New uConsole won't boot up

uConsole
1

So I just recently got my uConsole delivered about 2 weeks ago and was barely able to build it since I bought the batteries, SD card and the CM4 separate. uConsole has been assembled but will not boot or do anything, just a black screen.

  • So at first the screen would not do anything, I then re-connected the screen and now it flashes real quick and goes to a black screen. I left it “ON” for about 15 minutes and no luck.
  • I have now left it charging for a couple of hours, I am now switching to a new SD card to see if that changes anything. I am reformatting the SD cards with SD Card Formatter and then writing “uConsole_CM4_v1.3g_64bit” from the Google Drive to a 16GB SD card with Win32 Disk Imager.
  • Any ideas what might be causing this issue or what I might be doing wrong? The first SD Card is from Amazon (Kootion Pro, MicroSD XC, U3, A1, V30, 128GB)
  • The SD card I am trying now is SanDisk MicroSD HC 16GB.
  • Unfortunately I do not have a HDMI cable that fits the uConsole, just a USB-C to HDMI might that work to see if it boots on a monitors to troubleshoot the uConsole screen?
  • Any suggestions would be great!!
  • Edit was to upload image.
    PXL_20240713_191651182
    PXL_20240713_1916511821920×1446 344 KB
1 Like
2

usb-c to hdmi will not work, the usb-c is for charge only.
Have you verified that the CM4 is plugged into the adapter card the correct way? (CM4s u.fl connector is on the same side as the mainboards u.fl connector) If so go back and make sure everything is fully seated. (CM4, SODIMM) Also you can try booting with the 4g disconnected to narrow it down.

3

So I just tried the new SD card and same issue.

  • I checked and looks like the CM4 is plugged in the correct way.
  • I disconnected the mainboard and the CM4 and re-connected and still same issue
  • I removed the 4G board as well and still the issue.
  • Screen just flashes.
4

I see the picture now, that is the right way. The flash of the screen tells me it is fully seated. I’d try taking the CM4 off the SODIMM and reinstall it, if that don’t work try to redownload the image or download a new image. There are about a half dozen community distros that are more updated and are functional better.

5

There should be almost an aggressive snap when the CM4 seats.

6
  • I just tried removing the SODIMM as well and still just flashes. I will try another SD as well just in case I might have 2 bad ones.
  • I will try a different OS image and see how that goes
  • Later today or tomorrow I will head out to buy a Micro HDMI cable to try with a monitor and see if that shows anything.
  • Thank you for the guidance so far!!
7

I tried a different OS (kali-linux-2024.1-uc_cm4_arm64_0.2.img) and no luck still the same situation. I also removed and made sure both the SODIMM and CM4 snapped when re-installing them and still the same issue.

8

You have to use a image made for the uConsole, the screen and USB need drivers to work.
The current up to date distros are PostmarketOS, Arch, Debian Bookworm, Ubuntu 22.04, RetroPie

9

Go it, currently downloading Bookworm. Will the same method I’ve been using to write the image work with Win32 Disk Imager?

10

it should work, I don’t use windows so I can’t be positive. You could download and flash it with raspberry pi imager. Just don’t apply and custom settings when flashing the image or it will break.

11

I just tried Bookworm and no luck, I downloaded Raspberry Pi Imager and making a Bookworm SD card lets see how that goes. No custom settings were done, fingers crossed.

12

Are you trying it with the USBC power connected? Just to rule out bad batteries or faulty battery board.

13

Yes this whole time it has been “charging” connected to the power through the Type-C port.
So I just tried with the SD card mage in Raspberry Pi Imager and same issue. I will try and get a Micro HDMI by tonight and try again.

14

If you get nothing out on HDMI, you might have a bad main board or CM4. The green light in the power button stays on, it doesn’t just turn off?

15

So the green light does stay on the whole time unless I shut it off. I leave it on during test for about 5-10min to see if it slowly booting up.

16

If it hasn’t booted with 5 mins, it won’t. Lol

Try the HDMI when you get it and see if you get any output on it.

17

I believe that was the Kali with the “official” kernel. It was requested by a haranguing freeloader in a previous post.

1 Like
18

微信图片_20240715002122
微信图片_202407150021221279×1704 248 KB

My cm4 does not have eMMC flash memory, but your cm4 seems to have it, so maybe that’s why it doesn’t work.

4 Likes
19

Good catch! I didn’t even notice, hope they check back.

20

So I’m guessing I need to return my CM4 and get the Lite version?
Version I have is CM4108032 from PiShop.
I need to get CM4108000 then?

  • Is there a way I can work around with the version I got? I think I might be past the 7 day return policy.
1 Like