PowerBlock Endlessly Reboots
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Thanks for the elaborate information!
Ok, I will prepare an SD Card image with the PowerBlock driver installed. In that way we can ensure that the software part is working as intended. I will use the current RetroPie image, ok? -
@hansolo77 You should be using a switch rather than a "jumper" connection just in case you have forgotten to remove the jumper. The PowerBlock seems to be working well from your previous post. The Pi boots when the jumper is in place and shuts down when you remove it.
Are you using standoffs when the PowerBlock is installed on the RPi3? Or are you just relying on the GPIO pins to hold the PowerBlock in place? There are SPI pins on the RPI3 that lie under the PowerBlock when installed. If you do not use standoffs that are tall enough to clear these pins when the PowerBlock is installed, they will cause a short on the PowerBlock which can cause momentary lost of power.
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@ortsac said in PowerBlock Endlessly Reboots:
@hansolo77 You should be using a switch rather than a "jumper" connection just in case you have forgotten to remove the jumper. The PowerBlock seems to be working well from your previous post. The Pi boots when the jumper is in place and shuts down when you remove it.
I've never had it do a shutdown when I remove the jumper. The Pi never gets fully booted for me to test that functionality. The only thing I know is that it won't power on if the jumper is off, then it comes on when I put it on.
Are you using standoffs when the PowerBlock is installed on the RPi3? Or are you just relying on the GPIO pins to hold the PowerBlock in place? There are SPI pins on the RPI3 that lie under the PowerBlock when installed. If you do not use standoffs that are tall enough to clear these pins when the PowerBlock is installed, they will cause a short on the PowerBlock which can cause momentary lost of power.
This could be an issue. I'll have to double check. I don't have anything to use as a standoff, and the PowerBlock didn't come with any.
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I can now confirm that it is definitely NOT getting shorted out because of the contacts touching something it shouldn't.
I did some more software-side troubleshooting. I wonder again if maybe the installer didn't fully install right. If I install the drivers via the RetroPie-Menu, it then gives you an easy to use Config, to enable or disable the driver. However, if I tell it to disable the driver, and then edit the file
/etc/powerblockconfig.cfg, the status is still written as"activated" : true. So I wonder if the RetroPie installer is to blame? It's clearly not changing the status of the "activated". -
I uninstalled everything made through the RetroPie-Setup script for the driver, then went through the lines one at a time to manually install it (just in case there was an issue with the auto installer. I got as far as installing it (not the daemon service) and tested it. The system stays off (like it should) until I jumper the switch pins. Then it powers on (like it should). This time, it goes all the way through and the system is running. I then tested the shutdown by removing the jumper. The system didn't react, just stayed running like it should.
So to me, this is a new problem, and constant rebooting is an issue with the daemon service part. But I am closer now. :)
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I have uploaded a RetroPie V4.2 image that has the PowerBlock driver and service installed. You can find it at https://db.tt/lMXMBQ1Suf. I tested it also with a jumper as switch.
Also, I took the chance and wrote a dedicated getting started tutorial for the PowerBlock and RetroPie: https://blog.petrockblock.com/2017/08/17/tutorial-powerblock-retropie/
You also find a short video demonstration there.
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Thanks, downloading it now. I will test on my end to see if I still have the same problem.
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The PowerBlock still isn't working right. I installed the clean image you provided. I then installed the SD card to the Pi, connected HDMI and the controller. I then plugged on the PowerBlock, connected power, then jumpered the switch pins. The system came on like it should, and didn't do a constant reboot (this is good). But then when I tried to switch it off by removing the jumper, nothing happened. It just sat there like nothing happened. I re-connected the jumper, and all of a sudden the system rebooted. It didn't shut down, just rebooted. It came fully back up, and I tested pulling the jumper again. Nothing happened again. I re-connected the jumper again, only this time it didn't reboot, it just continued to sit there. I pulled and re-connected the jumper 3 or 4 more times, then it just randomly rebooted again.
I think there's a problem with the PowerBlock. Either a poor solder connection, or the IC isn't programmed right, or something. I'm doing everything right on my end. I think the automatic installation scripts on the PowerBlock git page needs tweaked, as it just won't work with that at all (causes constant reboots). Doing it line per line manually works as far as halting the reboots, but the system still won't do a graceful shutdown no matter what I do.
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@hansolo77 Sorry to hear. The instructions at Git are correct, I tested these recently. Also, since you are facing the issues also with the prepared image, it is some sort of a hardware issue.
Please send me an email with your order number for a replacement.
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@petrockblog Thanks.. I just forwarded a copy of my receipt to info@petrockblock.com.
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Just for sh!ts and g!ggles, I connected the LED to the LED pins. As soon as I connect the power (before connecting the switch jumper), the LED is pulsing. It's not rapidly blinking, and it's not steady ON, but fades in and out. I think I read somewhere that this is what the LED does to let you know that a shutdown is in progress before it completely turns off everything. So if the LED is indicating this now, before even attaching the PowerBlock to the Pi, might that be a reason for it not to be working right? The circuit is in "shutdown" mode. This would explain why pulling the jumper has no effect. But it doesn't explain how it got in that mode. Is there something I can try to do to fix that? I'd still like to get that replacement too, just in case.
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@hansolo77 Here's what the LED status mean:
The LED will blink in four different patterns that depend on the power state of the Raspberry Pi:
- Off: The LED is simply off.
- Booting: The LED slowly fades in and out.
- On: The LED constantly stays on.
- Shutting Down: The LED fades in and out twice as fast as during boot up.
How fast does the LED "fades in and out" on your power up?
If it is like #2, then the service is not running or stopped, and it is trying to boot up.
If #4, then there is definite something wrong. -
Not knowing how fast it's supposed to be one way or the other is a problem. I would say it's slow, completing a whole ON/OFF in about 1 second. I've seen it do rapid blinks, like maybe 2 or 3 in a second, so I'm guessing that's the other one. Troubling thing is, it's pulsing before I even connect it to the Pi and before I jump the pins.. It does it's blinking as soon as I connect the power to it. But in the trials I've been doing, it's never been a solid on.
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@petrockblog - Did you get a tracking number by chance when you mailed the replacement? I only ask because the first one I ordered was shipped out on August 7th and I forwarded you the confirmation email on the 17th with the order number. So that was a 10-day turn around, with a couple days worth of troubleshooting. It's now the 29th.. you said you mailed it the next day (being the 18th). So it's been 11 days and I still haven't received it yet. I'm not mad or nothing, just understandably concerned. I hope it wasn't lost in the mail or anything. If you do have tracking information, can you check on it's progress? I'm just eagerly anticipating. :) Thanks!
EDIT - My bad. Looks like it just arrived today. I'm on my way out for work but I'll give it a go when I get home. May I ask.. what is the best way to install the driver? First thing I'm going to do is test the circuit on that prebuilt image you sent me. If that works, I'll be starting from scratch again on the build I've got going already. Is it better to install manually, automatically using the install auto-install script on github, or to use the installer in the RetroPie-Setup script?
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Glad to hear that it finally arrived. I would go for the way that is described in the tutorial at https://blog.petrockblock.com/2017/08/17/tutorial-powerblock-retropie/ - using the quick-install script.
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Thanks for the advice/tip. As it turns out, I think my Raspberry Pi is damaged. I can't get it to power on even with the power plugged into the Pi directly. The red power LED comes on, but the green access light never does. I thought maybe it was the SD card ribbon I'm using, but without it I'm still getting the same results. I then thought maybe it was the card itself. Tried 2 different ones, and I get the same thing. Tried a different power supply, same thing. Tried the power and SD card in another Pi and it works fine. So I have to get a replacement Pi. Until then, it's the waiting game again. :(
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Got my replacement Pi in the mail today. Just got home from work and tested the new Pi with the new (replacement) PowerBlock. Works exactly like it's supposed to, with the jumper at least. I hooked up an LED to watch it and it blinks slowly then goes solid when the system comes on. Then it blinks while it shuts down (faster) until power off, then the LED is out. Jumper on again and it boots right up. This is all with the "pre-installed" PowerBlock driver version of RetroPie you sent me. One thing I noticed, when it's shutting down it looks like it hangs on a line saying something about "Stopped dhcpcd on all interfaces". Is that normal? Anyway, I then swapped out the SD card with the one in my current build. Instantly it starts endlessly rebooting again. I remembered I hadn't installed the driver yet (because I was using a "pre-powerblock" backup). So I powered up directly and first tried to do the install via the RetroPi-Setup menu. I know you said I should the tutorial on the blog, but I thought I'd try it this way first. Well, it installed ok, but when I hooked it all up through the PowerBlock, the LED never stops blinking. It fully boots up now (yay!) but pulling off the jumper doesn't cause it to start shutting down. I don't think the install went through. Not sure what's wrong there. Anyway, I went back to the working SD card with the "pre-installed" driver and just used that as a base and just started over. Everything looks like it's working correctly now.
So 2 things:
- Why does it appear to hang when shutting down at the line saying:
[ OK ] Stopped dhcpcd on all interfaces- Why doesn't the "Install PowerBlock Driver" work from the RetroPie-Setup menu?
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After the installation of the PowerBlock and the ControlBlock drivers you need to enable the driver in a second step. I realise that this is not intuitive so that I created a patch for the RetroPie Setup. In the future, the drivers will be enabled with the installation.
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