Hi, I just got my BrickPi, so this is all beginner’s pains (although I already had a Pi)
I burned an image with the Dexterified Raspbian onto my card, and I followed the instructions in getting-started.
I assigned an IP address to BrickPi that wouldn’t conflict with all the stuff we have on our network (192.168.0.181)
I connected an Ethernet cable between my portable running Win8 and the BrickPi. All the lights on the BrickPi get turned on, but Putty won’t connect. Am I supposed to be able to ping that IP address? Cause ping doesn’t work either.
I hooked up the whole BrickPi to my former Pi station. It boots (it’s hooked up to a keyboard and a monitor) but does not connect to internet (it used to, when it was a standalone Pi with the standard Raspbian). This is a direct Ethernet connection to my router, not Wifi. But with BrickPi, it goes nowhere.
However, when it’s connected to that station, my laptop detects it. I’m running “Who’s on my Wifi” which actually detects everything, whether wifi or direct connection. It’s showing a new connection at 192.168.0.181 and it is indeed the Pi. Putty still won’t let me in though. I keep getting “Connection timeout”
Networking is my weakness. I don’t understand it. I’m stuck.
It won’t boot anymore. I’m only hooking up an HDMI screen so I can see what’s happening. And it just keeps rebooting. I get a few lines (they go too fast, but I’m not getting more than 15 lines) then the monitor says “No signal”, and BrickPi attempts again.
In an effort to debug, I removed the BrickPi and tried to boot with just the Pi (same SD card though). I switched to standard USB power, as the BrickPi is removed. It boots.
I get the BrickPi back on, constant rebooting.
I can now ssh into my Pi, using the homemade BrickPi SD card. I finally figured out the networking.
BUT
the BrickPi does indeed seem dead. If it’s connected to the Pi, the Pi won’t boot. If I remove it, I can boot no problem. I’ve been paying lots of attention to never having two sources of power at the same time (the one on the BrickPi and the USB one on the Pi). I know I didn’t goof there. The BrickPi I received never booted.
It sounds like a power issue. Make sure you have an adequate power supply.
Using the version of the BrickPi with the switching regulator, I regularly plug in power through u-USB when it’s on my desk (when I’m testing), in order to save battery power, and then connect the battery only when I’m running motors, or when it needs to be wireless. I haven’t had any problems using a u-USB power supply in addition to the BrickPi switching power supply (untested with the linear regulator).
THanks.
I’m supposed to have the new/better power system on the BrickPi. I’m using a brand new 9V battery for it. No motors are hooked up to it yet (nothing is hooked up).
9V should be enough, no?
9V is enough, but when you put a load on an unregulated power supply (like a 9v battery for example) the voltage will dip, possibly to the point that the 5v output dips as well (causing the RPi to be under-powered). If you have a volt meter, try looking at both the “9v” line, and the “5v” line.
The micro USB connected to the mains should power both the BrickPi and the Raspberry Pi. I had a problem with the BrickPi SD Card image and I couldn’t even get it started. No flashing lights. I don’t know why that happened. No body else seems to be having that problem. I was able to get the Raspbian image working, so I just converted that to the BrickPi image using the instructions for “Modify your own image” at http://www.dexterindustries.com/BrickPi/getting-started/pi-prep/.
Ok, I’ve got my multimeter, but I don’t know where to check for voltage. Are there specs somewhere? (there must be, but I guess I’m blind cause Im not finding them.)
You can check the battery voltage at the battery terminals or at the power input pins. This should never be below 7.3v, otherwise the voltage regulator voltage could dip below 5v. It shouldn’t be above 9.6v.
You can check the 5v circuit at the 2x13 header where the BrickPi plugs into the RPi. Pin 2 (the one furthest into the corner of the PCB) is 5v, and pin 6 (two pins towards the LEDs, in the same column) is Gnd. Ideally this should be 4.85v - 5.05v, and should never be below 4.6v, or above 5.2v.
