Return values aren't valid, did it run out of gas? while calling a function from the abi file

Question

Uncaught (in promise) 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.
    at ABICoder.push.../node_modules/web3-eth-abi/lib/index.js.ABICoder.decodeParametersWith (index.js:297)
    at ABICoder.push.../node_modules/web3-eth-abi/lib/index.js.ABICoder.decodeParameters (index.js:284)
    at Contract.push.../node_modules/web3-eth-contract/lib/index.js.Contract._decodeMethodReturn (index.js:469)
    at Method.outputFormatter (index.js:759)
    at Method.push.../node_modules/web3-core-method/lib/index.js.Method.formatOutput (index.js:146)
    at sendTxCallback (index.js:522)
    at cb (util.js:689)
    at Item.push../node_modules/process/browser.js.Item.run (browser.js:153)
    at drainQueue (browser.js:123)

I keep getting this error when calling a function from my smart contract.

export const viewGreeting = async () => {
    if (!isInitialized) {
        await activateWeb3();
    }

    const res = await greeterContract.methods.getGreeting().call();
    // console.log(res);
}

code:

import Web3 from 'web3';
import Greeter from '../Greeter.json';

let selectedAccount;
let greeterContract;
let isInitialized = false;

export const providerDetails = () => {
    let provider = window.ethereum;

    if (provider) {
        provider
            .request({
                method: 'eth_requestAccounts',
            })
            .then(accounts => {
                selectedAccount = accounts[0];
                // console.log("selected account is", selectedAccount);
            })
            .catch(error => {
                console.log(error);
                return;
            });
        
        window.ethereum.on('accountsChanged', function(accounts) {
            selectedAccount = accounts[0];
            // console.log("selected account is", selectedAccount);
        });
    }

    return provider;
}

export const activateWeb3 = async () => {
    let provider = providerDetails();

    const web3 = new Web3(provider);

    greeterContract = new web3.eth.Contract(
        Greeter.abi,
        Greeter.address
    );

    isInitialized = true;

    return selectedAccount;
}

export const viewGreeting = async () => {
    if (!isInitialized) {
        await activateWeb3();
    }

    const res = await greeterContract.methods.getGreeting().call();
    // console.log(res);
}

The contract is deployed on the rinkeby testnet and I'm using hardhat. Someone suggested to verify the contract but i'm unsure how to verify it using hardhat on the rinkeby testnet. Any help would be appreciated.

deployed url: https://rinkeby.etherscan.io/tx/0x286c79f0dd7982e9ca2a75b1d6b7a4e62625d921a92692bc26b83a5d1bcadfa3

code to connect to contract: https://github.com/gumdropsteve/Chainlink-Fall2021/blob/api-dev/frontend/src/components/web3Client.js

abi file: https://github.com/gumdropsteve/Chainlink-Fall2021/blob/api-dev/frontend/src/Greeter.json

Answer 1

I realized my metamask was not on the rinkeby chain but another chain since the contract is deployed on the rinkeby chain.