The Dreaded Red Led of Nothingess

[nickarls]

(since there appears to be an entire subforum for this, I'll skip the "have you searched the forums"-part) ;-)

So. I got my 2G version in one of the first batches, never got it to boot but have now returned for a second round. The problem is that all I get at boot is a red led

1. I have an fast, authentic memory card
2. I have tried burning two different images with Phoenix Card and DiskImager
3. I don't have an Ethernet cable attached
4. I have tried two different power supples (5V/2.1A latest one)

Is there *any* way of debugging the boot process so I can figure out if it's a power issue, an image issue or a hardware issue?

thanks in advance,
  Nik

[MarkHaysHarris777]

Is there *any* way of debugging the boot process so I can figure out if it's a power issue, an image issue or a hardware issue?

hi , get yourself one of these serial debug cables from ada fruit.

...  it is a PL2303 based serial ttl to usb bridge that you plug into the uart0 port on the PineA64 board, and then plug the usb cable into your gnu+linux pc, or other too.  You can then monitor the serial console during boot-up.  The white wire goes to pin(7) of the EXP header, the green wire goes to pin(8), and the black wire goes to pin(9).

DO NOT plug the red wire into anything !

These cables are indispensable for finding out what is going on during boot-up...

[Boring]

Red led sounds great. It is the only led colour I know on the pine.

The pine is sometimes a bit picky on HDMI cable and monitor/screen. What did you try in this area?

[nickarls]

Thanks for the reply, I'll have to check if I find anything local otherwise the shipping fee will probably be more than my board ;-)

It would be nice if there would have been three LEDs on the board, they could have given 8 states of power-on. Even POST beeps from the speaker would have been an improvement...

---

Red led sounds great. It is the only led colour I know on the pine.

The pine is sometimes a bit picky on HDMI cable and monitor/screen. What did you try in this area?

Tried it with on my computer monitor and on my TV (another cable), same result on both.

[pfeerick]

Thanks for the reply, I'll have to check if I find anything local otherwise the shipping fee will probably be more than my board ;-)

It would be nice if there would have been three LEDs on the board, they could have given 8 states of power-on. Even POST beeps from the speaker would have been an improvement...

---

Red led sounds great. It is the only led colour I know on the pine.

The pine is sometimes a bit picky on HDMI cable and monitor/screen. What did you try in this area?

Tried it with on my computer monitor and on my TV (another cable), same result on both.

An adapter like this one will do just as well... you just need three leads to connect the pins to the pine64. If you don't already have some, a kit like this will do you well as it has all three of the combinations you might need if you intend to experiment with other electronics stuff. Otherwise, just get the cheapest set of female to female dupont leads you can get your hands on

And since ARM processors don't have a BIOS to handle the POST (Power On Self Test) that we are so familiar with on computers, doing any sort of beep on startup, or multi-led diagnostic adds a lot of complexity to the start up process that just isn't warranted. Pretty much every ARM board will give you access in some shape or fashion to the Serial console, so it is considered the best compromise. That plus unless it is a catastrophic failure and nothing works, the serial console/terminal can usually provide much better diagnostics than a blinky led. 

@Boring: What... do you mean the yellow and green leds on the ethernet port don't count? 

[nickarls]

Thanks, I'll see what I can find. I used to build my PC from components but nowadays I'm a grumpy old man who just want things to work OOTB ;-)

[MarkHaysHarris777]

Thanks, I'll see what I can find. I used to build my PC from components but nowadays I'm a grumpy old man who just want things to work OOTB ;-)

Both of these devices 'just work' and they are available at the Pine store:

   

This one above is cp2102 based, plugs directly into the EXP header, and then runs to your PC with just a standard printer usb cable.

   

This one (similar to the one mentioned by pfeerick) is also available from the Pine store.  In this case (also cp2102 based) you plug this into your PC, then run twisted pairs to your EXP header pins 7,8, and 9.

Please see us on the irc chat  and we'lll help you use these.

[nickarls]

Thanks, I'll see what I can find. I used to build my PC from components but nowadays I'm a grumpy old man who just want things to work OOTB ;-)

Both of these devices 'just work' and they are available at the Pine store:

I was referring to the board itself ;-)

[MarkHaysHarris777]

Thanks, I'll see what I can find. I used to build my PC from components but nowadays I'm a grumpy old man who just want things to work OOTB ;-)

Both of these devices 'just work' and they are available at the Pine store:

I was referring to the board itself ;-)

Development boards always require tweaking...

... and prototype software is usually a work in progress.  Usually in those situations a good set of tools is nice to have. Generally, if it comes in a polished case... it just works.  If it comes "as is" and looks like a circuit board, well then it probably needs knowledge and a minimal set of tools.    ;-)

[nickarls]

Yep but I have a feeling that many have been a bit disappointed when they have expected a more finished product, comparing it to the RPI which have had years to iron out production issues etc.