pi4 unable to boot either osmc or raspbian buster

[nmc1234]

Hi,

Just got the pi4 and unable to get it to boot either osmc or raspian buster.

Both the sd cards used work in my pi3b without issue. I see the start.elf file in the boot partition and all.

The green light is flashing 4 times whether the sd card is in or out. Any ideas?

Please help.

[nmc1234]

I've since got another SD card and installed Raspian Duster Lite on it. Confirmed it worked on Rasperry Pi 3B and inserted into Pi 4 - still nothing. Just 4 flashing light pattern.

I feel like the SD card slot is goosed.

[nmc1234]

I've now tried Noobs but to no avail.

I've also adjusted the config file for hdmi_force_hotplug=1.

[kflmiami420]

try
Raspbian Buster with desktop

download it

then get a 32gb card I got these for my pi4's https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073J ... UTF8&psc=1

format them with sdformater

then open etcher locate the 2019-06-20-raspbian-buster.img then select the drive with the fresh card and then select flash

insert that card into your new pi4 then you should be all set

connect monitor to hdmi0

use a 5v 2.5am or higher power supply and connect your usb keybord mouse

it should work , It did for me today with my new pi's from pi hut

[HawaiianPi]

What are you using for a power supply?

[G160]

There is no OSMC for Pi4 available currently.

[nmc1234]

What are you using for a power supply?

Official mHDMi and Power Supply.

[nmc1234]

There is no OSMC for Pi4 available currently.

So putting my already setup OSMC SD card from my Pi3b will never boot in Pi4?

[nmc1234]

try
Raspbian Buster with desktop

download it

then get a 32gb card I got these for my pi4's https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073J ... UTF8&psc=1

format them with sdformater

then open etcher locate the 2019-06-20-raspbian-buster.img then select the drive with the fresh card and then select flash

insert that card into your new pi4 then you should be all set

connect monitor to hdmi0

use a 5v 2.5am or higher power supply and connect your usb keybord mouse

it should work , It did for me today with my new pi's from pi hut

I've pretty much done all this but I will try it again later.
I will also try a 3rd SD card (U3 Class).

[fruitoftheloom]

There is no OSMC for Pi4 available currently.

So putting my already setup OSMC SD card from my Pi3b will never boot in Pi4?

AFAIAA the Raspberry Pi 4B supports:

Raspbian Buster
LibreElec (Kodi)
Kali Linux

If the developer does not state supported on the 4B is a pointless exercise trying to get it to boot !!!

[G160]

There is no OSMC for Pi4 available currently.

So putting my already setup OSMC SD card from my Pi3b will never boot in Pi4?

No it won't work.
Sam from OSMC is working on it, and said a Pi4 release shouldn't take long, or words to that effect.

[drgeoff]

format them with sdformater

then open etcher locate the 2019-06-20-raspbian-buster.img then select the drive with the fresh card and then select flash

Formatting a card is totally unnecessary and a waste of time if an OS image will be written to it.

[nmc1234]

Tried Raspian Buster Desktop with formatted SD card using SDformater. Still get the same outcome of 4 flashes pattern.

Can someone please confirm that this is an issue reading the start.elf file and not related to HDMI/Display.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCRFSTf ... e=youtu.be

Edit: I've now tried a PC monitor with the same result as my Panasonic TV.

[nmc1234]

Some input would be appreciated. How can I differentiate between a boot issue and a display issue?

[B.Goode]

There is a summary of all the knowledge accumulated from these forums during the past 7 years about difficulties getting an RPi to boot, see - STICKY: Is your Pi not booting? (The Boot Problems Sticky) - https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/view ... 28&t=58151

[nmc1234]

There is a summary of all the knowledge accumulated from these forums during the past 7 years about difficulties getting an RPi to boot, see - STICKY: Is your Pi not booting? (The Boot Problems Sticky) - https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/view ... 28&t=58151

I've read it and I'm still in the dark. In post #4 it says;

if the ACT LED blinks in a regular four blink pattern, it cannot find bootcode (start.elf)
if the ACT LED blinks in an irregular pattern then booting has started.

So based on my 4 flash pattern, I should not even entertain the idea this could be HDMI/Display issue?
This is my 3rd Pi and i've never had an issue with booting until now (OSMC, Libreelec, retropi, Raspian). I feel like I should get a replacement.

[k-pi]

I had similar problems with my new RPi4B, what I have at present that seems to work, in config.txt, is,
hdmi_force_hotplug:0=1
hdmi_group=2 ## for HDMI monitor
hdmi_mode=39 ## for 1360x768 resolution

After that, I at least got a working set up, so might work for you, might need to change where I have commented.

[alanj49]

I purchased this thing on Friday and have just had chance to to try and use it this evening. I am getting exactly the same probelm, there is a flurry of the green LED when I attach the power supply and the it settles into the four flash routine. I have reloaded the images onto the SD Card from the NOOBS zip file and the Raspbian with Desktop zip file, I have used Etcher to flash the image and STILL I get the four flash LED. I think that this is quite shabby for a new product, I have had no problem at all with the Pi 3B+. It does not seem there is a clear solution to this as it seems that different things have worked for different people, and if I do not find a solution quickly it will be going back from whence it came - The Raspberry Pi Store in Cambridge.

[nmc1234]

I had similar problems with my new RPi4B, what I have at present that seems to work, in config.txt, is,
hdmi_force_hotplug:0=1
hdmi_group=2 ## for HDMI monitor
hdmi_mode=39 ## for 1360x768 resolution

After that, I at least got a working set up, so might work for you, might need to change where I have commented.

Unfortunately this didn't work for me.

[nmc1234]

I purchased this thing on Friday and have just had chance to to try and use it this evening. I am getting exactly the same probelm, there is a flurry of the green LED when I attach the power supply and the it settles into the four flash routine. I have reloaded the images onto the SD Card from the NOOBS zip file and the Raspbian with Desktop zip file, I have used Etcher to flash the image and STILL I get the four flash LED. I think that this is quite shabby for a new product, I have had no problem at all with the Pi 3B+. It does not seem there is a clear solution to this as it seems that different things have worked for different people, and if I do not find a solution quickly it will be going back from whence it came - The Raspberry Pi Store in Cambridge.

I can't agree more. I know it is early days and it is a new product, but this should work out of the box like the previous models I've had. The fact it does not for many people is not good.

On top of that, there is no clear solution for this. It isn't even clear if this is a display or boot up issue.

[alanj49]

Well, after many hours of trying to get thing to boot up it went back from whence it came this afternoon. As a last resort I put the two Recovery files on an SD card and I got the flashing green led's as I should get, so it wasn't a faulty SD Card socket. When I took it into the shop he put it on their bench and led four flashing routine started, so he put their SD Card in which was working on their device on the bench, again four flashes of the led. So he gave the refund without quible

[nmc1234]

Well, after many hours of trying to get thing to boot up it went back from whence it came this afternoon. As a last resort I put the two Recovery files on an SD card and I got the flashing green led's as I should get, so it wasn't a faulty SD Card socket. When I took it into the shop he put it on their bench and led four flashing routine started, so he put their SD Card in which was working on their device on the bench, again four flashes of the led. So he gave the refund without quible

You didn't wish to get a new one, that was verified working leaving the store?

[alanj49]

When I took it in he asked if I wanted a replacement or refund, I said that if anyone could supply me with a device that definitely worked. I did not get any feeling of enthusiasm for them to check each one until they found a combination that I worked. So it went both ways

[nmc1234]

Just to end this thread with an answer, I got a replacement Pi 4 and it worked immediately, without any troubleshooting required. The first was defective.