Hardware failure on new unit - i2c failure during boot (includes dmesg output)?

Question

I just received my camera today.  Sadly I get no video.  I tried the included MicroSD card, then downloaded the latest image and burned it to the original MicroSD card and then a second MicroSD card with the same results.  A brief orange flash and then the fan would slowly ramp up to what I assume to be full volume.  No video, no USB serial.  I connected a FTDI cable to the TTL serial and found that I had a login prompt which lead to a shell.

dmesg provides the following output which leads me to believe my hardware arrived broken.  Note at time 1.050212 that a i2c tranfer failed.  Note also that due to the 8k length limitation, I had to crop the dmesg output.  I think that the device's driver cannot read the video sensor ID and then the rest of the video startup bombs out (no video device).

Can someone confirm my diagnosis and suggest a fix (or explain how to get a replacement unit)?


[    0.791957] Linux video capture interface: v2.00
[    0.833003] [VFE]cci probe start cci_sel = 0!
[    0.833059] [VFE]cci probe end cci_sel = 0!
[    0.833183] [VFE]cci_init end
[    0.871841] [VFE]Welcome to Video Front End driver
[    0.873197] [VFE]pdev->id = 0
[    0.873207] [VFE]dev->mipi_sel = 0
[    0.873215] [VFE]dev->vip_sel = 0
[    0.873221] [VFE]dev->isp_sel = 0
[    0.879341] [VFE_WARN]vfe vpu clock is null
[    0.886095] [VFE]vfe_probe success!
[    0.886224] [VFE]vfe_init end
[    0.890079] [VFE]probe_work_handle start!
[    0.890104] [VFE]v4l2 subdev register input_num = 0
[    0.890172] [VFE]vfe sensor detect start! input_num = 0
[    0.890189] [VFE]Find sensor name is "ov9650", i2c address is 60, type is "YUV" !
[    0.890201] [VFE]Sub device register "ov9650" i2c_addr = 0x60 start!
[    0.894853] [VFE]registered sensor subdev is OK!
[    0.894868] [VFE]Check sensor!
[    0.899461] UMP: UMP device driver 0000 loaded

[    1.092263] [VFE]vfe sensor subdev unregister!
[    1.092497] [VFE]Sub device register "ov9650" failed!
[    1.092511] [VFE_ERR]vfe sensor register check error at input_num = 0
[    1.092784] [VFE]V4L2 device registered as video0
[    1.092815] [VFE]probe_work_handle end!

[    4.158337] [VFE]..........................vfe clk open!.......................
[    4.158358] [VFE]vfe_open ok
[    4.158418] [VFE_ERR]input index(0) > dev->dev_qty(1)-1 invalid!, device_valid_flag[0] = 0
[    4.162204] [VFE]vfe_close
[    4.162221] [VFE]vfe select input flag = 0, s_input have not be used .
[    4.162234] [VFE]..........................vfe clk close!.......................
[    4.162259] [VFE]vfe_close end

Answer 1

The fan slowly ramping up suggests a power issue, maybe your power supply is too weak? Can you try to connect the Y cable directly to two USB ports on your computer's motherboard (the ports in the back of your computer, not those in the front, and do not use a hub, etc). Or maybe one port and one USB charger?

The camera sensor is actually detected the first time around (at 0.890189, which is when we probe for it). So it seems to be correctly connected, etc.

But it fails later, when the CPU is under higher load, so this could indeed be a power supply issue.

If you cannot get it to work after trying different ports on your machine, we can check the device here, please contact us through kickstarter so we get your backer ID, and we will ship you a replacement unit that we will test one more time before shipping to you.

Comments

Ok, thank you for the quick response.  I tried the following, all with the same results.  I will contact you through KS.

1. USB 3 port
2. Using external Apple 2A power supply (iPad charger)
3. Using external No-name 2A power supply (USB charger)
4. Using external USB battery pack capable of 1A output
5. Lab power supply (measured around 300 mA, give-or-take)

I also tried substituting other USB power cables, including a short 9" unit, with no effect either.

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a replacement unit that we tested again here is on its way to you. Thanks for your patience.

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Got it.  Works great.  Thank you.