[Coco] The BIGGEST PROBLEM with (So-Called) NEW CoCo Hardware...

[Dave Philipsen]

Well, the intended usage is that those pins would be use for powering 
other peripherals, not receiving power.  But if you look at a circuit 
diagram of the Pi, yes, you can power it that way.  Just make sure you 
use a reliable, stable 5V supply.  In fact, I have four prototypes that 
are running now like that.  One has been running 24 hours a day for 
about 14 months now and the others have been running 12 hours a day for 
a year now with no problems.  It's a much neater, more professional, 
more reliable way of powering the Pi in an embedded situation.  I wish 
that they had designed it with a header for the audio, video, usb, and 
ethernet signals too.

Dave

On 3/6/2017 8:09 AM, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
> ________________________________________
> From: Coco [coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com] on behalf of Dave Philipsen [dave at davebiz.com]
> Sent: Monday, March 6, 2017 8:55 AM
> To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts
> Subject: Re: [Coco] The BIGGEST PROBLEM with (So-Called) NEW CoCo Hardware...
>
> On 3/6/2017 5:38 AM, Francis Swygert wrote:
>> I wonder how fast a dedicated device could boot? I have four Pis, and all seem to take 30-45 to boot using Raspberrian. Its a problem because we wanted to use them for a ticketing system, but when power would glitch, as it often did out there, they didn't want to hold the line for that long waiting for the system to boot. Haha.=======================================
>> Stripping down Linux will help, but it wouldn't be hard to make a small battery backup for the RPi either... A 9V battery would back up the RPi itself, just not a monitor or other peripherals. If you're using built-in or SDcard (or even USB stick) for storage that would back up also...
>>    Frank Swygert
>>    Fix-It-Frank Handyman Service
>>    803-604-6548
>>
> Just another thought FWIW:  You can power the Pi through the GPIO header
> but you must use a good regulated 5V supply because powering it this way
> bypasses some protection circuitry as I recall.  In several locations I
> am using a specialized circuit board with the Pi being attached to it
> via some standoffs and I power it that way to eliminate the need for a
> separate supply and the frailty of using a micro USB plug.
>
> _____________________________________________
>
> I beleive that is backwards.  Those pins in the GPIO are for powering
> devices further down the chain and not for powering the Pi itself.  Just
> cause you can do something doesn't mean you should.
>
> bill
>
>