Hi everyone,
my main wifi access point uses a 63 characters long password and some of them aren’t available on the virtual keyboard.
Is seems the ESPboy can’t manage a password that long. I tried by temporarily changing the unavailable characters in my password and I can’t enter more than 60 or 61 characters on the ESPboy.
I have too much devices to change permanently my password, so I’m using a secondary access point specially for the ESPboy.
Is there a way to make the ESPboy accept 63 characters (the maximum I think) and add new ones on the keyboard?
It would require to change the appstore code, so only Roman would be able to do it. Another solution would be a tool to change the wifi on the device with an extended virtual keyboard, but I think the 61 characters limit is by design in Roman’s code (I dumped the flash and there seem to be a 63 bytes wide space for the password, but it includes a CR+LF to mark the end, leaving only 61 bytes max).
Another problem is that the appstore is included in every program we install, so it’s not always the same version, depending on which program you install. Moreover, when I want to write my own code with Arduino IDE, I loose the appstore and I have to flash it again from the webstore.
Would it be possible to make the appstore resident on the flash? That way, Roman could keep it’s source code closed for our safety. It would then only be updated when a new version is available.
I’m using a breadboard ESPboy right now, but I’ve just ordered a custom PCB to fit in a used GBA shell. Instead of a Wemos, I have a handful of Lolin Nodemcu lying around. If I manage to solder all the parts and if the board fits, I’ll show it in another topic.
Have a nice day everyone.
If you’re still waiting for a response to this, you might have better luck asking on the ESPboy Discord Server
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Unfortunately, I haven’t been on the forum for quite some time, and I apologise for my neglect. Lately, I’ve been feeling a bit demotivated when it comes to programming, and this is down to the widespread adoption of AI and the devaluation of programmers’ work, even when it’s just a hobby.
However, I’ll try to answer the questions:
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Long passwords, especially those containing non-standard characters, are a rare occurrence. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of the ESP8266 platform and its memory, it is difficult to account for all the nuances without compromising the performance of the software installed on the microcontroller. The second problem is the limitations of the ESP8266 SDK; it is quite likely that this password length restriction is built into it. An easy way to solve the password problem is to set up a temporary Wi-Fi hotspot on your mobile phone. ESPboy doesn’t use much data, so this could be a simple solution to the problem.
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Regarding a separate code block for the WiFiAppStore. Unfortunately, the standard ESP8266 SDK does not include a mechanism for creating such applications (which can remain in memory and load others, handing control over to them). The standard SDK is closed-source, just as information about the ESP8266 microcontroller’s peripherals is not publicly available.I came across information from enthusiasts who, through reverse engineering, had demonstrated the theoretical feasibility of such a solution, but it is too complex for an amateur like me to implement. Something similar may be possible on next-generation ESP32 microcontrollers. For now, I don’t think there’s much point in overcomplicating things. Everything works reliably enough and is very straightforward and easy for me to understand, as well as being simple to maintain. Since I don’t have a great deal of time to devote to the project at the moment. But looking ahead, I do realise that such a solution would be preferable.
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If you’d like to publish your apps on the WiFiAppStore, please send me a private message with your code and we’ll sort everything out for you.
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It will be very interesting to see your version of ESPboy. Please do share the details – we’re looking forward to it 