I cannot provide all information as the Pi never gets to the point of setting up DietPi.
Creating a bug report/issue
I have searched the existing open and closed issues
Required Information
- DietPi version | 9.x
- Distro version | Bookworm and Trixie
- Kernel version | Default
- Architecture | Armv8
- SBC model | RPi5 8gb
- Power supply used | Official
- SD card used | Micro Center, Kexin, SanDisk and Kingston
Additional Information (if applicable)
- Software title | DietPi
- Was the software title installed freshly or updated/migrated? Fresh
- Can this issue be replicated on a fresh installation of DietPi? Yes
Steps to reproduce
- Download DietPi image.
- Write to SD card with Rufus on Windows 10 machine. This is the computer that has done all my image writes for at least 6 years.
- Insert card into Pi5 and power on.
- Let it sit for 5 minutes or 30 minutes and it never even starts to boot.
Expected behaviour
DietPi should boot and start the set up process.
Actual behaviour
Nothing. Green light blinks on Pi and display keeps flashing between blank screen and âNo signalâ message. Does exactly the same as when I try to boot with no SD card.
Extra details
I keep downloading and trying new DietPi 9.x images (Bookworm mainly. I just found the Trixie image yesterday.) and none of them will boot and start the installation process. I started with 9.1 or 9.2.
The Micro Center SD card is the one I used yesterday and it was working with Armbian prior to trying DietPi and after I wrote the newest Raspberry Pi OS image to it and it worked fine.
All other cards are working in the Pi5 and other Pi with other distros. Same card reader and computer using Rufus to write images.
I currently have DietPi running on two other SD cards for use in a Raspberry Pi Zero 2w. These were also written using the same process.
I am completely stumped on this one. I can get DietPi running on a Pi 1B, Pi3B, Pi4B, Pi400, Pi Zero, Pi Zero w and Pi Zero 2 w. Just cannot get it to work on two different Pi5s.
Any and all help is appreciated.
Pls try pressing the power button on the RPi 5 while it seems hanging. Slowly, a couple of times.
These points might seem obvious but always good to confirm.
Double check you using the correct image version âRaspberry Pi 5 (testing)â
Do you have a screen on it, if so does anything come up or are you trying to install headless?
What power supply are you using? Official rpi 5 or other - PSUâs are sometimes not as they claim.
Have you fitted an extras - M2 drive, board or usb flash) for the first boot? Try removing to eliminate potential hardware problems and reduce power requirements.
Hope this helps as a starting point
H
Didnât think of this, definitely the first step - Iâve had headless installs which didnât complete on the first in run but did on the second after a reboot.
Wrote the DietPi image again tonight. Tried on both Pi5s.
Pls try pressing the power button on the RPi 5 while it seems hanging. Slowly, a couple of times.
This did not change anything. If I push and hold the power button it does turn off like normal.
I did try the HDMI cable in both ports as I remember there was an issue on the Pi4 with an early version of Raspberry Pi OS which would default to HDMI 1 instead of 0.
I even tried booting with nothing but the HDMI and power cable attached. Same behavior.
Once the device has been switched off using power button, it should be possible to boot by pressing the power button again. At least this worked on my device to bypass the booting issue.
Did You try to burn image with different software? Iâm mostly using raspberrypi imager
Personally, I always use Rufus. But it should not relate to the imager tool. We had a couple of similar reports on RPi5 and we are not yet sure on the conditions to fail on boot. I just ordered a debug cable to be able to connect directly to special RPi5 UART port.
Sorry for the late reply. I was finishing the family Christmas visits yesterday and eating too much food.
Also did a little more troubleshooting.
Did You try to burn image with different software?
No. If this is the issue I would be shocked as I can write other distros to the same and other SD cards and they boot without a problem on the Pi5 and other Pi in my collection.
Once the device has been switched off using power button, it should be possible to boot by pressing the power button again.
It does not boot. It just goes back to blinking like when power is first applied.
New information has been gathered. The problem has changed and is not completely a DietPi issue anymore.
I got access to a Raspberry Pi 5 4gb. This also has the same behaviour.
Here is the new information. Attaching the Pi to a different monitor and it boots as normal. The original monitor is connected through a KVM switch. Bypassing the switch and plugging directly into the monitor does not change the behaviour.
The original monitor is an AOC e2243Fwk 22" 1920x1080 display. It is an older monitor but it works. It is the display that is connected to the computer I am typing this reply on. It works fine with other Raspberry Pi (Zero through 4), my work laptop and a Minisforum UM-350. All but the work laptop connect through the KVM. The monitor also works with the Pi5 using other distros.
Is there something in the dietpi.txt or config.txt I can change to help this thing boot on the AOC monitor?
It would be strange if a monitor could have such an influence. Normally SBSs are used without one. Iâm just wondering if it could be related to power consumption. If the monitor is connected, is the power consumption so high that the system can no longer start?
To summarize for me, when the monitor is connected, DietPi does not start on the RP5i5. Does it work without the monitor?
If you have the time and interest, we can look further together to see what exactly the cause is. We are at least very interested in finding a solution.
Wrote a new image again to test. This is the order of what I tested.
-
Only power connected. The Pi5 with DietPi on the SD card and it appears to be booting according to the blinking. Plugging in the AOC monitor and the display keeps flashing âNo Signalâ over and over.
-
Power and AOC monitor connected using the cable that works on my other monitor. Connected to the monitor directly and the Pi appears to be booting but the monitor still has no signal. The display is flashing âNo Signalâ over and over.
-
Connected to the KVM and power. The Pi appears to be booting but the monitor still has no signal. The display is flashing âNo Signalâ over and over.
Iâm just wondering if it could be related to power consumption. If the monitor is connected, is the power consumption so high that the system can no longer start?
I do not believe this to be the case or I would expect this to cause an issue no matter what distro I am using. I do have 2 different official Raspberry Pi power adapters so I think we can rule out a power delivery issue as the behaviour is the same.
-
Made a second cup of coffee. No change in Pi5 behaviour.
-
Leaving the Pi connected to the KVM and power and changing to a different SD card with MX Linux installed and it boots as normal and letâs me login. It even connects to wireless networking.
Some power settings are done by config.txt file located in /boot. So it could be our defaults have an influence.
Besides checking the monitor, are you able to login via SSH? That would be helpful to know if the system is booting fine or not. If system is up, we could check some display settings.
With both monitor and/or kvm connected?
With both monitor and/or kvm connected?
Yes.
And now for some more information and strangeness.
While connected through SSH I installed XFCE. After the install I then halted the system.
Now connected through the KVM with power, monitor cable to KVM and USB cable to the KVM for the mouse and keyboard it boots right up to the command line login.
Login as root and then startx and the desktop comes right up.
I am going to write the image again to a second SD card and test again. I will report back once that is done.
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If you find time, have a look at dietpi-config display settings. Probably there is a setting allowing you monitor to function without desktop installed.
Ok. DietPi written to a different card.
Insert into Pi5 while connected to the KVM and it appears to boot but nothing on the monitor except the âNo Signalâ message.
Once the light indicates it should be fully booted I logged in through SSH as root. I let the initial setup complete. The Pi5 was halted.
Trying to login directly and not through SSH still resulted in the âNo Signalâ message on the monitor.
Access the Pi5 through SSH again and installed XFCE. Halt the system again and logged in directly. Now there is a normal boot process.
From the writing of the image to final boot there have been no changes other than installing XFCE, XFCE Power Manager and Firefox. Still using the default usernames/passwords, wireless is not setup, connected through ethernet.
Are there any kind of logs I can pull?
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this you could try still. I guess you would need to set one of the display options to get something displayed on your screen (even without desktop installed)
I will look into it tomorrow. I am done with troubleshooting today.
Thanks for your help so far.
Finally got back to testing. Not having any days off, except weekends, for years I decided to do very little beyond gaming, watching movies and drinking coffee the past couple days.
Only did two tests and here are the results.
Test 01:
Wrote RPi5 Bookworm image to SD card again. At the bottom of the config.txt I added the below line.
dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d
It booted just like I would expect.
Test 02:
Wrote RPi5 Trixie image to SD card again. At the bottom of the config.txt I added the below line.
dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d
It booted just like I would expect. The setup didnât complete as expected but I could at least see video. Once I get my new computer desk setup I can give more time to testing.
This appears to be one of those rare hardware/software issues like the Pi Zero 2w and wireless networking. As long as I have an easy work around I am good for now.
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