Crash on boot on invalid MQTT configuration?

[RobThree]

The Problem

I was following the HA instructions to setup MQTT and I think I messed the MQTT server/ip because all I did was enter it's (local) DNS name (foo.mydomain.bar) and check the two checkmarks shown here. I saved and had it reboot and since then I get:

AI on the Edge Device
We have one or more critical errors:
0x00000004

Please check logs with log viewer and/or [jomjol.github.io/AI-on-the-edge-device-docs/Error-Codes](https://jomjol.github.io/AI-on-the-edge-device-docs/Error-Codes) for more information!

Apparently this is a cam bad error. But I'm 99.999% sure the cam is fine because minutes before it did a reading and has been working fine for a long time.

My guess is that the MQTT initialization happens during the cam initialization and the MQTT failing causes it to think the cam initialization failed?

Version

v16.0.0 (Commit: f542d84)

Logfile

[0d00h00m00s] 2025-04-13T20:29:40 <INF> [MAIN] =================================================
[0d00h00m00s] 2025-04-13T20:29:40 <INF> [MAIN] ==================== Start ======================
[0d00h00m00s] 2025-04-13T20:29:40 <INF> [MAIN] =================================================
[0d00h00m00s] 2025-04-13T20:29:40 <INF> [SDCARD] Basic R/W check started...
[0d00h00m00s] 2025-04-13T20:29:40 <INF> [SDCARD] Basic R/W check successful
[0d00h00m00s] 2025-04-13T20:29:41 <INF> [MAIN] PSRAM size: 8388608 byte (8MB / 64MBit)
[0d00h00m00s] 2025-04-13T20:29:41 <INF> [MAIN] Total heap: 4378511 byte
[0d00h00m03s] 2025-04-13T20:29:43 <WRN> [MAIN] Camera init failed (0x105), retrying...
[0d00h00m05s] 2025-04-13T20:29:45 <ERR> [MAIN] Camera init failed (0x105)! Check camera module and/or proper electrical connection
[0d00h00m05s] 2025-04-13T20:29:45 <ERR> [HELPER] New System Status: 0x00000004
[0d00h00m05s] 2025-04-13T20:29:46 <INF> [SNTP] TimeServer: nas.mydomain.bar
[0d00h00m05s] 2025-04-13T20:29:46 <INF> [SNTP] Configuring NTP Client...
[0d00h00m05s] 2025-04-13T22:29:46 <INF> [SNTP] Time zone set to CET-1CEST,M3.5.0,M10.5.0/3
[0d00h00m05s] 2025-04-13T22:29:46 <INF> [SNTP] time zone: +0200 Delta to UTC: 7200 seconds
[0d00h00m05s] 2025-04-13T22:29:46 <INF> [SNTP] Time is already set: 2025-04-13 22:29:46
[0d00h00m05s] 2025-04-13T22:29:46 <INF> [MAIN] CPU frequency: 160 MHz
[0d00h00m05s] 2025-04-13T22:29:46 <INF> [SDCARD] Folder/file presence check started...
[0d00h00m05s] 2025-04-13T22:29:46 <INF> [SDCARD] Folder/file presence check successful
[0d00h00m05s] 2025-04-13T22:29:46 <INF> [MAIN] Tag: 'v16.0.0', Release: v16.0.0 (Commit: f542d84), Date/Time: 2025-03-15 13:28, Web UI: Release: v16.0.0 (Commit: f542d84)
[0d00h00m05s] 2025-04-13T22:29:46 <INF> [MAIN] Reset reason: Via esp_restart
[0d00h00m05s] 2025-04-13T22:29:46 <INF> [WLANINI] SSID: mydomain.bar
[0d00h00m05s] 2025-04-13T22:29:46 <INF> [WLANINI] Password: XXXXXXXX
[0d00h00m05s] 2025-04-13T22:29:46 <INF> [WLANINI] Hostname: watermeter
[0d00h00m05s] 2025-04-13T22:29:46 <INF> [WLANINI] RSSIThreshold: 0
[0d00h00m05s] 2025-04-13T22:29:46 <INF> [MAIN] WLAN config loaded, init WIFI...
[0d00h00m05s] 2025-04-13T22:29:46 <INF> [WIFI] Automatic interface config --> Use DHCP service
[0d00h00m05s] 2025-04-13T22:29:46 <INF> [WIFI] Set hostname to: watermeter
[0d00h00m05s] 2025-04-13T22:29:46 <INF> [WIFI] Init successful
[0d00h00m08s] 2025-04-13T22:29:49 <INF> [WIFI] Connected to: mydomain.bar, RSSI: -58
[0d00h00m09s] 2025-04-13T22:29:50 <INF> [WIFI] Assigned IP: 192.168.7.89
[0d00h00m10s] 2025-04-13T22:29:50 <INF> [SNTP] Time is synced with NTP Server nas.mydomain.bar: 2025-04-13 22:29:50
[0d00h00m12s] 2025-04-13T22:29:52 <INF> [MAIN] Device info: CPU cores: 2, Chip revision: 100
[0d00h00m12s] 2025-04-13T22:29:52 <INF> [MAIN] SD card info: Name: SDU1 , Capacity: 7680MB, Free: 7648MB
[0d00h00m14s] 2025-04-13T22:29:54 <ERR> [MAIN] Initialization failed. Flow task start aborted. Loading reduced web interface...
[0d00h00m14s] 2025-04-13T22:29:55 <ERR> [MAIN SERVER] We have a critical error, not serving main page!
[0d00h00m18s] 2025-04-13T22:29:59 <ERR> [MAIN SERVER] We have a critical error, not serving main page!

Expected Behavior

I expect it to boot so I am able to correct my mistake (if any)

Screenshots

No response

Additional Context

Is there a way I can (easily) undo the config changes I made? Because I do have a backup of my last configuration, but I don't see a way to upload it?

[RobThree]

I took out the SD card, opened the config.ini file in notepad and commented the MQTT stuff and everything is fine again. So no cam error.

;[MQTT]
;Uri = mqtt://IP-ADRESS:1883

Now to figure out what wrong with the MQTT config,..

[caco3]

had it reboot and since then I get:

This error is not related to MQTT nor does the MQTT setup happen before we initialize the camera.
Sadly, there are some bad hardware's around (I have such as well), which have an issue with rebooting. The solution usually is to do a power cycle (interrupt the power to the device for some seconds).

[caco3]

Is there a way I can (easily) undo the config changes I made? Because I do have a backup of my last configuration, but I don't see a way to upload it?

If you open the config page, you can activate the expert settings. Then a new button will show up and you can edit the config in plain text. Just copy your config backup into it.
An alternative would be to use the fileserver and replace the config.ini file in the config folder.

[RobThree]

If you open the config page, you can activate the expert settings.

I couldn't open my config page since I had a "reduced interface". Just the above error message and 4 buttons (see below). But, as said, this was easily solved by taking the SD out and putting it in my desktop.

The solution usually is to do a power cycle (interrupt the power to the device for some seconds).

I'm not so sure. I had powercycled it a few times (literally unplugging, plugging back in) and it kept coming with error 0x00000004 until I commented out the MQTT entries. That fixed it. And I have rebooted and (un)plugged it since several times to make sure it still boots.

I have "re-entered" my MQTT info and it works now. The only difference now is that this time I used the IP (1.2.3.4) instead of a hostname (mqtt.foo.bar) and I entered a user/password which I left empty last time. I have run up/down the stairs several times now (the device is one floor down from my computer) and the device is back in it's enclosure on the watermeter and, I'm very sorry, but I currently am not really in the mood to try some different combinations of config to see what made it crash 😅 Maybe some other time.

The "reduced interface":