Weird Startup Problem

[billvance]

Howdy folks;

With a new card, and a new R-Pi, What I get
when I plug it in, is not Raspbian, but Pidora.
Following the advice on one website, to hold
the shift key down during boot to change OSs,
just gets weirder yet. It refuses to boot at all.
If I hold the shift key down, and then insert the
power plug, it's the same thing. If I give it a
brief wait, and then hold the shift key down,
Pidora boots up, ignoring the key.

Is there some command or procedure I can
do to free this up?

Bill

[DeeJay]

Is it possible that the SD card you are using contains only a directly-bootable Pidora OS image?

The advice to use the Shift key is only applicable if the SD card contains the NOOBS installer. This should be apparent because a dialog box saying something like "Press shift to Recover" will flash up for a few seconds as the system starts to boot.

If Pidora is not the OS you wish to use I think it will be necessary to prepare a new bootable SD card containing either the NOOBS installer, or just a Raspbian OS image, depending on your preference.

[billvance]

It's a NOOBS card bought from newark.
It's supposed to boot them all, not just
one.

No dialog box is visible.

As I've allready asked, is there any way
to free this turkey up, or do I just swap
it back for one that works?

Bill

[DeeJay]

I'm not sure you want my input, but I'll try again...

You probably know this is not 'normal' behaviour for NOOBS. I wonder if your supplier has shipped you a card that has been used (or abused) by someone else without re-imaging it?

Are you able to try reading the card with an SD card reader attached to a Windows or Mac system? If so the advice in the NOOBS documentation about how to force Recovery mode on reboot might be helpful? https://github.com/raspberrypi/noobs#ho ... oard-input

[billvance]

No problems about the input.

Being as it came in factory packaging, and
has the Raspberry Pi logo on it, I'd guess
it was more like self abuse.

Thanks for the URL. The little bit I've had a
chance to try, hasn't worked, but maybe
later something will. Getting to be my, "nap
time."

Bill

[greenlemon]

If you cannot rectify this using the GitHub link that has been posted I would suggest flashing your SD card with the NOOBS Installer Image from this site. If there is anything wrong with or odd about the image your supplier has sent to you then this will create a fresh NOOBS card which shoudl get you to where you want to be.

http://downloads.raspberrypi.org/NOOBS_latest

[billvance]

Once I get the version of NOOBS you just
recomended, is there any special procedure
to follow to install it? I've tried following the
directions from several sites, and wound up
wasting my time, as they wouldn't even turn
on the power light. That's why I'm trying
with a commercial card in the first place. If it matters, I'm running kubuntu 12.04.4 linux
over here.

Bill

[GTR2Fan]

I've tried following the
directions from several sites, and wound up
wasting my time, as they wouldn't even turn
on the power light.

The OS isn't involved in the lighting of the 'Power On' LED as that's driven directly by the 3.3V regulated supply on the Pi. If it doesn't light then you most likely either have a faulty Pi or a faulty PSU.

[billvance]

Sorry, I meant to say that they wouldn't do
anything _beyond_ lighting the power light, but you're right about it.

[DeeJay]

Once I get the version of NOOBS you just
recomended, is there any special procedure
to follow to install it?

I would not look beyond the Quick Start Guide or the NOOBS Documentation.

Note that for the Jan 2014 release the SD card requirement is for a card of 8Gb or greater.

Getting NOOBS onto your SD card should be a simple 'drag and drop' operation, nothing more complicated than that.