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USB power problem

Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2019 8:52 pm
by codfangler
I've been having a lot of fun playing around with my StereoPi but , so far, I've only used Ethernet for my testing. Now I am in the process of building a camera to run on a rechargable battery and realised I needed to use a WiFi USB dongle to get the best from it. I tried three separate units, one an official Raspberry Pi device and none of them worked. After checking everything was set up correctly, I realised that the USB sockets on my board are not powering anything. Am I missing something or is this a fault on the board?

Re: USB power problem

Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2019 8:04 am
by Realizator
Hi Codfangler,

As you can use Ethernet, I can suggest that Microchip's USB/LAN chip is powered up correctly and works.
As for the USB - we need to check several hypothesis.

1. Please check, if it is 5V power on USB connectors. The easiest way is to check it on USB pins (pinout is here in our Wiki)
Notice: StereoPi has special power feature, where power from power source goes directly to USB pins, and is not controlled by Broadcom CPU. I can suggest, that there are no short circuit at USB power lines in your case, as this way all power of the board will be short circuited. But please check the voltage at USB pins, and, ideally, measure current consumed by the board.

2. Have you tried other devices, not WiFI? For example, keyboard or mouse, or USB flash dongle?

3. Have you tested both USB A connectors?

4. According to point 1, I can suggest another problem. May be some data lines of USB are short circuited. Please check, if it is everything Ok with usb contacts inside the connectors. Look at the similar problem description here at our forum.

Let's try to analyze your case. If it is a board problem - we will send you replacement board. Our second batch already delivered to our partners, and in the nearest days I plan to send replacement boards to users who needs it (there are 3 boards now, as I described in our statistics in this comment).

Re: USB power problem

Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2019 9:12 am
by codfangler
Hi, thanks for the prompt reply.
Yes, I have plugged in a keyboard and a mouse. The mouse is an optical one and does not light when the board is operating.
As far as I can tell, everything else is working perfectly. I am running the latest dedicated OS and have taken both video and stills very satisfactorily so I'm fairly certain the rest of the board is working perfectly. I have noticed that the USB sockets seem to be not quite correct.......
By this, I mean that the lower socket seems very loose and the upper very tight. On inspecting with a bright light, they also seemto have their connections at different depths from the front and plugs don't enter the socket fully.
I have just now checked the voltage on the underside of the USB sockets and both read 5v so that also seem to point to faulty sockets rather than the board.
Hope this helps

Re: USB power problem

Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2019 9:52 am
by Realizator
Could you please make a photo of your USB connectors? You can attach it here to your post, or send me by email to @gmail.com, with my nickname on this forum before '@' sign.
Also, as a plan B to use your board before replacement arrives, you can use 3rd USB on a pins. I usually do a simple adapter, using 4pin Dupont connector on one side (like this one), and USB A connector on another side.

Re: USB power problem

Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2019 1:22 pm
by codfangler
Hi, USB 1 is a normal photo and USB 2 is taken with a flash to try and get more detail. Due to having to take a larger area to maintain focus and subsiquent cropping this is as good as it gets unfortunately.




USB 2.jpg
USB 2.jpg (161.78 KiB) Viewed 4480 times
USB 1.jpg
USB 1.jpg (120.11 KiB) Viewed 4480 times

Re: USB power problem

Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2019 1:47 pm
by Realizator
Codfangler, thank you very much!
Now I understand your situation. I think it is a USB connector problem, as their contact pins inside should not be damaged by any USB device, as in your case. May be bottom connector is still Ok and you can use it before replacement board arrives.
I will contact you by email to discuss replacement details.