Pi Appears to be working but no video.

Jeff,

     A couple things you can try and see what happens..

Connect your Rpi 2 to the router via cable and boot the Pi. Wait for a minute or two. Then on your PC connect to the router. You gain access to the router by entering 192.168.1.1 The default log in and password will be on a label on the side of the router. Once you have access to the router. Look for something that says "connected devices" or something similar. Once you find that, look in the list to see if the Rpi is there. If it is, then you know it's functioning. So then you are looking at a TV or cable issue. If it is not in the list, then you have something wrong with the Pi.

As far as the cable goes, is it color coded yellow, white and red? If so, have you double checked to make sure that the cables are plugged into the right jacks. If you turn the volume up on the TV do you hear any sort of hum? If so, your cable could be shorted.

Have you tried plugging anything else into the jacks on the tv like a video game or your other Rpi, to see if they work.

I'll be glad to help you figure this out..

Mike

Jeff,

     A couple things you can try and see what happens..

Connect your Rpi 2 to the router via cable and boot the Pi. Wait for a minute or two. Then on your PC connect to the router. You gain access to the router by entering 192.168.1.1 The default log in and password will be on a label on the side of the router. Once you have access to the router. Look for something that says "connected devices" or something similar. Once you find that, look in the list to see if the Rpi is there. If it is, then you know it's functioning. So then you are looking at a TV or cable issue. If it is not in the list, then you have something wrong with the Pi.

As far as the cable goes, is it color coded yellow, white and red? If so, have you double checked to make sure that the cables are plugged into the right jacks. If you turn the volume up on the TV do you hear any sort of hum? If so, your cable could be shorted.

Have you tried plugging anything else into the jacks on the tv like a video game or your other Rpi, to see if they work.

I'll be glad to help you figure this out..

Mike

Cable is new so it shouldn't be that and as for checking it on the router that wont work until I install the operating system, as far as I'm aware, I've only put the required installation files onto the micro-sd and inserted it into the pi so installation is only half finished.

However you gave me an idea to try something that should not work.

Instead of having the yellow plug for video in the video outlet I put the red plug for sound in the video outlet. This should not work as far as I thought I knew however when I did that I could see the pie screen on the tv!?

How did that work?

As far as I thought I knew yellow was for video and only worked in video and the red and white were for sound and only worked for sound.

22: HOW TO USE THE A/V OUTPUT OF THE B+ AND 2B

If you have a model B+ or 2B and want to use the composite Video (A/V) for composite video and analog sound, you need an A/V cable, like this one:

But note that there are many cables that look exactly like this one but do NOT work! That is because the wiring within them must be correct!

This is a picture listing the most common A/V cables, and their wiring:

The Raspberry PI can use cables designed for the Ipod, or for the Microsoft Zune, but can also work with some "camcorder cables" (but see below)
The PI does not work with the "hodgepodge" of systems that have pin 1 as GND.

As in the picture above, the tables below count, from sleeve (1) to tip (4) of the four pole 3.5mm jack plug.

A real "Raspberry PI model B+" 4-pole 3.5mm A/V output jack cable uses:
B+ wired cable
1 Video out
2 GND
3 Right audio
4 Left audio
Only Zune Cables are exactly right, because the PI want to keep left and right audio in the right place, and for some obscure reason iPod cables have those swapped.

The most common, and reasonably compatible, cable that is on the market now, uses the iPod wiring:
Ipod wired cable
1 Video out
2 GND
3 Left audio
4 Right audio

Note that you can make this cable 100% compatible by switching the two audio channels, that is the white and red RCA plugs. Its possible that in future software releases, when the system detects you are using a B+ with composite video, the software will swap the audio channels automatically.

A common cable that is also on the market now and often very cheap, is normally called a "camcorder cable"
Camcorder cable
1 Right audio
2 GND
3 Video out
4 Left audio

Note that you can use this cable by switching the video and right channels, that is the yellow and red RCA plugs.
When using a "camcorder" cable, try plugging in the red RCA plug of the cable into the yellow RCA receptacle of your TV and see if you get a picture, if so you can put the yellow plug in the red receptacle, and the white plug into the white receptacle.

Note that no cable you try to use should be able to damage your PI, so you can safely just try.

The cheap ($1.99) cable below is a camcorder cable, and has been tested and is reported to work (with the "camcorder RCA swap").
http://www.amazon.com/Fosmon-Technology-Red-Yellow-White-Connectors-Camcorder/dp/B00HND2FW8

The iPod compatible cable below has also been confirmed to work, is more expensive but does not require the camcorder swap.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004UCU72U/

Note that instead of such an A/V cable, you could also use an adapter like this. Note that the same reservations as for the cables apply, it might not work, or the signals come out of the wrong plugs. Also, normally its more of a hassle to use and more expensive, but you might have one lying around you can try:

This one, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/380747364232? ... 3556628784 has been reported to work.

Source: Raspberry Pi • View topic - Pitfalls for beginners

I think that should explain why you switched colors and it worked!

Cheers,

Clem

Very comprehensive comment, should be a blog post!

Yes, I forgot that it goes thru an install process for the OS. I have only set up one Pi and it's been a bit since I have done it. So since you switched the cables around, it is now working?

Yes the pie is now working.

Thankyou everyone for all the helpful advice.

Glad it is working for you :-)

I think like Paul Ellison that Clem's answer would be a good blog entry

The reason it worked is in the post with all the cables shown, the camcorder cable has to have the red and yellow swapped because the Pi is wired differently than a camcorder.  If you use a Zune or iPod cable, it will work with yellow as video

I didn't realize that there is a difference in the cables.. Good information to know.. Thank you!