Venus OS does not boot on Raspberry Pi 4

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seafunks asked Jan 30, '24

Venus OS does not boot on Raspberry Pi 4

I'm also currently working on setting up a system based on a brand new Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 1GB for a smaller setup in a camper. However, I'm already failing at the seemingly most trivial step, the installation of Venus OS.

I followed the instructions exactly, so I downloaded the latest image (v3.14) from Victron and flashed it with balenaEtcher onto a freshly formatted SDHC card (Intenso 16GB SDHC Class 10). I then inserted the card into the Raspi and started it up via USB-C. The original 7″ display is also connected. After a while, the display shows the colourful "splash screen", but nothing else happens. The Raspi is not displayed in the router settings, even if it is connected via LAN, and cannot be found via Bluetooth. The green status LED flashes 7 times at regular intervals.

The error code "Kernel image not found" can be found on Google - how can this be when I am flashing a theoretically fully executable image unchanged onto the SD? Where could I get the missing file and how do I add it?

Side note: Rasbian runs flawlessly if I flash it the same way. I also tried older images but they show the same behaviour.

Cheers!

Venus OS Raspberry Pi

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Modifications Space

Node Red Space

Answer 1 · 2024-01-30T11:41:27Z

phoenix answered · Jan 30 at 11:41 AM

This rings a bell. Did you unzip the downloaded file?

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seafunks commented · Jan 30 at 01:03 PM

This time, yes, but only because balenaEtcher showed an error message and failed to decompress the image. It's the latest "venus-image-large-raspberrypi4.wic.gz" and I unzipped it with Winrar before flashing. But my previous tests were all done with the compressed file.

Edit: I was wrong, the error message occured when I tried to use the direct URL to "Flash from URL". I then used the .wic.gz file. But I also tried to flash it with the extracted files previously.

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Answer 2 · 2024-01-30T13:43:46Z

gazza answered · Jan 30 at 01:43 PM

Two things come to mind.. the first a power supply issue? Are you powering the 7" display directly from the RPI4 ? The RPI4 is particularly sensitive to insufficient power and will fail to boot properly with insufficient power.
The second is the software set-up for running a local screen (similar to the CCGX). Have a look at this link regarding Configuration, specifically regarding the headless.off file.
https://panbo.com/victrons-venus-os-on-a-raspberry-pi-install-and-configuration/

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seafunks commented · Jan 30 at 03:03 PM

I have no experience in how prone the RPI4 is to unsufficient power supply but I'm using a 5V 2A USB-supply which should be more than enough. I also tried different adapters.

Normally the USB-C goes straight into the RPI and the display is connected via the pins. I just tried to power the system via Micro-USB port of the display but it seems to make no difference.

Thanks for the link. But how could this affect the boot process of the RPI? It doesnt even get to a point where it could display anything.

In contrast to my working SD card with Rasbian OS there is in fact no file called "kernel" or similar on the "boot" partition with Venus. Why is that missing or is it not neccessary to run Venus OS?

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gazza seafunks commented · Jan 30 at 03:19 PM

You definitely have the RPI4 version ? (3.14 is correct but often links from the internet take you to the RPI3 download?)
https://updates.victronenergy.com/feeds/venus/release/images/raspberrypi4/

Yea I agree the second part of my answer should not stop it booting, (just stop you seeing the console?)

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seafunks gazza commented · Jan 30 at 03:25 PM

Yes, definitely the RPI4 version. I just tried 3.13 but with the same results.

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phoenix seafunks commented · Jan 30 at 03:55 PM

As you've diagnosed, the flashing light suggests no kernel. Balena gives me problems occasionally on win 10 or 11, so I tend to use win32diskimager.

I've just pulled the rpi4 image (this is the latest which Victron rename to a shorter file) Try this in case the longer filename is too much.

https://updates.victronenergy.com/feeds/venus/release/images/raspberrypi4/venus-image-raspberrypi4.wic.gz unzipped with 7zip and opened it. It has the expected 2 partitions. I can't test it as I dont have a rpi4. Try a different unzipper - they do vary.

Edit. Disconnect the screen/keyboard in case it's a driver thing, then fish out the IP address from the router or try http://venus

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seafunks phoenix commented · Jan 31 at 08:09 AM

I cant believe I found the solution! I tried win32diskimager and 7zip but nothing changed. Then, in an act of despair, I decided to give it one more try with one of my cameras SD cards - although I thought the RPIs prefer SDHC over SDXC. And surprise: It works right away!!

I just dont understand why the memory cards were the root of the problem when the same memory cards were able to run Rasbian flawlessly... whatever, I just ordered a new SanDisk Ultra...

Thanks @Phoenix @Gazza for your support!

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phoenix seafunks commented · Jan 31 at 08:27 AM

Another tip for the list. Glad you got it working.

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gazza seafunks commented · Jan 31 at 08:29 AM

Great news! Glad you solved it and good to know the reason! That's one to remember to avoid future frustration.

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jeroend seafunks commented · Feb 03 at 12:30 PM

Thanks for reporting your solution!

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Answer 3 · 2024-01-30T17:05:01Z

kevgermany answered · Jan 30 at 05:05 PM

@Seafunks

@Phoenix

Moved to modifications space, all RPi stuff lives there.

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