4B wont boot - network indicator lights stay on

[hauke288]

Hello everyone,

my 4B is not booting. I shut it down via the console and then disconnected it from power. Maybe I was a bit fast - and it never came back since.

What I tried:
* Disconnecting all USB / ethernet devices while booting
* Formatting the SD card (32GB - but worked before) and reinstalling the newest Rasbian (2020-02-13) via the Imager (1.2) for Mac (10.15.3)
* Starting it with no SD card to verify EPROM (was fine)
* Resetting EPROM anyway (worked, constant flashes - confirms to me that it can read an and that SD card specifically)

The Symptoms did not go away:
* I get no Video out of port 0 (or 1)
* The Pi won't show up on my network
* After connecting to power I get a few green flashes (no repeating pattern) an after that only the red LED stays on
* Whats most concerning to me: When I connect an ethernet cable the network indicators don't flash but stay on constantly

Hope there is still hope for my two days old RP.

Best

[pcmanbob]

Hi.

Seeing as you were able to re-flash the EEPROM successfully , it would suggest to me that you have a problem with how you are writing the raspbian image to the SD card.

So how are you doing this and what card reader are you using ?

I would also try using a different size SD card as a number of people seem to have problems with 32 GB SD cards.

You can put raspbian lite on an 8GB SD card , that would at least allow you to prove the pi is good or bad.

[hauke288]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

* I tried using the official Imager on my MacBook (2013) SD-Card reader.
* I tried using etcher on the same System.
* I tried reformatting the sd card via "SD Card Formatter" from sdcard.org and then tried both again
* I tried using the internal card reader of an Windows Laptop

The 32 GB card worked before and it is the only one I have at the moment. Do you think it is a good idea to get another one, even if the 32GB-card worked before?

best

Hauke

[pcmanbob]

Did you use either of those PC to make the SD card that was working in your pi ?

the reason I ask is that built in SD card readers are often not fully SDHC or SDXC compatible , so don't produce a working image on larger SD cards.

[hauke288]

Did you use either of those PC to make the SD card that was working in your pi ?

The working SD card was made with the Mac.

[pcmanbob]

Did you use either of those PC to make the SD card that was working in your pi ?

The working SD card was made with the Mac.

Then you should be able to make a working image on the SD card then.

you might try downloading raspbian lite to try a fresh copy of the image and see if that will work. ( only because the lite version is the smallest to download.)

if you still can't get the pi to boot , apart from trying a different SD card there is not much else you can try.

[FTrevorGowen]

@hauke288, I'm "keeping an eye" on possible "32Gb SD card issues" so would you mind telling make what type (SDHC or SDXC) make, model and approximate age yours is. If it does eventually work again it's CID** could also be useful. Whilst I've not (yet) had any issues (other than, lack of, "speed") with various samples I've tried**** the only "hint" to a possible cause is that some have turned out to be somewhat older than might have been expected by "purchase date" (excluding any that were proven to be fakes).
Trev.
** https://www.cpmspectrepi.uk/raspberry_p ... cking.html
**** https://www.cpmspectrepi.uk/raspberry_p ... cards.html