Dead Raspberry Pi

[ghoff50]

I purchased two Raspberry Pi (1-W & 1WH) as part of order Invoice 3264229. I had been developing on one and unplugged it to move it to where it was going to be used. When I plugged it in it did not power up. I brought it back to my desk and got the same result. I have tried three different transformers (including the two from the order) and the USB port on my laptop. I have also used four or five different cables. I then opened the other Pi and it would not power up straight out of the static bag. The first one had an I2C device attached. The second one was bare except for the SD card.

I am mindful of static damage. I wear a static discharge wristband and it is also very humid here in Charleston, so I don't think that was the culprit.

Any ideas?

[Franklin97355]

Was it responding when you were programming? How are you programming the SD card and which Pi did you get (I don't have access to the order details)?

[ghoff50]

I have 1 Raspberry Pi Zero W and 1 Raspberry Pi Zero WH. I was originally working on the W. I used Raspberry Pi Imager to build the Raspberry Pi OS (Legacy, 32-bit) Lite image. I was using Putty on my PC to communicate with it via Wi-Fi. When I first booted I did an update then install, I rebooted, I installed the python3-smbus library. I then used raspi-config to enable I2C. I rebooted again.

I then created the Python script to read an illuminance sensor. That value was then transferred using HTTP to my Hubitat home automation hub. This was done over a couple of days. I did a shutdown and when activity ceased I unplugged the Pi and moved it into the room where I wanted to measure the illuminance. When I plugged it in there was no activity. I brought it back to my desk where I tried several transformers and cables, with no response I then opened the WH, moved the SD card to the new board, and applied power. No response. I again tried several combinations of transformer and cable but it never exhibited any activity. The transformers have an LED so I know that they have power.

This would seem to be a hardware problem but I am open to any suggestions of what to try next.

[Franklin97355]

Have you tried to reformat the SD card and reinstall the PiOS?

[ghoff50]

Yes, three times.

[ghoff50]

I need to expand my previous answer. I had rebuilt the OS multiple times, but not after the appearance of a failure. I built an image on a new SD card and the card came to life as expected. I have now added a new trick to my bag of debugging tools.

Thanks for your help!

[Franklin97355]

Great, thanks for posting your findings.