BBB power led blinking, revived after several power button presses

[Bert Lindner]

Just had a 5V powered Beaglebone Black seemingly die on me. First the power led kept blinking, then after removing the (BB Toys CAN) cape the power led would flash just once after applying power. Looking back in previous threads this seemed to mean I killed the board somehow; there was also a GPS module attached to one of the UARTs and a probably power hungry USB wlan stick that I'm trying to get to work, so a power hungry setup.

I was ready to declare it dead, it remained just flashing once after repeatedly unplugging and reattaching the power supply.

However I noticed the single power led flash would also happen if I pressed the power button (leaving the 5V plug in). Doing that repeatedly seems to have revived the board, will see if new problems occur. For now it behaves normally.

Is this expected behaviour?

Best,

-Bert

[Gerald Coley]

This is not expected behavior. Although, it may be explained once it is understood as to what is going on..

Gerald

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[Bert Lindner]

Hard to say really. It first happened during a reboot, I think, and a milder version since happened at another reboot. Maybe it's temperature related and it needed cooling down a bit that first time?

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[Gerald Coley]

Possibly. But I am at a loss to say where. We need a way to consistently duplicate this so we can take a look.

Gerald

[M Robinson]

Last ditch: connect 3.7V (or similar) to the battery pins (TP6 3.7V, TP8 gnd), and see if it boots up. My 5V 1.2A switching PS can barely handle my board, but the battery is good enough to handle the bursts without driving the P/S into over-current protection (cutoff). My Li-Po has managed to stay at 3.9V after being plugged in for a while.

[Bert Lindner]

On Friday, November 22, 2013 5:39:46 PM UTC+1, Gerald wrote:

Possibly. But I am at a loss to say where. We need a way to consistently duplicate this so we can take a look.

Gerald, I think it's simply broken - even the bare BBB without any capes or USB devices will refuse to operate immediately after power now, just one short power led blink after application of power or power button (very reliably, it pretty much always happens). If I keep pressing the power button often enough at one point it will come to life and boot normally. I don't know how I managed to break it - is having a too power hungry setup enough?



Best, -Bert

[Gerald Coley]

I suggest you request an RMA.

http://www.elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBoneBlack#RMA_Support

Gerald

[Bert Lindner]

On Sunday, December 1, 2013 9:13:17 PM UTC+1, Gerald wrote:

I suggest you request an RMA.

http://www.elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBoneBlack#RMA_Support

ok thanks.

[tcb...@gmail.com]

Very interesting thread, as this is exactly what has happened to me...with TWO RevC units now. The first unit died about 6 weeks ago, while just sitting on a wooden desk, powered by an external 5v power supply purchased (as was the BBB) from Adafruit. So I ordered another unit from Adafruit, received it and have been using it. I was working out of Derek Molloy's new book last night, and connected an ADXL345 accelerometer via a very simple I2C circuit, and the thing 

was working. However after 4-5 minutes it powered down, and now will not power up again. And the kicker is that I then connected the exact same circuit to my Beaglebone White unit, and it works perfectly--and continues to do so. I've connected countless circuits to the BBW unit without incident--so it makes me wonder where I'm going wrong with the BBB? RMA requests have been submitted for both units, so at the very least maybe I can get some feedback as to what the problem(s) might be.

TB 

 

[1127...@gmail.com]

I had a similar problem- my power LED would just continue blinking when connected to a 5V power source. This meant there was something wrong. First, I checked if my BBB was still alive. To find that, I connected my board to a computer via USB. Surprisingly, this time power LED  turned on normally. Then to make sure that everything was properly, I ran some program as given in the BB website http://beagleboard.org/getting-started.  I was happy to see, the programs on the website worked just fine on my board. Thus, I was able to conclude that strangely, my BBB board didn't like 5V external power source!

[Dr. Michael J. Chudobiak]

> http://beagleboard.org/getting-started. I was happy to see, the
> programs on the website worked just fine on my board. Thus, I was able
> to conclude that strangely, my BBB board didn't like 5V external power
> source!

The BeagleBone Black & BlueSteel Basic seem to be extremely sensitive to
the rise time of the 5V power supply at startup.

1 ms or longer is a problem, and it is not at all unusual for power
supply to be slower than this.

200 us is reliable.

See also:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/beagleboard/aXv6An1xfqI/Vy9JxPRvIPwJ

The original BeagleBone White, for whatever reason, did not have this
issue. (Anyone know why?)

I feed my raw power in through a voltage-controlled solid state relay
circuit, and I get 100% reliable startups now.

- Mike

[Ki...@lriver.com.tw]

Hi, there,

I also have the power problem in my  two Beaglebone black, Rev C. One of my BBB totally die out and no any led turn on when the power was plugged in no matter from usb or DC jack. The other one just have the power led flashing once. 

I have disabled the HDMI in Env.txt and use six pins for receiving three DC motor decoder signals, use three pins to output PWM signal and three pins for direction control for three DC motor.  

So far, I still couldn't find the reasons that make them broke even I carefully read the user manual. I also use flyport with pic24 for flying control for more than one year and that board is very stable and never give me any headache.

The BBB designer or manufacturer should came out to give us a good explanation because so many people have same power problem.    

Best Regards,

Chi-Wei Wu

[mdtsa...@gmail.com]

Identical problem this morning:  BBB boots fine when powered by USB, but not when powered by a 2.0 mA rated 5.0 V DC power supply (nicked from some other device).  BBB power LED blinks continuously.  This power supply has worked with this BBB in the past.

Mike.

[Gerald Coley]

I have seen this before. The USB path and 5VDC paths are different through the PMIC. It is possible that the PMIC has sustained some damage or it could be the 5VDC power supply is not powering up properly, where it has a voltage spike, causing the PMIC to shutdown.

Past performance of power supplies is no guarantee of future performance. It could be right on the edge.

Gerald

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Gerald

 

ger...@beagleboard.org

http://beagleboard.org/

http://circuitco.com/support/

[Mike Traynor]

Thx.  Will try another PS if I can find one.  Otherwise will have to stick with USB for now.  M.

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[Mike Traynor]

Have you tried booting from an SD card?

On Wed, Feb 25, 2015, 17:38 null <crawf...@gmail.com> wrote:

My Rev C BBB purchased from Adafruit just died on my in the exact same way. I can't get it to boot at all whether connected to USB or 5V power supply.

[crawf...@gmail.com]

My Rev C BBB purchased from Adafruit just died on my in the exact same way. I can't get it to boot at all whether connected to USB or 5V power supply.

On Wednesday, February 25, 2015 at 2:02:07 PM UTC-5, Mike Traynor wrote:

[Gerald Coley]

I suggest you switch to a \different power supply. A good one.

http://www.elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBoneBlack#Improper_Power_Down....All_Revisions

Gerald

[David Crawford]

I tried booting from an SD Card and got nothing. I tried a different power supply, and it won't boot.

Really not happy with the BBB as I've only used it a handful of times. It died after I pressed the Reboot button, which I now know can cause it issues.

I think I'll buy the RPi2 and not mess around with BeagleBone anymore.

On Thu, Feb 26, 2015 at 11:26 AM, David Crawford <crawfor...@gmail.com> wrote:

The power supply I bought is from AdaFruit, which I expected to be well suited to my BBB.

I haven't yet tried booting from an SD card, so I'll do that this evening.

[David Crawford]

The power supply I bought is from AdaFruit, which I expected to be well suited to my BBB.

I haven't yet tried booting from an SD card, so I'll do that this evening.

[estefaniadesir...@gmail.com]

Hi, How many time did you pressed the power button to get it on? did you only connect the 5vdc power supply or also the Usb cable to computer? I'm having the same issue
I tried what it says here: http://elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBone#Board_Does_Not_Power_On.2C_Power_LED_Flashes.5BAll_Revisions.5D
"When removing power, hold the reset button DOWN." But I didnt manage to get it to work does the usb cable need to be connected to or only the 5dcv?

I also tried to flash it but it doesnt happens what it supposed to according to what it says here:http://elinux.org/Beagleboard:Updating_The_Software#Procedure

[David Crawford]

I tried the listed fixes and did not get anything to work.

I tried flashing, using different power sources. In the end, I decided to switch my system over to use a Rasp Pi 2. The BeagleBone is in a box and I do not plan on using it again.

Hope you figure something out! I just didn't want to waste time trying to revive it.

[estefania desiree avalos rivera]

The doctor I'm working with at the University declared it fried and gave me a white board, he degrade me :(

I was testing the eQEP and I had divisor resistors protecting GPIO but he said because impedance, it fried the processor 

[wuchiwei]

I already burned down three of BBB, and now I totally give it up!

[alvi...@gmail.com]

I have been having this same issue where the LED blinks once when 5V DC power is applied. I would have to plug and unplug the DC adapter pin, or press the power button several times before the LED holds steady and the BBB boots. No such problems if powered by USB.

I have been working with my local Element14 support folks to figure and we found the power adapter we were using with the BBB took about 30 secs to lose charge after powering it off. If I power off the DC adapter and wait 30 secs before powering it back on, the LED will hold steady and the BBB boots.

They are still investigating the issue but for now waiting 30 secs works for me.

Alvin

[ahad...@gmail.com]

I have the same issue, already 3 boards has died.
any solution, i tried to use optoisolator/pwm and noting. the BBB is a bad board.

[Gerald Coley]

The flashing LED indicates excess current is being drawn by the processor. This can be related to damaged I/O pins or power supplies that are not well regulated..

Gerald

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[rosenb...@gmail.com]

Gerald: I have 2 BBBs that will give a single brief flash of the power LED when the power button is pushed, as described by others. It will not sustain the power LED on nor boot up. When I power it from the barrel connector (Adafruit regulated 5v power source / AC to DC 5v 2A) while on a digital volt / ammeter, no current flow registers at all during the brief flash of the power LED. The voltage reads 5.08 volts. I cannot see that this is due to either an unregulated power source (also happens on USB power on 2 PCs by the way). Nor does it look like excessive current draw. Other ideas?

[rosenb...@gmail.com]

I now have 4 damaged or dead BBBs. On this last board (Element 14), I had only a stepper motor driver board connected (Pololu DRV8834), and nothing else. The DRV8834 was initially drawing power from the VDD5v on the BBB. The BBB "blacked out" twice while nothing was happening and while connected to both a 5V regulated power supply (Adafruit) and USB power. I was worried that the DRV8834 was drawing too much power (although I have found it uses < 200 mA @ 5V), so I used a separate power supply for the DRB8834. Only the logic of the DRV8834 was hooked up to the BBB - nothing that would supply power and no analog inputs.  The third blackout also occurred without an obvious precipitant - again with both power sources connected (USB and barrel plug). Now the power LED flashes briefly when either USB or barrel plug power (Adafruit power source for BBB) is connected to the BBB. It will not sustain the power button nor boot up.

This seems to be a repetitive theme on this forum. I am losing faith in the BBB ever functioning in a real world environment if it is this fragile. Is there any way to protect the BBB processor (or whatever is blowing) with external circuitry or power?

Appreciate any help. I'm now out over $200 with these boards and I cannot identify anything that should be damaging them. Considering changing to another system at this point. Although I am impressed with the capability of the BBB, I would not call it a robust system.

Help!

On Thursday, June 11, 2015 at 9:08:39 PM UTC-4, Gerald wrote:

[Gerald Coley]

If you do not use it properly, it will be damaged. That applies to every electronic circuit ever designed. I would have stopped using the circuitry after the second try.

I would be happy to look at your circuit and see if I can identify what the issue might be.

Gerald

[Alan Rosenbloom]

Gerald: I am super impressed that you would offer your valuable time to help with not much in return than thanks.

Background: I’m developing a complicated prototype and I am new to embedded systems. I was fairly frustrated that I could not “just hook things up” and have them at least not destroy the BBB while testing. I am beginning to understand that, like any device, more capability comes with more complexity and vulnerabilities. I still see the BBB as an amazing opportunity for inventors overall and realize that I need to learn more to use it properly.

                I cannot point to one circuit that caused the damage to the BBBs because I am trying different arrangements to integrate multiple devices. However, if you could answer some basic questions on design strategy, that could help.

Here’s what I need to accomplish:

I need to power 4 accessories: (1) a small stepper motor through the Pololu DRV8834 driver board. It consumes about 200 – 300 mA at 5 volts, (2) an IC chip via pulse wave modulation – it requires about 620mA at 1.55V,  (3) a small DC motor which consumes about 40 mA at 3V (either by PWM and a relay or straight from a 3.3 V source) and (4) a small cooling fan – consumes about 120 mA at 5 V.

I need to control turning all these on and off by a clock function.

I need to read a GVS digital sensor:  consumes less than 10 mA at 5 V.

I need to read a GVS analog input:  5V input, output < 1 volt.

I need to read DC voltages (analog): (1) on a pin on the DRV8834 driver board (0-1 volt range), (2) on a sensor with special input requirements – it needs both (+) 5 volts AND (-) 5 volts inputs to power it. The (-) voltage is derived from (+) 5 V using this inverter ICL7660A, which I have found to be about 91% efficient at converting DC (+) to DC(-) for this application. Sensor output max about 1.2 volts.

Finally, I need to add and read a real time clock (RTC) such as the Chronodot (Adafruit) – requires I2C bus SDA, and SCL, as well as GND and (+) 5V.

What do you think of these strategies:

(1)    Use the BBB-GVS board (http://beagleboard.org/project/BBB-GVS/). This board appears to provide a layer of protection from the sensor voltage inputs and power outputs for the BBB. The problem is they may not be a reliable supplier and I cannot tell if this board will accomplish all these tasks.

(2)    Use the BBB only for logic and supply all the power from an independent (probably 5V cell phone charger power pack) source with voltage regulator, using PWM and relays to regulate the voltages lower than 5 V and relays to control intermittent power needs. Would this be safer for the BBB i.e. not using power directly off the BBB while trying to read sensor output at the same time? It seems dangerous to me tying all the grounds together (analog, digital and power) that would be required to get both power out of the BBB and signal into it.

(3)    Power the BBB via a 3.7 volt backup battery through TP5 and TP8 to prevent abrupt cessation of power should a system failure occur. Seems like it would be possible to write code to give the “sudo shutdown –h now” command when the power went down. This would allow the PMIC time to do an orderly shutdown.

 

I suspect that the sensors may be putting voltages on the BBB pins before they are powered up as part of the problem, but I am not sure how to prevent this. Is there a way to power up the sensors after the BBB has properly booted and to shut them down before the PMIC does its shutdown sequence? Any other external wiring or devices that could help safeguard the BBB? Any advice you can offer on any of this or other ways to protect the BBB would be appreciated.

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[Gerald Coley]

That is a long email. Send me a direct email, and at some point we can have a discussion.

Gerald

[Alan Rosenbloom]

OK - great!. For a direct email, is your address mtdsa...@gmail.com?

Alan

[Gerald Coley]

No, ger...@beagleboard.org

Gerald

[Dennis Cote]

On Monday, January 26, 2015 at 12:56:31 PM UTC-7, mjc wrote:

The BeagleBone Black & BlueSteel Basic seem to be extremely sensitive to

the rise time of the 5V power supply at startup.

1 ms or longer is a problem, and it is not at all unusual for power

supply to be slower than this.

200 us is reliable.

From the datasheet for the TPS65217 PMIC used on the BBB, section 9.3.9.1, TI seems to agree.

Note that the rise time of VAC and VUSB must be less than 50 ms for the detection circuits to operate properly. If the rise time is longer than 50 ms, the IC may fail to power up. 

HTH

Dennis Cote 

[k90...@web.de]

Mine died just now and was powered by roboticscape with 2S lipo and USB.

Cape is okay, BBB dead....bit miffed about this...

No possible DIY repair ?