Ordered my uConsole in June 2025, and it was just delivered yesterday (26 March 2026). I ordered one without a core since that’s all that was in stock, but I also ordered the A-06 core separately.
Assembly went very well – no troubles at all (I’ve been a tinkerer and an electronics guy since I was a kid, and I’ve spent the last 10 years building all sorts of things with microcontrollers and SBCs, so I know my way around this kind of stuff). I was very slow and meticulous, mainly because I wanted to enjoy the assembly experience, but also to be careful about what I was doing.
Although, I have to admit I was a bit concerned about connecting the LCD ribbon cable – the flap on the slot was difficult to close and would try to pop open on its own. I know those connectors are very, very easy to break if you’re not careful, so I was being extra-cautious with how I handled it. When it felt like I was using too much force, I’d back off, pull the ribbon out, re-seat, and re-try. After a few attempts, I got the ribbon cable seated correctly and the connector to close firmly without too much force, and without it trying to pop itself open.
I flashed the latest OS image for the A-06 (which is three years old) onto a fresh, new high-quality PNY SD card. I popped it in, hit the power button, and… nothing (except the power button glowing green).
Eventually, it did finally come to life – I’m guessing it was busy with its first-boot filesystem resize. But… the LCD isn’t behaving right at all. It’s difficult to describe, so I’ve attached a photo:
If I work the trackball, this odd pattern of snow does change ever-so-slightly, so that tells me the OS was running.
Of course, my first thought was that I’d somehow fudged the LCD ribbon cable. So, I disassembled it and checked – it looked perfect to me. It was straight, inserted all the way in, and the flap on the connector was closed tight. And, of course, no damage.
I decided to try an external display just to make sure. And yes, an external display confirmed that the OS was running.
As I type this, I’m waiting for apt upgrade to finish. I’m hoping this problem is due to a bad display driver, and not faulty hardware (I saw the Updated Images for new uConsole screens topic, where it mentioned “new screen,” but I haven’t found any further information on that).
Evidently, choosing the A-06 might have been a bad idea, since every OS image and every forum topic about the uConsole is within the CM4/CM5 context, so I’m kinda out in the ocean on a rowboat, heh). But I haven’t found any discussion anywhere about a uConsole having this behavior with its LCD, so it makes me worry that I do, in fact, have a hardware fault.
Before I send an email to the Clockwork folks, I thought I’d post my issue here in hopes anyone might have any insight.
