Pi shuts down soon after powering up at random points

[fyz]

I received my Pi yesterday, but so far not able to complete the booting up. I have searched the forum, finding similar threads. I have tried two SD cards, both seem to be included in the "working list":

PNY - SDHC 4GB Class 4

Transcend - SDHC 4GB class 4

I bought a micro USB power supply from maplin (£15), it should be a decent one:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/micro-.....8;t=module

I have tried the very latest images (both Debian and Arch). I also tried my best to follow the procedure to flash the SD card. But still, so far, the Pi will consistently "shut down" at some random points, after powering up. (To me, "Shut down" means the monitor goes black, saying no signal detected.) The red LED always on, the green one sometimes off, sometimes on after the monitor went black. I checked the voltage as some of you suggested, it seems OK, always around 5.0V.

I posted a video here, hoping it could help you to help me.



Thanks in advance!

best regards,

David

[emg]

Using the Debian image, enable ssh (rename boot_enable_ssh.rc --> boot.rc) and try booting with nothing but network cable and power. Can you connect to it? If so, booting is fine, problem is HDMI. Search for posts on config.txt. Note: you will need to find its assigned IP address, check your local DHCP server (probably your router). Use puTTY to connect.

[Steady_Bear]

I'd certainly try the above's suggestion. However, as the screen just disappears at a point that looks to have no change in the framebuffer mode (pretty text screen) then I'd personally doubt the config.txt file. But that's doubt, not rule out.

Could you rinse and repeat (obviously without the shampooing, and rinsing) but this time hold the camera closer to the screen and only concentrate on that. It may be possible to spot something on playback with a lucky pausing that holds information on what's going on. I generally find Linux is quite obliging in saying why it's having a tantrum. Can't always say that about the rest of the system mind.

[deepee]

I am having similar problems - looks like it may be power related, as the more devices I unplug, the longer the pi will stay up for. With just network and power, I can ping the device for about 2 or 3 mins, then ethernet lights just go out, and pi refuses any connections, and just shows red led.

Kids completely lost interest, unfortunately, so I need to get this working. Any suggestions as to best log file to trawl for any reasons for the power down?

Running Debian, can start into x no problems, have fairly reasonable tech back ground, just getting frustrated as it all appears to work then just stops. If I power down and back up, the next freeze is quite a bit quicker than first one. My initial thought was an overheat or dry joint somewhere. using 1A and 700mA power supply get same results. Just bought 2000mAh to see if that helps.

[fyz]

Using the Debian image, enable ssh (rename boot_enable_ssh.rc --> boot.rc) and try booting with nothing but network cable and power. Can you connect to it? If so, booting is fine, problem is HDMI. Search for posts on config.txt. Note: you will need to find its assigned IP address, check your local DHCP server (probably your router). Use puTTY to connect.

Thanks for suggestions! I have tried the Arch image and remove the config.txt. But still no luck.
I also tried to copy the latest firmware files from repository. But same thing: Pi will stop during the booting, at some points. At one time, it even reached the login prompt, as soon as I typed the user name, pi, it went black.

[fyz]

I'd certainly try the above's suggestion. However, as the screen just disappears at a point that looks to have no change in the framebuffer mode (pretty text screen) then I'd personally doubt the config.txt file. But that's doubt, not rule out.

Could you rinse and repeat (obviously without the shampooing, and rinsing) but this time hold the camera closer to the screen and only concentrate on that. It may be possible to spot something on playback with a lucky pausing that holds information on what's going on. I generally find Linux is quite obliging in saying why it's having a tantrum. Can't always say that about the rest of the system mind.

Thanks for reply! It is difficult to catch the screen, since it stopped randomly at some points. Sometimes the green light never flashing: it hung up there as soon as powering up. Sometimes it went as far as login prompt and stop there. I managed to catch one example:
http://youtu.be/uTS9Z6ioBEU



I am pretty sure the power unit is OK. And I have tried three different brands of SD card, all included in the working list of wiki. I am ordering another one, will give another try.

[xtramural]

I am having similar problems - looks like it may be power related, as the more devices I unplug, the longer the pi will stay up for. With just network and power, I can ping the device for about 2 or 3 mins, then ethernet lights just go out, and pi refuses any connections, and just shows red led.

Sadly, there seems to be a similar fault with my Pi since it always hangs a short time after booting. I have tried all the usual remedies - all combinations of 3 different PSUs, 3 different sets of keyboards/mice, 3 different SD cards, a powered hub, only Ethernet plugged in and accessed by ssh. It's beginning to look like a temperature-related fault - the opposite of the won't boot/work from cold reported by others. Alas, I don't know of anyone else with a Pi so I can't test my setup(s) with another unit just yet. Farnell have been informed but I'll have to wait for the next batch to be delivered by them to get a replacement sent out.

Incidentally, the above symptoms persist even when I use a newer kernel.img from github.

[Bakul Shah]

Try blowing cold air on the RasPi and see if stays up longer. Trying blowing hot air and see if it goes down quicker! Run

netstat -ni

It will likely show a high rx (receive) & tx (transmit) error rate like mine does. This too seems to point to a cold joint or few.

[bredman]

I would recommend trying another power supply. If your power supply generates more than 5v, the linear regulator will burn off the excess. This causes excessive current through the 5v polyfuse.

[fyz]

I would recommend trying another power supply. If your power supply generates more than 5v, the linear regulator will burn off the excess. This causes excessive current through the 5v polyfuse.

Thanks! I have Kindle power adapter. But I remember the Kindle's one generates less than 1000mA current, will give a try tonight anyway.

[fyz]

I would recommend trying another power supply. If your power supply generates more than 5v, the linear regulator will burn off the excess. This causes excessive current through the 5v polyfuse.

Thanks! I have Kindle power adapter. But I remember the Kindle's one generates less than 1000mA current, will give a try tonight anyway.

Just tried the Kindle power adapter, unfortunately, same symptom. My only hope will be the new SD card on the way from Amazon.

[deepee]

I am having similar problems - looks like it may be power related, as the more devices I unplug, the longer the pi will stay up for. With just network and power, I can ping the device for about 2 or 3 mins, then ethernet lights just go out, and pi refuses any connections, and just shows red led.

Sadly, there seems to be a similar fault with my Pi since it always hangs a short time after booting. I have tried all the usual remedies - all combinations of 3 different PSUs, 3 different sets of keyboards/mice, 3 different SD cards, a powered hub, only Ethernet plugged in and accessed by ssh. It's beginning to look like a temperature-related fault - the opposite of the won't boot/work from cold reported by others. Alas, I don't know of anyone else with a Pi so I can't test my setup(s) with another unit just yet. Farnell have been informed but I'll have to wait for the next batch to be delivered by them to get a replacement sent out.

Incidentally, the above symptoms persist even when I use a newer kernel.img from github.

Well, contacted Farnell and explained what my symptoms were, what I have done to check (4 x power supply, 6 x SD card all of various flavours, different keyboards, no keyboards, no mouse, different mice - all combinations work flawlessly on a colleagues Pi, but nothing on mine, and his working peripherals also exhibit same fault when my pi is connected, and they agreed that I have done all that I reasonably could (actually they said more than would be reasonably expected) and it seems my unit is faulty NSS, lol. Anyways, they have agreed that I will be sent a replacement, I just don't know when that may be.

BTW, Farnell have been just excellent in all communication so far, so a big thank you to Farnell, and especially Adam and Chris (they know who they are!)

[Steady_Bear]

@fyz:
I've had a look, the point it's dying in the video is during/after setting up all the devices for the system. Though the drivers all seem to go in fine.

Have you tried running it with nothing but the TV plugged in? There are a few people that have issues with specific keyboards and mice being plugged in (not necessarily power related).

I'm guessing it's not the peripherals fault, based on the fact that you claim the crash point is random. But, it's worth a look. I doubt it'll be an SD card fault as you get this far.

[xtramural]

Well, contacted Farnell and explained what my symptoms were, what I have done to check (4 x power supply, 6 x SD card all of various flavours, different keyboards, no keyboards, no mouse, different mice - all combinations work flawlessly on a colleagues Pi, but nothing on mine, and his working peripherals also exhibit same fault when my pi is connected, and they agreed that I have done all that I reasonably could (actually they said more than would be reasonably expected) and it seems my unit is faulty NSS, lol. Anyways, they have agreed that I will be sent a replacement, I just don't know when that may be.

BTW, Farnell have been just excellent in all communication so far, so a big thank you to Farnell, and especially Adam and Chris (they know who they are!)

I, too, have had excellent service from Farnell - especially Adam who seems to the the 'faulty Pi' guy!

As a last-ditch attempt to diagnose a temperature-related problem, I strapped a (suitably wrapped) ice pack to my Pi this evening. This seemed to cure the random shutdowns and the Pi booted and remained stable/functional for much longer than it ever did before. In fact it didn't hang. Bearing in mind that I had not changed anything about the set-up from my last attempt(s) this seems to have proved that, when warm, my Pi was unstable as it was stable when cooled. The next step was to unstrap the ice pack, reboot the Pi, and see if reverted to random shutdowns once it had reached normal temperature. It's now been running for a good hour and hasn't hung yet even when I elevated its ambient temperature with gentle heat from a hairdryer!!

I'm still inclined to believe that there's an intermittent fault with my Pi and that the 'ice pack' fix is only temporary. I guess time will tell. But it might be worth others conducting a similar exercise and chilling the Pi with a poly-bag wrapped ice-pack to see if it becomes more stable.

It's worth emphasising that I doubt it's power-related - ditto the SD card - since I'm using the same PSU and SD card that were used when the Pi was hanging before. Perhaps, the 'chill' has helped close a minute fracture. Who knows!?

I'll leave the Pi running for now and will report back if it starts acting up again. Any suggestions for the easiest way to stress a Pi without user interaction? E.g. a simple script that'll impose a continuous 100% load?

[xtramural]

I'll leave the Pi running for now and will report back if it starts acting up again. Any suggestions for the easiest way to stress a Pi without user interaction? E.g. a simple script that'll impose a continuous 100% load?

Sadly, I have to report that my Pi hung again after a few hours. When rebooted it hung a minute or so after getting to the login prompt. Then I swapped the SD card out for another and, again, it hung a minute or so after getting to the login prompt. IOW, back to the normal abnormal behaviour. The fresh SD card hadn't warmed up to any real extent - barely warm to the touch so I don't think it's the culprit.

So, I retrieved the ice pack from the freezer, rewrapped it in a poly bag and strapped it again to the Pi. Same SD card. Rebooted. Total elapsed time from the hung state to the chilled reboot a matter of minutes. So far there's been no repeat of the hang and the current uptime is:

Code: Select all

pi@raspberrypi:~$ uptime
 23:38:00 up 27 min,  1 user,  load average: 0.00, 0.01, 0.05

My MacBook is still merrily pinging the Pi.

Conclusion: my Pi is best served chilled - ergo a temperature-related issue that doesn't seem to be the fault of the SD card.

I'm not sure how long it takes an ice pack to 'defrost' but I'll keep the Pi running strapped to it overnight and report back in the morning.

G'night

[mahjongg]

perhaps you have a bad power input polyfuse (F3) that has unusual high input resistance, and goes on a thermal runaway after slowly heating up for some time. It takes several hours for a polyfuse to self heal after it tripped, so wait some time after it cools down, then see if heating it slightly quickly produces the symptoms.

[JKuehl]

Same Problem here:
tried Debian, Debian modified, Arch, Fedora, RspBmc
tried micro SDHC 16GB Sandisk, micro SDHC 16GB Kingston (and three different micro SD --> SD Adaptors) SD 4GB Transcend
tried USB cable power from PC #A via USB 2.0 Port, from PC #B via UBS 3.0 Port
tried External 220V Adaptor power from a 400 mA, another 600 mA, and another 1000mA Power Supply
tried unplugging everything except SD-Card and Ethernet

Always the same symptoms:
After booting up successfully and SSHing into the Raspberry after only a few minutes all LEDs except the red one go dead and the System hangs.

Mine is from RS-Components.

[JKuehl]

tried 4 different sd cards, debian, arch, fedora, RasBsm, three power supplies, nothing powered on except ethernet and sd card.

one xterm to ssh into server, running a ping in a second xterm.

power loss after a few minutes, complete freeze.

i wonder: mine has no batch inscription etc. see following image.

[RKD]

I am experiencing this problem too. At first bootup it stays alive long enough to get to the login screen, and enter the login and password. Then the HDMI signal is lost.
I then removed keyboard and mouse to remove any possible additional loading on the PSU, but the problem is still there.
Subsequent power cycles of the PSU result in shorter and shorter times between power on and the screen going black. Could this relate to overheating, or possibly a capacitor charge/discharge problem?
I have not checked the RCA video output yet to see if that is producing a signal after the HDMI output is lost. Will test later.

[bredman]

Subsequent power cycles of the PSU result in shorter and shorter times between power on and the screen going black.

This looks like an overheated polyfuse. The polyfuse needs several hours to reset properly.

[faustino]

My rasp in hdmi sometimes i don't even enter login before it get black, in RCA i've started X and played 2 or 3 minutes in scratch.
I think i've got one of the faulty's.

[JKuehl]

Found a possible revision / charge number on the back:
E2112RSV1.0B1.1
Any hints?

[faustino]

Mine has a sticker underneath with the same code: E2112RSV1.0B1.1
What does it mean?

[rurwin]

It's the build batch number. It's the same as my fully working board.

[faustino]

I've tried mine connected to my old tv and after it stopped when i restarted it then screen flickered and the raspberry pi logo was in grey and my X session was in grey shades also. Maybe mine has a problem with video.