RPi 3 ACT LED 4 times blink - NOT BOOTING

[NerdBorns]

Hello RPians,
Before asking question , let me tell you that I followed the forum that are posted with same subject..
i.e.
1. http://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/qu ... rick-my-pi
2. http://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/qu ... t-micro-sd
3. http://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/qu ... ot-booting

I know the problem is same, but i also assume that the above posts are one or more years old. And If Raspberry Pi hardware and Raspbian OS version also matters; The solution can be slightly different than given in above forum.

I have Raspberry Pi 3, Model B came with 1GB RAM, WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1 First time!!. Yayyyy!!!!!!!
An 1A adapter (same charger for my phone. haha) as power supply; Also have 2A adapter; And a microSD : Sandisk - SDSQUNB-016G-GN3MN as per checked on http://elinux.org/RPi_SD_cards it supports RPi.
That worked fine more than 45 days.

Now, let me explain what happened 10-12 days back. It's gonna be a long talk.

Recently i thought of making a TorrentBox with it.
Followed few links to configure it. To install a Torrent client (i preferred Deluge over Transfer) on Pi; I had to update the repos..
Used: sudo apt-get update and sudo apt-get upgrade
Updated and Upgraded with success.
Installed Deluge.. success.
I was working on making Deluge service active when pi boots up. Not finished it yet.
While using RPi File manager (i was just surfing files though) I think I clicked on 'Expand storage' at right bottom of File browser window. (Sorry i can't remember exact name of that button) and something happened. But I'm pretty sure, there was no error or warning. Looked okay.

Then I had to shut down RPi and went for other things.
Next day i tried to start RPi,

I Observed :
1. ACT LED blinks for 4 times; Means start.elf isn't launching.
2. No signal on screen. (Not a single pixel)
3. No signal at Keyboard and Mouse.

I checked and tried for :
1. Above forum links.
2. Unplugged Keyboard and mouse and tried to boot without them; Screen was connected.
Result: Not booting and no signal on screen.
3. vice versa of above Unplugged screen and tried to boot without it; Keyboard and mouse were connected this time.
Result: Not booting and no signal at keyboard and mouse. (checked Num and Caps key; and LED sensor of mouse)
4. And also tried to boot without any of them (excluding Power supply and microSD card; In case of reduce power consumption so Pi can boot up now.)
Result: No! Not a single sign of booting. ACT LED still blinking 4 times, waits (LED stays on) for same time as it takes for blink 4 times. Repeates again and again.! That killing me.
5. Replaced start.elf file with new one from https://github.com/raspberrypi/firmware ... /start.elf (Backed up old start.elf) . Not Booting.
6. As per few post say, they change config.txt; This works for few, not for all, I skipped this. (was not recommended though)
7. Multimeter readings. : N/A. (I dont have a multimeter; I will borrow from a friend and post later.)
Followed below link for Power troubleshooting..
http://elinux.org/R-Pi_Troubleshooting# ... r_problems

Need support.
As per I said, Is that expanding storage option; Or is it installing new packages; Or system files corrupted; Or internal power supply (Multimeter thing)
Do i need to flash the card again and start everything from scratch?
I'm pretty sure that Pi circuit is very well. Something happened with files or card. If multimeter shows some reading which are sign of failure. I will surely post here.

Any suggestions? Kindly dont repeat solutions discussed in old forums, I have tried some; and I'm going to try remaining. Plz suggest other possibilities.
If nothing works.. I can only consider worst case.. Is this doomday of my first ever pi? Do i lost it forever?

[DougieLawson]

Read this: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=58151

[davidcoton]

Well done on finding the links and working through them. You might also try the Boot Sticky here though it may not suggest anything different.

Two things come to my mind:
1) A 1A power supply may not be adequate for a Pi3B. 2.5A is recommended. Try your 2A one (which should be enough for Pi, keyboard, and mouse). You do need to check the voltage on board: but if the red power LED is on, that should be good.
2) It may be your SDCard has got corrupted or failed. If you have another, try that (preferably with a newly downloaded Raspbian). Or you could try reformatting your existing card in a camera, then reloading your OS from scratch (Did you make a backup?)

Sorry if I have repeated things, I haven't got time to read all your links and my crystal ball isn't showing exactly what you tried and what you skipped.

[NerdBorns]

Read this: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=58151

Yes, learnt a lot from that link since problem occurred, still nothing worked. My RPi3 is still out of order.

[NerdBorns]

Well done on finding the links and working through them. You might also try the Boot Sticky here though it may not suggest anything different.

Two things come to my mind:
1) A 1A power supply may not be adequate for a Pi3B. 2.5A is recommended. Try your 2A one (which should be enough for Pi, keyboard, and mouse). You do need to check the voltage on board: but if the red power LED is on, that should be good.
2) It may be your SDCard has got corrupted or failed. If you have another, try that (preferably with a newly downloaded Raspbian). Or you could try reformatting your existing card in a camera, then reloading your OS from scratch (Did you make a backup?)

Sorry if I have repeated things, I haven't got time to read all your links and my crystal ball isn't showing exactly what you tried and what you skipped.

Yeah,
1) I figured it out. (about power supply). Bought new power supply from CrazyPi. It's 2.5A. and Red LED is on if I use either of any power supply.
2) Hmm, tried a lot times with my current available microSD card. Reformatted many times. Tried various OS. No luck.
Once i used a spare memory stick which I borrowed from a friend. It doesn't work too! I thought I can give it a shot with a pen drive. Nothing worked.
According to http://elinux.org/R-Pi_Troubleshooting, I haven't done current testing using multimeter. Reason? I couldn't found TP1 and TP2 points.
Either there are different points for RPi3 (but which?) or I've missed it while searching on PCB.

[brandonjahn3]

I know this post is old, but I’m having that same problem. My RPi 3B was working fine yesterday. I am using the power supply included with the Pi when I got it. I shut the Pi down and turned off the switch on the power cable so I could move it to a different outlet on my power strip. Then, when I tried to turn it back on, I get the green ACT light blinking 4 times then stopping. There is NO other light (red or otherwise) on. I have tried all sorts of ideas, from this post and from other posts. Anyone able to help?

[B.Goode]

There is a Troubleshooting guide in Issue 60 of the MagPi magazine which you can access for free online. https://www.raspberrypi.org/magpi/issues/60/

The Raspberry Pi Foundation have a Troubleshooting Guide on their website: https://www.raspberrypi.org/learning/tr ... ing-guide/

These forums have a post which contains all the information currently available about getting an RPi to boot: "STICKY: Is your Pi not booting? (The Boot Problems Sticky)" at viewtopic.php?f=28&t=58151

There is NO other light (red or otherwise) on.

The absence of the red Power led seems to be significant. Maybe your power supply has failed?