I2C Microphone "noisy" but works in WLED 0.15.3 (both v4 and v3)

[jvilhuber]

What happened?

I've been struggling with getting INMP441's to work reliably, so bear with me. I have some esp32's that work beautifully, and others that simply output noise (near as I can tell). Troubleshooting involves swapping out hardware in various combinations, different wiring (pushpins and breadboard versus soldering stuff together). At first I thought it was my lack of soldering skills, but I recently literally swapped out one esp32 for another and it started working. 🤷

Just now I installed the stock WLED 0.15.3 (plain) and got things working just fine. Flashed with WLEDMM_14.7.1_esp32_4MB_V4_S_HUB75.bin and it stopped working (noise; levels at 100% constantly).

I thought maybe it's the v4-ness of MM, so went back to 0.15.3 V4 to check and it worked. Back to 0.15.3 v3 and it worked. Back up to WLEDMM_14.7.1_esp32_4MB_V4_S_HUB75.bin and just noise.

Note I have one install of WLEDMM_14.7.1_esp32_4MB_V4_S_HUB75.bin working on a similar esp32 board and a similar INMP441, so 🤷. I'm lost and bewildered.

To Reproduce Bug

I wish I could tell you. It seems pretty random. Could be crappy soldering on my part, could be bad connections on some pins, could be a problem with the esp32's I have, could be problems with the INMP441's.

I could use some tips on how I could narrow it down. Mainly, I guess I'm hoping for some guidance how to explore this further, or perhaps there's known bugs I didn't find when I searched.

Expected Behavior

No noise from INMP441

Install Method

From MoonModules Release Page

What version/release of MM WLED?

WLEDMM_14.7.1_esp32_4MB_V4_S_HUB75

Which microcontroller/board are you seeing the problem on?

ESP32

Relevant log/trace output

Anything else?

No response

Code of Conduct

• I agree to follow this project's Code of Conduct

[jvilhuber]

Just to explore more, I just went to https://wled-install.github.io/ and installed "esp32 v3.3.6-16-gcc5440f6a2 (0)" (ESP32 (4MB Flash, S: Audioreactive, no other Usermods included)) "WLEDMM_14.7.2-mdev_esp32_4MB_S.bin", which erased everything and installed fresh. Now it works. I'm lost.

[softhack007]

Just now I installed the stock WLED 0.15.3 (plain) and got things working just fine. Flashed with WLEDMM_14.7.1_esp32_4MB_V4_S_HUB75.bin and it stopped working (noise; levels at 100% constantly).

Do you use a HUB75 panel? On esp32 the HUB75 driver abuses I2S. Its possible that both drivers (I2S mic, and HUB75 output) cannot work at the same time on classic esp32. I've never tested this configuration.

[softhack007]

@jvilhuber I have just added an extra build esp32_4MB_V4_S - without HUB75 support.
firmware-esp32_4MB_V4_S.bin should appear within 12 hours on our Nightly mdev Build release page. Please try if this works better for you.

[jvilhuber]

No, I don't use a HUB75. I'll try your build and report back. Thanks!

[jvilhuber]

Looks like it's already there. The one I ran earlier, WLEDMM_14.7.2-mdev_esp32_4MB_S.bin is the same setup, right? In any case, firmware-esp32_4MB_V4_S.bin seems to work. And it makes sense if HUB75 abuses i2c. Thanks!

[softhack007]

Just did a quick test with one of my ESP32 boards. I can confirm your observation: simply installing a firmware that includes the HUB75 driver is enough make I2S (microphone or line-in) completely useless. Installing a firmware without HUB75 support solves the problem.

Thanks for making me aware of this 👍
I'll need to think about how to solve the issue.