PBP won't boot (no amber or green LED)

[ian-s-mcb]

@clover I already tried the steps @as400 posted about maskrom mode. I never got to the point were rkdeveloptool detected my PBP. As I mentioned before and quoted below, I don't know what maskrom mode looks like.

Also, can somebody tell me what it looks like when PBP is in maskrom mode? Does the laptop screen display anything? Should the power LED light up?

@wdt Did wiggling the buttons or holding them for varied lengths of time help you? Did you ever recover from a unlit power LED? How did you short the SPI chip? I tried a bent paperclip because I don't have wire available.

[KC9UDX]

Some metal paperclips these days are non-conductive. They have a thin coat of plastic instead of galvanising. You can scratch with a knife to see.

[clover]

Also, can somebody tell me what it looks like when PBP is in maskrom mode? Does the laptop screen display anything? Should the power LED light up?

- Plug your usb-a end into your other computer and usb-c end into your pinebook pro

- On pinebook, get into maksrom mode. If you can't maskrom easily because SPI is bootable (only should be the case if you have flashed uboot or some other boot software to your SPI already) follow as400's guide

- Verify you are in maskrom. On other computer:

Code:

rkdeveloptool ld

look for maksrom output (e.g., DevNo=1 Vid=0x2207,Pid=0x330c,LocationID=1401 Maskrom)

[ian-s-mcb]

Some metal paperclips these days are non-conductive.  They have a thin coat of plastic instead of galvanising.  You can scratch with a knife to see.

I think I know which paperclips you're talking about. Usually they come in fun colors. The one I tried was all metallic and didn't have a coating.

---

Also, can somebody tell me what it looks like when PBP is in maskrom mode? Does the laptop screen display anything? Should the power LED light up?

- Plug your usb-a end into your other computer and usb-c end into your pinebook pro

- On pinebook, get into maksrom mode. If you can't maskrom easily because SPI is bootable (only should be the case if you have flashed uboot or some other boot software to your SPI already) follow as400's guide

- Verify you are in maskrom. On other computer:

Code:

rkdeveloptool ld

look for maksrom output (e.g., DevNo=1 Vid=0x2207,Pid=0x330c,LocationID=1401 Maskrom)

Are you saying that the only indication that you're in maskrom mode is successful output from the rkdeveloptool command?

[clover]

Are you saying that the only indication that you're in maskrom mode is successful output from the rkdeveloptool command?

I think so.

[wdt]

>@wdt Did wiggling the buttons or holding them for varied lengths of time help you? Did you ever recover from a unlit power LED? How did you short the SPI chip? I tried a bent paperclip because I don't have wire available.

No leds (other than red pwr) extra long press, from wrong boot software (a64) or netBSD current, I think maybe UEFI
My pbp is a virgin, the back has NEVER been off, so.... no serial, no disable emmc,, so no maskrom

Logic, I use logic. If recovery button is held, you must ALSO reboot to enter recovery
If nothing else, could unplug, replug battery (& of course, push pwr button 1s)
Use small pointed sissors, will embed into solder, not slip,
ELSE point ends of paperclip with file, sandpaper
Just checking,, you are holding recover button for a few (5?) seconds after reboot?
It does take a little while to enumerate (non-existant) storage

[KC9UDX]

The paperclips I was referring to aren't bright colours like those. They look like ordinary stainless clips but they most be plain steel, and in stead of being stainless or galvanised, they have a thin coating of clear plastic. Some of them can be spotted at a distance because the coating is thick or not completely transparent. But others aren't so obvious.

[wdt]

I doubt you have a DVM,,, however....
How to tell which button is "bad"?
(I would do this with battery disconnected)
Check,, Vss to gnd,,, should be low
check clk to Vss, should be quite high
check with button pushed, should be 100 or less, OR distinctly smaller

[ian-s-mcb]

The paperclips I was referring to aren't bright colours like those.  They look like ordinary stainless clips but they most be plain steel, and in stead of being stainless or galvanised, they have a thin coating of clear plastic.  Some of them can be spotted at a distance because the coating is thick or not completely transparent.  But others aren't so obvious.

Fair enough. I'll stay away from paperclips.

[James Good]

It sometimes is good (or at least reassuring) to know that someone else has experienced a problem similar to what you are having.  On Friday of this past week (August 21, 2020), I turned my PBP on and let it run for a while.  I also connected the charging cable in case some update needed a little more power from the battery.  There were several updates that were completed without any problem (that I know of).  When I turned the PBP off after an hour or two, maybe a bit longer, the power indicator showed a little over 95% charge.  Today when I attempted to turn it on again, the power button seemed to work as it should.  The power LED was first amber then turned to green.  But the screen was still black.  There was no log-in screen at all.  I tried some of the tools that could be used to get into the log-in screen and then to the desktop.  All without any change or success.  In a few minutes, I will print, from another computer, the file referenced and attempt that recovery method.  Thanks to the community for the responses to the newly found problems and for finding at least 'work around' solutions until the problem could be corrected at its source.
James Good