How to prevent SD card corruption when Pi connection fails?

Help and Support Help
1

Dear all,

I had used volumio for some time and was quite happy about it. From time to time I lost contact, typically because of my router going down or similar issues. So the Pi was running, but I couldnt properly shut down the system. What I did was to disconnect the power source. When repowering the Pi, I often experienced SD Card corruptions, which, at that time, was no big issue because I was in an experimental mood anyway. Setting it up again was easy. Then came the day when the Pi didn’t boot again. I reformatted the Sd card and flashed the newest image, put it back to the pi and power up (red light on) but there is no booting (other LEDs dark). I am wondering if the SD card is corrputed because formatting and flashing on my notebook was no issue. Anyway, I ordereed a new card, but I would like to now how to do better in future: how to stop the system after connection is lost with the least risk of Sd card corruption. Any hints? Tips? Own experiences?

Best regards,
stereo90

2

Hello,

There is allot of discussion about this, in my experience the power supply to the PI is the most important 1.

I had allot of problems 2 in the beginning but after i followed some simple rules, i now haven’t got any problems any more.

1st format your sd cards with this : https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/
2nd read the DIY the volumio team wrote http://www.raspyfi.com/the-best-raspberry-pi-power-supply/

Try to powerdown the volumio in web interface or with a telnet session. (sudo poweroff)

U can easily modify a standard power supply of >8 volt >1 amp that u have laying around to function as a proper stable and rimple free in the volumio thread i provided above, with some simple added and cheap components.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xsfkxpf6kcbklx8/IMG_0617.JPG
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z8hm9y7pfcov2fj/IMG_0619.JPG

edit : insert some photos to clarify

3

Wow! Big thanks for the detailed answer!
Indeed, ths might help to prevent some of the problems. But still, I have a slightly instable router. So sometimes the LAN connection fails in total. Thus, I lack connectivity with the Pi even if the volumio system itself is not in trouble, but I can’t easily reestablish the LAN connection and I cannot properly shut down volumio through the WebUI anymore, as I am lacking connectivity.

Well, I know, I possible should find a way to stabilise my router, but still it happens from time to time. So my follow up question would be about the best way to power off an isolated but running volumio system?

Thanks a lot!

4

Something that might be worth trying, if you can’t connect over the network to the Pi, is connect the Pi to a TV or monitor via the HDMI port, attach a USB keyboard and mouse, and then use the Pi desktop to shut it down. I don’t know if it would work in practice, but worth a shot. The doubt I’d have if whether the Pi would recognise the HDMI connection to the TV/monitor ‘on the fly’, or if it needs to pick it up when booting up.