[freak4pc]

Hey All,
I'm getting this weird colored-square sign on the top right of my screen.
I've read around and Googled and people are saying this is related to not having enough current like the needed 5V @ 2A.



I've tried two different adapters
1. a GP supply which was provided to me by the company from which I bought the Rpi2 , so it's supposed to fit. Also states 5V 2100mA


2. An iPad supply with similar specs (5.1V , 2.1A)


Both still show the sign on the top right ...

I thought this might be related to the thickness of the USB cable but it seems adequately thick in my eyes:


Do you have any ideas for fixing this issue ?

Thanks,
Shai

[jimmymcmahon]

Hi. I was getting this issue intermittently using my old charger I used for my pi b.
I since ordered a new PSU from modmypi.com and have not had the issue since.

https://www.modmypi.com/5v-2A-modmypi-ra...wer-supply

The plug above is actually 5.25V to take into account any voltage drops caused by using power hungry USB devices.

[da-anda]

change your usb cable - that will fix your issues (either a shorter one or a better quality one). I had to use the cable from my tablet to get things working

[freak4pc]

Uhm I got this cable with the Pi actually and it seems really solid ... I'll look into finding a shorter cable perhaps.

[MatteN]

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=217295

[notorius28]

Changing the USB cable was the solution for me

[Bosse_B]

I thought this might be related to the thickness of the USB cable but it seems adequately thick in my eyes:

You cannot judge the wire size from the outside of the cable...
Inside the cable sheath there are several wires and two of them are for the +5V and 0V power supply.
These are the wires that need to be of sufficient copper area to not drop voltage along the cable when the device uses a lot of current (like a Pi especially with attached USB accessories).
USB cables are not alike and usually the manufacturers do not specify the AWG size of the internal wires, but that is what you need.
A good cable has different size for data and power wires. Bad ones use the same size (the small area) for all wires....

[freak4pc]

Could anyone recommend a good cable to purchase online? Perhaps eBay or so ? Don't mind paying more if it's a premium cable or very high quality

Thanks
Shai

[noggin]

I've never had any issues with the Pimoroni USB noodles on my B+ Pis. I usually buy stuff for my Pis from online shops that specialise in Pis as then you can be pretty sure that the stuff will work with a Pi specifically.
http://shop.pimoroni.com/products/colour...wer-supply (And the guys at Pimoroni are really helpful, friendly, and offer great customer support)

I'm using them with a mix of Apple iPad (genuine Apple) and Asus Nexus 7 PSUs. I also run with a Pi Foundation PSU http://swag.raspberrypi.org/products/ras...wer-supply on my Pi 2.

[Bosse_B]

I searched for a review of MicroUSB cables and found this:
The best Micro-USB Cable
Maybe one of these can be used unless you decide to build your own by bridging the red/black wires from one connector to the other using heavier wire.

[popcornmix]

I searched for a review of MicroUSB cables and found this:
The best Micro-USB Cable
Maybe one of these can be used unless you decide to build your own by bridging the red/black wires from one connector to the other using heavier wire.

Thanks. Interesting comparison. I'd have preferred if they had looked at voltage drop across cable (or equivalently resistance), but I suspect that the charging time they measured is an equivalent metric.

So is anyone using the Monoprice 3ft cable?
Looks like a good choice for recommending.

[Bosse_B]

It seems like this cable is designed like this:
Data wires = AWG28 (212 mohm/m)
Power wires = AWF24 (84 mohm/m)
This gives a theoretical voltage drop across the 3' cable (supply and return wires add):
1A load on AWG28 = 0.366V
1A load on AWG24 = 0.145 V
As you can see quite a difference between such a cable and those where all 4 wires are AWG28 (or even thinner)...

Note that in addition to this you have to calculate that there is a contact point resistance in the USB connectors in both ends, which will add extra voltage drop of up to 0.1 V or so. But this depends a lot on the quality of the connectors and is not so easy to calculate as the ohmic voltage drop in the cable.

I believe that a normal Pi consumes something like 0.7A and if you also plug in a hdd that uses 1W it will be up to 0.2 A so the 1A figure above is at least in the practical sense a minimum that must be handled.
Finally, if the power supply itself delivers an output voltage that is not at the high end of the allowed range things may get worse...

[freak4pc]

Bosse, Thanks . My adapter is actually 5V like recommended. I saw some 5.25 ones but im not sure that's the issue.
I'm going to try ordering one of the more heavy duty cables and see if that helps. Worst case i'll get the 5.25v adapter as well ...