Libreelec with Raspberry Pi 3 - Yellow lighting bolt on upper right corner

buky · January 21, 2018 at 4:41 PM

I get some yellow lighting bolt symbol sometimes on upper right corner.

It started since last update of Libreelec 8.2.3.

I never had this on early version of Libreelec.

Tried to change other power supply and cable but that didnt helped much.

If i try to play HEVC video file, this bolt is alway there. I assume that is because raspberry pi has no hevc chip, so the prozessor is struggling with decoding. I understand that.

But this lighting bolt appears sometimes even if i'm going through the menu's.

Is this a heat problem?

I just ordered some heatsink. Maybe it help.

cosmos · January 21, 2018 at 6:48 PM

No, it does not have anything to do with HEVC requirements, it is an undervoltage warning, see Under-voltage warnings - Raspberry Pi Forums

It used to be a rainbow square icon, but it has been replaced with a yellow lightning bolt icon in more recent versions. Bad USB connections with the power charger can also produce this.

You cannot use just any power supply. For RPi2 (RPi3) you need a power brick that can provide constantly a 2Amp (2.5Amp respectively) supply current. Having a supply that simply states 5V/2A doesn't simply cut it; I've seen a lot of power supplies (even brand ones) not being able to cope with the power needs of an RPi...

tuxen · January 22, 2018 at 2:30 AM

Also the cable can be the issue, I have a couple of flimsy usb cables, and if I try to use one of them I get the undervolt "bolt" even with a proper power supply. In the beginning I thought something was wrong with the power supply, but as soon as I switched to a better cable the problem went away.

(this is on RPi3 btw, my RPi1 have no problem with the flimsy cables heh)

buky · January 22, 2018 at 6:48 PM

Quote from cosmos

No, it does not have anything to do with HEVC requirements, it is an undervoltage warning, see Under-voltage warnings - Raspberry Pi Forums

It used to be a rainbow square icon, but it has been replaced with a yellow lightning bolt icon in more recent versions. Bad USB connections with the power charger can also produce this.

You cannot use just any power supply. For RPi2 (RPi3) you need a power brick that can provide constantly a 2Amp (2.5Amp respectively) supply current. Having a supply that simply states 5V/2A doesn't simply cut it; I've seen a lot of power supplies (even brand ones) not being able to cope with the power needs of an RPi...

On early version of Libreelec i get this symbol everythime i played video with HEVC

this appeared only with HEVC X265 files, with any other video like X264 the symbol is not there.

I assume this is replaced with yellow bolt.

This is strange, because those symbols never appeared on early version of libreelec.

I got this since last two updates.

My pi 3 is using nexus 10 tablet charger and it worked like charm.

So it seems i have to replace power supply.

**milhouse** · January 23, 2018 at 1:13 AM

Quote from buky

This is strange, because those symbols never appeared on early version of libreelec.

More recent firmware optimisations now have the CPU/GPU working harder when decoding H265 which can result in increased power consumption while also resulting in reduced temperature (as some of the work that was previously performed by the ARM cores is now done instead by the GPU). This would explain the change you have observed from over temperature (red thermometer) to under-voltage (yellow lightning bolt).

It sounds like your system is marginal in terms of both cooling and power supply.

FLIRC cases are good at cooling with their built-in heatsink, and the official Raspberry Pi power supply avoids any risk of under-voltage.

cosmos · January 23, 2018 at 5:28 AM

buky is your system a Pi2 or 3?

I have been using a Pi2 for years and I have never encountered any over-temperature warnings when playing back HEVC material. I do have a 3-piece heatsink set installed (2 on top and a copper at the bottom). Additionally I am using the (official) case with the upper part permanently open.

Pi3 has increased temperatures, if you do not have means of active cooling (fan) I believe it would be easy to observe this.

buky · January 25, 2018 at 11:12 AM

Just received original raspberry pi foundation power supply. Problem solved. The yellow bolt is gone

gianky69 · March 26, 2018 at 1:56 PM

I confirm the red thermometer appeared after LibreELEC 8.2.3 update on my Raspi pi3, with some H264 720p videos.

Also with 8.2.4 it's the same; before 8.2.3 update I've never seen it!

**milhouse** · March 26, 2018 at 6:27 PM

You'll need to buy a heatsink. The FLIRC case is very good.