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Powering Rpi from Biboard v0 while USB is connected

When the Biboard is supplying 5V to power a Raspberry Pi, would it hurt anything to connect the USB from the Pi to the USB-C input of the Biboard? I just want to make sure that connecting the live USB power back to the Biboard would not be a problem. Thanks.

11 comments

11 Comments

este este

Apr 22

You mentioned difficulty with Windows 11 and that I can check because I have access to both a Windows 10 PC and a Windows 11 PC.

So, I just grabbed the Win 11 laptop and paired my Bittle BiBoard with that laptop. As usual, the hard part is getting the initial pairing (which is a whole other topic we can discuss).

Once paired though, I was able to communicate with the BBoard, via Bluetooth SPP, using the Win 11 laptop. I then did both a warm reboot and a cold (complete power off) reboot of the laptop (and power cycled the BiBoard) and each time the pairing persisted as did the ability to connect to the BiBoard.

Unfortunately, I don't have access to a Mac but, regarding Windows, we [you, me, @Rongzhong Li ] could have a web meeting (assuming @Rongzhong Li agrees to set it up) to see what we are doing differently in that OS and then document the details of what works and what doesn't work. Of course, if you really need things to work using a Mac then that is not going to help you (though this link might be useful). Just a thought. 😎

este este

Apr 21

Sounds like a perpetual power supply (Raspberry Pi powers the BiBoard which powers the Raspberry Pi which .....)! Seriously though, I don't think it is possible to power a Raspberry Pi via the BiBoard (which normally gets its power from the battery port).

Are you referring to use case where you connect the Raspberry Pi serial port to the BiBoard (see https://docs.petoi.com/apis/raspberry-pi-serial-port-as-an-interface and https://docs.petoi.com/apis/raspberry-pi-serial-port-as-an-interface/for-biboard-v1)?

I can think of a use case for connecting the USB of the Raspberry Pi to the USB-C of the BiBoard but it is not for delivering power. Instead, it another way to get serial communication between the two devices.

What use case are you trying to support?

Dave Leiner

Apr 22

Replying to

On the PC, device mgr shows Bluetooth LE and just Bluetooth. Not clear which is trying to connect but disabling one or the other didn't matter. I wasn't even able to get a working connection any more. No big deal since I don't intend to use the PC for this anyway.

The Macs just shows it as a bluetooth device. My M1 Mac briefly connects but doesn't work beyond that. My Intel Mac has better luck connecting and working although I have to forget and pair it again often.

Using VirtualHere is much easier, like plugging in the Bittle to the Mac. I haven't gotten any answers on whether it's safe but it's very unlikely to hurt anything given a decent power distribution design. I'll probably go ahead and try it soon and report back..

(BTW, I despise the use of captcha for every friggin' post. Not only do I hate it in general, if I happen to be zoomed in on the page even slightly, the pictures never show up and the process hangs. I then have to refresh the page and reenter the message. Sadistic!)

este este

Apr 22

Replying to

Regarding the PC, that is really odd but, since you're not wanting to use a PC, it's certainly not worth investigating. So,✔️ !

I can't speak to the Mac bit but I hear you regarding the Captcha!

Glad that VisualHere is working for you! Keep us posted!

Edited

Dave Leiner

Apr 23

Replying to

It works! No perpetual power supply but tapping into 5V to power the RPi and connecting the USB to USB-c worked with no ill effects. I just have to mount the old RPi 2 I've been using and see how well Bittle moves and if the battery life goes down too much. If it doesn't work well, I'll pick up a RPi 0W which also works with VirtualHere. Then I'll do a separate post to let people know of this alternative wifi solution.

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Powering Rpi from Biboard v0 while USB is connected