Issues with login screen that doesn't work no matter how I install or what Pi 3 I use

yogsodoth

I have a Pi 3 B Ver. 2 and a Pi 3 B+.

With the Pi 3 B+:
If I download the latest RetroPie 4.4 image and put it on a card using Win32DiskImager, the Pi will not boot, gives the low power signal. I have tried a 2.5A CanaKit power supply and a 2.5A official Raspberry Pi Foundation power supply. I've also tried booting Raspbian Stretch straight-up and it runs fine.
If I run the Manual Install script on a stock Raspbian Stretch (April 2019 build), everything runs, I perform the updates, and then the Pi boots to a login screen. I see several errors during boot but I can't capture them before the login screen appears. The hostname shows as raspberrypi (should be retropie I believe), and the standard pi:raspberry user/pass combination does not work.

With the Pi 3 B Ver. 2:
Using the downloaded 4.4 image, I get the same login/password problem as above.
Using the manual install, again, the same login/password problem.

I've read through the forums. My keyboard mapping is fine, typing "raspberry" at the login prompt user field to test the keyboard shows "raspberry" as it should.

Have tried swapping SD cards several times for each combination of power and Pi version. Always the same results.

Would love to get Retropie running but damn guys, you're not making it easy. Any advice/troubleshooting tips?

mitu

@yogsodoth try writing the image using Etcher.

yogsodoth

Sure, will give it a try.

yogsodoth

Aaaaand that was the problem. Image written with Etcher worked perfectly.
Thanks @mitu! Cheers!

Note to self: Avoid using Win32DiskImager in future.

mitu

@yogsodoth win32diskimager knows how to backup your card, so don't discard it yet.

simpleethat

@yogsodoth interesting that it didn't work, I've never had a problem with Win32DiskImager yet. But it's good to know if I run across a similar issue I can always try out etcher.

@mitu your frequency of helping people never ceases to amaze me. Thank you for all the time you put into helping all of us.