MiSTer FPGA Forum

I had everything setup and working fine. I changed some video settings and rebooted and nothing comes up on screen. I've completely wiped and rebuilt my SD card several times, and tried a different SD card.

The DE10 powers on.
The blue power led comes on.
The amber led comes on.
The green leds 0 and 5 alternate.

I've double checked the dip switches are in the right position (I never changed them out of the box). I've removed the I/O board, USB board, and SDRAM. Same behavior.

I'm on the verge of just ordering a new DE10, but I'd there anything else I'm missing before I drop another $140 to rehabber the FPGA?

Double check your video settings in Mister.ini.

I factory reset/rebuilt the entire SD card with fresh files and settings. So the ini file should be the defaults.

I've also tried it on both my TV and monitor with the same results.

That´s weird. Changing the video settings should not make any harm to your DE10 but to the monitor/TV instead. At least hypothetically.

my first idea would be a bad power supply.
second is maybe a bad video cable. does the VGA and HDMI not output?

Have you tried using a different sd card?
And as others have suggested, try a different hdmi cable.

I’ve tried multiple SD cards. Multiple HDMI cables on multiple displays (monitor, old 1080p tv, 4K tv). The power seems fine, as everything turns on. With no SD card, it just turns the power led blue with no other lights. With any SD card in, I get the blue power led, amber led, and then the green leds 0 and 5 alternate on and off.

last couple things before getting a new de10 is trying a different power cable, and double checking dip switches with a working DE10

https://misterfpga.co.uk/mister-de10-na ... iguration/ - dip switch settings

also, this post from atari forums might be helpful too - https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.p ... 22a565148d
(which also suggests a broken power cable)

Your LED behaviour is normal, so I suppose this is a video related problem. I know you said you've rebuilt the SD but it wouldn't hurt manually checking that the video settings are appropriate for HDMI.

If it fails, it's a long shot but you might try emailing their support, perhaps they have some ideas: support@terasic.com
Also, isn't there a warranty for these boards?

Hi There, I have the same issue, if the lights are glowing the MiSTer has booted, but apparently the HDMI out is slightly out of spec causing no display on many TV/Monitors. out of 3 monitors and 2 TVs the output is only accepted on one of them, I have been told a USB HDMI booster, will resolve, but to be fair I have not got one to test this however, there is a link in the forum addressing HDMI issues, hope it helps

viewtopic.php?f=33&t=303

to quote what I was told "Yes. There is a known issue with bad hardware producing marginal signals for the HDMI output. Most TVs are fine, but some screens are picky and don't like it.
Get a USB powered HDMI signal booster. Problem solved."

This just happened with my board after connecting to a new monitor HDMI has stopped working altogether. VGA still works (I want to use HDMI for certain cores on a different display).

Will investigate some more, no doubt whilst uttering innumerable obscenities.

ZigZag wrote: ↑Tue Aug 04, 2020 2:37 am This just happened with my board after connecting to a new monitor HDMI has stopped working altogether. VGA still works (I want to use HDMI for certain cores on a different display).

Will investigate some more, no doubt whilst uttering innumerable obscenities.

Did you also have an IO board connected initially?

Yes, was a full MiSTer with IO board. I tried a fresh install on another microSD & same thing, no signal from HDMI. My only option now is to dismantle the MiSTer & rebuild, I'm hoping that "resets" everything. I recall my dad's PC stopped working after a thunderstorm once. My guess was the BIOS was corrupted & told him to pull the button battery to reset to factory, that worked. I'm hoping (likely with tragic futility) something similar works with the DE10 h/w.

I suspect a static spark fried something when plugging it into the monitor. I'm lucky VGA still works, but will probably end up getting a replacement DE10 Nano if this one doesn't magically fix itself.

ZigZag wrote: ↑Tue Aug 04, 2020 9:52 pm Yes, was a full MiSTer with IO board. I tried a fresh install on another microSD & same thing, no signal from HDMI. My only option now is to dismantle the MiSTer & rebuild, I'm hoping that "resets" everything. I'm hoping (likely with tragic futility) something similar works with the DE10 h/w.

Godspeed. I've stripped it down back to just the DE10, tried multiple SD cards, pulled the SDRAM to no avail. I've got another DE10 arriving tomorrow, so if it works with all the rest of the daughterboards, SDRAM, and SD card, I'll know for sure it was the main board.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AAHT8AQ/

For anyone reading here and maybe wondering about surge protectors and static discharge, I work in IT in manufacturing with a lot of IoT devices. Get a good surge protector (one of the kinds our maintenance department regularly orders for offices is linked above). Additionally only touch the board by the sides and try to statically discharge yourself sufficiently before touching the board (ideally use an ESD wrist strap though). Try not to touch any of the chips directly, ever. Be careful with the MicroSD slot, they are often very fragile to insert pressure directly and laterally on SoC's like this.

Not saying OP did anything wrong, but good advice in general.

I'm usually pretty careful. I guess I was careless plugging the HDMI cable into a monitor while it was turned on.

New DE10 board arrived today and it works flawlessly with my existing SD card and daughterboards. Anyone know off Terrasic offers a warranty on bad DE10s?

Glad your new DE10 nano is working.

Stripped mine down, definitely HDMI is dead. I managed to get 1600x1200 out @60 over VGA. It's a bit annoying to lose ability to connect monitor & TV at same time, but I'm now thinking it's not really worth £110 just for that functionality. Maybe I'll stick to VGA.

Are there any other reasons I'd want/need HDMI? Go on, convince me to splash myoney around & help the devastated economy!

WestonianB wrote: ↑Wed Aug 05, 2020 9:46 pm New DE10 board arrived today and it works flawlessly with my existing SD card and daughterboards. Anyone know off Terrasic offers a warranty on bad DE10s?

Contact the company you purchased the board from and explain the situation - you've got nothing to lose. They'll probably RMA it back to Terasic.

WestonianB wrote: ↑Wed Aug 05, 2020 9:46 pm New DE10 board arrived today and it works flawlessly with my existing SD card and daughterboards. Anyone know off Terrasic offers a warranty on bad DE10s?

I got my DE10 from Mouser and had a similar problem, my HDMI output failed for no actual reason. I contacted both Mouser and Terasic. Terasic offered me the option to mail them the board for inspection and Mouser offered a replacement for no additional cost.

I ended up with a going with the replacement from Mouser and also kept the the old board. Both companies were very responsive and helpful regarding the warranty.

rgavril wrote: ↑Sun Aug 09, 2020 9:22 am

WestonianB wrote: ↑Wed Aug 05, 2020 9:46 pm New DE10 board arrived today and it works flawlessly with my existing SD card and daughterboards. Anyone know off Terrasic offers a warranty on bad DE10s?

I got my DE10 from Mouser and had a similar problem, my HDMI output failed for no actual reason. I contacted both Mouser and Terasic. Terasic offered me the option to mail them the board for inspection and Mouser offered a replacement for no additional cost.

I ended up with a going with the replacement from Mouser and also kept the the old board. Both companies were very responsive and helpful regarding the warranty.

This is exactly why buying from a company like mouser or digikey is my preference. Maybe it costs a few bucks more but it's worth it. (digikey canada was actually cheaper than anywhere else I could get it and free 2 day shipping)

In the US Digikey was 10 dollars cheaper than anywhere else, main reason I ordered from them. They were out of stock a couple days ago which is unusual. Someone must be stocking up some bundles

I was in a similar situation when I was trying a portable HDMI screen and was concerned I might have over-volted the device by plugging the HDMI screen into a USB cell charger, or perhaps when disconnecting the devices, etc. Turns out I had somehow fried the SD card, or it was already failing and the whole screen thing was a red herring. Moral of the story is that if your device isn't booting, disconnect everything down to the bare DE10 board and boot the linux image that came with it just to confirm it's all ok.

After some marginally successful data recovery from the faulty SD card and a new one from amazon, I was back up and running with zero issues.

ZigZag wrote: ↑Wed Aug 05, 2020 1:40 pm I'm usually pretty careful. I guess I was careless plugging the HDMI cable into a monitor while it was turned on.

The HDMI is wired for hot plug purposes.

gibs wrote: ↑Sun May 23, 2021 3:50 am
The HDMI is wired for hot plug purposes.

You'd think & hope so wouldn't you? There's definitely some electronic wizardry & bits of metal inside my monitor though, so it's always possible for a bit of current to leak or some static building up & then zapping my MiSTer's HDMI port. I'd plugged it in many times without incident, but all it takes is that one little spark to do permanent damage. It does seem like the MiSTer's HDMI is a bit vulnerable so my advice is don't risk it. Sure, if you play golf in a thunderstorm you're *probably* going to be ok, but it's sensible just to play it safe .

ZigZag wrote: ↑Sun May 23, 2021 7:52 am if you play golf in a thunderstorm you're *probably* going to be ok, but it's sensible just to play it safe .

No matter how ridiculous it may sound, my MiSTer died during a thunderstorm
Together with him, a lot of things still died, but he is the most pity of all )

azesmbog wrote: ↑Sun May 23, 2021 8:19 am

ZigZag wrote: ↑Sun May 23, 2021 7:52 am if you play golf in a thunderstorm you're *probably* going to be ok, but it's sensible just to play it safe .

No matter how ridiculous it may sound, my MiSTer died during a thunderstorm
Together with him, a lot of things still died, but he is the most pity of all )

Not uncommon for power fluctuations during thunderstorms to assassinate computer equipment, it's why they sell surge protectors!

Out of curiosity, were you playing a golf game on it at the time? That'd be delightful irony!

I just tipped a glass of water which poured some of it exactly through the fan grill into the MiSTer. Free extra unplanned work \o/ Luckily it turned out not much of it made it inside, mostly on the memory module.