First Build - White screen to RetroPie logo to white

[polytrigon]

This is my first build. I've got it all assembled. Everything looks good. 

Unit is the CM3 version.

Steps I've taken:

1. formatted a Sandisk ultra 64gb sd using SD Card Formatter.
2. downloaded the freeplayCM3 image from freeplaytech.com
3. flashed the image onto the SD ard using Win32DiskImager
4. Placed SD card into the CM3 and held power button until green light
5. Screen is white then shows the RetroPie logo momentarily
6. Screen turns off and power light turns off
7. Turn CM3 back on, screen is white then shows retropie logo then goes to white
8. Stays white screen foreverrrrrr

I've also tried an alternate SD Card. 

Not sure what else to try at this point. I'm sure I missed something stupid.

p.s. sorry if this is a typical issue, I skimmed the forums and couldn't find any like posts.

[Flavor]

I think #7 is the clue here. I am thinking that maybe the LCD ribbon cable isn't fully seated or locked down.

I know this isn't a great video, but make sure it's locked down like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sch5ZW1idz4

[polytrigon]

I think #7 is the clue here.  I am thinking that maybe the LCD ribbon cable isn't fully seated or locked down.

I know this isn't a great video, but make sure it's locked down like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sch5ZW1idz4

It is possible for it to show the retropie logo and still be broken/unseated?

[Flavor]

Does it always show the RetroPie logo every time you boot up? I thought you said it only showed it one time.

[polytrigon]

Does it always show the RetroPie logo every time you boot up?  I thought you said it only showed it one time.

When I boot the unit up it it's white screen > retropie logo > white screen every time.

[Flavor]

Is the front green light still on?
Can you connect HDMI to see what the Freeplay CM3 is doing at that time?
Are you able to SSH into the machine?

Either HDMI or SSH will let you know if the machine is still running, and it would be interesting to know what's on the HDMI screen when the LCD goes white.

There is a new problem with the Freeplay Zero when running on RetroPie 4.4.  We have a fix for that, but it didn't seem to be necessary on the CM3.  I guess it's possible that the fix needs to be implemented for some CM3s.  Perhaps your SD card changes the boot speed or something.

If you can SSH in (or use a keyboard + HDMI), you could test this fairly easily by adding a "sleep 6" in /etc/init.d/fbcp.sh
sudo nano /etc/init.d/fbcp.sh

Change this function:

Code:

do_start()
{
        # Return
        #   0 if daemon has been started
        #   1 if daemon was already running
        #   2 if daemon could not be started
        start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --pidfile $PIDFILE --exec $DAEMON --test > /dev/null \
                || return 1
        start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --background --make-pidfile --pidfile $PIDFILE --exec $DAEMON -- \
                $DAEMON_ARGS \
                || return 2
}

to

Code:

do_start()
{
        # Return
        #   0 if daemon has been started
        #   1 if daemon was already running
        #   2 if daemon could not be started
        start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --pidfile $PIDFILE --exec $DAEMON --test > /dev/null \
                || return 1
        sleep 6
        start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --background --make-pidfile --pidfile $PIDFILE --exec $DAEMON -- \
                $DAEMON_ARGS \
                || return 2
}

[polytrigon]

Is the front green light still on?
Can you connect HDMI to see what the Freeplay CM3 is doing at that time?
Are you able to SSH into the machine?

Either HDMI or SSH will let you know if the machine is still running, and it would be interesting to know what's on the HDMI screen when the LCD goes white.

There is a new problem with the Freeplay Zero when running on RetroPie 4.4.  We have a fix for that, but it didn't seem to be necessary on the CM3.  I guess it's possible that the fix needs to be implemented for some CM3s.  Perhaps your SD card changes the boot speed or something.

If you can SSH in (or use a keyboard + HDMI), you could test this fairly easily by adding a "sleep 6" in /etc/init.d/fbcp.sh
sudo nano /etc/init.d/fbcp.sh

Change this function:

Code:

do_start()
{
        # Return
        #   0 if daemon has been started
        #   1 if daemon was already running
        #   2 if daemon could not be started
        start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --pidfile $PIDFILE --exec $DAEMON --test > /dev/null \
                || return 1
        start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --background --make-pidfile --pidfile $PIDFILE --exec $DAEMON -- \
                $DAEMON_ARGS \
                || return 2
}

to

Code:

do_start()
{
        # Return
        #   0 if daemon has been started
        #   1 if daemon was already running
        #   2 if daemon could not be started
        start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --pidfile $PIDFILE --exec $DAEMON --test > /dev/null \
                || return 1
        sleep 6
        start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --background --make-pidfile --pidfile $PIDFILE --exec $DAEMON -- \
                $DAEMON_ARGS \
                || return 2
}

Will give this a try when I get a chance. The green light is on when it is white screening. I left the unit on for 2 hours to see if it needed time to process - still white screen.

Tried using a third SD card just to rule out that it's not an issue with the cards I had. Still with the same behavior.

What is the possibility that my CM3 module is defective?

[Flavor]

Will give this a try when I get a chance. The green light is on when it is white screening. I left the unit on for 2 hours to see if it needed time to process - still white screen.

Tried using a third SD card just to rule out that it's not an issue with the cards I had. Still with the same behavior.

What is the possibility that my CM3 module is defective?

Do you mean the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 itself? I think it's a very low probability.

If you can test HDMI, that would be the #1 thing to try. That will tell you a lot about how the system is working.

Another test you can do to see if things are "running" properly is to let the machine boot up (should be less than a 30 seconds) and then hold the power button over for 10 seconds or so. That should tell the system to shut itself down. The green LED and the LCD should turn off. Then you can use the power button to boot it up again.

Also, just so we're on the same page, make sure that your power button works like a momentary "button" like the Nintendo DS Lite (and not like an ON/OFF switch like the GBA).

If you were inclined to try a different SD image, you could try this older CM3 image
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1HXHMWJ...6Gseqd0PjN
or this RetroPie 4.4 image for the Zero
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qLoBor...uCF1BeJyQx

Either of those could give us a good clue about what might be the problem. The 4.4 Zero image already has the "sleep" I mentioned, and the older CM3 image is from an earlier version of RetroPie that may not exhibit this problem.

[polytrigon]

I think there is something wrong with my hardware. We took the SD card out of the unit and put it in a raspberry pie and it booted 100% fine.

[Flavor]

I am assuming that your Raspberry Pi doesn't have the LCD connected.

I see that you have opened a support ticket, so I will continue this conversation there.