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Minty Pi wont turn on with battery
Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 6:06 am
by Ar3on
Hi Guys I have completed my build of the Minty Pi and doesn't want to power on
I will link a picture later in this forum to show you the setup
Troubleshooting I have done:
If I use the USB port on the pi zero for power the unit comes on:
It seems to me that the battery is not powering the unit at all, what is the best way to troubleshoot to find where the issue are? I think for me the switch might be the culprit but unsure of this....
My next test will be to turn on the PI via USB and see if the L1 and R1 work by turning the volume up and down. But i think its all down to the power components:
- Adafruit Micro Lipo w/MicroUSB Jack - USB LiIon/LiPoly charger - v1
Some tips and directions on this will be much appreciated.
Re: Minty Pi wont turn on with battery
Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 6:21 am
by NarxElectronics
Make sure everything is connected and soldered well, a multi meter is a magical tool

Re: Minty Pi wont turn on with battery
Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 7:25 am
by Ar3on
Thanks... I have a multi meter just need to review the basics again for it to use it properly.
As i posted this I was reviewing the drawing on another post pined in Hardware help section.
I think I have the switch and the power micro lipo wrong.
Will give feedback on this
Re: Minty Pi wont turn on with battery
Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 8:06 am
by Eccho
Wait, that is the whole wiring for the MintyPi build?
Re: Minty Pi wont turn on with battery
Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 8:15 am
by abrugsch
Eccho wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2017 8:06 am
Wait, that is the whole wiring for the MintyPi build?
yes.... it's really small and simple. it's not showing the ribbon [up to/or] the screen PCB though
Re: Minty Pi wont turn on with battery
Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 8:18 am
by NarxElectronics
abrugsch wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2017 8:15 am
Eccho wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2017 8:06 am
Wait, that is the whole wiring for the MintyPi build?
yes.... it's really small and simple. it's not showing the ribbon [up to/or] the screen PCB though
I remember how intimidating my first build was, now I realize the wiring isn't as much of a hassle as i thought it would be

Re: Minty Pi wont turn on with battery
Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 9:12 am
by Eccho
I am by no mean calling it easy, but I still had in mind the prototype from Wermy and Helder with al the white wires inside
The ribbon, from a lot of troubleshooting threads, seems to be the trickiest part.
Looking good.
Re: Minty Pi wont turn on with battery
Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 10:49 am
by dryja123
You really need to troubleshoot this issue with a multimeter to see where your power breakdown is.
You'll need to test your voltage reading on the mintyPi PCB. If the mintyPi PCB is detecting no voltage then you isolated the power coming from the micro lipo and or the battery. If the mintyPi PCB is getting 3+v then you know the power from your battery is good. If the power on the mintyPi PCB is good, test the voltage reading on the Pi. If the Pi is detecting 0v and the mintyPi PCB is detecting 3+v you know you isolated the issue to a bad connection....
Troubleshooting power issues should always be a no brainer.... Well, maybe it's a no brainer for me because I was a field tech for a number of years....
Please post back with your results.
Re: Minty Pi wont turn on with battery
Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 11:22 am
by abrugsch
Sorry i did mean easy relative to doing a full on GBZ... It's not without it's own trickiness to deal with, but is still a good deal simpler than a gameboy due to much reduced space constraints and available componentry
Re: Minty Pi wont turn on with battery
Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2017 3:57 pm
by Ar3on
NarxElectronics wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2017 6:21 am
Make sure everything is connected and soldered well, a multi meter is a magical tool
Yes the wires were wrong from Charger board to pcb (Power) and from switch to PCB (Ground). Changed them over and it works a treat
Thanks again for the drawing....posted another topic in the forum if you can help me
http://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic. ... 751#p44751
Performance on GBA is slow and dragging is this normal on a pi zero w???