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I'll start by saying that I probably shorted something to cause this.

I noticed this behavior the next morning after spilling some water next to it. I didn't think any got on it through the holes in its case, but I'm thinking I may be wrong about that.

Now the green ACT light blinks 4 times in sequence when plugged in.

Raspberry Pi model B 512mb running headless piCore player

I have:

  1. Removed the SD card that was in it and successfully booted another Pi up with that card.
  2. Re-imaged another (previously tested) SD card with Win32diskimager with a fresh copy of a previously tested Raspbian image.
  3. Placed the Pi on 3 other power supplies. All previously tested to work on this and other Pi's.
  4. Verified that the voltage between TP1 and TP2 is approximately 4.93vdc.
  5. Tried it with nothing plugged in besides SD card and power.
  6. Tried the card with Raspbian on it hooked up to HDMI - no signal getting to the display.
  7. Left it on and blinking for an hour - normal temperature when I checked it.

I don't see any visually obvious discolorations or other failures.

Is there anything else I can check or do with it before tossing it?

Jacobm001
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Praxis
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  • Is it functional other than the blinking ACT light? – Patrick Cook Sep 09 '15 at 01:58
  • I am sure you must have looked at this one. Still pointing it out. http://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/10579/green-led-blinks-4-times-did-i-brick-my-pi – dhruvvyas90 Sep 09 '15 at 07:25
  • Could you describe the blinking. Just four times at boot has a specific meaning. Four times and a gap repeatedly means something else. – joan Sep 09 '15 at 09:46
  • @dastaan I have seen that link - which is part of why I am hovering around concluding that it is shorted. – Praxis Sep 10 '15 at 02:39
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    @PatrickCook The red power LED is steady, otherwise nothing else functions beyond the blinking ACT light. No video when hooked up to monitor, no network activity. – Praxis Sep 10 '15 at 02:40
  • @joan It is four times and then a gap over and over and over. The only applicable scenarios I saw at [link](http://elinux.org/R-Pi_Troubleshooting) made it sound like start.elf or loader.bin were corrupt - which I've done my best to rule out. – Praxis Sep 10 '15 at 02:43
  • @Praxis Since you've already burned a new image to another card and tried booting it with the Pi in question. I think that eliminates the possibility of card corruption. Can't think of any more scenarios. :| :| – dhruvvyas90 Sep 10 '15 at 06:45
  • The fact that 4 flashes means: "start.elf not launched" is a little strange when you consider that it seems to mean that "start.elf" was read OK and you have already verified that the file is OK. Can you see any discolouration after this time - and can you estimate where, given the orientation and the case's size/shape/openings, the water would have gone. What sort of water was it - soft, clean tap or bottled water (which should dry without leaving any residue) or some that could contain something to leave a messy and possibly conductive residue behind? – SlySven Dec 23 '15 at 01:19
  • @SlySven I think OP got a new pi by now. – Aloha Dec 23 '15 at 07:55
  • @Praxis Did you put it in rice for at least 24 hours? You should have let it dry completely before even attempting to plug the power in. – Aloha Dec 23 '15 at 07:57

1 Answers1

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This topic on RPi forum gives the following information about blinking ACT led:

  • 3 flashes: loader.bin not found
  • 4 flashes: loader.bin not launched
  • 5 flashes: start.elf not found
  • 6 flashes: start.elf not launched

"Not launched" usually means the file is corrupt. I'm not sure how loader.bin gets damaged considering you've done a reflash before testing. Make sure you're following whatever "Safe removal" procedure is offered by your OS, and run a filesystem check after flashing the image to be sure.

Dmitry Grigoryev
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