Fried Pi?

t_mitch · 13 Apr 2019, 18:39

My Raspberry Pi loaded with RetroPie won't boot. I plug in the power and the red led comes on, but the green one does not. There's no output to my monitor. Trying to connect over SSH I get the message "host does not exist."

I tried re-imaging my SD card with Etcher and I get the same result.

The Pi was working and running RetroPie for a few weeks.

Is my Pi fried? Can that happen?

mitu · 13 Apr 2019, 19:04

Looks like a bad SD card. Red light means power is on, but not green light means that the the system cannot be booted from the card - see https://elinux.org/R-Pi_Troubleshooting#Red_power_LED_is_on.2C_green_LED_does_not_flash.2C_nothing_on_display for some analysis and some troubleshooting steps.

Efriim · 13 Apr 2019, 19:33

What is the model of pi?
what is the power supply used?
and
what image are you using, the one hosted on retropie.org for 0/1 or 2/3 are recommended here.

t_mitch · 13 Apr 2019, 20:07

Pi 3b + Power supply came with my phone. It's been working, but I tried another just in case.

Not sure about the image. I just followed the Retro Pie setup guide.

t_mitch · 13 Apr 2019, 20:10

@mitu said in Fried Pi?:

Looks like a bad SD card. Red light means power is on, but not green light means that the the system cannot be booted from the card - see https://elinux.org/R-Pi_Troubleshooting#Red_power_LED_is_on.2C_green_LED_does_not_flash.2C_nothing_on_display for some analysis and some troubleshooting steps.

I can access the Sd card from Windows and was able to re image it. But I'll see if I have a spare to test with.

Efriim · 13 Apr 2019, 20:11

@t_mitch
It could be the powersupply. A phone charger wont often supply 5v 2.5a which is what you need.
I can't explain why a phone charger worked some times, but sometimes it will.

Somewhere on the charger head you should be able to read the output voltage/amperage, sometimes it is really difficult to read like on motorola chargers.

t_mitch · 13 Apr 2019, 22:28

@Efriim said in Fried Pi?:

@t_mitch
It could be the powersupply. A phone charger wont often supply 5v 2.5a which is what you need.
I can't explain why a phone charger worked some times, but sometimes it will.

Somewhere on the charger head you should be able to read the output voltage/amperage, sometimes it is really difficult to read like on motorola chargers.

It's 5V 2.0A

BuZz · 13 Apr 2019, 22:30

@t_mitch that's not sufficient for a RPI3. I recommend the official PSU.

t_mitch · 13 Apr 2019, 22:39

@BuZz said in Fried Pi?:

@t_mitch that's not sufficient for a RPI3. I recommend the official PSU.

Ok. I don't understand why it'd work for weeks and then suddenly stop. But I'll get an official PSU.

t_mitch · 14 Apr 2019, 00:05

BTW tried a different SD card with no luck. I've ordered another Pi3 just in case and a power supply.

wmarcio · 14 Apr 2019, 00:08

U can boot a usb linux Lubuntu on a normal pc, and xplorer the sdcard from there?

Efriim · 14 Apr 2019, 00:39

@t_mitch
The pis are pretty resilient. Phone chargers are never recommended, my motorola says
5V 3A or
9V 1.6A or
12V 1.2A
and it does not work. Okay it works, but it gives a constant low voltage warning.

I would recommend either of these two power supplies
Argon One Power Supply. I think the user reviews are fake which turns me off but not many others compare to its definition.
Raspberry Pi Official Power Supply. I havent heard anything bad about these, I don't know why I couldn't find this when I was searching for a PSU.

The ratings and grades for powersupplies are dependant on loose variables, where it says 5V 2.5A it is not always accurate to the usage.

lostless · 14 Apr 2019, 00:42

@t_mitch said in Fried Pi?:

@BuZz said in Fried Pi?:

@t_mitch that's not sufficient for a RPI3. I recommend the official PSU.

Ok. I don't understand why it'd work for weeks and then suddenly stop. But I'll get an official PSU.

Possible the low voltage caused corruption on the SD card. Not enough that you can’t read from it, but a file that just did not write properly.

grant2258 · 14 Apr 2019, 01:06

i would recommend a better charger but at saying that try another usb cable as well see if it boots. Cheap cables even with a decent charger cause issues as well.

t_mitch · 14 Apr 2019, 01:22

@lostless said in Fried Pi?:

@t_mitch said in Fried Pi?:

@BuZz said in Fried Pi?:

@t_mitch that's not sufficient for a RPI3. I recommend the official PSU.

Ok. I don't understand why it'd work for weeks and then suddenly stop. But I'll get an official PSU.

Possible the low voltage caused corruption on the SD card. Not enough that you can’t read from it, but a file that just did not write properly.

Already tried a different SD card. Didn't help.

New Pi a power supply on the way.

ByteThis · 14 Apr 2019, 02:18

@t_mitch Hopefully you just bought a new power supply..no pi. The pi is very resilient.

t_mitch · 15 Apr 2019, 19:08

New power supply didn't fix it. Popped the SD card out and put it into a new Pi B-3 and I got the blinky green light. Don't know what happened to my original Pi but it was clearly fried.

Normally I like fried pie. Especially apple. But in this case, not so much.

Efriim · 15 Apr 2019, 21:40

@t_mitch
That is unfortunate, maybe there is something on warranty, I think the Pi's have been successful they may be agreeable if you tell them. 5V 2A isn't far out of the level guidelines if this is what caused it, while it says nowhere to use a phonecharger, there are HP chargers and others replacements that are often used.