White Screen
#1
So I am not sure at this point if this is a hardware issue or a software issue. I am thinking it is hardware as I have tried using both versions 4.4 and 4.3 of the image file and I am still getting a white screen. I have followed the build guide to the letter and made no additional modifications. when I turn the device on for the initial boot I only get a white screen. I know that I need to leave the power on for about 10 seconds before the OS takes over. However I have held it on for at least a minute multiple times and still only get a white screen. No LED is turning on at all, just the LCD turns on and stays white as long as I have the power held down. I have reformatted the SD Card multiple times and Flashed 4.3 & 4.4 onto the SD Card using Etcher. I got the Image File from the link in the build guide. Again I am following the build guide to the letter and getting no other results. I have checked the ribbon to make sure it was properly connected and locked in place using the friction locks. Everything is as it should be except the OS will not boot up. I currently do not own a Micro HDMI to Normal HDMI cable/ converter so I cannot test to see if it is a display issue yet or not. I do Plan on getting one this weekend to test this. Any additional help or thoughts on why this is happening is greatly appreciated. I have attached a few pictures of my build so far, not sure if it will help, but wanted to give something to go off of for a reference. 

Just a quick edit, I have gone through the trouble shooting guide completely and have found nothing that helps. I do however possibly have an idea of what might be causing this. The Freeplay CM3 Circuit Board (Red One) and the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 Lite(Green One) did come to me in the mail not attached as stated in the description of the product, I did not realize this until I went over the product description again recently. I did insert it manually, but it may not be seated correctly or all the way, I cannot find a video showing how this needs to be done, but I did insert it as far as I could without applying unnecessary force. 
Reply
#2
Hey Reidlos88!

I realized that I always just pointed people to some other lame video showing how to insert/remove laptop RAM in the past, so, thanks to your prompting, I made a new video just now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn_pFBwEQxA
Card Fighters' Clash 2 English Translation ( http://cfc2english.blogspot.com/ )
Neo Geo Pocket Flash Cart and Linker Project ( http://www.flashmasta.com/ )
Avatar art thanks to Trev-Mun ( http://trevmun.deviantart.com/ )
Reply
#3
Now, I'll discuss more about the root problems/symptoms you're experiencing. Some of this information is for other people that come along, because it certainly sounds like you've done a lot of digging/research into this already.

If the screen only stays white, that means that it is not receiving a proper signal from the Pi. There could be many reasons that would happen, but, in this case, I would suspect that the operating system isn't booting at all.

The green LED is the indicator that the correct operating system is booting up. Some people will mistakenly try to boot a "stock" version of Raspbian or RetroPie. Those would also result in a white screen without a green LED even if they were starting the operating system (without being able to see it starting up).

But, in your case, Reidlos88, we have 3 main indications that you have specified.
1) White Screen
2) No LED
3) Using The CORRECT SD Image File

#3 isn't 100% verified, because you didn't mention the actual file name you used to burn with Etcher. As of right now, the latest RetroPie 4.4 file is named Freeplay_CM3_19060603.img.gz and the 4.3 file is Freeplay_CM3_18032101.img.gz. [That will change (probably today), because we have a new updated 4.4 file in the pipeline.] Could you confirm that these are the files you are using?

You are correct in thinking that a Raspberry Pi Compute Module that is not 100% fully attached could cause this problem. Please also confirm that yours is seated like the aforementioned video shows.
Card Fighters' Clash 2 English Translation ( http://cfc2english.blogspot.com/ )
Neo Geo Pocket Flash Cart and Linker Project ( http://www.flashmasta.com/ )
Avatar art thanks to Trev-Mun ( http://trevmun.deviantart.com/ )
Reply
#4
Thank you so much. I was using the correct image files as listed by you previously. After watching the video I was able to confirm that the green board was not seated correctly. I was trying to insert from the wrong angle and it made it really difficult to insert properly. After watching the video I was able to insert it seamlessly. I tested it and after the initial boot it loads into the configuration menu without any problems.
Reply
#5
Awesome! Thanks for the update, Reidlos88!
Card Fighters' Clash 2 English Translation ( http://cfc2english.blogspot.com/ )
Neo Geo Pocket Flash Cart and Linker Project ( http://www.flashmasta.com/ )
Avatar art thanks to Trev-Mun ( http://trevmun.deviantart.com/ )
Reply
#6
Im having the same problem with my cm3. My first question is would the images load up on a raspberry pi 3 just to check the image?
Reply
#7
Pyrate,

Yes, it should boot up on a Pi 3. Did you use Etcher to burn the image to the SD card? Do you have a HDMI cable to test with?
Card Fighters' Clash 2 English Translation ( http://cfc2english.blogspot.com/ )
Neo Geo Pocket Flash Cart and Linker Project ( http://www.flashmasta.com/ )
Avatar art thanks to Trev-Mun ( http://trevmun.deviantart.com/ )
Reply
#8
(07-12-2019, 12:28 AM)Flavor Wrote: Pyrate,

Yes, it should boot up on a Pi 3.  Did you use Etcher to burn the image to the SD card?  Do you have a HDMI cable to test with?
I've used etcher on one card and win disk imager on another. I don't think it's the image because I've got a working pi zero and pie, just wanted to double check.  I do not have a mini hdmi cable
Reply
#9
I had another guy that (just recently) had problems like this. I guess that he was unzipping the file and then burning it to the SD. He seemed to fix it by just burning the .tar.gz file without unzipping it (which is what we recommend anyway).

I don't assume that would be related to your problem, but I mention it because it could be worth a try.

Also, if you haven't, be sure to look over http://freeplaytech.com/troubleshooting to see if there are any pieces there that jump out.
Card Fighters' Clash 2 English Translation ( http://cfc2english.blogspot.com/ )
Neo Geo Pocket Flash Cart and Linker Project ( http://www.flashmasta.com/ )
Avatar art thanks to Trev-Mun ( http://trevmun.deviantart.com/ )
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)