps in code to reduce data flood. Ensured the USB-power to ESP32 is stable / using good cable. Tried Py serial and different socket listener scripts

 

Could USB-TTL or serial USB drivers under Armbian be causing issues (overheating, buffer overflows)? Would switching fully to WiFi (TCP/UDP) instead of serial help stability? Any tools or logging tips on Armbian to catch the crash (kernel logs, serial trace, etc.)?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice. 

Jordan

[robertoj]

Have you tried your python script with your Linux PC? If it happens again, you can tell that the problem is within the ESP32 program.

 

I generally prefer having the most complex system (Armbian) poll the simplest device (ESP32), instead of the ESP32 interrupting the Armbian system. I found it more stable that way.

 

Stay with wifi, and use the ESP32 serial port just for debugging. Program the ESP32 print an acknowledgement of data requests, and an alarm if it gets stuck in an unexpected state.

 

I have also found ESP32 circuit or micro python very stable for serial port communications.