Is my SheevaPlug dead ?

[sylvainmarechal]

Hello,

I recently bought a shevaplug on Newit.
I connected the JTAG when I received the plug, only to see that it works (The JTAG and the sheevaplug). I used the information link given by newit, and it worked as expected - I could see marwell messages at boot, then connect etc ...
After that, the normal way I used to connect to the plug was ssh, of course.

Nothing special was running on the SheevaPlug : I kept the original ubuntu 9.04, then I installed only a few programs and put a 4 Go SD card on it, then I formated it and mounted it to use it as additionnal storage (but I never put lot of data on it - not a lot of time to play with my plug in fact - I just put one or two files to see it worked).

What I noticed is that the SheevaPlug was quite hot - when it was working.

This week, it stops working. I don't know exactly when because I wasn't at home, but what I know is that no outage occured (my old alarm clock time  was correct)

So yesterday, I tried to connect to the plug using ssh. It wasn't possible : I noticed that the network light on my router was off.
Then I suspected a software problem, and I got the sheevaplug to unplug/replug it : I noticed the sheevaplug was quite cold (ie not so hot as it used to be)

After what, nothing special happened : WHen plugging it, the network light were always on on the sheevaplug (But NOT on the router), and only ONE light (the green) was on on the sheevaplug. I'm not sure but I remembered that there was a blue light too - So no blue light at all was on.

Note : The green ligh is not blinking; it is just on.

Then using the JTAG never worked. No /dev/ttyUSB0 detected when pluging the usb wire to my laptop. (sudo modprobe ftdi_sio vendor=0x9e88 product=0x9e8f etc done before)

What can I do now to see if my sheevaplug is dead or still alive ?

Thanks,

Sylvain

[NewIT_Marcus]

You've done everything you can do. Please send an e-mail to jason@newit.co.uk describing the tests you've done, or pointing to this thread, and with your original order details.

[fuchur]

I do have the exact same thing here. Is this a hardware problem? Or can the plug be revived?

[NewIT_Marcus]

I do have the exact same thing here. Is this a hardware problem? Or can the plug be revived?

If your lights are behaving the same, it is possibly a PSU problem, and my advice is the same, to contact jason@newit.co.uk

[fuchur]

thanks for the quick reply!

I already contacted the very bad support at http://www.globalscaletechnologies.com/. After 3 weeks they told me, that the warranty period expired and I could send it to them but I would have to pay for everything (shipping, parts and labor).
So, I guess I'm on my own here... From what I've read the PSU problem normally shows itself by a blinking power led, but I have a green led which is always on.

[NewIT_Marcus]

I assumed that you had purchased your plug from NewIT.

If you didn't, or the plug is not covered by warranty, you should be able to purchase a power supply. I think we're expecting some in next week; Globalscale are also offering them directly, I believe.

[fuchur]

So... some time has passed. Now I can say, that it was the PSU. I replaced it with a bit stronger external PSU (which was also cheaper) and everything is running smooth. I hope the fact that the PSU is external and stronger will get rid of the problem when running an external USB powered 2,5" HDD.

Thanks, for the help!