My PBP starts up like a 1977 Chevy Nova

[rotwang]

OK, gave Armbian a shot on the emmc. 

Same result: Sometimes boots fine. Sometimes freezes still showing the desktop after boot. Sometimes freezes with a black screen after boot. Sometimes goes to a frozen orange and green blinking power light as soon as I press the start button. No solution to any of them but cold restart.

So... how many more operating systems do I have to try before we're convinced this isn't a software problem?

Thanks guys!