PocketBeagle fragile?

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Paul Beam

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Nov 23, 2020, 8:52:56 PM11/23/20
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I now have a stack of 5 PocketBeagles that I have managed to break one way or another over the past year -- usually, doing something stupid like probing with a scope and the probe slips and shorts something out.  The symptom is all the same -- just a brief flash of the power LED when you apply power or push the power button.   Does anyone know what fails?  My assumption is the Octavo SOC fails and I should just throw these away,  It does seem like there is something fragile.,

chris1...@gmail.com

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Jan 16, 2021, 10:04:49 AM1/16/21
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This really isnt any help but I started setting one up last week as I am going to get into the christmas displays next year. In FPP I shut mine down before removing power. Yesterday I connected everything again and NOTHING, single blue flash when i connect to PSU or to the USB port.. So yes, same thing happened to me and I didnt do anything.

Dennis Lee Bieber

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Jan 16, 2021, 11:52:40 AM1/16/21
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On Sat, 16 Jan 2021 07:02:37 -0800 (PST), in
gmane.comp.hardware.beagleboard.user
chris19681986-Re5J...@public.gmane.org wrote:

>going to get into the christmas displays next year. In FPP I shut mine down
>before removing power. Yesterday I connected everything again and NOTHING,

"FPP"? (floating point processor, I doubt).

Did you disconnect ALL peripherals before removing the main power
supply? If you didn't, and any peripheral still had a charge feeding back
to the Beagle, you likely killed at least a few GPIO buffers, if not more.


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Dennis L Bieber

jonnymo

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Jan 16, 2021, 11:57:41 AM1/16/21
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Just out of curiosity since I have a PB as well, how are you powering the board?  
Are you plugging straight into a PC USB port or via a Powered USB Hub? 
Is a case or carrier board being used? 
Are there any external components connected to the PB GPIOs or other interfaces?

The environment the board is being used in might be of consideration, such as carpet or solid floor like hardwood. I would suspect the PB is quite susceptible to ESD issues. 

Cheers,

Jon

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chris o

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Jan 16, 2021, 12:05:28 PM1/16/21
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Sure did. After shutdown, disconnected the only string I had hooked up.  Ordered a pocket beagle from digikey. This is all for getting started with lights. Have a f16v3 on the way. Only doing roof line and 2 8ft candy canes this first year. Thanks

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jonnymo

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Jan 16, 2021, 12:24:27 PM1/16/21
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Is that what FPP is in reference to? Falcon FPP BBB?

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chris o

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Jan 16, 2021, 1:31:47 PM1/16/21
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Powering straight off PSU. I'm using mine for pixel lights for christmas display. The usb port does not supply enough to power both.

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chris o

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Jan 16, 2021, 1:31:47 PM1/16/21
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Also it will be mounted in a waterproof case along with a 400 watt power supply. PB will be on standoffs 

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Dennis Lee Bieber

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Jan 17, 2021, 7:15:35 PM1/17/21
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On Sat, 16 Jan 2021 09:24:05 -0800, in gmane.comp.hardware.beagleboard.user
jonnymo <jonnymovo-Re5JQE...@public.gmane.org> wrote:

>Is that what FPP is in reference to? Falcon FPP BBB?
>http://www.falconchristmas.com/wiki/Falcon_FPP_BBB
>

Yeesh, that page needs updating... Angstrom hasn't been "default" for
what, 6 years? And the R-Pi likely has 1+GHz & 1GB RAM these days.


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Dennis L Bieber

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