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The Raspberry Pi 2 doesn't like to be photographed

Don’t photograph the Raspberry Pi 2, not with flash anyway

A surprising glitch has surfaced with the Raspberry Pi 2 last week. The Raspberry Pi 2 was launched recently for $35 a pop and many were glad to see the upgraded mini computer seeing the light of day, with a more powerful processor and upcoming custom Windows 10 platform. Users have already received their Raspberry Pi 2 units and those who wanted to immortalize their new acquisition were rather surprised by what happened when they took a photo of the mini computer.

If you want to take a photo of the Raspberry Pi 2 with flash, make sure it’s not a Xenon flash. A smartphone flash or a random compact camera camera shouldn’t be a problem according to tests. But if you have a camera with  high-frequency Xenon flash, your Raspberry Pi 2 won’t appreciate the photo shoot. Users have found that if the Raspberry Pi 2 is not encased in something, it will immediately glitch when you set the flash off, and power off completely. It won’t be ruined, but it will force a reboot.

PeterO, Raspberry Pi 2 forum member was the one who discovered the glitch and Raspberry Pi 2 creator jdb replicated the crash and determined that bright Xenon flashes, if they are triggered at no more than 50 cm from the Raspberry Pi 2, will cause the the mini computer to lock up. He also mentioned that the camera-shy component at faul is the U16 chip within the power supply circuit of the computer.

Bright flashes will interrupt the power supply, causing an interruption if plugged in and a power spike if not powered. That’s a pretty interesting development and nobody was expecting to learn about the photoelectric effect through the Raspberry Pi 2. It’s not a major problem and your mini computer won’t be affected by the glitch, save for the power-off and reboot. You can fix it if you put the Raspberry Pi 2 in a case that doesn’t let light through or just plain cover up the chip.

About Egon Kilin

My life-long dream has been to test out every gadget on the market! Considering the fact that I've rapidly destroyed almost every gadget I've had so far, I'm not inclined to owning something, so my ideal outcome would be to have a different gadget each month. I'm really into smartphones, wearables and tablets and I love Playstation and Xbox, I'm sure I'll beat you at your own game (after a month of training... or two)