Very bad tolerance for the MicroSD slot on the N2 case

[gyth]

The MicroSD connector on the board is actually a bit higher than the slot on the case, and I don't feel like jamming the card into it. I'll try to file a little bit of the case away to correct this, hopefully hardkernel can correct this in the future.

IMG1.jpeg (360.48 KiB) Viewed 1473 times

IMG2.jpeg (193.75 KiB) Viewed 1473 times

[powerful owl]

Hi, I think you need to put the case on properly first before insert the SD card. Then it works fine

[meveric]

Hi, I think you need to put the case on properly first before insert the SD card. Then it works fine

That is correct, first the case, than the SD card.. that way the connector is free, as the SD card is smaller on the side where you put it into the board.

[gyth]

Hi, I think you need to put the case on properly first before insert the SD card. Then it works fine

No it doesn't. You can jam the card inside (while the case is installed) and it'll work, but the case is indeed pushing it down.
I've deliberately inserted the MicroSD card before installing the case to demonstrate this issue.
As you can see from the 2nd image, the case is blocking much more vertical space than the thin notch at the end of the MicroSD card.

[meveric]

As you can see from the 2nd image, the case is blocking much more vertical space than the thin notch at the end of the MicroSD card.

Which is exactly why you should put in the case first, cause the notch will "hang over" the edge of the case and therefore not be blocked by the case, if you attache the case first.



Make sure the case is aligned properly.. The SD card will glide in and out easily without hitting the case or anything.. there is no much free space, but it's also not blocking.. it's a perfect fit.

[Andrew Sayers]

Would it make the problem any clearer if you included a picture of the case from the front? Here's mine for reference:

n2-front.jpg (67.18 KiB) Viewed 1337 times

The N2 circuit board itself should line up with the track that the case slides into, and the top of the case should just barely fit over the top of the USB ports. If yours is different, that might explain it.

[gyth]

My case is aligned properly with the rail on the heat sink, please stop assuming the case is not properly installed. Everything else aligns up perfectly fine. Try inserting the card without the case, you'll find it's really easy to push it into the connector. But if I try to insert it with the case installed, it's really hard to push it in or get it out. The connector itself allows the card to be slightly pushed downwards after it's installed, that's why the card can be pushed into it at all with the case was installed. If your case doesn't make the MicroSD card harder to install, just close the page and forget about this thread.

[hobo]

There might be a mistake in our production line.
The PCB didn't properly fully assemble to the heatsink and there are some more gap between the heatsink and PCB.
It might cause the issue.
Can you please check the gap around PCB edge sides left and right?

[Pelican]

@gyth is right, but the problem relies not in the card slot isn't perfectly aligned. If you put the case on, the slot and the hole on the front is aligned.
The problem is when you insert a card, the slot mechanism push it a little bit upward, which is not a problem when the case is on at the right position.
Try to put the case, insert a card, and then slowly slide the case to the front.
You will hear a definite click when the card releasing from the hole and after then there is no chance to slide the case back in the right position, because the card will block it.
It points a little bit up so it's front end is above the hole.
There is nothing you can do about it, unless you change the card slot to another one which hold the card perfectly horizontally (or maybe solder it a few degree angle).

[hobo]

By looking at the 2nd picture in this thread, one can notice that the PCB board is not properly seated onto the heat sink. I know of this personally with one of my 8 ODROID N2's running 10 degrees Celsius hotter compared to the other 7. I had to carefully dismantle the PCB off the heatsink and used a nail filter to file down the two notches on one side. Afterwards the N2, properly seated to the heatsink, ran 10 degrees Celsius cooler.

Disclosure. I use the mini-cluster to assist with parallel testing for a Perl-based application involving ~ 3000 tests. The Perl modules used are Gearman::XS and MCE::Hobo on metacpan.org for enabling parallel testing across many nodes and cores. Amazingly, two Odroid-N2's equal the performance of a single Macbook Pro laptop. With 8 N2's, the mini-cluster equals 4 times the performance of the Macbook (i7 4-cores 2.6 GHz). The power consumption of the Macbook Pro and mini-cluster (including gigabit switch) is 56 watts and 60 watts respectively when running tests. Each N2 has an external SSD drive attached via the USB 3.0 port. Thank you ODROID for the N2.

Inateck USB 3.0 External Hard Drive Enclosure Case (FE2010) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FQ5R0PG using the JMicron JMS578 chip updated to the latest https://wiki.odroid.com/odroid-xu4/soft ... _fw_update firmware for full UASP and TRIM support. Thank you ODROID and JMicron.

The SSD drive is the Samsung 860 PRO 256GB. Another option is the Samsung 860 EVO 250GB for low power consumption, about 0.6 watts more than the Pro. I do not know of another SSD drive that consumes low power consumption and the reason choosing Samsung for the mini-cluster.

[oldchap]

@ hobo

Just checking on my temps. at idle doing this now with system info open
zone 1 is 46 deg
zone0 is 44 deg
Seams like my N2 is not running too hot.
My CPU must be seated ok Thanks

[hobo]

@ oldchap. The temps seem okay. The thing to check is if the PCB is seated properly along the edge as seen in the picture by Andrew Sayers. See viewtopic.php?f=181&t=35055#p256741.

One N2 of mine was not and the reason for running hotter than the others. It looked to be a production line issue but not sure. There were two notches extending out alone one edge causing the PCB to not seat properly.

[oldchap]

@ hobo

My SD slides in without any pressure on it. If temps are ok all must be well. I did not know at what temperature the board runs at.

What I did do was take to the case with a hobby knife and a cigarette lighter to cut a scallop UNDER the SD card to allow me to get me pinkies under the card to pull it out. I was using a pair of tweezers to remove the card.

[gyth]

@ Pelican @ hobo

I filed a bit less than 1.5mm of plastic on top of the MicroSD slot and it's no longer pushing the card down .
I did notice the right side of the card slot on the case is binding the card as well due to the board alignment issue. Since it's not too severe and doesn't bend the card, I decided not to remove the PCB and try to realign the thing for now. I'll compare the temps you posted to see if mine isn't being cooled properly, if so I might have to remove the pcb and try to re-seat it with fresh thermal paste.