Raspberry Pi 500+ Power Button Problem

Support
1

Note I have also posted this problem on the raspberry Pi forums.

Hi everyone
I am having issues with the power button on my new Pi500+. Quite often when pressing the button to turn the unit on the unit will not turn on and the power buttons LED remains red. It doesn’t seem to matter how long I hold the button down, the unit will not turn on, requiring anywhere between five to ten attempts before the unit will turn on. In some cases I have to remove power from the unit and reapply it to get the unit to turn on.

I don’t think there is a problem with the switch itself, as I can use it to reliably shutdown the pi when it is running (pressing the button always brings up the shutdown menu when the pi is running).

I am using the official Raspberry Pi 45W power supply with the unit.

I anyone else having this problem, or have a resolution, or do I have a faulty unit?

2

I’ve noticed a delay on my Pi 5 power switch of a few seconds before seeing the light change. Could that be the case for your Pi 500?

3

Thanks Cheese

No not really in my case I can hold the power button down for minutes without it turning on. The problem seems to manifest if the pi hasn’t been switched on for a day.

4

I’ve seen something similar occur in laptops where the power button needs to be pressed down for a minute or so to dispel residual power, released, and then pressed down again for it to turn on. I always thought that problem was due to the battery releasing minor amounts of power, but I’m now I’m not so sure.

I am curious, after disconnecting and reconnecting power and managing a successful boot, if you immediately do a system shutdown, does the power button work again?

5

Hi Geoff
I don’t suppose the ACTUAL turn on occurs at button release does it? Holding the button down for an extended period might signal a shut down before it has started up.
Just a thought. Thy just a momentary button press then give a second or so to start up before panic sets in.
Cheers Bob

1 Like
6

Jane,

Yes it does seem to be related to how long the pi has been off for. As when I replied to Cheese it seems to manifest more if the pi hasn’t been turned on for a day or so.

7

No I don’t think so, the pi turns on after the button has been held down for a while before you release it. Looking at Jeff Geerling, and other youtube channels confirms this too. Looking at those guys the pi usually turns on within 3-5 seconds while the button is held down for those guys.

I’m beginning to suspect mine might be a bit of a lemon :lemon::slightly_smiling_face:

P.S. Over 90 views of my post on the official pi forums with no replies, maybe I’m the only one thats having this problem :rofl:

I’d love to see a schematic of how the power button on the keyboard is hooked up too, so I can understand how it’s supposed to work.

8

Hi Geoff

Good luck with schematics. They seem to be a bit thin on the ground for this sort of stuff.
Cheers Bob

9

Well, a lemon is not the worst thing for a computer to be, but that’s still some strange behaviour.

I really think that it will most likely be residual power from the Pi 500+ sitting there connected to the PSU for the whole time. But I can’t think of how to resolve that apart from removing the charger and reconnecting it every time.

I am wondering if the combination of the Pi 500+ peripherals and the low power state is somehow locking it in the lowest PD negotiation current preventing it from gaining enough power for boot.

Is there any sort of noise or change when you press the power button?

Also, could you try it with a seperate Power Supply like the 27W?

10

Yeah not sure Jane, I would think that the pi being a desktop model with a power key would be designed to remain connected to it’s power supply at all times though. No, no noise change at all.

I’d be a bit reluctant to have to remove it each time as this would reduce it’s life due to extra wear on the USB-C connector (The wall wart itself is hard to reach, it’s behind my desk and not easy to access, I’m too old to be shimmying under the desk on a regular basis :slightly_smiling_face:).

I’ll give the 27W PSU from my old pi400 over the weekend and see what happens, although I’m not confident it would make a difference though.

EDIT: Oh crap, I just realised I don’t have the 27W PSU, only the one for my pi400 which is only 15.3W :confused:

2 Likes
11

Damn. That’s ok. I’m going to borrow a Pi 500+ from a mate this arvo and leave it plugged in over the weekend to see if this is across the Pi 500+ range or if you’re device is indeed a lemon.

2 Likes
12

Thanks Jane, that’s mighty nice of you and really is appreciated. :folded_hands:

2 Likes
13

Hi @Geoff24861,

I’m terribly sorry to confirm that your device is a lemon.

After leaving the Pi 500+ shutdown and connected to power in the office all weekend, it turned on with a single press of the power button.

Depending on your tolerance for annoying tech, I would probably reach out to support@coreelectronics.com.au, or whichever company your purchased it from, with your Order Number, some photos, and a link to this thread.

I will warn you however that it might take a while for a replacement with the 500+ being so new and in demand.

2 Likes
14

Thanks Jane, I really appreciate the effort you have gone to on my behalf :folded_hands::slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like
15

check the switch

1 Like
16

John,

As I said in my first post, the switch itself appears to be fine, as when the pi is running, it always brings up the shutdown menu when pressed.

2 Likes
17

A bit of an update, I sent my Pi back under RMA but the good folk couldn’t duplicate the problem after a week of trying and sent my Pi back to me, but it still played up on me sadly.

I did some more testing to o see if I could isolate the problem:

I moved the PSU to a different power point in case there was something weird with the one I was using. - No Change. I disconnected the mouse, the ethernet cable and the monitor so only the PSU was connected. - No Change

I had some more communication with the folk at Core Electronics and they came up with some theories for me to try, which consisted of doing a full upgrade of my OS and eeprom. It turned out my system was fully upto date as was the eeprom (No Change)

They had me update the keyboard firmware and reset the keyboard configuration in case keyboard mapping had somehow screwed up my keyboard mapping, as follows:

sudo rpi-keyboard-fw-update
sudo apt install rpi-keyboard-config
reboot
rpi-keyboard-config info

After I did the keyboard firmware, I also pulled the keycap on the power button using the provided puller as the power button seemed to feel a bit “different:” to me than the other keys and had a look, cleaned up around the switch (not that there was anything to clean) and refitted the keycap.

After the keyboard firmware update/reset and fiddling around with the keycap, I noted that when turning off the Pi I now got a flash of white when the power button went from green to red when the Pi powered down, and now the Pi reliably turns on on a single press of the power button.

Early days yet, but hopefully the issue is resolved, I’ll let you guys know if things change :slight_smile:

I’d like to thank the staff at Core Electronics, in particular Jane for the patience shown and helping me to resolve the problem, great service!

2 Likes
18

That’s fantastic, Geoff! Still early days, but fingers crossed that was the answer. I’ll note that down for any future customers who have your issue.

2 Likes