Raspberry Pi kiosks: test recovery after power loss
A community-TV maintainer describes startup failures, repeated power cycles, and storage recovery as operational concerns.
The takeaway
Starting successfully is only the beginning for an unattended system.
The context
The user ran a website and announcement slideshow on a Pi 3B+, opening the browser with a startup script. They report storage trouble during repeated power-cycle troubleshooting and switching to a USB-to-SATA disk, with adapter choice affecting boot behavior. The lesson is to test the whole device chain, not just the webpage.
Steps worth trying
Editorial suggestions, not promises made by the original author.
- 01
Simulate power loss, network interruption, and browser exits on a test device and record recovery behavior.
- 02
Validate the boot sequence, storage, and adapter combination and provide practical recovery steps for operators.
Where this applies — and where it may not
This is one historical hardware project, not a reliability ranking of all SD cards and disks.
From the discussion
“part of the troubleshooting was just unplug and replug”
@LarryMade2 · View source
How I built this website on a Raspberry Pi
@mirawelner · 115 points · 90 comments
Read the Hacker News threadSource: OpenIndex Hacker News dataset (ODC-By). Original content belongs to its authors. Summaries, translations, and suggested steps are AI-assisted editorial work. Read the sources; individual outcomes are not guarantees.