The Boot Process
A lot is going on in the background when a controller first boots up… connecting to WiFi, configuring the hardware, starting up the web server and API routines and connecting to an MQTT broker (if enabled). The system can provide some basic visual indicators of this boot process and can help you determine where a problem may exist if the controller isn’t functioning as intended.
⚠️Enable Indicators During Setup
It is highly recommended that you leave the boot indicators enabled at least during initial system configuration and setup and until you are sure all hardware and any optional integrations are working properly. If your system has an issue during the setup/boot process and these indicators are disabled, it may be difficult to determine where and why the failure is occurring.
Visual Boot Indicators
When you power on the controller, the following steps occur:
- The system looks for a configuration file in its own storage (SPIFFS) partition. If not found, it enters ‘Onboarding mode’ and starts the WiFi Hotspot. Setup halts at this point.
- The system attempts to connect to WiFi. Again, if it fails, it enters Onboarding mode and further setup halts.
- The configuration file is opened and your particular system settings are loaded.
- Hardware and sensor(s) are configured and initialized.
- OTA Mode is enabled.
- When boot is complete, the system enters normal running mode.
Note: You can disable some of these boot indicators via the web app if you don’t want to see them. The process described below assumes these indicators are enabled. 
WiFi Connected
Most ESP32 board have a power LED that will illuminate as soon as power is received.
But most boards also have a second onboard LED (usually blue) that can be controlled via a GPIO pin (GPIO2). If your board has one (and the option is enabled), this second LED lights up to let you know the controller is officially talking to your network and not just glowing in the dark!
This option can be disabled if your board does not have a second LED. Or if your board uses a different GPIO pin for the onboard LED, you can also change that via the system’s hardware settings.
📵 Access Point (No WiFi) Mode
If your system is configured for Access Point mode, then the blue LED will never illuminate after initial onboarding, regardless of indicator setting.
MQTT Broker Connection
If you have enabled MQTT under integrations, the LED strip will show each broker connection attempt. The system will make up to 10 tries before failing. Each attempt is shown on the LED strip as it occurs:
Each attempt may take 3-5 seconds. If unsuccessful after 10 tries, the full LED strip will briefly flash yellow and MQTT will be disabled. The normal boot process then continues. This entire process may take up to 60 seconds to complete before failing. The web page will be inaccessible during this period, as it is not available until the entire boot operation completes.
When a normal successful connection is made, it may happen so quickly you may only see one or two LEDs briefly flash in green… or may not see the green LEDs at all. This normal behavior.
Side Sensor Initialization
If you have enabled and configured a side sensor (lateral guidance), the boot process will initialize the communication with the sensor. If this initialization FAILS, then the LED strip briefly flashes orange.
If the side sensor successfully initializes (or if it is disabled), then you will not see this brief orange color.
LEDs and Other Hardware
If all other hardware and boot processes complete, and if enabled, the LEDs will then briefly flash red, green and blue.
Once you see this sequence, all hardware and other communication protocols have been initialized and started. There is just one more step before the system begins normal operation.
OTA (Over-the-Air) Updates Enabled
Finally, if all other checks complete, the boot process enables over-the-air mode for receiving firmware or other updates wirelessly.
When OTA mode is implemented, the LEDs change to alternating red and green. During the boot process, this is only shown for a few seconds and does not indicate that the system is receiving data. During the boot, it only indicates that OTA is now active and available. Note that this indicator will always be shown, even if the LED Boot Indicator option is disabled in the hardware settings.
NOTE: OTA requires WiFi, so if you are operating in Access Point (no WiFi) mode, the OTA will not be enabled and the LEDs will not show this mode.
After this final step, the system enters normal operating mode.
👉System Always Starts in “Active” Mode after Rebooting
By design, any time the system boots, it will start out in ‘active’ mode. If a car is present, the LEDs will light up appropriately based on position. Just for the boot process, the LEDs will remain on for the “Exit Time” and then enter ‘Standby’ mode. If no object is in any zone, then the system will enter standby immediately after the boot finishes.
⚠️Additional Startup Processes
If you have MQTT enabled, there may be up to a 30 second delay as initial MQTT topics are published before the system will respond to sensor triggers. If the system doesn’t respond immediately after booting, give it 30-60 seconds to complete all start up processes.