Power Pine64 via GPIO

[HeadShot]

Andrew2 - thank for that response.  Can you tell me where the test points on the board are that shows the active voltage?  Or should I just monitor it at the 5V out pin on the EULER bus?

It would be nice to have a more detailed document on the board.  Unless it's already on the wiki and I missed it.

So, can anyone tell me the max Vin for this board?

[Andrew2]

So, can anyone tell me the max Vin for this board?

The power requirements are clearly written: 5V/2A. If you want to destroy the board feel free to inject higher voltages (5.1V maybe even 5.2V are fine, especially when powering through Micro USB since voltage drops will occur anyway)

Regarding test points please have a look at the schematic (no idea whether this has been released or not)

[TeaPack]

So, can anyone tell me the max Vin for this board?

The power requirements are clearly written: 5V/2A. If you want to destroy the board feel free to inject higher voltages (5.1V maybe even 5.2V are fine, especially when powering through Micro USB since voltage drops will occur anyway)

Regarding test points please have a look at the schematic (no idea whether this has been released or not)

Well, PMIC on this board can work with max of 7V and unfortunately, microUSB is connected directly to Eulers pins, so there is danger of destroying other devices connected to microUSB port, when Pine is powered over pins...

complete schematics:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0cEs0l...sp=sharing

PMIC datasheet:
https://github.com/OLIMEX/OLINUXINO/blob...t_V1.0.pdf

[rahlquist]

So, can anyone tell me the max Vin for this board?

The power requirements are clearly written: 5V/2A. If you want to destroy the board feel free to inject higher voltages (5.1V maybe even 5.2V are fine, especially when powering through Micro USB since voltage drops will occur anyway)

Regarding test points please have a look at the schematic (no idea whether this has been released or not)

Well, PMIC on this board can work with max of 7V and unfortunately, microUSB is connected directly to Eulers pins, so there is danger of destroying other devices connected to microUSB port, when Pine is powered over pins...

complete schematics:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0cEs0l...sp=sharing

PMIC datasheet:
https://github.com/OLIMEX/OLINUXINO/blob...t_V1.0.pdf

Keep in mind that schematic is not valid as it relates to power on the 2Gb model, there were changes and that revised schematic has not been posted.

Just because the PMIC has a tolerance of 7v doesnt mean they designed the board so that anything else sharing its Vcc rail can handle that. Why, I bet there are capacitors on the board rated for 16v.....

Also according to that schematic D+ and D- on microusb are not connected, so, what would you hook to it other than power?

[TeaPack]

So, can anyone tell me the max Vin for this board?

The power requirements are clearly written: 5V/2A. If you want to destroy the board feel free to inject higher voltages (5.1V maybe even 5.2V are fine, especially when powering through Micro USB since voltage drops will occur anyway)

Regarding test points please have a look at the schematic (no idea whether this has been released or not)

Well, PMIC on this board can work with max of 7V and unfortunately, microUSB is connected directly to Eulers pins, so there is danger of destroying other devices connected to microUSB port, when Pine is powered over pins...

complete schematics:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0cEs0l...sp=sharing

PMIC datasheet:
https://github.com/OLIMEX/OLINUXINO/blob...t_V1.0.pdf

Keep in mind that schematic is not valid as it relates to power on the 2Gb model, there were changes and that revised schematic has not been posted.

Just because the PMIC has a tolerance of 7v doesnt mean they designed the board so that anything else sharing its Vcc rail can handle that. Why, I bet there are capacitors on the board rated for 16v.....

Also according to that schematic D+ and D- on microusb are not connected, so, what would you hook to it other than power?

Personally nothing =) but if someone tests more options and forget to unplug the cable, something can get hurt... =) and I was checking schematics for 20 minutes to figure out if DCIN on Euler and USB lines are connected to anything else and I couldn't find anything.

Hope new schematics will be released as soon as possible...

[xmasone]

More like volts u need amps

100% wrong. The power problems most Pine users suffer from are related to voltage drops below a certain treshold.

Before you start telling funny stories please use the test points on the board to measure voltages and a powermeter to monitor consumption. Unless you add a lot of power hungry peripherals you will have a hard time to get the Pine consuming more than 1.5A.

You can use really demaning workloads that make use of heavily optimised code and compiler switches and you will need ACTIVE COOLING to exceed 2A (BTDT: be aware that some of the conclusions in this post are still to be verified or wrong) and will then need to power the Pine64 through the Euler connector.

The problem with Micro USB used for DC-IN is that the tiny contacts prevent providing more than 1.8A (by specs!) and that most if not all USB cables Pine64 backers use are simply crap to power a board (resistance too high).

Finally: Power ratings written on a PSU are also pretty worthless since the problem are still voltage drops and most higher rated PSUs show identical behaviour: In case you really increase consumption and would need the amps the PSU is rated for, the voltage drops below a treshold and the board will power down. 

Everything well known since years (since the Raspberry Pi foundation unfortunately decided to use this crap Micro USB connector for DC-IN on the Raspberry Pi) and just here another example for the very same problem nearly all users are facing without knowing it since they believe in "more like volts u need amps" and similar nonsense:  https://www.loverpi.com/blogs/news/93532...comparison

The Micro USB connector especially for the Pine64 makes no sense as a design choice. The MAX the adapter can supply is 1.8 yet the board requires 2.0. Not sure which school of design the designers went to but I was always taught if it requires 1 design for 1.3 to 1.5.  There are so many wall pods that can provide good stable power with the regular round connector and center pin, this micro USB makes no sense.