USB power issues?

[javi.124]

Hi forum,

I have just finished my first build. Almost everything works fine: configured wifi and ssh, tested a couple of roms, mode button works... The only issue I have is with the USB:
No way it recognizes external keyboards or other USB devices, and I have read it may because of power.

I am getting ahold of a powered USB HUB to try further...

Is it normal that a very simple keyboard, rated 5V 50mAmp doesn't work? Also, when entering a USB memory, it blinks briefly but then nothing...

In Test Mode, it says USB HUB Fail (but I read on another post that Kite said this is normal)

Any clues appreciated!
Thanks!

[kite]

Hi, is your USB device fully inserted to the port? I say this because when they arrive they are really stiff! Be careful pushing it in, but it should go in all the way! I mean the blinking is a good sign anyway but i'm just checking to make sure

Could you send a picture of the back board (the side with the USB port) in case I can see anything amiss!

Another thing is to clean the FPC contacts and making sure that they are fully inserted

[javi.124]

I will try all that: cleaning the contacts, pushing connector even further, and alsy will try another keyboards and mouse.
I will report any advances and a picture of the board.

Thanks for answering so fast Kite!

[javi.124]

Hi, is your USB device fully inserted to the port? I say this because when they arrive they are really stiff! Be careful pushing it in, but it should go in all the way! I mean the blinking is a good sign anyway but i'm just checking to make sure

Could you send a picture of the back board (the side with the USB port) in case I can see anything amiss!

Another thing is to clean the FPC contacts and making sure that they are fully inserted

I should have answered earlier, but family and work keept me busy...

Still same probem with no keyboard. Tried inserting in full, cleaning contacts, etc.

With dmesg I get this (right after plugging a keyboard):
[ 1143.841229] usb 1-1.4: new low-speed USB device number 17 using dwc_otg
[ 1143.941222] usb 1-1.4: device descriptor read/64, error -32
[ 1144.161215] usb 1-1.4: device descriptor read/64, error -32
[ 1144.381225] usb 1-1.4: new low-speed USB device number 18 using dwc_otg
[ 1144.481264] usb 1-1.4: device descriptor read/64, error -32
[ 1144.701260] usb 1-1.4: device descriptor read/64, error -32
[ 1144.821308] usb 1-1-port4: attempt power cycle
[ 1145.481205] usb 1-1.4: new low-speed USB device number 19 using dwc_otg
[ 1145.921202] usb 1-1.4: device not accepting address 19, error -32
[ 1146.021195] usb 1-1.4: new low-speed USB device number 20 using dwc_otg
[ 1146.461258] usb 1-1.4: device not accepting address 20, error -32
[ 1146.461376] usb 1-1-port4: unable to enumerate USB device

Could not make HDMI work. TV marks HDMI as active, but "no signal".
All buttons work fine, including L1/2 R1/2 added recently. Joystick added, but kept unplugged yet.
Also, after several different attempts, WiFi stopped working (no wlan0 detected anymore). I could not make it work again until re-imaging.

Attached pics of the boards:

[kite]

How have you wired your battery? According to the connector into the board, it's backwards (red is to - and black is to +!) is that right?

[javi.124]

How have you wired your battery? According to the connector into the board, it's backwards (red is to - and black is to +!) is that right?

yeah, the connector came wired backwards from the chinese vendor. I just soldered it to the battery backwards again, so this is not an issue.

Just in case it helps, I also tested without battery and just the USB-C power, with same results with regards to the keyboard.

Tried also plugging a usb gamepad and running dmesg, I got the same error code -32, which I googled is related to some sort of overcurrent protection.

[kite]

Hm, I'm not sure without seeing it, could you send me an email and we'll sort out a return and i'll see what's up

[javi.124]

After disassembling and reassembling it completely (just to discard a cable that might be loosely inserted, etc.) and re-imaging the SD card, but no success.

Then I found your last updated image, did the update and rebooted. It does not make too much sense to me, but now the keyboard works flawlessly. I was even able to see the screen mirrored on my TV using the HDMI... I would swear it was the SW update which fixed it, not sure if that makes any sense... however, it works now.

I am still having some trouble with the WiFi. Sometimes it boots showing the "X" on WiFi icon or shows the "!" for a couple of seconds to then go "X". In those cases, WLAN0 is not detected. However, some other times it boots and connects to my WiFi without problems. I checked more than 40 times that the WiFi module is properly insulated with kapton, checked with the shell open to be double-sure it is not suffering pressure, etc.
It works sometimes and sometimes does not. It seems to be "decided" if it will work at bootup. Any possible explanation to this WiFi issue?

BTW, the new on-screen keyboard feature... amazing. So much awesomeness in this piece of HW&SW. THANKS KITE! If you could just put the function keys on that keyboard...

[kite]

Awesome, that's odd but good! Must have been quite an old version before? Did you re-image or update? Have you tried maybe a spare SD and image it to the latest version without doing upgrades? (talking about wifi issues here).

The only possible thing I can think of is that there is an intermittent connection on either the wifi module or the CM3 module. Without seeing it myself it would be tricky to sort out! Let me know what you'd like to do because I can take a look at it for the cost of postage. If you are able to live without reliable wifi (e.g. you can use things like Paragon EXTFS to transfer stuff direct to the SD) then might just have the chaulk it up.. but again it's up to you

RE: Keyboard, which function keys are you missing?

[McGyver]

Two things from my side:

-for the image: after downloading the first image from github I recogniced that my standard zip software was not able to uncompress the file. I took this into account and downloaded the file a second time. I want to mention: maybe your first downloaded image was faulty. Here could help a MD5 checkup.

-for Wifi: same behavior on my board: I need two or sometimes three powercycles to get wifi working. (Before showing up no wifi networks at all). But then mostly even after reboot wifi keeps alive. I can life with this situation since I need wifi just sometimes for modification to the retropie software environment.