As I was inserting my new Photon onto an empty breadboard while plugged into USB I noticed that it rebooted. I was pushing on the controller cover while inserting it. At first I thought I might have unseated the usb cable, but on further poking I found that pressure on the metal controller cover will shut off the device until released. Is there something that may be loose under there, or am I shorting out something underneath by slightly flexing the cover? I don’t have another one to try out.
If it’s shorting something out - perhaps there needs to be insulation on the underside of the cover to prevent damage if the cover gets dinged?
PS - not sure if this should be under Hardware category?
Is it a lose connection, a shorting, static electricity, or what?
Will it damage the Photon?
Is this just on a certain production batch or all of them?
My Photons, due in May, have not arrived, so, I can't do a test, sorry!
Just tried two of my photons, both seem to have this “feature”.
What is slightly more troubling is that on one of them, the cover seems to stick. So if I press it down the Photon turns off, but when I release it, the cover doesn’t come back up and the Photon remains off. When I press it again I can get it to pop back up.
The metal cover is an EMI shield, and thus it is connected electrically to ground. It’s not typically meant to be pressed on but when inserting into a breadboard but it might seem like a logical place to push it down from. Instead, try to keep your fingers on the edges of the PCB as you press it down.
The grounded metal just happens to typically touch something inside the module that resets the board, but sometimes it can touch power and create a short circuit from 3.3V to GND. So while this might seem like a reset feature, it’s really not. Try not to press down on the shield and you won’t have any problems.
