Re: My question isn't about the fault, its about how to find it.

On 17/09/2024 21:20, druck wrote:

On 17/09/2024 10:37, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Anyway the final conclusions seem to be :
>
1. The ZERO 2W is hungrier for electrons than the old ZERO W.
2. The symptoms of starvation are evident first in the WiFi hardware.

 The Zero W uses the same SOC as original Pi, and I ran that happily for years on a 0.7A first generation Samsung Galaxy phone charger. When we got the multicore Pi 2B it really needed a proper PSU rather than a phone charger for reliability. The Zero 2W initially used the same SOC as the 2B, then switched to the 3B's one when that was no longer available.
 

In general most of my kit is now using proper rated 5V  power supplies plus any ancillary electronics needed to complete the project. China turns round  PCBS very fast and cheap so it seems a shame not to do a 'proper' job. I am not really a fan of USB PSUs at all.
In this case once I have done the board level PSU for the 4B server, the 'proper pi' PSU will become available.

5. Whilst a chinesium USB source *may* be able to deliver the quoted current, it is not necessarily  able to deliver it in a noise free or voltage-retaining fashion.

 You can't go wrong with the official power supply, I've not had one fail yet. I've used others when I needed a longer USB cables, and have had to replace some more than once.
 

Yes. I think that what works fora mobile phone is not necessarily what works for a Pi zerro, but the Pi Picos are happy as pigs in shit with almost anything above 3.5V

Now I have achieved stability, the unit will go to a different location to further development where it will naturally connect to the original POS wifi point.

 You might guess I recommend not scrimping on the access point either.
 

Well its an old ADSL router repurposed.  It's actually pretty hard to get a simple Ethernet to wifi *bridge*.
I did find something made in Eastern Europe that has worked in another room OK (big house, foil lined plasterboard walls - need at leats 3 points)

But I now have a microwave with a burnt out magnetron to fix...

 Not related to the Z2W I hope!
 

It sits under the access point!
Well it did.
New magnetron now fitted, waiting for the HV fuse to arrive. It appears the magnetron went anode/cathode short-ish , blew the fuse and that was all that was wrong
And it only *just* blew the fuse. It switched on, HUGE humming noise from the HV transformer for around 10 secs, then it went quiet, HV fuse had blown...
--
"And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch".
Gospel of St. Mathew 15:14