How do I solve the Smart Contract error "returned values aren't valid"? - ethereum

Question

I am trying to read basic information from a smart contract using web3.js (GRAPH Token):
https://etherscan.io/address/0xc944e90c64b2c07662a292be6244bdf05cda44a7#code
This is my super simple react web3.js setup:
import Web3 from 'web3';
...
useEffect(() => {
const start = async () => {
const web3 = new Web3('https://bsc-dataseed1.binance.org:443')
const abi = [{"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"_initialSupply","type":"uint256"}],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"constructor"},{"anonymous":false,"inputs":[{"indexed":true,"internalType":"address","name":"owner","type":"address"},{"indexed":true,"internalType":"address","name":"spender","type":"address"},{"indexed":false,"internalType":"uint256","name":"value","type":"uint256"}],"name":"Approval","type":"event"},{"anonymous":false,"inputs":[{"indexed":true,"internalType":"address","name":"account","type":"address"}],"name":"MinterAdded","type":"event"},{"anonymous":false,"inputs":[{"indexed":true,"internalType":"address","name":"account","type":"address"}],"name":"MinterRemoved","type":"event"},{"anonymous":false,"inputs":[{"indexed":true,"internalType":"address","name":"from","type":"address"},{"indexed":true,"internalType":"address","name":"to","type":"address"}],"name":"NewOwnership","type":"event"},{"anonymous":false,"inputs":[{"indexed":true,"internalType":"address","name":"from","type":"address"},{"indexed":true,"internalType":"address","name":"to","type":"address"}],"name":"NewPendingOwnership","type":"event"},{"anonymous":false,"inputs":[{"indexed":true,"internalType":"address","name":"from","type":"address"},{"indexed":true,"internalType":"address","name":"to","type":"address"},{"indexed":false,"internalType":"uint256","name":"value","type":"uint256"}],"name":"Transfer","type":"event"},{"inputs":[],"name":"acceptOwnership","outputs":[],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"_account","type":"address"}],"name":"addMinter","outputs":[],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"owner","type":"address"},{"internalType":"address","name":"spender","type":"address"}],"name":"allowance","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"spender","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amount","type":"uint256"}],"name":"approve","outputs":[{"internalType":"bool","name":"","type":"bool"}],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"account","type":"address"}],"name":"balanceOf","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amount","type":"uint256"}],"name":"burn","outputs":[],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"account","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amount","type":"uint256"}],"name":"burnFrom","outputs":[],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[],"name":"decimals","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint8","name":"","type":"uint8"}],"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"spender","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"subtractedValue","type":"uint256"}],"name":"decreaseAllowance","outputs":[{"internalType":"bool","name":"","type":"bool"}],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[],"name":"governor","outputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"}],"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"spender","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"addedValue","type":"uint256"}],"name":"increaseAllowance","outputs":[{"internalType":"bool","name":"","type":"bool"}],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"_account","type":"address"}],"name":"isMinter","outputs":[{"internalType":"bool","name":"","type":"bool"}],"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"_to","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"_amount","type":"uint256"}],"name":"mint","outputs":[],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[],"name":"name","outputs":[{"internalType":"string","name":"","type":"string"}],"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"}],"name":"nonces","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"inputs":[],"name":"pendingGovernor","outputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"}],"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"_owner","type":"address"},{"internalType":"address","name":"_spender","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"_value","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"_deadline","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint8","name":"_v","type":"uint8"},{"internalType":"bytes32","name":"_r","type":"bytes32"},{"internalType":"bytes32","name":"_s","type":"bytes32"}],"name":"permit","outputs":[],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"_account","type":"address"}],"name":"removeMinter","outputs":[],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[],"name":"renounceMinter","outputs":[],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[],"name":"symbol","outputs":[{"internalType":"string","name":"","type":"string"}],"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"inputs":[],"name":"totalSupply","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"recipient","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amount","type":"uint256"}],"name":"transfer","outputs":[{"internalType":"bool","name":"","type":"bool"}],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"sender","type":"address"},{"internalType":"address","name":"recipient","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amount","type":"uint256"}],"name":"transferFrom","outputs":[{"internalType":"bool","name":"","type":"bool"}],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"_newGovernor","type":"address"}],"name":"transferOwnership","outputs":[],"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"}]
const address = '0xc944E90C64B2c07662A292be6244BDf05Cda44a7'
const contract = new web3.eth.Contract(abi, address)
console.log(contract);
const i = await contract.methods.getName().call()
console.log(i); // => ERROR
}
start()
}, [])
And it throws error:
Error: Returned values aren't valid, did it run Out of Gas? You might also see this error if you are not using the correct ABI for the contract you are retrieving data from, requesting data from a block number that does not exist, or querying a node which is not fully synced.
This is a known and misleading error which usually means that the address or the contract abi is invalid but I verified it is correct.
I researched this error for two days but didn't manage to solve this issue... any suggestions?

Answer 1

You're trying to interact with an Ethereum contract, using a BSC (Binance Smart Chain) Web3 provider (in your case https://bsc-dataseed1.binance.org:443). This results in trying to call the getName() function on the BSC address (which doesn't contain any contract).
Ethereum and BSC are different networks, unrelated to each other.
Solution: Use an Ethereum mainnet provider (for example Infura is widely used).