Rock Pi X wont boot when RTC battery inserted

#1

Hi everybody,
I have a Rock Pi X “B” that has been booting into win 10 and running my OP just fine. Except… I had no RTC battery connected to the Rock Pi X RTC port. The system clock was off every time I would boot up into windows after being shut down for a while. I have a program that needs to start up automatically when Win starts and I get an error that the system time is wrong and it won’t start till win automatically sets the clock.

I got a 3v RTC battery that has a CR2032 battery and the proper connector It’s not the one sold at Radxa but bought through Amazon. I installed it into the Rock Pi X port on the back of the board. The board booted once with it in place. Then after shutdown further boot attempts failed. Both the blue and green LED is on and dim. The Blue LED never gets bright like it does during a successful boot.

I removed the RTC battery and the board will now boot into window. Ugh.

I measured voltage and checked polarity of the battery and everything seems correct. I do not have a switch plugged into the boards external power button port.

I’m out of ideas, Any help is welcomed. Thanks!

#2

Push the power ON button for 3 or 4 secs.

#3

Thanks for the tip. That worked.

However this SBC is imbedded in a robot and I can’t get to that button usually. Is there a setting in the bios to override having to push the power button to get it to boot automatically like it did without the RTC battery installed?

#4

I don’t have an answer for that. This is a tablet-like project. I think someone answered this question by saying if you cut the power bios should remember that and start again when you restore the power again. Try it and see if it helps.

#5

Humm, I think I understand. I completely remove power to the Rock Pi x but the CMOS battery is still installed powering the bios. This causes me to have to manually push the power button to get the SBC to boot into windows. Do you mean to remove the CMOS battery also? I did this but the old problem of the system date being wrong appears again. If I’m misunderstanding please explain again. Thanks!

#6

No, just remove the power cord , wait a few minutes and plug in again.

#7

OK, thanks again. Are you saying to just pull the plug while Windows is running? I usually use the windows shutdown feature which shuts down windows and then the computer. However I noticed that Rock Pi x does not really shut down. I do always completely turn off the robot which does cut power to the SBC.
I found this thread on this form where others are having the same problem. One person says to temp disconnect the RTS battery then restore power.
Disconnect RTS

#8

Yes, but wait a few seconds before you apply power again, maybe something must be discharged.

#9

Sorry nothing has helped. Tom from Customer Support got beck to me last night and suggested to reset the bios with it’s default settings. Didn’t work either.

I was amazed with Tom’s quick response last night. Thanks Tom!!!

So If I can’t get this SBC to boot into windows automatically with physically bushing a button I need to come up with another solution. The SBC is in the robot and I can’t (and don’t want to) push a button at each power up. So I’m looking to find or build some sort of time delayed switch or circuit that will close at power up, close the RTC like a push button for a few seconds and then release. This would start up the OS like I was physically pushing the button. Any ideas on what I could use or build?

Also I’ll need a connector that will fit into the Rock Pi X’s RTC or external power button port. The specs say they take a XH1.25mm connector. Short of buying a RTC battery from here or allnet and stealing the wires and connector does anyone have an idea where I can get a male connector like this? I’ve looked and can’t locate them. Ideally something that has the pins and wire already installed.

Thanks in advance.