RPi4 won't boot with Voice Bonnet

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rdpoor
 
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Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2016 7:36 pm

RPi4 won't boot with Voice Bonnet

Post by rdpoor »

Short Form:

My RPi 4 fails to boot with a Voice Bonnet attached. Without the Voice Bonnet, it boots without trouble.

Details:

I created a fresh install of Raspbery Pi OS Lite (32-bits) rel 2022-04-04 on my (headless) RPi4 B and followed the instructions in:

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-voi ... y-pi-setup
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-voi ... inka-setup

I then did a `sudo shutdown now`, power cycled the RPi4 and verified that I could reboot and ssh into it before proceeding -- all was good.

Before installing the Voice Bonnet, I did another `sudo shutdown now` and powered down the RPi4. I then installed the Voice Bonnet and plugged the RPi4 back in. Though the red LED was on solid, and the green LED flickered for a while, the RPi4 never reappeared on my router's WiFi list, and (naturally) I could not ssh into it.

I then powered down the RPi4, removed the Voice Bonnet and powered it back up. Once again, the RPi4 booted up and I was able to ssh into the RPi4.

So it appears that something about the Voice Bonnet is preventing the RPi4 from booting.

Questions:
  • Has anyone else had experience with this?
  • Is there anything in /var/log/syslog (or other logs) that might offer hints as to what's going on?
[NOTE: I did successfully use the same Voice Bonnet on an RPi Zero W, upto and including running `i2cdetect`. But I switched to the RPi4 because I wanted a faster processor. But this tells me that the Voice Bonnet itself appears to be working.]

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rdpoor
 
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Re: RPi4 won't boot with Voice Bonnet

Post by rdpoor »

Update: I followed the same procedure as above, but using a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Rev 1.2. It all worked perfectly. It is possible that there's something wrong with the RPi4, but it was a factory-fresh unit so that seems less likely.

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adafruit_support_carter
 
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Re: RPi4 won't boot with Voice Bonnet

Post by adafruit_support_carter »

Try starting over with a fresh OS image that boots the Pi 4. And get to where you can SSH into it.

Then, don't do any of the software install for the Voice Bonnet. Simply try powering down the Pi, putting the Voice Bonnet on, and then powering back up. Do you get the same behavior?

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rdpoor
 
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Re: RPi4 won't boot with Voice Bonnet

Post by rdpoor »

@Carter: Pardon the delay in replying - I was traveling last week. Even after following your suggestions, the short answer is no: the RPi4 doesn't boot with the Voice Bonnet installed, it does boot when it is removed. The blow-by-blow sequence:
  1. used Raspberry Pi Installer to write Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64 bit) (headless) onto a microSD card
  2. transferred the microSD card to the RPi4
  3. powered up the RPi4
  4. used my router to discover the IP address of the RPi4 (192.168.1.36)
  5. successfully ssh'd into the RPi4
  6. performed `sudo shutdown now` on the RPi4
  7. powered down the RPI4
  8. installed the Voice Bonnet
  9. powered up the RPi4
  10. waited over 5 minutes: the RPi4 did not associate with the router
  11. powered down the RPi4
  12. repeated the previous three steps -- still no luck
  13. removed the Voice Bonnet
  14. powered up the RPi4
  15. the RPi4 once again appears on the network as 192.168.1.36
  16. successfully ssh'd into the RPi4
Question: is there a way to get the serial console output during the boot process? If so, would that help shed some light on what's failing?

[Update: I do have some FTDI Serial <==> USB cables on hand. Does the console output appear on pins 08 (tx) and 10 (rx) the 40 pin header? If so, the 2x20 stacking header (https://www.adafruit.com/product/1979) would let me monitor the console while the Voice Bonnet is connected, true?]

[Update 2: But wouldn't it be easier to look in the log files for where something went astray? I just don't know what to look for...]

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