I have checked all the points in the "boot sticky" before writing here.
I bought my first Pi in January from RS (Pi-1) and used it successfully with an 8GB Class 6 SD card (SD-1). I liked it so much, I bought a second Pi in February (Pi-2) from Farnell/CPC.
I downloaded the latest NOOBS (v1.3.4) and booted Pi-2 with a new 4GB SD card (SD-2) for the first time last night. At the "Choose OS Installation" screen, I couldn't select Raspbian to install because SD-2 is not large enough. The second partition it created is too small to now fit Raspbian on it.
After 5 minutes of staying on this screen, wondering what to do, without no 'Cancel' or 'Exit' option, I pulled out the power cord from Pi-2 and then removed SD-2.
Luckily, I have another 8GB card exactly the same brand and spec as SD-1 (SD-3). So I formatted it and installed NOOBS on this as before. I plugged SD-3 into Pi-2 and put in the power cord, but there is no activity on the ACT LED. Just the red power LED is on, and nothing comes on the screen. I left it for 5 minutes and then pulled the power again. Seeing as SD-1 is already successfully configured and works perfectly in Pi-1, I tried it in Pi-2. Still, no activity on Pi-2.
I even tried SD-3 in Pi-1 to see if SD-3 was damaged, but it started the initial OS selection and installation successfully.
This points to the Raspberry Pi being dead.
Having tried the steps in the "boot problems" sticky, what do I do now, before returning this to Farnell?
Re: Dead Pi?
Have you tried them both with the same known-good PSU to rule out all external factors?
Pi2B Mini-PC/Media Centre: ARM=1GHz (+3), Core=500MHz, v3d=500MHz, h264=333MHz, RAM=DDR2-1200 (+6/+4/+4+schmoo). Sandisk Ultra HC-I 32GB microSD card on '50=100' OCed slot (42MB/s read) running Raspbian/KODI16, Seagate 3.5" 1.5TB HDD mass storage.
Re: Dead Pi?
Have a very good look at the SD card socket on RPi #2. Ensure that all the socket fingers can make good contact with the gold pads on an SD card. Try booting when pinching the card underneath and the the PCB on top between finger and thumb.
-
Richard-TX
- Posts: 1549
- Joined: Tue May 28, 2013 3:24 pm
- Location: North Texas
Re: Dead Pi?
You can install a smaller version of Raspian.
Try this image:
http://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspbi ... spbian.zip
Newer images have some nasty bugs which are being addressed so my advice is to run the version above until the bugs are worked out.
Try this image:
http://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspbi ... spbian.zip
Newer images have some nasty bugs which are being addressed so my advice is to run the version above until the bugs are worked out.
Richard
Doing Unix since 1985.
The 9-25-2013 image of Wheezy can be found at:
http://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspbian/images/raspbian-2013-09-27/2013-09-25-wheezy-raspbian.zip
Doing Unix since 1985.
The 9-25-2013 image of Wheezy can be found at:
http://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspbian/images/raspbian-2013-09-27/2013-09-25-wheezy-raspbian.zip
Re: Dead Pi?
@ GTR2Fan - I've tried them both with exactly the same hardware including PSU. Same keyboard, mouse and display to rule out any external factors that might be considered.
@ drgeoff - The connectors on the back of Pi-2 seem to protrude away from the plastic bracket of the SD card reader. However, they don't seem to protrude as far out as they do on Pi-1. The design of the connectors on Pi-1 seem more protruding by design for better contact with the SD card. When slotting the SD card into Pi-2, it seems to be a much "looser" fit. Also, it's worth noting that Pi-2 is actually older than Pi-1, built in "1329" and "1347" respectively. A good 5 months older it seems. So, Farnell/CPC's stock is older than that of RS. That would explain the better connectors on Pi-1. Maybe they were revised.
I tried lifting the connectors a little but they don't really move. I also tried the pinch manoeuvre without any luck. I still can't get it to boot.
@ Richard-TX - As mentioned before, the NOOBS image works successfully on Pi-1 so it should work on Pi-2. I also tried an older version of NOOBS (1.3.3) with the same result.
As the Pi-2 connector doesn't feel as tight as the Pi-1 connector, it could be the problem. I think CPC/Farnell will be getting a return and RS will be getting another purchase.
@ drgeoff - The connectors on the back of Pi-2 seem to protrude away from the plastic bracket of the SD card reader. However, they don't seem to protrude as far out as they do on Pi-1. The design of the connectors on Pi-1 seem more protruding by design for better contact with the SD card. When slotting the SD card into Pi-2, it seems to be a much "looser" fit. Also, it's worth noting that Pi-2 is actually older than Pi-1, built in "1329" and "1347" respectively. A good 5 months older it seems. So, Farnell/CPC's stock is older than that of RS. That would explain the better connectors on Pi-1. Maybe they were revised.
I tried lifting the connectors a little but they don't really move. I also tried the pinch manoeuvre without any luck. I still can't get it to boot.
@ Richard-TX - As mentioned before, the NOOBS image works successfully on Pi-1 so it should work on Pi-2. I also tried an older version of NOOBS (1.3.3) with the same result.
As the Pi-2 connector doesn't feel as tight as the Pi-1 connector, it could be the problem. I think CPC/Farnell will be getting a return and RS will be getting another purchase.
Re: Dead Pi?
Any other ideas on what the problem could be? Could it be anything else other than the SD card reader at fault?