Rasp Pi 4B will not setup

azurarutlan

So I've read all the threads I could find before posting this, but I'm at a total loss for explanation as to what is going on for me here. If there's an answer I overlooked, I apologize in advance.

Last week I started setting up a Rasp 4B to run Retropie. Got the imager, got everything up and running, but did not have the time to get the bluetooth controllers working. I figured I'd get back to it the next day. Next day after work I get to work on it and it will not boot. At all. Couldn't get the SD card out either and ended up cracking the SD card. No big deal, I'll buy another card and redo. I went through 3 cards, none would boot, despite my PC and Imager seeing the cards no problem at all. My thought at this point was that I might have damaged the SD card port on the Pi. So I ordered another Pi online.

It arrived today and the same issue is persisting. And to prove the SD card port worked I installed Recalbox and that booted up no problem at all. Any ideas as to what could be happening? I'm running a CanaKit Extreme setup so power supply and cables should not be the issue.

mitu

Check this booting thoubleshooting topic on the Raspberry PI forums to see which phase of the boot stops and why.

Red_Trev

@azurarutlan it could be an issue with your TV receiving the Pi signal, I had the same problem with an old flat screen, please read my previous post: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/27529/solved-retropie-pi-4-will-not-display-on-old-model-tv?_=1634026643123

azurarutlan

@red_trev So again, Recalbox will work fine but Retropie will not. But I greatly prefer Retropie's setup. That's why I am trying to solve that issue rather than use that.

azurarutlan

@mitu So I looked at that topic and honestly I cannot make heads or tails of what exactly is going on. I can boot up pretty much any other software and OS on an SD card but the retropie image on the imaging tool is just not working. Though as I said Recalbox will work just fine.

Still looking for suggestions as to what could be the issue.

mitu

Install the Raspberry Pi OS Lite image through the RPI Imager and make sure it works. Then do a manual install - https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Manual-Installation/.

azurarutlan

@mitu When I did that what ended up happening was something very similar to just the Retropie imaging. Basically it'll show me the boot information, then go black, then just shut off. That's exactly what the Retropie imaging is doing.

mitu

So the Raspi Lite image doesn't boot, just shows the bootloader information ?
Can you try updating the booloader using the Pi imager - https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/raspberry-pi.html#updating-the-bootloader - and see if you get it to boot afterwards ?

azurarutlan

@mitu Did that already too. Same situation. I've even gotten the most recent image of Retropie and it just does the same thing. It is so beyond frustrating because I cannot seem to find anyone else having this issue and everyone is recommending the same solutions that I've been trying :(

mitu

Are you, by any chance, formatting the card after the Pi Imager writes the RetroPie image ? When you insert a Linux formatted card on Windows, you get a prompt to 'fix the filesystem' from the OS, since it cannot read what's on the Linux partition where the actual RetroPie/Raspi OS resides.

azurarutlan

@mitu When I insert the card I do nothing. I close any prompts from Windows. I open up Imager, do Erase through Imager, then do an image.

mitu

@azurarutlan My only idea at this point is to try to use Etcher to write the image or use another PC for writing the image and see if it boots.

IanDaemon

@mitu Isn't there an issue with which HDMI port you initially use? I thought there was some confusion before about that with the Pi 4. I don't have a 4 yet, but it's nice to learn about any pitfalls beforehand.

mitu

@iandaemon either HDMI port should be fine, the issues in the very beginning were with the sound only working on port 1, but nowadays it's not an issue.
I assume that if the bootloader screen shows up, the cable is fine and the video works, especially if installing other distro is ok. Assuming the hardware is fine, the issue seems to be after loading the kernel and booting the system.

azurarutlan

@mitu I used 2 different PCs, and Etcher on both, as well as 3 different SD cards on each. Same result. Would a video of what happens be useful or is my description good enough?

mitu

@azurarutlan I think the description is enough, but still can't figure out why it doesn't boot properly. You can take a video and upload it so we can take a look, but if it's just showing the Pi4 bootloader and then a blank screen, then it's pretty much what you've described so far.

Can you modify the config.txt that's on the boot partition on the sdcard and add hdmi_safe=1 to it, then boot again ? Just to try out if it's not a monitor/TV video mode mismatch that wouldn't show the image on the screen.

sleve_mcdichael

@mitu said in Rasp Pi 4B will not setup:

the issues in the very beginning were with the sound only working on port 1, but nowadays it's not an issue.

But if they can't boot then they can't upgrade past the 4.7.1 version that's on the image, so they won't get the "fix," yeah?

I remember a while back, someone else had an issue where they would get the boot text but then it would just go to a black screen. Sound familiar? They said they fixed it by using the correct port on the Pi.

@azurarutlan if you are using the second port, it might be worth a try to use the other one just to see.

I found the topic: see https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroPie/comments/lu8048/this_happens_everytime_i_boot_retropie_after/gp4te0z/

azurarutlan

@mitu Its already set to hdmi_safe1.

@sleve_mcdichael So I've tried both ports. This seems to be an issue, for me anyways, tied specifically to Rasp OS Lite or the Retropie image. I can run pretty much all the other software in both ports with no issues.

As far as upgrading the firmware I can't seem to get anything for Rasp Pi OS to run at all. I hooked up a keyboard and it still is doing the same thing. Basically bringing me up the ititial screen with QR code (that has the download link) then black screen.

I'm so confused because I never had this issue with a pi3 when I set this up years ago for a different friend.

mitu

Can you post your config.txt ? Put the text in a code block (add ``` before and after the txt).

azurarutlan

@mitu

# For more options and information see
# http://rpf.io/configtxt
# Some settings may impact device functionality. See link above for details

# uncomment if you get no picture on HDMI for a default "safe" mode
#hdmi_safe=1

# uncomment this if your display has a black border of unused pixels visible
# and your display can output without overscan
#disable_overscan=1

# uncomment the following to adjust overscan. Use positive numbers if console
# goes off screen, and negative if there is too much border
#overscan_left=16
#overscan_right=16
#overscan_top=16
#overscan_bottom=16

# uncomment to force a console size. By default it will be display's size minus
# overscan.
#framebuffer_width=1280
#framebuffer_height=720

# uncomment if hdmi display is not detected and composite is being output
#hdmi_force_hotplug=1

# uncomment to force a specific HDMI mode (this will force VGA)
#hdmi_group=1
#hdmi_mode=1

# uncomment to force a HDMI mode rather than DVI. This can make audio work in
# DMT (computer monitor) modes
#hdmi_drive=2

# uncomment to increase signal to HDMI, if you have interference, blanking, or
# no display
#config_hdmi_boost=4

# uncomment for composite PAL
#sdtv_mode=2

#uncomment to overclock the arm. 700 MHz is the default.
#arm_freq=800

# Uncomment some or all of these to enable the optional hardware interfaces
#dtparam=i2c_arm=on
#dtparam=i2s=on
#dtparam=spi=on

# Uncomment this to enable infrared communication.
#dtoverlay=gpio-ir,gpio_pin=17
#dtoverlay=gpio-ir-tx,gpio_pin=18

# Additional overlays and parameters are documented /boot/overlays/README

# Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)
dtparam=audio=on

[pi4]
# Enable DRM VC4 V3D driver on top of the dispmanx display stack
dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d
max_framebuffers=2

[all]
#dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d