Red Light Power Flickering
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PI 4B 8GB
5.1 V 3.1A PSU
32 GB SD Card
128 GB USB for Roms
2 sets of arcade joystick and LED buttonsDoes someone know what to do if my red power led on my PI4B is flickering, then slowly dies after shutdown, instead of staying on? I don't get any power warnings when I'm using the retropie system. The red light flickering normally isn't a big problem, but earlier, the light flickered and shut off before even getting to boot.
My PSU is 5V 3.1A, so that shouldn't be an issue. It's been running fine for over a year now, but this problem cropped up in the last month or two.
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@hellothere Did the PSU go bad? Maybe it was slowly going bad when it was flickering? Is the PSU from something else? Do you have a lot connected to the Pi that could be sucking up power?
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@iandaemon I tried using another unused PI4B with the same PSU and it seems to run perfectly. I also tried different PSU's that worked before, but they all seem to have the same issue somehow
It's only powering a non-lightup keyboard, mouse, and USB thumb drive, at the most, the arcade controls are running on a powered USB hub. It's an official RPI PSU, too. I tested it with just the SD card plugged in, and still the same issue
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@hellothere Do you have a lot plugged into to the suspect Pi4? When you tested the second Pi4 did you have the same things plugged in? Maybe you're drawing too much power with the hub? Is its power supply working fine? :thinking:
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@iandaemon The USB hub gets power separately through another power outlet, it's just connected to the PI to send user input via controls.
When I have the suspect PI4B plugged into another outlet in the house, with only sd card and keyboard, it now manages to boot, but the light flickers and goes out after sudo shutdown now.
I didn't have the same things plugged in when I tested the new PI4B, that's a good idea, I'll try that and see what happens.
The power sockets inside the arcade cabinet are DIY so maybe they could be the cause, but they've been working for months. I'm kinda considering getting a PIJUICE UPS and seeing if that would regulate the voltage/power recieved and fix the problem.
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@hellothere
depends on what you mean by flickering
if it's 'blinking' like on this video it's probably a power supply issue (could be worth cleaning the contacts with some isopropyl)
If it's (what I call) flickering, and the pi still works, it sounds like how LEDs go bad and eventually die - which is actually a relief as you don't have an annoying flashy light anymore
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@lister-of-smeg
Yeh now it just doesn't boot at all unfortunately, same as the video, no matter what I try. At least it's consistent now haha. So I guess the board itself is broken and I need to get a replacment?Unfortunately it's been more than a year, so I doubt this board is still under warranty
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@lister-of-smeg said in Red Light Power Flickering:
depends on what you mean by flickering
if it's 'blinking' like on this video it's probably a power supply issue (could be worth cleaning the contacts with some isopropyl)It's blinked and shut down like that at least once now. I might try cleaning the contacts.
If it's (what I call) flickering, and the pi still works, it sounds like how LEDs go bad and eventually die - which is actually a relief as you don't have an annoying flashy light anymore
But you're right, this could also be the problem. Currently, without an SD Card installed, the PI4B's red light and green light came on at boot, and now the green light is just staying active while the red light flickered off.
How can I be sure if it's an LED problem or a power problem?
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How can I be sure if it's an LED problem or a power problem?
I would start by checking the rest of the peripherals (you mentioned having another pi - use that with the exact existing setup) That should let you know if the original board is faulty or not
If the board is randomly shutting down I suspect it will need replacing
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@lister-of-smeg said in Red Light Power Flickering:
I would start by checking the rest of the peripherals (you mentioned having another pi - use that with the exact existing setup) That should let you know if the original board is faulty or not
If the board is randomly shutting down I suspect it will need replacing
Alright, I'll try that later today. Yeah I also figured it needed replacing.
Just thinking of how to prevent a repeat, could a split-second power outage have caused the Pi to die? While I was playing on it weeks ago, there was a quick power outage a week ago during a thunderstorm, not long enough for the PI to lose power or immediately cause this problem, but maybe that could have fried the electronics? Maybe I need to use a UPS or regulator
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