That use case came back again, so I had my workplace buy 10x Raspberry Pi 3B+, specifically so it is compatible with the previous image, so I do not have to waste time setting the whole thing up again, about a month or so ago.
So, I use Balena Etcher to make an SD card, a copy of the above 2020 image:
- I plug the SD card with 2020 image into one of the newly bought Raspberry Pi 3B+ - won't boot, getting 4 long blinks and 7 short blinks.
- I plug the SD card with 2020 image into another of the newly bought Raspberry Pi 3B+ - won't boot, getting 4 long blinks and 7 short blinks.
- I plug the SD card with 2020 image into an old Raspberry Pi 3B+ from 2020 - boots fine.
Ok, so then I get the latest "bookworm" 64-bit, burn that on an SD card:Unfortunately that error code (known internally just as ERROR_CODE_POWER_FAIL) is used to indicate that the firmware is unable to access the PMIC (the power management IC, connected by I2C). That does tend to indicate a hardware fault.
- I plug the SD card with bookworm image into one of the newly bought Raspberry Pi 3B+ - boots fine
- I plug the SD card with bookworm image into the older Raspberry Pi 3B+ - boots fine
Is this correct? If so - why call it "Raspberry Pi 3B+" still?? Why not call it at least "Raspberry Pi 3B++", or something, so at least I know there are differences, and I don't have to waste hours wondering what could have gone wrong, or whether I've touched the RPi3B+ wrong and killed it with static electricity? Also, are there *other* differences between Raspberry Pi 3B+ and Raspberry Pi 3B+?
(Btw, both old and new boards say "Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ ... Raspberry Pi 2017" on the front; on the back there are differences: old one has only FCC ID and IC lines, the new one has three more lines that I cannot read at the moment)
