Badger 2040 not powering up from JST-PH connector

Support
1

I tried powering up the Badger 2040 from the JST-PH connector using two AAA batteries but it’s not powering up. I’m able to measure 3.2v at the battery holder and at the leads of the JST-PH connector, but the board does not power up from there. Powering up from USB works fine. Is there anything I have to handle at the software level to enable the JST-PH connector?

I’m running the latest Badger OS from the Getting Started guide, and have tried holding the reset button + any front button, but haven’t been able to power it up from the battery.

Thank you
Max

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2

It is a bit finicky. Try holding a front button and briefly press reset. Keep the front button held for a couple more seconds and with some luck the screen will refresh.

Once it’s active you should be able to go into and use an app OK, but you have to do the same dance to get back to the home screen.

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Thank you Mike, that worked :-)
(Wished it was documented in the getting started guide)

4

There is a “contact our support team” link on the bottom of the shop page for reporting / suggesting documentation updates. ;)
Contact Us for Raspberry Pi Technical Support - Pimoroni
It’s usually the quickest way to get a response.
Doing an @m3o etc will also work if you know who to @
@hel

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There’s been a big update to the Badger Micropython image. If you grab that from github then the battery behaviour is much better.

You now need to press A and C together to exit an app, and no more weird holding buttons and pressing reset!

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Tutorial is now updated to describe new ‘press A and C together to return to the launcher’ behaviour.

If you’re still on an older version of Badger MicroPython you should definitely consider downloading the newest image to get access to @RebelMike 's awesome new power saving features!

BadgerMushroomGIF

1 Like
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I’m trying to build a battery (AAA) powered device that’ll allow me to press a button and the screen will update to show the time the button was pressed.

To allow the device to function for months without changing the AAA batteries I was planning to simply use a momentary button between the batteries and the wires coming out of the JST-PH connector. Push the momentary button, the device gets power, reads the time from the connected RV3028 RTC breakout, updates the screen, and you release the button and everything is powered off for the rest of the day.

This all works…apart from the fact that nothing seems to get power until I hold the A button down and tap rst on the back, which means the momentary button wired between the batteries and the badger isn’t having the desired functionality.

Any way I can configure my badger to immediately power up as soon as it gets power?

P.S. I’m running the micropython 1.18.5 release

8

I should have followed the Kerry’s advice and @hel and @RebelMike about the above I guess ;-)