Power issue



  • This isn't really a gateway issue but it happened to my rasp pi gateway so I thought I would put this out here in case it happens to someone else: My Mozilla Webthings with MS addon has been running fine since last June and then a few days ago I could no longer connect. I tried rebooting and still no go, tried a few more times and no connection. So,, I'm thinking my SSD might be corrupted so I reinstalled the M gateway code and it doesn't work. So,,, then I put a full rasbian os SD card in the rasp pi and it boots up with the LIGHTENING BOLT (with same power supply I've been using the whole time). So anyway, I try another power supply that works on another (same version) rasp pi 3b+ and it gets lightening bolt also. Anyway, the whole thing was getting a little old so I ordered a new power supply that is certified for 3b+ and now it's working again. So, my rasp pi 3B+ looks like it's started to draw more power for some reason all of the sudden and faked me out on what the problem was. I guess I'll see if the rasp pi is going bad or something but it's running again for now. Moral of the story, check for power issues FIRST, LOL!



  • @rmalbers Yes, it seems that the old power supply was starting to fail. It happens sometimes. But good that you found the problem, many people underestimate the importance of a good power supply and buy the cheapest 'chargers' and then wonder why they have problems.

    My advice is always spend more on a good quality power supply of greater current than you think you will ever need. It saves a lot of time in the long run.



  • @skywatch The thing is the rasp pi 3b+ that I am using for the M gateway gave a lightenbolt running a clean rasbian desktop off an SD card using a power supply that another rasp pi 3b+ using that same SD card (and rasp pi desktop software) DOESN'T give a lightning bolt. In other words same everything except rasp pi 3b+, one lightenbolt, one NO lightening bolt so one rasp pi is drawing more current or it's voltage detection is wrong. Anyway, that is kind of an important part of this puzzle, in case someone else has this problem. This was really messing with me, LOL!



  • @rmalbers Same power cables?

    A 'pi' running one lot of software will use a different amount of power to an identical 'pi' running a different set of software. This will be influenced by CPU load and also memory usage and frequency of memory read/write cycles. Temperature can also play a part in this. This even applies if the firmware and hardware versions are the same.



  • @skywatchYup same software, just a boot to the raspbain desktop on each one, just idling at the desktop after boot from same sd card, one shows lightening bolt, other one fine. Same sd card, same power supply, same cable, just two different rasp pi 3b+ boards.


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