Lightning Bolt icon in top right corner

Crazyblocks Technologies · October 30, 2018 at 10:06 PM

What is this caused by and how do i fix it?

**HiassofT** · October 30, 2018 at 10:14 PM

The lightning bolt means you have an inadequate power supply and need to get a better one (and/or a better USB cable if your PS has an USB plug instead of a fixed attached cable).

BTW: the official RPi PS is known to work well.

so long,

Hias

Crazyblocks Technologies · October 31, 2018 at 4:16 PM

The icon only shows when I boot into Libre

It has shown before even when I was using a 5v 1a supply

**HiassofT** · October 31, 2018 at 5:14 PM

The CPU is quite busy during startup, kodi runs a bunch of housekeeping tasts like checking for new addons so it means it'll draw more power than when kodi is idle or playing a h264 movie. If you have a self-powered USB HDD connected it'll draw quite a bit of power during startup as well.

Get a proper power supply and the lightning bolt will disappear.

The lightning bolt is a warning sign, depending on how low the voltage drops the system may lock up and / or the sdcard may get corrupted.

As I wrote before for the RPi2/3 the official 5.1V/2.5A supply is recommended.

so long,

Hias

TheWojtek · November 1, 2018 at 6:08 PM

Quote from Crazyblocks Technologies

It has shown before even when I was using a 5v 1a supply

1A is by far not enough for the RPi3. Try at least 2A, or better yet a 5A QuickCharge PS.

Crazyblocks Technologies · November 2, 2018 at 6:38 PM

Plugged it in to a Apple IPad charger (5.1v 2.1a) and it does not show up.

Note: at the time of the photo I was using a charger from IKEA which put out 5v

**Klojum** · November 2, 2018 at 7:03 PM Official Post

5v is only half the story and mostly not the problem.

Sufficient amperage is key here.

**S80_UK** · November 3, 2018 at 1:52 PM

Quote from Klojum

5v is only half the story and mostly not the problem.

Sufficient amperage is key here.

Agreed. Voltage regulation and sufficient amperage are very importand. You also need adequate quality cables and connnectors to ensure minimal voltage drops. The problem is typically that USB power supplies that have enough current capability are often compromised in terms of their ability to maintain a good 5 volt supply at the connected device due to the cabling. USB specs allow for some voltage drop, but the short term current spikes required by some platforms such as the Pi can be significant and often result in excessive voltage drops unless the cable is adequately rated. The problem only gets worse with longer cables, of course.