iBall PC on Stick

TechUser00

TechUser00

Forerunner
I came across this device recently and I was curious to check it out. But even after lot of effort it doesn’t seems to boot. Does any one has any idea how this works? Or what shall I do to boot or reinstall OS on it?
Plugging on HDMI input shows nothing. A blue light seems to light up for a brief moment and then goes away.
 

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I love these, I have/had a few. The Atom era of computing had some very interesting hardware.

You need a >2A 5V usb power adapter for it with a decent cable, the behaviour you describe is because of an inadequate power supply.

Amkette has good 3A cables on Amazon.
 
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rsaeon said:
I love these, I have/had a few. The Atom era of computing had some very interesting hardware.

You need a >2A 5V usb power adapter for it with a decent cable, the behaviour you describe is because of an inadequate power supply.

Amkette has good 3A cables on Amazon.m
Click to expand...

Thanks I will try this solution.
Does it runs normal full windows OS?. The device description shows it can run W10.
 
Yes, they came with either linux or no os or windows 8 and later models had windows 10. They're really good for always-on displays, I use mine as a weather reporter, the windows 10 weather app is amazing to look at on a portrait monitor.
 
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rsaeon said:
Yes, they came with either linux or no os or windows 8 and later models had windows 10. They're really good for always-on displays, I use mine as a weather reporter, the windows 10 weather app is amazing to look at on a portrait monitor.
Click to expand...
I was able to boot the device with the external power. But I find that its behaviour is kind of erratic. When connected to external monitor it does not shows anything even though the blue light is lit ON and wired keyboard also has power.
Force restarts and power on off also does nothing to cause a display output.
Sometimes out of blue it shows up in the monitor.
Any suggestions why this is happening?
 
TechUser00 said:
I was able to boot the device with the external power. But I find that its behaviour is kind of erratic. When connected to external monitor it does not shows anything even though the blue light is lit ON and wired keyboard also has power.
Force restarts and power on off also does nothing to cause a display output.
Sometimes out of blue it shows up in the monitor.
Any suggestions why this is happening?
Click to expand...
All related to power . Its not getting adeqaute power to run all peripherals
 
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kuduku said:
All related to power . Its not getting adeqaute power to run all peripherals
Click to expand...
I have connected to a multipower usb hub that shows V and A in realtime. I can see it draws a 5V 0.6A without any peripheral and 5V 0.9A with usb keyboard attached and one thumb drive.
Hub is capable of 40W.
Not sure what's the exact problem. Will try some adapter of high watttage.
It never reached 5V 2A in any of my testing. Probably a power issue in device maybe.
 
If the issue stems from insufficient power, the problem might lie with the micro USB port, which is a common failure point in small devices like mobiles. To test or bypass this, you can try supplying 5V directly to the USB-A power rail.

Here’s how:
  1. Prepare a cut USB cable: Strip the ends to expose the power wires (usually red for 5V and black for ground).
  2. Connect an external 5V source: Use a stable power source to feed 5V directly to the USB-A port’s power rail.
  3. Test the device: Ensure proper polarity and verify the power source's stability to avoid damaging the device.

Caution: Double-check the voltage and polarity before connecting. Incorrect wiring or excessive voltage can damage your mini PC stick.

This method can help identify if the issue is with the internal power delivery via the micro USB port. If it works, you’ve pinpointed the problem. Otherwise, further investigation into the power circuit might be needed.
 
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arup said:
If the issue stems from insufficient power, the problem might lie with the micro USB port, which is a common failure point in small devices like mobiles. To test or bypass this, you can try supplying 5V directly to the USB-A power rail.

Here’s how:
  1. Prepare a cut USB cable: Strip the ends to expose the power wires (usually red for 5V and black for ground).
  2. Connect an external 5V source: Use a stable power source to feed 5V directly to the USB-A port’s power rail.
  3. Test the device: Ensure proper polarity and verify the power source's stability to avoid damaging the device.

Caution: Double-check the voltage and polarity before connecting. Incorrect wiring or excessive voltage can damage your mini PC stick.

This method can help identify if the issue is with the internal power delivery via the micro USB port. If it works, you’ve pinpointed the problem. Otherwise, further investigation into the power circuit might be needed.
Click to expand...
I will definitely try this tomorrow. Thanks for the guide.
 
TechUser00 said:
I was able to boot the device with the external power. But I find that its behaviour is kind of erratic. When connected to external monitor it does not shows anything even though the blue light is lit ON and wired keyboard also has power.
Force restarts and power on off also does nothing to cause a display output.
Sometimes out of blue it shows up in the monitor.
Any suggestions why this is happening?
Click to expand...

I tested mine, it peaked at 750mA during boot without any USB devices. Took about three minutes since there were updates. These do fail, the eMMC chip eventually dies but they can boot off USB.

What kind of display are you connecting it to?
 
rsaeon said:
I tested mine, it peaked at 750mA during boot without any USB devices. Took about three minutes since there were updates. These do fail, the eMMC chip eventually dies but they can boot off USB.

What kind of display are you connecting it to?
Click to expand...
Its an LG monitor.
As suggested by @arup i manually gave the stick 5V and 1.5A and it seems to go to boot logo and then shuts itself off.
I beleive it has a faulty power module or maybe a corrupt memory.
Probably will break it open to check.
 
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