I don't think I'm built for This - made the scale work and didn't made the sd work

March 22 2025 

I am so beyond frustrated. Nothing works. Something works one day and then completely stops working the next. It's driving me insane. 

I got the scale/load cell setup. There was an example where it calibrated the scale so that's very nice. I coded it so that it gives me a message in the serial port if the weight is over a certain amount. It works well. 

The huge issue is that I don't know how to use GitHub and I struggle to get code from GitHub into the arduino software. I don't understand why, but for some reason it doesn't want to talk to my SD card. I don't really understand the language adruino wants me to code in, so I feel like I'm half guessing all the time. 

I can sort everything out if I can just get the SD card to talk to the code. I cannot for the life of me understand why it's not talking. Here's the code I'm using for that:

#include <WiFi.h>

#include <AudioFileSourcePROGMEM.h>

#include <AudioFileSourceSD.h>

#include <AudioGeneratorMP3a.h>

#include <AudioOutputI2S.h>

#include <SPI.h>

#include <SD.h>

// Or play an MP3 file from the microSD card:

#define USE_MICROSD_CARD pdTRUE

#define FILE_PATH "alltheprettylittlehorses.mp3"

#define DAC_BCLK_PIN 15

#define DAC_LRCLK_PIN 16

#define DAC_DATA_PIN 17

#define MICROSD_SPI_SS_PIN 41

#define MICROSD_SPI_SCK_PIN 42

#define MICROSD_SPI_MOSI_PIN 43

#define MICROSD_SPI_MISO_PIN 44

#define RGB_LED_PIN 45

AudioGeneratorMP3a *mp3;

AudioFileSourcePROGMEM *file;

AudioFileSourceSD *sd_file;

AudioOutputI2S *dac;

unsigned long last_led_blink = 0;

int led_color_index = 0;

int colors[][3] = {

{255, 0, 0}, // Red

{0, 255, 0}, // Green

{0, 0, 255}, // Blue

{255, 255, 0}, // Yellow

{255, 0, 255} // Magenta

};

void setup() {

// "USB CDC On Boot" must be enabled

Serial.begin(9600);

WiFi.mode(WIFI_OFF);

pinMode(RGB_LED_PIN, OUTPUT);

if (USE_MICROSD_CARD) {

// Set up access to microSD card

SPI.begin(MICROSD_SPI_SCK_PIN, MICROSD_SPI_MISO_PIN, MICROSD_SPI_MOSI_PIN, MICROSD_SPI_SS_PIN);

if (!SD.begin(MICROSD_SPI_SS_PIN)) {

while (1) {

Serial.println("Card mount failed");

delay(1000);

}

}

}

dac = new AudioOutputI2S();

dac->SetPinout(DAC_BCLK_PIN, DAC_LRCLK_PIN, DAC_DATA_PIN);

// Output can be very loud, so we're setting the gain less than 1

dac->SetGain(3);

mp3 = new AudioGeneratorMP3a();

playMP3();

Serial.println("Ready");

}

void playMP3() {

if (USE_MICROSD_CARD) {

sd_file = new AudioFileSourceSD(FILE_PATH);

mp3->begin(sd_file, dac);

}

Serial.println("Playing MP3...");

}

void loop() {

if (mp3->isRunning()) {

if (!mp3->loop()) {

mp3->stop();

Serial.println("Done");

// Play the file again

playMP3();

}

}

}

l triple checked the file name, I know the file is on the card, I switched out the speakers, I cried, I took suggestions from the errors on changing things with the language, I tried defining it differently, I tried adding serial print markers to see where it was broken, I tried just testing it with an .h file, I tried getting it from GitHub different ways, and none of those things made it play the sound. 

The scale program with the if/then statement to the serial port is working, so if we figure out the SD card I should be able to add that and have it working. I think that's what makes me mot frustrated- in theory it shouldn't be difficult. But for some reason I can't get it to work at all and often I never understand exactly why.   

In cultural exchange there is a part in the process right before you assimilate where you really hate the new culture  and all its differences. I think I'm in that stage for electronic art. The highs are so high, but the lows are so low. And everything is difficult. And I can't just throw fire at it and make something happen. But I will endure. Because I do want my crane to fly. 

Code for the scale:

#include "HX711.h"

HX711 scale;

// adjust pins if needed

// uint8_t dataPin = 6;

// uint8_t clockPin = 7;

uint8_t dataPin = 6; // for ESP32

uint8_t clockPin = 7; // for ESP32

void setup()

{

Serial.begin(115200);

Serial.println(__FILE__);

Serial.print("HX711_LIB_VERSION: ");

Serial.println(HX711_LIB_VERSION);

Serial.println();

scale.begin(dataPin, clockPin);

Serial.print("UNITS: ");

Serial.println(scale.get_units(10));

Serial.println("\nEmpty the scale, press a key to continue");

while(!Serial.available());

while(Serial.available()) Serial.read();

scale.tare();

Serial.print("UNITS: ");

Serial.println(scale.get_units(10));

Serial.println("\nPut 1000 gram in the scale, press a key to continue");

while(!Serial.available());

while(Serial.available()) Serial.read();

scale.calibrate_scale(1000, 5);

Serial.print("UNITS: ");

Serial.println(scale.get_units(10));

Serial.println("\nScale is calibrated, press a key to continue");

// Serial.println(scale.get_scale());

// Serial.println(scale.get_offset());

while(!Serial.available());

while(Serial.available()) Serial.read();

}

void loop()

{

Serial.print("UNITS: ");

Serial.println(scale.get_units(10));

delay(250);

if (scale.get_units(10) > 700) {

Serial.println ("baby!");

}

delay(500);

}