Hello All... I just received a UDOO x86 Advanced Plus unit today, and have been trying to get it going for several hours with no success. I've read through the user manual downloaded from the main UDOO site, and I've also been grepping the forum here without much luck. So I thought I would start a thread. The problem is that when I am trying to install an OS, it's like the CPU ins't even working. I get to the BIOS sometimes, but even that is finicky and doesn't always work. But most of the time I'm getting into the BIOS, and can select a boot device. I'll then get a menu offering to let me install the operating system from the media insertion, and then things just stop with some repeated errors--that is to say that the same error seems to occur time after time. I've downloaded both 32- and 64-bit versions of Debian 9 and Ubuntu 16.04, and have tried many different attempts to install them--using two micro SD cards, one (new) SD card, and two (new) USB flash drives. All media works in two other machines, and UNetbootin creates the USB images without a problem. (I used Win32 Disk Imager for the uSD/SD cards.) I can browse the media with both a Windows 10 and a Debian machine, and it seems to be in good shape. The errors I'm seeing are that of an "uncompression error" (see attached image) when I try to install Ubuntu and select "Install Ubuntu" from the media; and something like "halting...no cpu0 found" when I try to install either one of the Debian systems. In the case of Debian, I get like three lines of console text output, and that cpu0 error is in the third or fourth line each time, and that's where it stops. I've let it sit for 15-20 minutes at these errors, a couple of times...and nothing ever changes. I have to recycle power to try again. So it's very odd--it's like the CPU just isn't working. Sorry, I didn't think to get a picture of the error with the Debian attempts, but I could probably get one if necessary--like I said, it complains that it cannot find cpu0. I'm not quite sure what to do at this point, and was hoping that someone might have a thought as to what might be going on. The green light by the IR sensor is on when the board starts, but there are no other lights on that I can tell--and when the BIOS doesn't appear for me (when the board is being finicky), the green light will cycle amber for a few seconds, before turning green again. At that point I have to pull the power and re-apply it in order to try again. Anyway, thanks in advance to anyone who can offer suggestions on what to try next.
I forgot to mention--I did get a 128 GB M.2 SSD, but I've been trying to install the OS to the eMMC. In fact if the M.2 SSD is mounted on the board (as shown in the videos on the UDOO YouTube channel), then I don't even get to the BIOS screen--I just get nothing. The only way that it seems I'm able to get into the BIOS is by unmounting the M.2 memory card. TB
Oh, sorry I didn't mention that...I meant to. I ordered the board online from the UDOO shop last week and bought the power power supply from them as well, along with the M.2 flash and a few other things for the board. I just ordered the stuff from the pop-up menu of items that appears when you view the board you're looking at buying. So it should be the correct power supply.
Oh, wait a second--I lied! Sorry! I forgot--the PSU was out of stock now that I think of it, so I got one from Amazon. This is the PSU I purchased: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073CQCGM2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 My apologies. I had forgotten that the US power supplies were out-of-stock when I ordered, so I searched the documentation and matched the specifications on Amazon. I totally forgot that I had bought one on Amazon. Wow, sorry to have forgotten that important point. I should go back into the lab and verify the output voltage listed on the PSU--and then even check it with a multi-meter to ensure that it's putting out what it says it is. In terms of current supply though, it shouldn't matter all that much on boot. MickMate's YouTube video noted a maximum draw of about 1.1A as I recall. So it would seem that as long as the PSU is putting out 12 volts to the board, it should at least boot right?
OK, just checked out the PSU. It is indeed the 12v 3A (36W) unit I linked to. My Fluke multimeter tells me that it's putting out 12.32 volts with no load. I can't speak to how much current it's sourcing when the board tries to boot, but if the board doesn't draw more than 1-1.5A on boot (as MickMate's video suggests), then I am skeptical that it's the PSU causing this problem--especially since the CPU doesn't seem to ever even get going. It just seems to fail straight away.
Another report this morning... I spent a few hours last night re-watching all the videos on the UDOO YouTube channel, and also reading the "Getting Started" documentation and as many forum threads as I could find that seem to pertain to the problem I'm seeing. This morning I removed the RTC battery and recycled that after a few minutes, without effect. I can't even seem to get the board into the BIOS at this point though, so I'm suspecting that there is a hardware-based failure of some sort. I did probe around on the board with a multi-meter, and found 12.21v on the main power barrel connector, and from 1.7-5v on the various board pins near the power switch. As for the power switch itself, I found about 3v3 or so across that. The little green power LED is on near the power switch, and if I press and hold the power switch for 5 seconds or so, the power LED turns to amber. It then stays amber until I again press the power button, and then the LED goes to green. So the power button does seem to be working. The CPU heat sink is *slightly* warm to the touch...but it's not very perceptible. It does get slightly warmer to the touch if I leave power applied for several minutes, but nothing appears on the BIOS page. I tried the HDMI cable shipped from UDOO--no difference from the one I was using before (which works with my other computer). Finally, I inserted a uSD card with Ubuntu on it into the card holder on the board, and it doesn't make a difference--the board won't even boot into the BIOS for me. So I'm going to start an RMA claim on the thing. Nothing I've tried seems to make a difference, and I can't find anything else to try based upon several hours of reviewing the forum, online documentation ("Getting Started" page on UDOO's site), or their YouTube channel. Bummer, because it looks like a great board--and the UDOO guys make it look FAR less troublesome than I'm experiencing, in order to get these things going. I have a degree in Computer Science, and have been working with embedded systems for several years now, so if I'm not able to get it going after 4-6 hours of effort and research, then that tells me there's probably something wrong with the board. EDIT: Support ticket opened.
One thing I learned on the (mini-PC) power supply area, unrelated to UDOO products, is not all power supplies are created equal. I know this for a fact (got burned before); I have an older ATOM mini-PC (Baytrail Nettop class) which was shipped with factory supplied power supply. Found it had a brown-out problem, where PC can freeze from time to time. It was not the DC power cord's thickness issue nor power plug (loose or tight) fitting problem, but the power supply DC output regulation problem. Intel SoC has the occasional instantaneous power demand needs. Inadequate regulation of the power supply itself causes very brief power dig which freezes the PC. The fix in my case was to add a 2200 uF 25V capacitor to address the voltage dip problem. Few hundred dollar stuff got sunk by a $1 cheap-out. Use your Fluke in Min-Max Hold mode to observe. Of course YMMV.
Understood. I did further research on UDOO's site though, and they cite the inrush current at boot to be around 750 mA. The power supply is 3000 mA. So in theory anyway, there should be MORE than enough reserve to allow the board to at least boot--yet now I can't even get it to enter the BIOS. I've measured the voltage at the barrel jack when the board is off (via the power switch), and then when I press the power switch to turn it on--as I recall there was minimal drop. I think it was like 50-100 millivolt, but I made so many measurements yesterday that I can't remember for sure. But it was trivial anyway, and the supply voltage stayed well above 12 volts when the power button was depressed. So this power supply is certainly well within the 12v +/- 5% requirement they cite in the documentation. Anyway, they've granted me an RMA, so I'll send it back to have them look at it. If it's defective, they'll just send me another board. But I'm really curious as to what the issue is with that board. I do have a (fairly decent) bench power supply that has a built-in ammeter as I recall. I don't use it much as I normally don't have a need to, but it might be a good thing to try (if I can find the correct size of DC barrel connector to wire up) just to see how much current the board is pulling when it's "on." I'm just not sure if I have a barrel connector of the correct size to wire up. I'm certainly not going to trash the one I bought on Amazon just for the sake of experimentation, when it appears to be working perfectly fine...lol. Thanks for your post! TB
We checked out the power supply a bit more yesterday, before shipping the board back to UDOO. The voltage at the power jack with the switch OFF was about 12.33 volts. When the switch was pressed and the board tried to turn on, the voltage dropped to 12.29 volts. So it dropped 40 mV. So I would say the power supply is not the issue here. Of note, the board still wouldn't enter the BIOS yesterday. Hopefully the UDOO folks will be able to tell me something about the cause of this issue. My curiosity is definitely piqued at this point. TB
I got word this morning that the board is electrically unstable and cannot be repaired, so they are sending me a new one. I was hoping to get a more detailed report than that--which component(s) is(are) bad perhaps? In any event, it appears as though the board was in fact bad so my findings here are supported by what tech support found. I'm looking forward to getting the new board and trying it out. Thanks to all who've posted in this thread.
