Tinker Board Forum

Hello there,

I have just unpacked a TB and it looks to be dead. Only a red LED and nothing else. I've tried multiple SD cards which also work on a RPi. I've tried different way of burning the cards (same ways I used for the Rpi) and various OS's but no luck.

Anything I can try before returning it?

Thanks
Tony

I guess you've used Etcher, but it's only a guess.
You might write the image just by where X stand for the assigned letter that the kernel gave to the SD card. Definitely using a Linux installation.
Then, if you'll spend a little time, you'll find some explanation on this post or even better ahead on the discussion and see the attached PDF.

But the best way to help you is to see what you've done and what error you encountered.

Hi,

Thanks.
I tried Etcher and Win32DiskImager (0.95 and 1.0)
I tried Debian ISOs 2.0.8, 2.0.7, 1.0.8 (which is on Asus website) and also ARMbian. I also tried the latest Android.
I tried a 64GB and 32GB Samsung EVO cards (genuine, tested with H2W and working on a Rpi).
I do not get any errors. I plug the SD card in, then plug a 3A PSU (also tried the genuine RPi 2.5A PSU with same results). I get a RED LED and nothing else. No other LEDs and no HDMI output.

Using zcat may be a bit problematic as I do not have a Linux system handy at the moment.

I've had a look at the pdf, it seems to imply a bricked TB-S but mine does not have eMMC.

Thank you!
Tony

At such conditions, perhaps you need to plug an USB-RS232 adapter and see what is going on during the boot.
Linaro will need to connect to UART 3, whereas Armbian will prefer UART2.
See this or this  or this to have some idea about.

Thanks

I had to return the board unfortunately. Another one is on its way.
That said, if I don’t see any activity on the SD card, should I expect an output via RS232?

Thanks for your help, I’ll keep you posted on the new one.
Tony

Hey, just to let you know the new TB works perfectly - definitely a DOA board!

Thanks!