Well, for starters let me say that I am very frustrated by my interaction with this board. I'm in no way a hardware guy, but I'm a developer, so it should be fairly easy for me to get this thing started. However, nothing works. I'm pretty sure my board is not DOA, but that it doesn't like something I do; only there are too many things that it can dislike, for me to try them all.
So, here's my setup:
1. Memory
I've seen the posts about counterfeit SD cards, and I'm fairly sure that mine is not. It's a 64GB SanDisk Class 10 card. Nothing fancy, but it should do the trick. Nothing else to say here.
2. Display
I originally tried hooking it up to my Samsung monitor, which only has DVI and VGA, so I used a DVI -> HDMI converter. After I saw all the "no-no" posts about this, I hooked it up to my Phillips TV, which has HDMI input. My TV is HD Ready (meaning 720p, however it does say that it supports 1080p coming from computers). The only thing I can't verify is my HDMI cable, but it does work on my XBox 360, so why shouldn't it work with the Pine?
3. Peripherals
Originally I started it with just HDMI and ethernet cable. After a few seconds, the ethernet connection started showing activity (both yellow and green lights lit up; this is the reason I think my board is not DOA). However after I saw the posts about not hooking anything up but the display and card, I also removed the ethernet cable.
4. Power
First I tried with an old no-name phone charger and the USB cable I got with my phone. Later I found out that the charger only gives 5V 1A, so next I tried it with my OnePlus One charger, which outputs exactly 5V 2A. The cable seems also pretty good quality. The only thing I'm worried about here, is that my OPO charger has a US-type socket, and I live in Europe, so I'm also using an adapter (but AFAIK that doesn't transform the current).
5. Software
I tried all 3 methods of flashing Android and RemixOS onto my card: Win32DiskImager, PhoenixCard and DD (the last one via ubuntu). Since I haven't found a video which follows this process from start till end (including sticking the card into the board and booting), I have no idea about stuff like what filesystem to use (for Win32DiskImager and DD -- PhoenixCard formats the card), and stuff like that.
6. Other stuff
I'm pretty sure I've tried almost all the suggestions on this forum, and no, nothing worked.
After trying all these things, I will probably try flashing Ubuntu as my last resort (although I'm not getting my hopes up), but the end result will probably stay the same: the board starts (red LED), stays on as long as I let it, however there's no video to my screen.
As I said at the beginning, my experience with this board is incredibly frustrating, and I can barely refrain myself from using certain words to describe the project leaders, because honestly? I don't think I'll ever get it to work. Some people say it can be resolved via a software improvement, but I think it's a hardware problem, and that I can throw the board away. In any case, in hopes that I'm wrong, I'll keep the board for a couple of months, and try again. If it still won't work, I'll throw it away and get myself a Pi3, and always be angry at myself for being to cheap to spend an extra $20 to go for the Pi from the beginning.
Also, I understand that the project owners are still having headaches to fulfill the Kickstarter pledges, but that does not in any way mean that they should neglect documentation & software. The wiki page is nothing more than a bunch of user-written suggestions. The Android & Ubuntu images are also user-contrib, so basically low-to-none software support from the creators, just a shiny board.
PS. What's up with the power button being in the yellow shipping bag?! It should be in the box at least. I've thrown it away and had to go through my trash to get it back.
I honestly hope you guys are having better luck than me
So, here's my setup:
1. Memory
I've seen the posts about counterfeit SD cards, and I'm fairly sure that mine is not. It's a 64GB SanDisk Class 10 card. Nothing fancy, but it should do the trick. Nothing else to say here.
2. Display
I originally tried hooking it up to my Samsung monitor, which only has DVI and VGA, so I used a DVI -> HDMI converter. After I saw all the "no-no" posts about this, I hooked it up to my Phillips TV, which has HDMI input. My TV is HD Ready (meaning 720p, however it does say that it supports 1080p coming from computers). The only thing I can't verify is my HDMI cable, but it does work on my XBox 360, so why shouldn't it work with the Pine?
3. Peripherals
Originally I started it with just HDMI and ethernet cable. After a few seconds, the ethernet connection started showing activity (both yellow and green lights lit up; this is the reason I think my board is not DOA). However after I saw the posts about not hooking anything up but the display and card, I also removed the ethernet cable.
4. Power
First I tried with an old no-name phone charger and the USB cable I got with my phone. Later I found out that the charger only gives 5V 1A, so next I tried it with my OnePlus One charger, which outputs exactly 5V 2A. The cable seems also pretty good quality. The only thing I'm worried about here, is that my OPO charger has a US-type socket, and I live in Europe, so I'm also using an adapter (but AFAIK that doesn't transform the current).
5. Software
I tried all 3 methods of flashing Android and RemixOS onto my card: Win32DiskImager, PhoenixCard and DD (the last one via ubuntu). Since I haven't found a video which follows this process from start till end (including sticking the card into the board and booting), I have no idea about stuff like what filesystem to use (for Win32DiskImager and DD -- PhoenixCard formats the card), and stuff like that.
6. Other stuff
I'm pretty sure I've tried almost all the suggestions on this forum, and no, nothing worked.
After trying all these things, I will probably try flashing Ubuntu as my last resort (although I'm not getting my hopes up), but the end result will probably stay the same: the board starts (red LED), stays on as long as I let it, however there's no video to my screen.
As I said at the beginning, my experience with this board is incredibly frustrating, and I can barely refrain myself from using certain words to describe the project leaders, because honestly? I don't think I'll ever get it to work. Some people say it can be resolved via a software improvement, but I think it's a hardware problem, and that I can throw the board away. In any case, in hopes that I'm wrong, I'll keep the board for a couple of months, and try again. If it still won't work, I'll throw it away and get myself a Pi3, and always be angry at myself for being to cheap to spend an extra $20 to go for the Pi from the beginning.
Also, I understand that the project owners are still having headaches to fulfill the Kickstarter pledges, but that does not in any way mean that they should neglect documentation & software. The wiki page is nothing more than a bunch of user-written suggestions. The Android & Ubuntu images are also user-contrib, so basically low-to-none software support from the creators, just a shiny board.
PS. What's up with the power button being in the yellow shipping bag?! It should be in the box at least. I've thrown it away and had to go through my trash to get it back.
I honestly hope you guys are having better luck than me
