How to fix StereoPi Ethernet & USB not working

If you are trying to work with your StereoPi, you might have a situation in which Ethernet and USB are not working while the Raspberry Pi boots up and HDMI output works fine.

The reasons for this is that you are trying to power your board using the MicroUSB connector instead of using the USB power cable that comes with your StereoPi. The USB power cable is the one that has an USB Type-A connector at one end and the small white plug with a red and a black lead on the other side.

How to fix

• Unplug the MicroUSB cable from the StereoPi
• Unplug the USB power cable from
• Now plug in only the USB power cable
• In case your StereoPi doesn’t boot up immediately, switch the small switch on the StereoPi (which is adjacent to the socket where you connected the USB power cable) to the other side

Once your StereoPi has finished booting up, Ethernet and USB will work immediately

Why don’t USB & Ethernet work with the MicroUSB cable

If you are powering your StereoPi using the MicroUSB connector, only the Compute Module will be powered. All the functions of the StereoPi board, including USB power to the USB ports and the Ethernet chip will not receive power. Even if you have plugged in both MicroUSB and the USB power connector, you might have switched off the power switch - all will appear normal, as the Raspberry Pi boots up properly, but the StereoPi will not be powered properly.

Note that switching on the power from the USB power cable after the StereoPi has booted up will not fix the issue: While this will give power to the components on the StereoPi board, the operating system which is running on the StereoPi will not properly recognize the components. You need to reboot the StereoPi in order for the operating system to recognize all StereoPi components and initialize them correctly.

For more information on how to power the StereoPi, see the StereoPi wiki which contains a section on how to properly power the board.