Raspberry Pi 2 with LibreElec does not start

    Hi,

    I have a problem with my Raspberry Pi 2 and LibreElec. I tried to turn on the device but it suddenly did not work. The red LED and green LED were only permanently on. So the first thing I tried was to turn the device on and off. Works sometimes :D. Unfortunately this did not help. So the fiddling started. I have tried installations on three different SD cards and three different power supplies as well as two LibreElec images. Only one HDMI cable and one LAN cable are connected to the Raspberry.

    I have tried to install LibreElec with Windows 10. For this I used 3 different SD cards 4, 8 and 32 GB. For formatting SD Card Formatter was used or Disk Management. LibreElec USB-SD Creator, Rufus and Win32 DiskManager were used to write to the SD cards. The images used were LibreElec 10.0.2 and 9.2.8.

    I tried the same thing on Linux KDE Neon. Only that here I used the Disk Manager and Etcher to write to the SD cards.

    Nothing helped. When inserting the SD card with LibreElec into the Raspberry Pi 2, the red and green LEDs light up permanently and nothing happens.

    Can anyone help me? Perhaps I have overlooked something obvious.

    If it doesn't write any log info, then I bet on a broken microSD reader.

    Remove the microSD after boot fault, connect it to a desktop PC, and check the log file (if any log exists).

    Broken RPi, SD-card reader or SD card are all possible causes for the symptom of not blinking ACT LED.

    An easy standard thing you could try is inserting and removing the SD card a couple (10 or 20) of times - that'll clean contacts and it might start working again.

    Also make sure the SD card locks in nicely, the spring-loaded SD card slot on RPi2 was a PITA and often failed.

    Trying with yet another SD card, also with RPi OS, would be another option.

    so long,

    Hias

    Quote from CluelessShmok

    Could it be the power supply?

    Unlikely since you tried three of them. Cleaning the slot doesn't mean you can rule it out.

    I suggest two options:

    a) replace the card reader

    b) use a JTAG for searching other issues

    If you're convinced it's not the the card reader, take option b).

    Quote from Da Flex

    Unlikely since you tried three of them. Cleaning the slot doesn't mean you can rule it out.

    I suggest two options:

    a) replace the card reader

    b) use a JTAG for searching other issues

    If you're convinced it's not the the card reader, take option b).

    Only to be clear, you mean the card reader/slot on the RPi not the one used to write the image?

    Wrong link above. Micro SD extension cable of course.

    https://cablematic.com/en/products/mi…tAaAjdPEALw_wcB

    They can be found from many different retail outlets.

    I managed to revive the on board sd card reader by sliding a thin piece of card in with the sd card into the sd card reader on the non contact side of the card. It managed to retain the sd card in place so it could be read. I then removed the card and followed the same procedure using the piece of card on the contact end of the extension cable. Permanent fix now.

    Here’s a quick how to video

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    At current RPi prices a repairing is definitely worth a try. :thumbup:

    It's hard to solder such small contacts, so pressure contact should be preferred. I would cut off the upper side of the readers housing. Then try to bring microSD contacts back to original position (by a needle or something). Press the adapter (above link) onto those contacts, and try to boot. If it works, make it permanent by some glue.