R-Pi Troubleshooting - Revision history

Pluggy: Changed date of image for Hynix chip to work

2013-05-17T18:59:49Z

Changed date of image for Hynix chip to work

Meltwater: /* Red power LED is on, green LED does not flash, nothing on display */ - added more info about SD card contacts (from recent forum help)

2013-05-09T11:36:55Z

‎Red power LED is on, green LED does not flash, nothing on display: - added more info about SD card contacts (from recent forum help)

Remsnet: /* SD cards */

2013-04-24T14:52:48Z

‎SD cards

James.C: Advice for inserting sd card.

2013-04-13T21:43:47Z

Advice for inserting sd card.

Robrob: /* Power / Start-up */

2013-04-12T21:16:03Z

‎Power / Start-up

Popcornmix at 12:17, 8 April 2013

2013-04-08T12:17:32Z

Popcornmix at 12:15, 8 April 2013

2013-04-08T12:15:57Z

BrucePeterson: /* Green LED blinks in a specific pattern */

2013-03-21T04:02:05Z

‎Green LED blinks in a specific pattern

BrucePeterson: /* Coloured splash screen */

2013-03-21T03:56:50Z

‎Coloured splash screen

BrucePeterson: /* Red power LED is on, green LED does not flash, nothing on display */

2013-03-21T03:55:18Z

‎Red power LED is on, green LED does not flash, nothing on display

@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
 *** start.elf amongst others
 ** Did you have admin rights when you used the SD-card writer software? Without it the software might go through the motions without actually doing anything!
-** Older images do not load boot code for revB boards with the Hynix chip.  Use release 2012-02-09 (?) or later.  (I observe a single blip on the green activity LED)
+** Older images do not load boot code for revB boards with the Hynix chip.  Use release 2013-02-09 (?) or later.  (I observe a single blip on the green activity LED)
 ** It is also possible that the image you are writing to the card is corrupt, as downloads do occasionally end up corrupted or truncated. You can check with a checksum utility to verify the integrity of the download.

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:36, 9 May 2013
Line 65:		Line 65:

	*Look at the SD card holder on the Raspberry Pi carefully. At first glance it may look fine but the contacts must be springy and they must protrude at least 2mm as measured from the lower edge of the holder to the top of the contact bulge. This happens due to the solder process and the type of holder used. Some of the solder residue falls into the contact cavity restricting the springiness and the height that the contact protrudes. You can fix this yourself but remember you can void your warranty. The contacts are delicate so be carefull. Insert a needle pin under the contact bulge and pull lightly up until the one end of the contact unclips. Clean the cavity where the contact unclipped from of any solder or other residue by blowing into the cavity. Clip the contact back into the cavity by lightly pushing it into the cavity. Do this for all the contacts. Look at these photos. [[Media:SDcardHolder.JPG]], [[Media:UnclipContact.JPG]], [[Media:UnclippedContact.JPG]]		*Look at the SD card holder on the Raspberry Pi carefully. At first glance it may look fine but the contacts must be springy and they must protrude at least 2mm as measured from the lower edge of the holder to the top of the contact bulge. This happens due to the solder process and the type of holder used. Some of the solder residue falls into the contact cavity restricting the springiness and the height that the contact protrudes. You can fix this yourself but remember you can void your warranty. The contacts are delicate so be carefull. Insert a needle pin under the contact bulge and pull lightly up until the one end of the contact unclips. Clean the cavity where the contact unclipped from of any solder or other residue by blowing into the cavity. Clip the contact back into the cavity by lightly pushing it into the cavity. Do this for all the contacts. Look at these photos. [[Media:SDcardHolder.JPG]], [[Media:UnclipContact.JPG]], [[Media:UnclippedContact.JPG]]
		+	** Ensure that when your SD Card is fully inserted that the longer metal spring contacts (one clearly visible on the end of the slot, and one hidden in the side nearest the power connector) are closed. These are used to detect the presence of an SD Card therefore if no contact is made then the Raspberry Pi won't attempt to access the the card.
		+	** Check carefully for any cracks or damage to the SD Card slot, if the sides are damaged then the card may not be making proper contact with the pins (can usually confirm this if your Raspberry Pi boots if you manually hold the SD Card in position). For ways to resolve this, see [http://pihw.wordpress.com/2013/02/23/occupational-hazards-proudly-protecting-my-poorly-pi-perfectly/ PiHardware - SD Card slot fixes] for more info.

	*If for whatever reason the main polyfuse F3 has been overheated previously it may happen that it hasn't completely recovered, in which case, if you turn the PI on, a considerable amount of energy from the power supply is lost in the fuse and doesn't reach the PI. Try if the polyfuse seems hot. For this problem too read [[#Troubleshooting_power_problems]].		*If for whatever reason the main polyfuse F3 has been overheated previously it may happen that it hasn't completely recovered, in which case, if you turn the PI on, a considerable amount of energy from the power supply is lost in the fuse and doesn't reach the PI. Try if the polyfuse seems hot. For this problem too read [[#Troubleshooting_power_problems]].

@@ Line 227: / Line 227: @@
 Luckily, if you have this problem, most built-in card readers are easy to pull apart and repair; some users have even reported succesfully unjamming the switch with a blast of compressed air from a can into the SD-card slot without having to dismantle anything.
 You may also be able to temporarily get round the problem by putting the write-protect tab in a half-way position - this pushes on a different part of the strip and may break the contact - it's worth trying a few, slightly different positions. You could also use a USB-SD card adaptor, which are cheap to buy.
 ==Networking==

@@ Line 43: / Line 43: @@
 ''Note: A faintly glowing steady green LED means '''no boot code has ever been executed''', as almost the first thing the boot code does is to turn the faint glow off! When flashing/blinking the green LED should be as bright as the red LED.''
-*The Raspberry Pi cannot find a valid image on the SD card. Check card is inserted correctly.
+*The Raspberry Pi cannot find a valid image on the SD card. Turn the board over to check that the card is inserted correctly; the insertion force is much larger than for some laptops.
 ** Check that you have correctly written a Raspberry Pi image to the card by using a MAC or PC and browse for the following files:
 *** bootcode.bin

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Power / Start-up==
-A good power supply that will supply 5V is vital. There is more information about See [[#Troubleshooting_power_problems]].
+A good power supply that will supply 5 volts and at least 1 amp (5V 1A) is vital. A 5 volt 2 amp power supply can help some wifi USB adapters run more stable. For more information see [[#Troubleshooting_power_problems]].
-Note that the PI has no BIOS, so nothing will be displayed on screen unless the PI successfully boots!
+Note that the Pi has no BIOS, so nothing will be displayed on screen unless the Pi successfully boots!
 ===Normal LED status===
@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 | ACT  || green || card status || flashing during SD card activity
 |-
-| PWR || red || power || steady ON when PI receives some power
+| PWR || red || power || steady ON when Pi receives some power
 |-
 | FDX || orange || full duplex || on when Ethernet connection is full duplex
@@ Line 41: / Line 41: @@
 ===Red power LED is on, green LED does not flash, nothing on display===
-''note; For technical reasons the green LED might light up very faintly, this is normal, but it doesn't mean it "burns" (or that it, too rapidly to see "blinks"). In fact the faint glow means '''no boot code has ever been executed''', as almost the first thing that the boot code does is to turn the faint glow off! When flashing/blinking the green LED should light up as bright as the power LED.''
+''Note: A faintly glowing steady green LED means '''no boot code has ever been executed''', as almost the first thing the boot code does is to turn the faint glow off! When flashing/blinking the green LED should be as bright as the red LED.''
 *The Raspberry Pi cannot find a valid image on the SD card. Check card is inserted correctly.

@@ Line 427: / Line 427: @@
 Out of the box, R-Pi graphics don't necessarily fill the whole screen. This is due to something called "Underscan", and it can be fixed easily.
-Note: the best solution is to disable overscan in display menu options (it may be called "just scan", "screen fit", "HD size", "full pixel", "unscaled", "dot by dot", "native" or "1:1"), then use the disable_overscan=1 option.
+Note: the best solution is to disable overscan on the TV/monitor. Check the display menu options (it may be called "just scan", "screen fit", "HD size", "full pixel", "unscaled", "dot by dot", "native" or "1:1"), then use the disable_overscan=1 option.
 Edit the configuration file, see the instructions at [[R-Pi_ConfigurationFile]].

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:15, 8 April 2013
Line 456:		Line 456:

	Making the R-Pi graphics fill the screen is a matter of experimenting with the numbers you put in the config.txt file. Change the numbers – try jumps of 5 or 10 at a time. Bigger negative numbers reduce the black borders (so -40 means less black border than -20). The numbers do not all have to be the same; you can use this feature to centre the display on the screen.		Making the R-Pi graphics fill the screen is a matter of experimenting with the numbers you put in the config.txt file. Change the numbers – try jumps of 5 or 10 at a time. Bigger negative numbers reduce the black borders (so -40 means less black border than -20). The numbers do not all have to be the same; you can use this feature to centre the display on the screen.
		+
		+	This only affects the framebuffer (e.g. console or X). It doesn't affect hardware layers (like video/3D). You can make it apply to hardware layers with:
		+
		+	<pre>
		+	overscan_scale=1
		+	</pre>

	===Writing spills off the screen on HD monitors===		===Writing spills off the screen on HD monitors===

@@ Line 72: / Line 72: @@
 ===Green LED blinks in a specific pattern===
-With recent firmware, according to [http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=8725#p103338 this forum post] the green light will blink in a specific pattern to indicate some types of errors:
+According to [http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=8725#p103338 this forum post] the green light will blink in a specific pattern to indicate some types of errors:
 * 3 flashes: <tt>loader.bin</tt> not found
@@ Line 86: / Line 86: @@
 * 7 flashes: <tt>kernel.img</tt> not found
-If start.elf won't launch it may be corrupt.
+If start.elf won't launch, it may be corrupt.
 ===Coloured splash screen===

@@ Line 94: / Line 94: @@
 However if the coloured screen remains, it suggests the kernel.img file is failing to boot. Try replacing it with a known good one.
-Immediately after displaying the splash screen, the PI starts consuming a little more current, if the PI resets at that moment its an indication that your PSU isn't able to deliver the full current your PI requires, but dips its output voltage below a minimum when loaded with the full current the PI needs.
+Immediately after displaying the splash screen, the PI starts consuming a little more current, if the PI resets at that moment its an indication that the power supply isn't able to deliver the full current your PI requires, but dips its output voltage below a minimum when loaded with the full current the PI needs.
 ===Kernel Panic on boot ===

@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 ===Red power LED is on, green LED does not flash, nothing on display===
 ''note; For technical reasons the green LED might light up very faintly, this is normal, but it doesn't mean it "burns" (or that it, too rapidly to see "blinks"). In fact the faint glow means '''no boot code has ever been executed''', as almost the first thing that the boot code does is to turn the faint glow off! When flashing/blinking the green LED should light up as bright as the power LED.''
-*The Raspberry Pi cannot find a valid image on the SD card. Check card is inserted correctly. Check that you have correctly written a Raspberry Pi image to the card. Did you have admin rights when you used the SD-card writer software? Without it the software might go through the motions without actually doing anything! To check if the writing process did actually happen Insert the SD card into a Windows machine and you should see bootcode.bin, fixup.dat and start.elf amongst others. See also, [[RPi_VerifiedPeripherals#SD_cards|Known SD Cards]]. It is also possible that the image you are writing to the card is corrupt, as downloads do occasionally end up corrupted or truncated. You can check with the checksum utility if your download is correct.
 *Try with no cables connected except the USB power lead, and SD card inserted. You should see flashing of the OK light for ~20 seconds. If that helps, plug in cables one at a time to identify which is interfering with boot.
@@ Line 58: / Line 68: @@
 *If for whatever reason the main polyfuse F3 has been overheated previously it may happen that it hasn't completely recovered, in which case, if you turn the PI on, a considerable amount of energy from the power supply is lost in the fuse and doesn't reach the PI. Try if the polyfuse seems hot. For this problem too read [[#Troubleshooting_power_problems]].
-*Some problems have been reported if the ambient temperature is low that might be related to micro-fractures, fissures in solder or other issues. Try heating the Raspberry Pi with a hair dryer for just a few seconds (do not use excessive heat or you may cause irreversible damage!) and reconnect the power. Check this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwF6v-4NFdg
+*Some problems have been reported if the ambient temperature is low that might be related to micro-fractures, fissures in solder or other issues. Try warming the Raspberry Pi with a hair dryer for just a few seconds (do not use excessive heat or you may cause irreversible damage!) and reconnect the power. Check this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwF6v-4NFdg
 ===Green LED blinks in a specific pattern===