Pocket PiGrrl - Screen not turning on

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laridk
 
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Pocket PiGrrl - Screen not turning on

Post by laridk »

Hello everyone,
So I am a complete noob on DIY electronics and I decided to try building the Pocket PIGrrl. I had multiple problems with it (the case not being tight at all, everything is loose, the speaker, the screen and buttons, but worst of all, the screws just dont fix anything)

BUT, no problem, blue tack fixes everything. Anyways so, I finished soldering all the steps... And when I turned eveything on, the PI Lights turn on (red and green), the powerboost's blue light turns on fine. but the screen is dead. No response.
I am wondering if I burned some connection when I was soldering the pins to the screen, the ones that connect to the pi. Or if the connection of the screen to the poweboost is the issue... Is there anyway I could trouble shoot this?

I havent done anything to the software yet, I figured the screen has to turn on for me to edit any software thing...

Thank you! I hope you guys can help me =(

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: Pocket PiGrrl - Screen not turning on

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

Can you post some pictures of both sides of the PiTFT?

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laridk
 
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Re: Pocket PiGrrl - Screen not turning on

Post by laridk »

Sure, I made a little album at imgur with some photos. Please let me know if you need better images on any specific thing.
http://imgur.com/a/y3hNK

Sorry for the ugly look of the project, it looks super messy... But again, super noobie here.

Thank you so much for replying!

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: Pocket PiGrrl - Screen not turning on

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

The soldering on the PiTFT could be better. Can you try touching up those joints?

Solder joints should be smooth and shiny, and the solder should flow completely over the pad and up the pin, like this:
Image

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laridk
 
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Re: Pocket PiGrrl - Screen not turning on

Post by laridk »

Sure, but I am just afraid to burn something... Is there anyway to know when you burned something on the board? I think that is the biggest fear I have in retouching all those pins... I know how the correct looks, but i was wondering how does a ruined/burned connection looks, so I know when it was too much or when its getting to its limit.

But I will totally try and post here the result.

Thank you

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laridk
 
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Re: Pocket PiGrrl - Screen not turning on

Post by laridk »

Also, how do I remove excess solder? Some of the points just have too much... is there a way to remove without one of those desoldering guns? Because I dont really have or know anyone that has those... =\

Thanks again

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: Pocket PiGrrl - Screen not turning on

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

Just touch the iron to the ones that have too much. Shouldn't take more than a second or two.
Same with the other joints. You only need a couple of seconds. Just make sure to touch the iron to both the pin and the pad.

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laridk
 
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Re: Pocket PiGrrl - Screen not turning on

Post by laridk »

Hello

http://imgur.com/wCBJmVH

So here is my second attempt on soldering the pins. It still gives me the same result... Screen still not turning on... You guys have any ideas? I am wondering if I messed up the pins for good, since some parts of the board look burned. I am afraid I damaged it... Also, I cant seem to get shiny solder at all... I am using 400c in no lead solder... Is that correct?

I was reading Adafruit's guide to soldering, and I tried cleaning the board with alcohol, cleaning the tip of my iron and making sure its tinned... It helped but still, no response...

Please if you guys see something specific I didnt no, let me know, anything helps.

Thank you.

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adafruit2
 
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Re: Pocket PiGrrl - Screen not turning on

Post by adafruit2 »

do you get a white screen or nothing at all?
try having just the Pi + screen + SD card, no other electronics used or connected
check the back of the HAT that the display is well seated
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-pit ... faq#faq-12

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laridk
 
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Re: Pocket PiGrrl - Screen not turning on

Post by laridk »

I get nothing. No white screen, the screen just doesn't turn on. If I follow the link you just posted, how do I use that? Do i use the IMg file from the pigrrl or the files in the screen instalation tutorial? By the way, i tried burning the Pigrrl IMG to the sd card but I get an error, the sd card get ejected before the program can complete its instalation. ( I am using a mac for that operation and the same program as instructed in the tutorial). I tried formating the sd card and starting over but for some reason I cant format it anymore after running the burn program the first time. What should I do?
Thanks

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adafruit2
 
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Re: Pocket PiGrrl - Screen not turning on

Post by adafruit2 »

have you ever used a raspberry pi or gotten one working before?

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laridk
 
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Re: Pocket PiGrrl - Screen not turning on

Post by laridk »

Not really... :/
I got this project to learn about it...

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adafruit2
 
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Re: Pocket PiGrrl - Screen not turning on

Post by adafruit2 »

Hmm - This isnt a great 'ive never used a raspberry pi' project because we rely on you knowing how to set up a Pi image and such. But you do have a raspberry Pi, so we recommend doing the basic setup tutorials on raspberrypi.org
once you get that working as a general 'computer' you will know more and can tackle this project!

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laridk
 
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Re: Pocket PiGrrl - Screen not turning on

Post by laridk »

Okay i will look this site up then. Is it okay to use that pi since its already hooked up to all the other components?

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adafruit2
 
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Re: Pocket PiGrrl - Screen not turning on

Post by adafruit2 »

remove all the extra components for now

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