PowerBlock Install software and pin 12

stan.jewula

Hello,

I have installed the PowerBlock software in the user folder - is that the correct spot? or should I install in the root dir?
I cannot get pin 12 working. Does anything need to be changed in powerblockconfig?

Thank you. Stan

stan.jewula

I have learned that this board does not work on a PI Zero. Website didn't make that clear. Works well on my PI 4.
I am running WS2811 lights and I would like to use Pin 12. The documentation says that pin 12 ia available. It is not working. If I jump the light wire to PIN 12 on the board the lights come on. S2 (pin 12 not working).
I soldered on some haeder pins - it is possible that I damamged something.

Anyone have any ideas for me? I'm not a programmer and have limited knowledge on these boards.
Thank you.

stan.jewula

Update (mostly works) now......

Somewhere along the way the WiFi stopped working.
Start over

New memory card fresh install of Bullseye.
Setup the board
Wifi started working.
Installed software for the PowerBlock board.
Startup and shutdown button now works.
Updated Python pip3 and installed drivers (?) for the WS281x lights.
Reboot - Startup and shutdown button still works.
Test my lights - they do not work. S1 is supposed to be pin 12. Does not work. Put a jumper from the signal wire to the solder joint where pin 12 connects the PI to the PowerBlock. I need pin 12 on the PI to work through S1
The lights come on and work.
Exit Python.
*Reboot - Startup and shutdown button still works.
From the documentation on the website
Signal breakouts for input voltage, output voltage, and control signals
There are individual pin outs for the 5V input and output voltages, as well as for the control signals S1 (pin 12), and S2 (pin 11).
From Github documentation
statuspin: Raspberry BCM pin used for status signaling (default: 17) connects to S2 on PowerBlock
shutdownpin: Raspberry BCM pin used for shutdown signaling (default: 18) connects to S1 on Powerblock
Trying to set the config to 0 in the attempt to bypass these pins and have them work as the website indicates results in the Statup / shutdown no longer working.
End result = board works, just not for my application. I am going to hack the board next to connect this pin 12 to my lights. I'll update if it works or is a smoking pile on my bench.

stan.jewula

Does anyone else have problems using the contact button on the https://www.petrockblock.com/contact/ website?

Doesn't like to work. Hey @petrockblog you monitoring this at all?

Thanks. Stan

petrockblog

@stan-jewula Hi Stan, sorry for this late reply!
You can re-assign the status pin and shutdown pin according to your project within the config file /etc/powerblockconfig.cfg (see also https://github.com/petrockblog/PowerBlock#configuration).
The pin values come from the Raspberry Pi's BCM chip scheme and you can look it up, e.g., at https://pinout.xyz/pinout/pin12_gpio18/.
You should set these values to some free GPIOs of your project.
This approach gives you maximum freedom with your GPIO choice.

Please note, though, that there comes a caveat with this re-assignment: The pins 17 and 18 are hard-wired to the PowerBlock 2x6 female connector. This means that you cannot use the pin header connector directly anymore but need to use jumper wires or similar to connect the PowerBlock power and signal lines to the Raspberry Pi.

On a side note thanks for the hint about the contact form, I am taking a look into it now.

stan.jewula

I finally got it to work with @petrockblog help. The pin out link, which I had been staring at, finally clicked. Reassigned the pins allwas good. Soldered on some wires to get away from the thin jumper wires.
Once again it is not working properly.

Plugging the power it - the PI starts right up without pushing the button.
Shutdown works.
Pressing the button again does not restart - the stsus light only flashes.
I have reinstalled the software and changed the pin assignment.

I'll go uninstall end retry again.

Stan

petrockblog

I am glad to hear that!