08-21-2019, 11:32 AM
So I'm brand new at this and the Freeplay Zero is my first build. I did some practice soldering for fun on a few kits, but overall it was...an adventure to solder the GPIO header onto the board. Anyway. I've been following the build guide + a few youtube videos, got to the point where I plugged in the ribbon cable, soldered the raspberry pi zero w, attached it, plugged it in, and...nothing.
When I plug the USB cable into the Freeplay Zero, it turns green (the light on the back). I've also plugged the battery (the perfect fit one) in at some point and the same light's blue (charging). I've found when I plug in the USB cord, the power light on the front flashes red and then disappears - like the battery is super dead and it's only barely able to pull together enough energy for that. So I'm not entirely sure what's going on.
I've attached a couple pictures of the raspberry pi zero because I'm guessing that's where the problem is. I managed somehow I think to solder it a bit crooked (you can see a tiny bit of space between the header and the board on the right side?). Logic dictates that's where the problem is, but I don't know enough to be sure.
OH I have the microSD card in there. Downloaded the file from Drive, the one that ends in like, 2002 or something (Retropie 4.4 on the change log). Used balenaEtcher to burn it to the SD, the boot part shows up on the PC when the microSD card is inserted.
I haven't had a chance to hook the Pi Zero W up to a monitor/test it that way. I mostly inherited a bunch of stuff when my Dad died so the more I do the more I realize I'm missing, and a screen not already hooked up to a raspberry pi of some sort is one of those.
Please let me know if there's any other info you need! I have another Raspberry Pi Zero W coming in a week or so, and I really would like to make this project work. I'm just really lost and not sure how to move forward.
When I plug the USB cable into the Freeplay Zero, it turns green (the light on the back). I've also plugged the battery (the perfect fit one) in at some point and the same light's blue (charging). I've found when I plug in the USB cord, the power light on the front flashes red and then disappears - like the battery is super dead and it's only barely able to pull together enough energy for that. So I'm not entirely sure what's going on.
I've attached a couple pictures of the raspberry pi zero because I'm guessing that's where the problem is. I managed somehow I think to solder it a bit crooked (you can see a tiny bit of space between the header and the board on the right side?). Logic dictates that's where the problem is, but I don't know enough to be sure.
OH I have the microSD card in there. Downloaded the file from Drive, the one that ends in like, 2002 or something (Retropie 4.4 on the change log). Used balenaEtcher to burn it to the SD, the boot part shows up on the PC when the microSD card is inserted.
I haven't had a chance to hook the Pi Zero W up to a monitor/test it that way. I mostly inherited a bunch of stuff when my Dad died so the more I do the more I realize I'm missing, and a screen not already hooked up to a raspberry pi of some sort is one of those.
Please let me know if there's any other info you need! I have another Raspberry Pi Zero W coming in a week or so, and I really would like to make this project work. I'm just really lost and not sure how to move forward.