ThunderBorg not working

Submitted by p.eachus@virgin... on Mon, 10/08/2018 - 17:05

Forums:

My thunderborg seems to have stopped working and cannot be detected by raspberry pi. Is there any way to test the thunderborg hardware?

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piborg

Mon, 10/08/2018 - 17:59

There are a number of reasons this might have happened, most of them are easily fixed :)

Can answer a few questions to help us diagnose the problem for you:

  1. Does the RGB LED on the ThunderBorg perform a red, green, blue sequence when the power has been connected?
  2. Have you tried recharging your batteries? Quite often things misbehave when the batteries are getting flat
  3. What result do you get if you run this command in a terminal: sudo i2cdetect -y 1
  4. Did you update the software on your Raspberry Pi around the same time it stopped working?

p.eachus@virgin...

Tue, 10/09/2018 - 15:42

Yes ther RGB LED performs the sequence.
When I enter sudo i2cdetect -y 1 I get an empty table?

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piborg

Tue, 10/09/2018 - 16:52

Usually cabling is the problem when nothing is shown in i2cdetect. Is your ThunderBorg directly mounted on the Raspberry Pi or is it connected via cables?

p.eachus@virgin...

Wed, 10/10/2018 - 09:51

It is mounted directly on the pi. I have tried it on two different pi's and it doesn't work with either. I have also checked the batteries and they are fine.

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piborg

Wed, 10/10/2018 - 16:50

It is possible that the I2C setup has become corrupted / misconfigured. I have seen updates cause such problems.

First use sudo raspi-config and enable any I2C options.

Next re-run the ThunderBorg install script:

cd ~/thunderborg
./install.sh

Finally restart the Raspberry Pi and see if the scripts / i2cdetect can now see the ThunderBorg.

p.eachus@virgin...

Fri, 10/12/2018 - 14:01

cd ~/thunderborg
./install.sh

Re run the reinstall script but i2c still not showing Thunderborg. Is their any way to test the thunderborg board?

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piborg

Sun, 10/14/2018 - 09:06

There is no easy way to directly test the ThunderBorg, but it is looking likely that there is a problem with the board.

We have seen a number of Raspberry Pis where the GPIO pins are not working correctly. This would cause the problem you are having and is fairly easy to test.

First disconnect everything from the GPIO.

Next download and build the WiringPi code:

cd ~
git clone git://git.drogon.net/wiringPi
cd wiringPi
./build

After it has built run the GPIO pin tester:

~/wiringPi/gpio/pintest

You should see some diagnostics after pressing ENTER:

PinTest
=======

This is a simple utility to test the GPIO pins on your Raspberry Pi.

NOTE: All GPIO peripherals must be removed to perform this test. This
  includes serial, I2C and SPI connections. You may get incorrect results
  if something is connected and it interferes with the test.

This test can only test the input side of things. It uses the internal
pull-up and pull-down resistors to simulate inputs. It does not test
the output drivers.

You will need to reboot your Pi after this test if you wish to use the
serial port as it will be left in GPIO mode rather than serial mode.

This test only tests the original pins present on the Rev A and B. It
does not test the extra pins on the Revision A2, B2 nor the A+ or B+

Please make sure everything is removed and press the ENTER key to continue,
or Control-C to abort...

          The main 8 GPIO pins  0: 7:  OK
                The 5 SPI pins 10:14:  OK
               The serial pins 15:16:  OK
                  The I2C pins  8: 9:  OK

If all of the end lines say OK then the problem is with the ThunderBorg, otherwise the GPIO pins are not working correctly on the Raspberry Pi itself.

sir_Madaki

Sun, 03/10/2019 - 01:49

Hello,

after following these steps of testing my GPIO pins, only the first line showed up quickly (The main 8 GPIO pins 0: 7: OK) and the raspberry pi go off immediately...

My challenge at first is; "the thunderborg doesn't show the light sequence (it doesn't show light at all).

I'm total lost now as my raspberry pi doesn't execute the GPIO test script as shown above...

I need help please. Thanks.

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piborg

Sun, 03/10/2019 - 14:38

It sounds like there may be a problem either powering the Raspberry Pi or with the GPIO port itself.

When you performed the GPIO test did you do all of the following:

  1. Remove all devices from the GPIO, including the ThunderBorg
  2. Power the Raspberry Pi using a USB charger
  3. Remove all devices from the USB ports except the keyboard / mouse
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