(Un)stability of RiscOS on RPI

Hi everybody

I have three boxes running RiscOS:

• The RaspberryPi: the one on which I I played for the very first time with RiscOS
• The Openpandora, the one I always have with me
• The BeagleBoard-Xm which is now my main computer, fulfilling 85% on my computer needs (the 15% remaining is RAW developpement and Web-banking)

Despite the fact that the Raspberry Pi is the only desktop solution allowing full HD display on my monitor, it is now completely disregarded. Wh? Simply because I cannot rely on it: I did not count how many times I had the system SD card corrupted when transfering large/many files. But it was so frequent that, before any major operation (installing a big software or backing-up my !NewsDir) I made an image of the SD card with usbit, in case of… and this safe my life very often! I also noted that such corruption also occurs when you restart too frequently the machine.

Neither on the Openpandora nor on the BB-Xm I encountered such issue. On those two platforms, RiscOS is robust and stable… and I forgot my habit of making an image “in case of”…

RiscOS and the high quality softwares available for it can become the main computer for many users like me, but not on RaspberryPi. THis is a pitty, because the RPi could be a fantastic “attractors” of new users… but the experience is just terrible!

Does anyone experienced the same with RiscOS on RPi?

Cheers

François

Well, my Pi’s SD died on me once, but then I use it a lot (building RISC OS for example).

Can’t speak for the Beagle – the SD there is only used to boot from.

However, I think I should reiterate that FileCore really needs to be updated to say “There is something wrong with this media, it will be mounted Read Only”.
I don’t think there could be anything more offputting than realising your files have suddenly all “gone”.

Hi François. Sorry to hear you’re having problems. Reports like yours are one of the reasons we’re not yet comfortable in calling the Raspberry Pi build of RISC OS “stable” yet.

Can I ask if you’re using SDFS on the other two platforms, and if not, what (SCSIFS)?

Are you sure this is not just power supply problems?

I had no end of issues with my first Raspberry Pi (RISCOS and Raspbian) using an RS 1200mA supply.

Since changing to a 2100mA supply from Farnell, I have not had any problems with either RISCOS or Raspbian on the original or 6 more Raspberry Pis. The Farnell supplied 5v cable is also a much better (heavier duty) cable than the original long, flimsy bit of wire from RS.

Hi John,

Indeed, I am using the RS power supply 5V-1200mA.
I have found a power supply 5V-2000mA in my stuffs. I will switch to it and see if it improves the situation. By the way, I alse have one 5V-5500 mA. Do you think i can use it without damaging my RPi?

Cheers.

François

Hello

Since a switch to another power supply delivering 5V @ and 2A, it seems that my Raspberry Pi has become much reliable.

As far as I read on forums, it appears that instability od RPi is mainly due to hardware than software.

For exemple,

The Pi has a 1AMP fuse and draws less than 800mA so I don’t think it is the greater power capacity that has fixed it. The other PSU must have been faulty. Glad to hear it is now working.

I don’t think it is the greater power capacity that has fixed it.

Beware of making such a blanket statement, Chris. The PSU has to power the complete system, not just the Pi. You don’t know what the other components in the system consume, therefore you don’t know what total current the PSU has to provide.

It is entirely plausible that the higher rating of the power supply has fixed the problem.

The PSU has to power the complete system, not just the Pi.

Depends on the point of entry of the power. It doesn’t matter what is drawing power from the Pi, the Pi will only let an amp pass through. So if the Pi is providing all the power……

That said, in my (inconsequential) experience, some power supplies for charging mobile phones and the like are quite horrible and while they can maintain a good 5V at 250mA, take ‘em up to around 500mA and the voltage plummets (irrespective of what it says on the case!). You won’t get a reliable system at four-and-a-bit volts, especially if the voltage fluctuates like hell as the subsystems (attempt to) initialise.

Agree with the above. As well as the dc level, you also may need to ensure a power supply doesn’t have too much ripple or RF or spikes from the mains. Not all PSUs with the same V and A ratings printed on them are the same!

I don’t have a RiP 8-]… sorry RPi. Do they have any onboard smoothing or RF filters, etc? Or is the user’s problem to ensure a clean 5V rail at the connection?

Jim

I don’t have a RiP 8-]… sorry RPi. Do they have any onboard smoothing or RF filters, etc? Or is the user’s problem to ensure a clean 5V rail at the connection?

page 1 – how simple would you like it to be?
http://www.raspberrypi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Raspberry-Pi-R2.0-Schematics-Issue2.2_027.pdf

I hadn’t really thought about the RF element, but since most of these beasts are rough and ready Switched Mode for smaller size I can see the harmonic potential.

I did not count how many times I had the system SD card corrupted when transfering large/many files. But it was so frequent that, before any major operation (installing a big software or backing-up my !NewsDir) I made an image of the SD card with usbit, in case of… and this safe my life very often! I also noted that such corruption also occurs when you restart too frequently the machine.

I was running with a 700mA phone charger and the 2GiB SD card from ROOL.
I can’t remember how many times I’ve re-written the image to that SD card!
It got so bad I stopped using my RPi :(

This year, I’ve invested in a 1.2A PSU (from CJE) and a 4GiByte SD card (class 4) which appear to have made the difference :)

Hopefully I haven’t spoken too soon – I want to keep using my RPi!

The PSU has to power the complete system, not just the Pi.

According to the schematics the USB ports power goes through the 1Amp fuse, so yes USB devices need to be added to the Pi’s 500-800mA draw but should never be able to exceed 1Amp, which a 1200mAmp PSU should be able to cope with. Two should’s in that statement and empirical evidence that thing don’t do what they should!
Which reminds me I need to order more of the 1.2A PSUs, that have been working without issues.

I currently run my Pi off the eeePC. [eek!]

I ought to get a power brick with multiple USB sockets, because… With the Vonets thingy, the HDMI adaptor, the Pi…. don’t have any USB sockets left for stuff I want to use on the PC like the additional harddisc!

Does anybody have experience with this – http://www.amazon.fr/PortaPow-Chargeur-garantie-européenne-iPhone/dp/B00BLLRYHY/ – any good?
Or maybe this – the lead plugs in so it can be somewhere different to the electrical outlet. That’ll be useful… http://www.amazon.fr/Chargeurs-Chargeur-GT-S7560-GT-S5360-Tablette/dp/B00FXKON46/

Which reminds me I need to order more of the 1.2A PSUs, that have been working without issues.

Parcel Farce have mine at the local depot (let’s deliver at a slightly different time when no is in¹ and stick a card through the door – ho, hum) fortunately my side of town. Could be worse the old one was town centre with loads of yellow lines on nearby roads and a good hoof to the nearest car park.

¹ Do they keep watch until you go out?

The best power supply that i have used has been the Iphone charger this has never given any problems with any number of Pi’s panda’s & Beagle XM’s

I know François problems. All problems I have was SD-card problems. Here you can find a list of Working / Non-working SD cards.
If I take a “corrupt” card in a external cardreader and boot my RPi from a other card, DiscKnight found no errors on the “corrupt” card. I had similar problems with the Panda, xM and Pandora (RISC OS only from SD).

Hello Raik

Actually I did two things and since them, my RPi is much stable.1
1) I change the 5V-1200mA PSU from RS with a 5V-2000mA PSU from one of my MEDION devices (excellent quality brand, BTW :)).
2) I bought SystemDisc from Piccolo Systems and build my own distribution, reusing the same SD card ( a medion 4GB class 6), but now making use of 4GB instead of 2GB the “official” distribution allows.

Since then, I really notice a stability and robustness difference.

Voilà, if this can help some people having the same symptoms :)

Cheers

François

Here you can find a list of Working / Non-working SD cards.

Gee… Maxell X series 16GiB Class 10 – doesn’t work.
Now, which card did I just buy myself, I wonder?
Pffft.
:-)

I tried various Kingston Class 4 (for overclocking) and 10 (normal mode) cards without any problems.