Pi Zero won't turn on without SD card in slot

[ReverendP]

Hey everyone,

I am currently following Wermy's original build instructions, but instead of an SD card adaptor I'm using a microSD card reader breakout board that I've put into the cartridge. Everything has been tested with my multimeter, all connections are ok.

Now I wanted to see if I can boot up the Pi from the cartridge reader, but it won't even turn on, as if there's no power to it (i.e. even the power LED on the board doesn't light up). However everything boots up fine when I insert the card into the onboard microSD card slot on the Pi.

I'm guessing the Pi has a card detect feature that won't let it turn on if no card is inserted, but Wermy's guide makes no mention of that. Could it have to do with the fact that I'm using the newer "Pi Zero W"? How do I solve that problem, I found no post on the forums so far to help resolve the issue.

Any ideas? THanks.

Pictures:

IMG_0976.JPG (2.44 MiB) Viewed 5103 times

IMG_0977.JPG (2.41 MiB) Viewed 5103 times

[VeteranGamer]

I'm guessing the Pi has a card detect feature that won't let it turn on if no card is inserted, but Wermy's guide makes no mention of that. Could it have to do with the fact that I'm using the newer "Pi Zero W"? How do I solve that problem, I found no post on the forums so far to help resolve the issue.

Any ideas? THanks.

Pictures:
IMG_0976.JPG

IMG_0977.JPG

the Pi zero doesn't have a card detection (so you can rule that out)


your wire setup seems way too long....
even if you used something like this...



chances are you'll be faced with the same issue....



issues causing the non start....
(electrical noise interference in you setup)
the length of your wires (way to long)...
and the fact that you haven't added any sort of noise suppression to the whole setup (example, with a capacitor)...
(rectify these and you might be OK)


Pi Zero
Long Wires
Cart Reader
Cart Board
Long wires (again)
SD Card breakout board
SD Card
(the journey from the Pi Zero to the SD Card is epic)



(personally id scrap the whole idea of a SD Card in the cart, you rarely gonna use it for all the work that it needs and the space it takes up)



.

[ReverendP]

Thanks for the input. I guesstimated the wire length from wermy‘s photos. Also, don’t I need a certain length since Pi and cartridge sit in opposite shell halves?

Since I preemptively bought the capacitor Wermy used for noise suppression anyways, I’ll solder that in at the cartridge side. Any other ideas that might cause the problem?

[VeteranGamer]

Thanks for the input. I guesstimated the wire length from wermy‘s photos. Also, don’t I need a certain length since Pi and cartridge sit in opposite shell halves?

theres really no reason to guesstimate....

if you already have your case/shell (which should be one of the first things you buy)....
you can measure and cut the wires to the appropriate length once you've decided where the Pi Zero is going to be placed....

and when you've done that, you'll realise the length of the wires you have now are just too long...

you have unnecessary lengths in the cart (for example the green & yellow wires... just make everything tight)
and the meter of wire (just a guesstimation) between the Pi Zero and cart reader, need to be shorter...

if you ordered a capacitor, then you should have also just waiting to install/solder that into the mod (its there for a reason)
(cutting corners never really pays off)




good luck with the build....



.

[ReverendP]

Again, thanks for the input. Maybe I misread your tone, but I seem to annoy you for some reason. It’s my first build, so if I make stupid newbie mistakes, that’s why. I really appreciate the input you gave.

[VeteranGamer]

Again, thanks for the input. Maybe I misread your tone, but I seem to annoy you for some reason. It’s my first build, so if I make stupid newbie mistakes, that’s why. I really appreciate the input you gave.

Don't worry, I'm not annoyed....

I'm just maybe bit more direct than what your used to....


We're all newbies here, good luck with the build...


.

[FlashyFrank]

Again, thanks for the input. Maybe I misread your tone, but I seem to annoy you for some reason. It’s my first build, so if I make stupid newbie mistakes, that’s why. I really appreciate the input you gave.

Lol, that's just Veteran. You'll see his advice in lots of posts and he always sounds annoyed. Lol.

[ctx-turbo]

Hey everyone,

was this issue ever resolved? I have the same problem and to be honest no more Ideas.

Before building everything in the cartridge I wanted to get it to work first. So I connected the SD Card Adapter (similar to the one in Wermy´s guide) directly to the Pi with AWG28 wires. I read about the too thick and too long wires and wanted to reduce the resistance at the beginning to see if it works

I checked and measured my wiring several times and could not find an issue. I also tried it with the capacitor and without and also tested several micro sd cards without any success. The Pi will simply not start. When I put the SD Card directly into the pi everything works fine.

Like ReverendP I have the v1.1 of the Raspberry Pi Zero. This does not have the Pads labeled so I checked here
(https://cdn.sparkfun.com/assets/learn_t ... Zero_1.pdf) and for me it seems identically to the v.1.3 for the sd card.


Here are some question that came to my mind and I hope someone could answer them:

- Is AWG28 too thick? What wire size do you use in your working cartridge?

- Do I need to change something in the software to enable it like when using a second sd card?
(https://ralimtek.com/raspberry%20pi/ele ... y_sd_card/)

- Could the v1.1 be the Problem? Does anyone got it to work with the v1.1?


And before someone is mentioning it, yes I know I don´t need the cartridge. I could simply put the card directly to the pi. But I like to understand and solve the issue if possible.

Thanks and Best Regards