Pi cannot read SD card and will not boot

[simonelawrence]

Hi,
I have two Raspberry Pi model B v1.1

Both were up and running fine since Sept 2015 when I purchased them.
I have HDMI monitors and USB mouse and keyboard connected to both (individually).

One of the Raspberry Pi's(Alpha) will not boot. The other Raspberry Pi (Beta) boots normally.

Alpha's Red Power LED is on and stays on and the Green ACT LED turns on but does not blink. The Ethernet Nic has no LEDs on
1. Tried swapping Pi's. Beta worked with all of the Alpha monitor/nic/monitor/keyboard. Alpha did not work with Beta's monitor/nic/keyboard/mouse.
2. Tried swapping SanDisk 8GB micro SD card. The SD card from Alpha worked fine in Beta. Beta's card did not work in Alpha

Not sure what else to check.
Any Help would be appreciated. Thanks

[SonOfAMotherlessGoat]

You wouldn't happen to have access to a USB TTY Serial Cable? (They should be shipped with the Pi's, invaluable in troubleshooting boot issues...)

[rurwin]

You've conclusively proved that Beta is alive and well and Alpha is dead. The question is why is it dead and is it something you can do anything about.

I would go over the board with a magnifying glass looking for damage or dry solder joints. Pay particular attention to the SD card connector and compare it to a known good one (ie Beta). Try booting both without an SD card; do they behave the same? With nothing plugged in except the same power lead, is the voltage between TP1 and TP2 the same?

[DougieLawson]

Have you tried the clothes peg trick, to hold a slightly bent SDCard in B's slightly less than perfect SDCard holder?

[hello world :-)]

Hi,
I have two Raspberry Pi model B v1.1

Both were up and running fine since Sept 2015 when I purchased them.
I have HDMI monitors and USB mouse and keyboard connected to both (individually).

One of the Raspberry Pi's(Alpha) will not boot. The other Raspberry Pi (Beta) boots normally.

Alpha's Red Power LED is on and stays on and the Green ACT LED turns on but does not blink. The Ethernet Nic has no LEDs on
1. Tried swapping Pi's. Beta worked with all of the Alpha monitor/nic/monitor/keyboard. Alpha did not work with Beta's monitor/nic/keyboard/mouse.
2. Tried swapping SanDisk 8GB micro SD card. The SD card from Alpha worked fine in Beta. Beta's card did not work in Alpha

Not sure what else to check.
Any Help would be appreciated. Thanks

Probably means the Pi isn't detecting an SD card...

[Burngate]

I was under the impression that for the original B, with no card, the act led turned on only very dimly.
To turn on with full brightness, the card must have been read. Unless the SoC is faulty ...

[hello world :-)]

I was under the impression that for the original B, with no card, the act led turned on only very dimly.
To turn on with full brightness, the card must have been read. Unless the SoC is faulty ...

I have a B+. One day I did not insert the SD card far enough and both lights were lit solid. I powered off, reinserted the SD card, and booted OK.

[Burngate]

... the original B, ...

I have a B+...

[hello world :-)]

... the original B, ...

I have a B+...

Wow that was fast. Maybe you should try booting your Pi(s) without an SD card to see what happens?

[Burngate]

That's a good idea - if the bad one (alpha?) is brighter than the good one (beta?) it does point to a broken SoC


And yes, I was a bit quick off the mark wasn't I? It normally takes me a day or more to compose a reply.
I promise to do worse in future