• Registered: 2014-05-26
  • Posts: 91

Topic: Senoko bug prevents booting (Senoko blocking the I2C issue)

Hi,

A few days ago I thought this problem would be solved:
http://www.kosagi.com/forums/viewtopic. … 1566#p1566

but after some time without problems, the bug came back, the novena doesn't boot and the problem was the same. Does anyone still have this problem?

Here is the uart output, I have upgraded the uboot manually just to see if it solved the problem, but it doesn't. That's why I have the May 18 version, but I haven't been able to boot my novena in the last few days...

U-Boot SPL 2014.10-rc3-00039-gc5efead (Oct 17 2014 - 19:41:27)
Running post-config memory test... Pass
Internal SD card
reading u-boot.img
reading u-boot.img


U-Boot 2015.04-rc1-02837-g0e39e8c (May 18 2015 - 19:11:36)

CPU:   Freescale i.MX6Q rev1.2 at 792 MHz
Reset cause: POR
Board: Novena 4x
I2C:   ready
DRAM:  3.8 GiB
Can't find PMIC:PFUZE100
initcall sequence fff9c92c failed at call 17801f5d (err=-1)
### ERROR ### Please RESET the board ###

I have tried to disconnect the batteries, disconnect the power adaptor, hold the reflash button and connect power, but that doesn't seem to help this time... I also tried to pull down the senoko STM32 reset pin by connecting the "TP106" pad to GND but that also doesn't help...

  • Registered: 2014-06-12
  • Posts: 100

Re: Senoko bug prevents booting (Senoko blocking the I2C issue)

The PMIC isn't on the same I2C bus as the senoko, so it's probably not the culprit.

Can you boot into recovery mode?

  • Registered: 2014-05-26
  • Posts: 91

Re: Senoko bug prevents booting (Senoko blocking the I2C issue)

xobs said they where on the same bus, which made sense... but reviewing the schematic, you are correct, the PMIC I2C is in the "DDC_SDA" signal and the "SMB_SDA" signal... so back to square one

Oh, and I can't boot into recovery, either

  • xobs
  • Administrator
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  • Registered: 2014-05-25
  • Posts: 442

Re: Senoko bug prevents booting (Senoko blocking the I2C issue)

Do you have an HDMI monitor attached?  Try unplugging that.

  • Registered: 2014-05-26
  • Posts: 91

Re: Senoko bug prevents booting (Senoko blocking the I2C issue)

No, I don't have any external monitor. I had a battery but I unplugged it to be sure that the senoko wasn't kept running...

  • Registered: 2014-05-26
  • Posts: 91

Re: Senoko bug prevents booting (Senoko blocking the I2C issue)

I still get this problem... but today the backlight of the LCD also doesn't turn on. It used to turn on even when I get this problem, I have checked the serial output and is almost the same... Just the first u-boot seems to be newer

U-Boot SPL 2015.04-rc1-02837-g0e39e8c (May 18 2015 - 19:11:36)
Running post-config memory test... Pass
Internal SD card
reading u-boot.img
reading u-boot.img


U-Boot 2015.04-rc1-02837-g0e39e8c (May 18 2015 - 19:11:36)

CPU:   Freescale i.MX6Q rev1.2 at 792 MHz
Reset cause: POR
Board: Novena 4x
I2C:   ready
DRAM:  3.8 GiB
Can't find PMIC:PFUZE100
initcall sequence fff9c92c failed at call 17801f5d (err=-1)
### ERROR ### Please RESET the board ###

And I still don't have any means of booting when my novena enters this state... I can reboot 20 times (which I don't think is good) and nothing... maybe wait a couple of hours or a couple or days... and it works at the first try...

It's very frustrating, I can't rely on the novena, I just don't know if it will boot or not when I want to use it!

  • xobs
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  • Registered: 2014-05-25
  • Posts: 442

Re: Senoko bug prevents booting (Senoko blocking the I2C issue)

Does it boot more reliably if you disconnect the eDP board?  It may be that the eDP board isn't plugged in correctly, or there's a short on it.

The PMIC, HDMI port, and eDP board are all on the same I2C bus.  Remove the orange connector going from the mainboard to the eDP board and see if that changes anything.

  • Registered: 2014-05-26
  • Posts: 91

Re: Senoko bug prevents booting (Senoko blocking the I2C issue)

I did that yesterday and wasn't able to boot either, the error was the same and I tried several times. I also haven't connected anything to the HDMI.

This afternoon I will try again... I haven't had the time, but I will try to debug the I2C bus as is the only thing I can think to try to solve this

  • xobs
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  • Registered: 2014-05-25
  • Posts: 442

Re: Senoko bug prevents booting (Senoko blocking the I2C issue)

Yes.  It sounds like an assembly issue, in which case you could either try looking for stray blobs of solder splatter, or contacting support@crowdsupply.com

  • Registered: 2014-05-26
  • Posts: 91

Re: Senoko bug prevents booting (Senoko blocking the I2C issue)

I have contacted crowdsupply to see what we can do... there isn't any apparent assembly error and the solders look good, but it could be something not easily seen just by inspection

If for example is a bad solder which makes intermittent contact a reflow in an oven or just with a air station could solve this, but I suppose that would invalidate any warranty... so I think is better to contact crowdsupply

  • Registered: 2014-05-26
  • Posts: 91

Re: Senoko bug prevents booting (Senoko blocking the I2C issue)

Turns out it probably is a bad solder:
http://www.kosagi.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=274

I opened a new post because is clearly a hardware issue and has nothing to do with the Senoko or I2C smile