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chumbysphere forum → Hardware → Chumby one nothing but circles !
Hi. I purchased my Chumby 1 from Woot in March of 2011, It appears to be dead or dying. Upon reset, white circles come up then they change color. After a few seconds the screen goes black. We tried unplugging and resetting several times. After doing a google search, some people are saying that it is a power supply problem. Does this sound right?
The power supply is the wall-wart (aka Power Adaptor) the little brick you plug into the wall with the wire that plugs into the Chumby)).
Look for one with the same voltage rating and one that can supply at least the same current.
Also, note the polarity too, is the tip positive and the barrel (outside) negative?
So look at the original one and match one up.
The OEM for the C8 is rated at
5vDC
2500mA (which is 2.5A)
and the tip is positive and the outside barrel is negative.
Also, you need to make sure the tip and barrel diamater are correct too. Too small and it will not make contact and too large it will not be able to be inserted into the jack.
I do not know the size, anyone? 2.1mm x 5.5mm?
The OEM one I have is a KSS18-050-2500U
The Chumby One actually has lower power specs (likely due to the smaller screen/backlight and slower processor); it's 5V, but only 2000mA (2.0A)... the connector is also slightly smaller than the C8's connector.
My old analog caliper measures the C8 (well I8, for me) connector's outer diameter at 0.136", or 3.5mm. I can't get the caliper's jaws inside the socket on the I8, but eyeballing it gave me a measurement of 0.050", or 1.27mm... since 3.5mm x 1.3mm is a common plug size, I'd say that's what the I8/C8 use.
According to the wiki, the Chumby One uses a 3.2mm x 0.9mm plug. I couldn't find anything like that readily available though, but I ordered some wall warts with a 2.5mm x 0.8mm plug (since the wiki says they ship with a connector with a 0.8mm ID), hoping that the spring contact for the outside of the barrel is wide enough to span the gap. For reference, the ones I purchased can be found here, on eBay; rated for 5V @ 2A, their output is just what the doctor ordered -- next will be to see if the small round peg fits in the larger round hole 
Once the wall warts come in -- unfortunately they're quite literally on the slow boat from China -- I'll let you know how they fared as Chumby One power supplies. I personally didn't mind taking the risk, as I have other projects that can put them to use where the connector size is irrelevant. I also have the option of trying to find a more suitable connector via one of my favorite electronics suppliers (Jameco, Mouser, etc) or on the end of a wall wart at a thrift store and stick it on there.
This thread also gave me the idea to see if people wanted to go in on a group order for specifically Chumby-compatible power supplies, which you can sign up for on this forum thread. It would be a while (waiting for people to sign up, waiting for people to pay, ordering the parts, and assembling/shipping everything), but I will personally test each one I put together for fit and operation. Of course if the test supplies I've already ordered work out-of-the-box for the Chumby One, then I'll likely just recommend that course of action for C1 power supply seekers, since it's much cheaper than having me order the parts, hand-assemble them, and re-ship.
I thought it was for a C8 (Chumby 8); I saw they said wOOt and my minds eye saw Chumby 8 and not Chumby 1.
Thanks for catching that.
So based on my brief description of the problem, it is a good guess that it might be a power supply problem?
I was trying to get it to work yesterday and I discovered that when I unplug the power supply then plug it back in with my finger pressing down on the screen I receive a message with a few options : "reset to factory settings" - "Update with usb" - and some other update message. But I do not have the ability to select any of them because the screen is not reacting to my touch. Does this additional discovery shed any new light to my problem?
I think this has a 1 year warranty and mine is about to expire in a week or so. Does anyone know how to get any warranty info/service ? No one is answering my emails at Chumby support! Thanks.
Hmmm... if it's giving you the factory reset screen when you're holding down on the touch screen, the touch screen is responding to some extent. Can you turn it back off via the power button, and then just touch+hold the screen for 3-4 seconds? I'm wondering if touching the screen as it's getting plugged in is somehow messing up the touchscreen calibration; turning it on the way I described might avoid that, so you can select the appropriate options.
At this point, I'd say it's something in the firmware that's wonky. Worst case scenario, if you can't get the warranty fulfilled, you can always take the Chumby apart and plug the SD card into your computer and reload it with the stock firmware. If that option interests you, let me know and I'll try to dig up the appropriate threads on doing so.
Using the method you suggested I achieve the same results. My finger must be on screen before powering up. Then this message comes next "continue to press this screen to load special optionsor release for normal startup". I tried both ways, only continuing to hold moves the process along. Then loading special options appears. Then the options to -restart to normal ---Install updates ----Restore factory settings
Everything I select gives me this screen eventually= "All personal settings will be restored to the default settings- are you sure you want to continue?" ok or cancel After this it is not responsive to my touch. I just stays frozen on that screen.
Can I try a firmware update via usb? If so where would I find an update?
You mention possibly taking it apart ( I take things apart and usually don't put them back together ) I like the idea of just plugging in an usb.
I very much appreciate the effort you are showing in trying to resolve my issue.
My Chumby One appears to be a brick right now also. It is 50 weeks old. I posted this info in the hardware forum about the problem:
My finger must be on screen before powering up. Then this message comes next "continue to press this screen to load special options or release for normal startup". I tried both ways, only continuing to hold moves the process along. Then loading special options appears. Then the options to -restart to normal ---Install updates ----Restore factory settings
Everything I select gives me this screen eventually= "All personal settings will be restored to the default settings- are you sure you want to continue?" ok or cancel After this it is not responsive to my touch. I just stays frozen on that screen.
Can I try a firmware update via usb? If so where would I find an update?
You mention possibly taking it apart ( I take things apart and usually don't put them back together ) I like the idea of just plugging in an usb.
I very much appreciate the effort you are showing in trying to resolve my issue.
You posted a Chumby phone number elsewhere -- did you try calling them and see about getting a warranty replacement? With (ostensibly) two weeks left on your warranty, this might be your best/safest option.
I don't think you can update the firmware via USB because the Chumby doesn't seem to actually be able to BOOT off the USB (not without significant modification, which could only be done on a functional Chumby).
With regards to my suggestion to take it apart, you'd really only have to open up the case, remove the MicroSD card, stick that in your computer (along with a Linux LiveCD of some flavor or other), reimage the SD card, and stick it back in and put it together. Of course, this option would void what warranty you might have left, so altogether it's a last-ditch effort if you can't get a warranty repair/replacement.
Hmmm, Chumby seems pretty cool about a lot of their hardware policies (which unfortunately are mostly irrelevant now); I wonder if you could talk them into just replacing the MicroSD card, if they don't have a replacement Chumby One available? Basically, my idea is that someone @ Chumby would make and send you a MicroSD card with a fresh Chumby image, you'd swap it out with your current MicroSD card, and then ship the bad one back to them. This is a completely ex rectum suggestion, and they may have no interest in doing so, but figured I'd throw it out there anyways 
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