No Power PSPi V5

Do you get any lights at all when you try powering it on?

@othermod Nothing. No lights, screen, it's like a brick. 

Gotcha. I test each of these with a Raspberry Pi before shipping, so it's probably something minor. My guess is either the battery is in protection mode (which it shouldn't be unless something was shorted momentarily), or the 24-pin FPC cable between the PSPi board and the right side control board (with the power switch) isn't making good contact. That cable can sometimes side out of the small board just slightly and it's enough to keep the power switch from functioning. 

Do you get any lights when you plug in the charger?

@othermod No lights, when I plug it into the charger.

@ummm ok it's probably that FPC cable then

Great, when I get a chance this weekend, I'll try to make sure that it's connected properly and if it needs to be replaced, any suggestion of a supplier?

Thanks for your help and quick response!

@ummm I rarely see it go bad, unless it was removed and reinstalled dozens of times. I get replacements from Aliexpress when I need them for testing, and I can find one to recommend if it looks like that's the direction to go.

Also, do you have a voltmeter? If re-seating the cable doesn't work, a voltmeter makes troubleshooting easier.

@othermod I do have a voltmeter. So should I just unplug and replug it back in?

@ummm Yes. Unplug and replug at both the PSPi and the small control board.

Hey @Othermod, the unplug, replug didn't work.  What would you suggest now? Perhaps a faulty Battery or Faulty cable between the boards?

@ummm Alright I'll put some images together showing the areas to check with the voltmeter, and I'll post them here.

That would be amazing, thank you.

@ummm Alrighty here are the first two things to check.

The first image shows the bottom of the board and the battery connector. Check the voltage between the red and brown legs on the JST connector, and make sure the battery voltage is somewhere between 3v and 4.2v, with red being the positive side. Then check between the red and black pads on the large capacitor to the right of the connector. This should show the same battery voltage on the other side of the chip I'm using for reverse polarity protection.

The second image shows the same view of the board, and this time it also shows the charge input. Try plugging in either the barrel jack or a miniUSB cable and verify that you get 4.5v to 5v between the black and orange pads on the top capacitor.

@othermod Thanks, I'll take a look as soon as I can!

@othermod 

Apologies for the delay; in answer to the test with the meter, they all have voltage. I discovered something else that might be causing the problem or could lead us to the solution.

When I took everything apart, I plugged in the batter to the board, no buttons attached, no, headphone PCB, etc. It showed a signal (This was after the test, I wanted to see if it would boot) but then just stopped.

I took the SD card out and tried it on another Pi Zero, no signal came to the computer monitor.  So I wondered if I had done something wrong with the SD install. I swapped in an SD card with Retropie on it, it worked with my computer monitor, but when I put it back into the PSP and booted on the PSP, it started to boot but then just stopped and then no signal.

It seems to be starting and then stopping.

Not sure if that helps us in our detective work.

Also, big thanks for all the help!

@ummm This is making me wonder whether you have something shorting out the board. When you plug in the charger, you should always see a green or orange LED next to the power button. 

Do you mind sending some images of your build? I want to look for anything that seems out of place.

Of course, any specific image you want?

@ummm The solder joints between the header and the Pi Zero, if possible. Maybe one showing the clearance between the PSPi board and the LCD bracket. I'm just looking for anything out of place, so I'll take anything you're willing to send. You can post them here or you can email them to me.

@ummm also, I'm doing a little forum housekeeping and I moved this to a different forum category. Just letting you know so you're able to find it

@othermod I'll post them here. Once things wouldn't work (initially) I unplugged the monitor and continued testing.

@ummm The solder work looks excellent, so I doubt you have any issues there.

I see the small amount of damage on the LCD connector. Did this happen my guide wasn't clear enough?  It looks like you might have tried prying the front because the other connectors all had the retainers on the front. Also, I don't think the connector damage is causing any of the issues. 

Since everything looks clean, can you try powering this on without the LCD bracket installed? The intermittent issues with powering on and sometimes powering off just seems like something is shorting to the bracket. Hook everything else up like the buttons, but either put something under the LCD to keep it from touching the board or move the LCD out of the way.

Thanks for the response, I tried without the LCD before and it did the start-up and then quit, but I'll put in all the other stuff as well, buttons, etc. sans LCD and try again.

@ummm Do you have a cheap way to send the whole thing to me? I'm baffled by what is going on, and it might help if I can get my hands on it.

@othermod Let me look into this and get back to you.

i got it together. i used a pi zero w 2. i downloaded the right file. i was in the process of securing the front with the last screws and i pluged in the battery. while i was screwing in the last 2 screws i looked at the screen and it was booting up. then when i put the battery cover on and turned over there was nothing. i tried turing it off and on. no power light and no picture. but the light on the pi was on. so i unpluged the battery and back in. now im getting nothing. light on the pi wont turn on, light to indicate unit is on wont work.

i took pictures though the process. ive got it pluged in to hopfully charge now

please help. 

thank you

Rudy Plank

@ron-plank Its possible you shorted something if you were installing screws while it was booting for the first time. If it happened while it was doing the first boot partition resize, then it probably messed up the data on the card. I recommend starting by wiping and re-flashing the SD card. The chips I use all have some short-circuit protection, so it's possible that no permanent damage was done regardless of what happened.

Also, can you start a new topic so I can keep your troubleshooting separate?

i used a new card with more memory. its working ok now. im having a bit of what i would call ghosting on my screen and also, is there a way to turn up the brightness.

thank you very much for your time.

@ron-plank The Display button adjusts the brightness.

Can you post an image showing the ghosting in a new topic?

sorry, nevermind. i got it. thank you