Sounds like the Pi is overheating if it will run for longer with better cooling. There’s a thread over on the Nature Watch forum with other people that have the same problem.
Do you happen to know what sort of temperature the CPU is getting to?
DMT
Thanks for that I will check the forum. Do not know the temperature but subjectively the heat sink was at a similar temperature to a radiator say 70 dag C.
I’m not sure what sort of temperature a heatsink should be compared to the CPU. That does sound high though when you consider the CPU would be hotter.
Hi, newbie here. Have been following instructions for the daylight camera (instructions link was given by @gadgetoid on 19th June) and have reached No. 10 (View the contents of the ‘Micro SD Card’ on your computer by selecting ‘boot’.) but neither my Windows machine or my Pi2 seem to acknowledge that I’ve attached a device via USB. However, the Pi Zero lights up and does its thing, then the camera’s red LED comes on, so it looks as if it’s working OK.
Please could you give me really comprehensive instructions (remember I’m a newbie!) for finding the Pi Zero SD card’s files so I can make sure it’s going to work before I assemble the housing.
I believe Step #10 assumes you’ve inserted the microSD card directly into your computer (or, rather, haven’t removed it following finishing the write operation). Is that the case?
Hi @gadgetoid ,
Thanks. That may be true - however someone else has answered my query. I could kick myself! I’d plugged the USB cable (to the computer) into the power socket on the Pi Zero but that only carries power. Therefore, I need to plug that cable into the USB socket and plug an alternative form of power into the PWR socket (such as my lipstick power bank or my usual Pi power supply that uses mains electricity). I’ll check that works - then remind myself to put a note in my blog. However, it’s a silly mistake so I doubt if many people would make it.
No that’s not a good idea because, on my PC, that might send too much power to the Pi Zero. I’ll try just putting the cable into the USB socket and see if the Zero boots up. Yes, it does!
Yep! The PC will usually send enough power to the Pi Zero to power it fine. Connecting an extra supply wont normally harm anything, but it’s better not to.
Thanks @gadgetoid . I’m going to just carry on making the housing now. I’m certainly learning a lot from this project!