I am frustrated to the point of no return, I have assembled two 4.3 heater meters, and neither are working. I am not sure on how to trouble shoot it. I built one of the very first modles with not problems, but this one has got the best of me. when I start them up I get nothing but black blocks on the screen, I feel like I have checked all the connections with a volt meter and they appear to be getting the correct power, I downloaded the 4.3 snapshot and flashed it a couple of times and no change. anyone have any ideas on what to do other than start over again.
4.3 problems
- Thread starter DylanNC
- Start date
Have you tried turning down the contrast on the screen?
4.3 assembly page
The 10k potentiometer needs to be turned with a small screwdriver.
4.3 assembly page
The 10k potentiometer needs to be turned with a small screwdriver.
Start by checking voltages at the power pins using this as a guide
RalphTrimble
TVWBB Diamond Member
I agree on checking voltages, you can see the +12 and +5 marked there on the solder side of the OKI DC-DC board, start there. If correct then find the 3.3v regulator and look for +5 in and +3.3 out. Make sure you didnt put a mosfet in place of the 3.3v regulator, they look exactly the same except for the printing, that is a fairly common mistake.
If you pass all the voltage tests then I would suggest you plug your rPi into a monitor if possible to see what is going on with it at boot. You should note that there are TWO categories of rPi these days, and two different HM builds to support them, so make sure you select the right board model when you DL your HM build.
The HM software can sometimes be picky with SD cards, so try a different one (diff brand or model) and see if that works.
I have in the past had issues with certain builds not running on my rPi properly, haven't flashed recently so not sure if the builds work universally at this point or not. I recall at one point the HM image went from about 78Meg to 28Meg, I never could get the smaller image to work for me, had to go back to my archive files and flash with the larger image, once I had the HM up and running with the older version I could upgrade to current through the HM interface without any issues. This was about 2 years ago so I assume that has been long fixed, however, if you reach the point of frustration where you want to try the larger file shoot me an email at rotodamper AT hot mail dot com and I will send the file to you.
Again, best thing to minimize frustration is to connect your rPi to a monitor so you can see if the software is actually loading. This way you at least know if you are dealing with a software problem or a hardware problem.
Good Luck!
If you pass all the voltage tests then I would suggest you plug your rPi into a monitor if possible to see what is going on with it at boot. You should note that there are TWO categories of rPi these days, and two different HM builds to support them, so make sure you select the right board model when you DL your HM build.
The HM software can sometimes be picky with SD cards, so try a different one (diff brand or model) and see if that works.
I have in the past had issues with certain builds not running on my rPi properly, haven't flashed recently so not sure if the builds work universally at this point or not. I recall at one point the HM image went from about 78Meg to 28Meg, I never could get the smaller image to work for me, had to go back to my archive files and flash with the larger image, once I had the HM up and running with the older version I could upgrade to current through the HM interface without any issues. This was about 2 years ago so I assume that has been long fixed, however, if you reach the point of frustration where you want to try the larger file shoot me an email at rotodamper AT hot mail dot com and I will send the file to you.
Again, best thing to minimize frustration is to connect your rPi to a monitor so you can see if the software is actually loading. This way you at least know if you are dealing with a software problem or a hardware problem.
Good Luck!