Problems Building New Octopi/OctoPrint SD Card

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1

What is the problem?

I have had multiple distinct problems attempting to build a new SD card for my Raspberry Pi 4B. I am looking for suggestions on both issues.

  1. Cloning my working SD card on a Mac
  2. Building a new SD card using the Raspberry Pi Imager

What did you already try to solve it?

Issue 1 Cloning my working SD card.
Created image files of my working card using both 'dd' and 'gdd'

  • I was able to create a .img file using dd and a .dmg file using gdd
  • I installed extFS for Mac from Paragon Software
  • I am able to mount the boot and rootfs partitions from the .dmg file on the Mac
  • I am able to verify both image partitions without issues
  • I attempted to copy the .dmg image to a new SD card using gdd, sometimes it works, sometimes it gets an i/o error, with one less block written than read. When I verify the 'rootfs' partition on the new SD card using extFS, it indicates a mismatch between the number of physical blocks and the number in the partition table (partition table being larger), and indicates the table is probably corrupted. If I attempt to boot the Raspberry Pi with the card, it fails because it cannot mount the root file system.
  • I attempted to copy the .img image to a new SD card using the Raspberry Pi Imager (v1.8.5). The attempt failed because the new 32 GB card is smaller than the image. Verified that the new 32 GB card is indeed smaller than my working card. This probably accounts for the partition table issue above. None of the SD cards I recently purchased are large enough for the image.

Issue 2 Creating a new SD card using Raspberry Pi Imager (v1.8.5)
I can successfully create a new SD card using the Raspberry Pi Imager, but they don't appear to work.

  • Some of the time when I boot the Pi with the imaged card, it immediately displays a white box on a blue field with the text "Resizing root filesystem..." along with a warning that this could take a while. After a while, underneath the blue field I see "Error: Input/output error on dev mmc:blk0" with an offer to "Retry/Ignore/Cancel?". No keyboard is installed, so I cannot progress further.
  • Some of the time the card appears to boot as expected, with a message that ssh keys are being generated, a restart, and then a bunch of console message before the screen blanks and displays a white box with the words "No signal" (presumably generated by the display). At this point I try to connect using the command ssh pi@octopi.local from Terminal on the Mac, but the Pi never responds. The Pi does not appear to be connected to the WiFi network (according to my router). There is no response if I try opening octopi.local using a web browser.

Have you tried running in safe mode?

Not applicable.

Did running in safe mode solve the problem?

Not applicable

Systeminfo Bundle

Never get far enough to create, much less download a Systeminfo Bundle

Additional information about your setup

OctoPrint version: depends on image used to create SD card, from 1.8.6 to 1.11.0
OctoPi version: 1.0.0
Printer: Ender 3 with BTT SKR Mini E3 V3
Firmware: Klipper
Printer processor: Raspberry Pi 4B with 4 GB memory
Printer operating system: depends on image, Debian Buster or Raspbian Bullseye
HDMI display, 800 x 480

Mac Studio 2023 (Apple M2 Max processor, 64 GB memory)
Operating system: macOS Sequoia 15.4.1
Browser: Safari

2

Check your power supply. If its not supplying enough current to the Pi, it will have issues reading/writing the SD card. What do you have plugged into the pi's USB ports? Some USB devices, including some keyboards, can draw more power than the pi can provide to the USB and that will also cause low power issues.

3

Thanks for the suggestion. The only items on the 24 V power supply are the printer, a DC-DC converter, and some LEDs. On the 24 V to 5V converter is the Pi, and a relay to power the printer. Connected by USB are the printer (with the power leads disabled), a camera, and the display.

In normal operation (with a working SD card) and while printing there have not been any indications of low voltage. The current being drawn from the power supply while the printer is operating should be much higher than with the printer idle (none of the heaters or stepper motors engaged).