No video stream - log shows Failed to get camera frame warning

[averter]

Hi all,

First post in this great project. After flashing the firmware my ESP32-CAM works as expected: connects to the Wifi, the interface displays correctly, etc. However, I cannot see any video stream, do recordings or stills, and I get a Failed to get camera frame warning (log below).

00:00:00.519 logSetup] Setup RAM based log, size 7168, starting from 0
[00:00:00.520 logSetup] =============== ESP-CAM_MJPEG 10.4.2 ===============
[00:00:00.530 logSetup] Compiled with arduino-esp32 v3.0.7
[00:00:00.530 printResetReason] Power on reset
[00:00:00.541 printWakeupReason] Wakeup by reset
[00:00:00.588 infoSD] SD card type SDHC, Size: 7.5GB
[00:00:00.588 listFolder] Sketch size 1.6MB
[00:00:00.915 listFolder] File: /data/configs.txt, size: 7333 bytes
[00:00:00.916 listFolder] SD_MMC: 128KB used of 7.5GB
[00:00:00.916 loadConfig] Load config
[00:00:01.197 updateAppStatus] Enabling motion detection
[00:00:01.204 setup] PSRAM size: 4.0MB
[00:00:01.397 prepCam] Camera init OK for model OV2640 on board CAMERA_MODEL_AI_THINKER
[00:00:01.646 setWifiSTA] Wifi Station IP from DHCP
[00:00:01.670 WARN startWifi] SSID not connected not available, use AP
[00:00:01.673 onWiFiEvent] Wifi AP SSID: ESP-CAM_MJPEG_F02C9CBBBC2C started, use 'http://192.168.4.1' to connect
[00:00:04.889 startPing] Started ping monitoring - On
[00:00:04.893 startWebServer] Starting web server on port: 80
[00:00:04.894 startWebServer] Remote server certificates not checked
[00:00:04.904 startSustainTasks] Started 1 HTTP sustain tasks
[00:00:08.904 WARN prepRecording] Failed to get camera frame
[00:00:08.904 checkMemory] Free: heap 117012, block: 86004, min: 116628, pSRAM 1483244
[00:00:08.915 loop] =============== Total tasks: 14 ===============

[00:00:09.890 resetWatchDog] WatchDog started using task: ping
[00:01:55.425 onWiFiEvent] WiFi AP client connection
[00:02:31.280 onWiFiEvent] WiFi AP client disconnection
[00:02:31.282 onWiFiEvent] WiFi AP client connection
[00:02:48.502 savePrefs] Saved preferences
[00:02:48.529 saveConfigVect] Config file saved
[00:02:48.620 doRestart] Controlled restart: User requested restart
[00:02:50.623 onWiFiEvent] Wifi Station stopped mynetworkname
[00:02:50.623 onWiFiEvent] WiFi AP client disconnection
[00:02:51.701 logSetup] Setup RAM based log, size 7168, starting from 1961


[00:02:51.701 logSetup] =============== ESP-CAM_MJPEG 10.4.2 ===============
[00:02:51.711 logSetup] Compiled with arduino-esp32 v3.0.7
[00:02:51.712 printResetReason] Software reset via esp_restart
[00:02:51.722 printWakeupReason] Wakeup by reset
[00:02:51.769 infoSD] SD card type SDHC, Size: 7.5GB
[00:02:51.770 listFolder] Sketch size 1.6MB
[00:02:52.096 listFolder] File: /data/configs.txt, size: 7351 bytes
[00:02:52.097 listFolder] SD_MMC: 128KB used of 7.5GB
[00:02:52.097 loadConfig] Load config
[00:02:52.377 updateAppStatus] Enabling motion detection
[00:02:52.384 setup] PSRAM size: 4.0MB
[00:02:52.577 prepCam] Camera init OK for model OV2640 on board CAMERA_MODEL_AI_THINKER
[00:02:52.853 setWifiSTA] Wifi Station IP from DHCP
.[00:02:52.889 onWiFiEvent] WiFi Station connection to mynetworkname, using hostname: ESP-CAM_MJPEG_F02C9CBBBC2C
[00:02:53.129 onWiFiEvent] Wifi Station IP, use 'http://192.168.1.191' to connect
[00:02:53.436 onWiFiEvent] Wifi AP SSID: ESP-CAM_MJPEG_F02C9CBBBC2C started, use 'http://192.168.4.1' to connect
[00:02:56.647 startWifi] Wifi stats for mynetworkname - signal strength: -54 dBm; Encryption: WPA2_PSK; channel: 1
[00:02:56.649 startPing] Started ping monitoring - On
[00:02:56.663 startWebServer] Starting web server on port: 80
[00:02:56.663 startWebServer] Remote server certificates not checked
[00:02:56.663 startSustainTasks] Started 1 HTTP sustain tasks
[00:02:56.666 resetWatchDog] WatchDog started using task: ping
[00:02:56.674 getLocalNTP] Using NTP server: pool.ntp.org
[00:02:56.685 WARN getLocalNTP] Not yet synced with NTP
[00:03:00.334 onWiFiEvent] WiFi AP client connection
[00:03:00.674 WARN prepRecording] Failed to get camera frame
[00:03:00.674 checkMemory] Free: heap 59880, block: 30708, min: 57220, pSRAM 1483196
[00:03:00.685 loop] =============== Total tasks: 14 ===============

[00:03:02.136 savePrefs] Saved preferences
[00:03:02.165 saveConfigVect] Config file saved
[00:03:02.274 doRestart] Controlled restart: User requested restart
[00:03:04.280 onWiFiEvent] WiFi Station disconnected
[00:03:04.280 onWiFiEvent] Wifi Station stopped mynetworkname
[00:03:04.281 onWiFiEvent] WiFi AP client disconnection
[00:03:05.447 logSetup] Setup RAM based log, size 7168, starting from 4247


[00:03:05.448 logSetup] =============== ESP-CAM_MJPEG 10.4.2 ===============
[00:03:05.458 logSetup] Compiled with arduino-esp32 v3.0.7
[00:03:05.458 printResetReason] Software reset via esp_restart
[00:03:05.469 printWakeupReason] Wakeup by reset
[00:03:05.566 infoSD] SD card type SDHC, Size: 7.5GB
[00:03:05.567 listFolder] Sketch size 1.6MB
[00:03:05.894 listFolder] File: /data/configs.txt, size: 7351 bytes
[00:03:05.897 listFolder] File: /data/common.js, size: 0 bytes
[00:03:05.897 listFolder] SD_MMC: 128KB used of 7.5GB
[00:03:05.908 loadConfig] Load config
[00:03:06.177 updateAppStatus] Enabling motion detection
[00:03:06.184 setup] PSRAM size: 4.0MB
[00:03:06.377 prepCam] Camera init OK for model OV2640 on board CAMERA_MODEL_AI_THINKER
[00:03:06.627 setWifiSTA] Wifi Station IP from DHCP
.[00:03:06.769 onWiFiEvent] WiFi Station connection to mynetworkname, using hostname: ESP-CAM_MJPEG_F02C9CBBBC2C
.[00:03:07.251 onWiFiEvent] Wifi Station IP, use 'http://192.168.1.191' to connect
[00:03:07.657 onWiFiEvent] Wifi AP SSID: ESP-CAM_MJPEG_F02C9CBBBC2C started, use 'http://192.168.4.1' to connect
[00:03:10.869 startWifi] Wifi stats for mynetworkname - signal strength: -56 dBm; Encryption: WPA2_PSK; channel: 1
[00:03:10.870 startPing] Started ping monitoring - On
[00:03:10.878 resetWatchDog] WatchDog started using task: ping
[00:03:10.881 getLocalNTP] Using NTP server: pool.ntp.org
[00:03:10.892 WARN getLocalNTP] Not yet synced with NTP
[00:03:10.892 startWebServer] Starting web server on port: 80
[00:03:10.903 startWebServer] Remote server certificates not checked
[00:03:10.903 startSustainTasks] Started 1 HTTP sustain tasks
[00:03:11.273 wgetFile] Downloading /data/common.js from /s60sc/ESP32-CAM_MJPEG2SD/master/data/common.js
[00:03:12.045 wgetFile] Downloaded /data/common.js, size 46192 bytes
[00:03:12.436 wgetFile] Downloading /data/MJPEG2SD.htm from /s60sc/ESP32-CAM_MJPEG2SD/master/data/MJPEG2SD.htm
[12:50:52.280 wgetFile] Downloaded /data/MJPEG2SD.htm, size 97KB
[12:50:53.721 WARN prepRecording] Failed to get camera frame
[12:50:53.722 checkMemory] Free: heap 114820, block: 40948, min: 53884, pSRAM 1483640
[12:50:53.732 loop] =============== Total tasks: 14 ===============

[12:51:14.956 wsHandler] Websocket connection: 53
[12:51:19.692 getLocalNTP] Using NTP server: pool.ntp.org
[12:51:19.693 showLocalTime] Got current time from NTP: 04/01/2025 12:51:19 with tz: GMT0

I sometimes also get the following warning although it is probably unrelated

[12:59:27.104 WARN wsHandler] closing connection, as newer Websocket on 54 

The only issue that I've found where this warning shows up is this but it is related to an SD card malfunction which is not the case here.

If I search it online the warning that everyone gets is different, Failed to get camera frame warning on time, and therefore probably unrelated.

Any thoughts? Other things worth checking? Thanks.

[s60sc]

Problem is reported by espressif camera library, normally due to camera hardware fault.
Check camera ribbon cable seated properly and undamaged, try a different camera or board etc

[averter]

I admit to have struggled a bit with the camera ribbon to put in place on the first time.
After checking it seems to be undamaged and connected well, so I'll try with another ESP32-CAM and report back.