LibreElec v11 on RPI3 won't start

    I think it would be best to start with an RPiOS buster/legacy lite image (using kernel 5.10) from here, that should boot fine

    Operating system images – Raspberry Pi
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    Then use rpi-update to update to newer firmware/kernel versions. You can run "rpi-update GITHASH_OF_RPPI_FIRMWARE_RELEASE" to update to a specific firmware/kernel version.

    Take the githashes from here:

    Commits · raspberrypi/rpi-firmware
    Firmware files for the Raspberry Pi. Contribute to raspberrypi/rpi-firmware development by creating an account on GitHub.
    github.com

    You may want to start with rather old versions, eg the latest 5.10 version (go back several pages on the github page) which would be the 5.10.95 kernel from Feb 2 2022 with githash 39821d33e777cde9ba1a3cc8a73cfdd62fbbd2de - so run "rpi-update 39821d33e777cde9ba1a3cc8a73cfdd62fbbd2de"

    If that works, check with the next newest version which switched to kernel 5.15 on Feb 4th.

    If that works, too, go forward in time eg a month each until it stops booting, then reinstall from scratch and try with a version between the last working and the broken one. Repeat that until you narrowed it down to version X working and next one broken - that information will help RPi devs (and also us) a lot since it's usually a small set of changes which we'll have to look into (unless it was the switch from 5.10 to 5.15 - but still the info that it broke there will be helpful).

    I'm not aware of any issues with SD cards ATM, but that doesn't mean much. It could be very specific to your SD card (and Sandisk produced a variety of 256GB cards with different speed classes, so the exact model number might matter, too).

    And unfortunately searching for SD card issues in forums (or the web) is quite useless as tons of users reporting issues either had worn out or counterfeit cards, power problems, trashed filesystems because of unclean shutdowns, issues because of (too high) overclocking and whatnot - so the search turns up tons of non-issues and trying to finding actual issues in there is like finding a needle in a haystack...

    I certainly wouldn't rule out that you might have hit an actual issue that no one experienced so far (or described in enough detail so it could be investigated) - I hit an odd issue on RPi4 a few month ago - SD card wasn't properly reset on reboots under certain conditions so cold boot worked, but reboot not (that should be completely unrelated to your issue though).

    so long,

    Hias

    Thank you, HiassofT , I may give that a try, just in "interests of science"... :)

    5.10 booted up fine.

    5.15 did not. Same error I was seeing with LE11.

    Where do you suggest I go from here?

    BTW, I use the SanDisk Extreme "High Endurance" µSD cards, which are the white ones. They are more expensive, but, for me, they have been 100% reliable and quite quick.

    Edited once, last by Meestor_X: Merged a post created by Meestor_X into this post. (March 16, 2023 at 6:04 AM).

    Thanks for checking, this is already useful information!

    You are going to need to create a bug report on https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/issues but before you do that it's best to double check, take notes of the exact steps and run an additional test with LibreELEC to collect some more info:

    Do a clean installation of LibreELEC 11.0.0 and grab a FAT formatted USB pendrive or harddisk (size doesn't matter, just that it's formatted with FAT so we can write boot logs to it).

    Boot up your RPi3 with just the LE sdcard, the USB pendrive, keyboard and monitor connected.

    When you get the "cannot mount" message run the following commands to mount your pendrive and save kernel log:

    Code
    mount /dev/sda1 /storage
dmesg > /storage/dmesg.txt
umount /storage
poweroff

    If you get some errors from these commands please post them here (or just take a picture with a camera). If everything worked you should have a file "dmesg.txt" on your pendrive. Please attach it here, then I'll have a glance through it if I can spot anything.

    Please also verify the steps you did to test with RPiOS - best do them again to double check:

    1. A clean installation of the current "Bullseye" RPiOS (2023-02-21-raspios-bullseye-armhf-lite.img.xz) doesn't boot. You should see some error messages on the screen, please take a picture of them with a camera

    2. A clean installation of the legacy "Buster" RPiOS (2023-02-21-raspios-buster-armhf-lite.img.xz) boots fine.

    3. running "sudo rpi-update 39821d33e777cde9ba1a3cc8a73cfdd62fbbd2de" "sudo reboot" works fine and "uname -a" show it's running kernel 5.10.95-v7+

    4. running "sudo rpi-update 9c6362635308cb3034d22f42daf9bfda1e3d36de" "sudo reboot" results in a non-working boot - a picture of the error messages on the screen would again help.

    so long,

    Hias

    Thanks for the log, I see mmc diagnostic errors in there but unfortunately the beginning of the log is missing.

    Can you please add log_buf_len=4M to the end of cmdline.txt (everything must be on a single line, so add that just with a space separated from "quiet") and repeat that check?

    so long,

    Hias

    Adding log_buf_len=4M to cmdline.txt didn't seem to have worked, the log is still cut off. Make sure everything is on the same line and if you edited the file on Windows use Notepad++ or some other editor that can cope with unix line endings - windows editor adding windows line endings usually cause havoc.

    However, I spotted a more serious issue in your first dmesg, your RPi is suffering from power problems. You need to fix this first, use the official RPi power supply, power problems are usually causing the exact same issues you are experiencing.

    so long,

    Hias

    The log is complete now, however the log shows you are having power problem - and the mmc issues start right after the first undervoltage message

    Code
    [    5.395065] hwmon hwmon0: Undervoltage detected!
...
[   13.714953] mmc0: timeout waiting for hardware interrupt

    As I wrote above you need to fix the power issues first, no need to dig any further before that as the issues are very likely correlated.

    so long,

    Hias

    You are still having power issues

    Code
    <2>[    5.388985] hwmon hwmon0: Undervoltage detected!
<6>[    5.462544] lan78xx 1-1.1.1:1.0 (unnamed net_device) (uninitialized): No External EEPROM. Setting MAC Speed
<5>[    5.471394] lan78xx 1-1.1.1:1.0 (unnamed net_device) (uninitialized): int urb period 64
<3>[   13.708922] mmc0: timeout waiting for hardware interrupt.

    so long,

    Hias

    Start out with a freshly imaged SD card and remove all peripherals with the exception of the HDMI cable and see if the reduced overhead helps with a successful boot. Check the dmesg output and compare the two.

    Is that the only error you're seeing? No other errors except low voltage?

    It'll take some time for me to find another power supply with higher voltage. In my experience, the RPI ALWAYS complains about low voltage no matter what power it's given. Another reason I'm done with RPIs...

    RPis don't "always" complain about low power, only when the power is too low - which is about the worst thing you can do to an RPi as it is known to cause all sorts of problems.

    I have about two dozens of RPis here, starting from the very first RPi to RPi4 and RPI400 and none of them reports power problems when powered by the official RPi power supplies.

    I've had lots of problems though with phone chargers, USB hubs and 3rd-party power supplies in the very early days before RPi started shipping their official power supply. Since then I retired all those crappy devices and switched to official power supplies and never had any issues again.

    I suggest you do the same thing.

    so long,

    Hias

    Quote from Meestor_X

    In my experience, the RPI ALWAYS complains about low voltage no matter what power it's given. Another reason I'm done with RPIs...

    I have never had that problem. Make sure it is at least 2.5A, what is your current rating on the power supply now?

    I have tried a few other SBCs, and frankly they are all worse than the Raspberry Pi on mainline. I guess I don't mind tinkering or solving problems, but really haven't had any problems with the Raspberry Pi 4B that weren't livable. But an open source media center isn't for everyone, that's why Nvidia Shield and Android TV boxes exist, but it seems like most people are pretty unsatisfied with the former -- haven't heard anything really bad about the Nvidia Shield.

    If you’re seeing under current errors all the time on the RPI you’re definitely doing something wrong. Those error messages are there for a reason.

    Advertised current and stable current are two different things. Most of those cheapo Asian supplies tend to fail the test every time. Putting a meter across the power supply will soon expose that. One additional peripheral attached tips the RPI over the edge.

    As the lower capacity SD cards boot LE11 and the larger ones do not I suggested removing all peripherals to give an extra current overhead and see if it boots through. If so you’ve got to assume that the power supply is the issue. Again a simple exercise in the troubleshooting process.

    The PSU is 2A, I don't have any of the "official" RPI power supplies, but I'll see if I can wire up my desktop power supply and give it exactly 5v at any amperage it wants.

    How a micro-USB cable or that tiny connector can handle 2A or more is pretty surprising. Those pins are tiny on that connector!

    Quote from Meestor_X

    The PSU is 2A, I don't have any of the "official" RPI power supplies, but I'll see if I can wire up my desktop power supply and give it exactly 5v at any amperage it wants.

    I figured it would be a 2A, have like half a dozen of them from old cell phones. Pi 4 is 3A, so it's probably even more common. I hope it solves your problem, really strange that a kernel change would yield that as a SD card issue, but stranger things have happened.