Since the Pipower5 is compatible with the Pro Max, what is the secret to actually getting “compatible” Sunfounder products to work together? This has become incredibly tiresome, and frankly, I have literally lost all trust and respect for Sunfounder.
First of all, we sincerely apologize for the delay. We underestimated the amount of work required to address these compatibility issues, and the release took a few days longer than we originally expected.
Over the past several days, our engineering and testing teams have been working intensively to resolve the problems. Although the schedule slipped, we’re happy to report that the latest Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit Desktop version has now successfully passed our testing.
The new installation script has been moved to the Pironman 5 repository. Please use the following commands:
For Pironman 5 with PiPower 5 support: curl -sSL "``https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sunfounder/pironman5/1.3.x/install.sh``" | sudo bash -s -- --pipower5
For Pironman 5 only (without PiPower 5): curl -sSL "``https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sunfounder/pironman5/1.3.x/install.sh``" | sudo bash
We strongly recommend starting with a fresh Raspberry Pi OS installation before running the installer. This helps avoid conflicts with older installations or previously installed packages.
One reason for the additional complexity is that we have been upgrading PiPower 5 to the new V2 architecture, which uses native Linux drivers. Most PiPower 5 functionality is now implemented directly through Linux drivers rather than user-space services, resulting in better performance, improved reliability, and a more seamless user experience.
Thank you for your patience and understanding while we worked through these issues. We appreciate your feedback and the time you’ve spent helping us identify and resolve these compatibility challenges.
pipower5 doctor
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “/usr/local/bin/pipower5”, line 6, in
sys.exit(main())
~~~~^^
File “/opt/pironman5/venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/pipower5/_init_.py”, line 87, in main
pipower5 = PiPower5()
File “/opt/pironman5/venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/pipower5/pipower5.py”, line 45, in _init_
check_pipower5_connected()
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^
File “/opt/pironman5/venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/pipower5/device.py”, line 39, in check_pipower5_connected
raise IOError(“PiPower 5 driver not loaded. Run ‘pipower5 doctor’ to diagnose.”)
OSError: PiPower 5 driver not loaded. Run ‘pipower5 doctor’ to diagnose.
Previously, our testing was conducted only on the 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS image available at that time, which was using the 6.12.75 kernel. We had not yet tested the newer 6.18 kernel.
Yesterday, while validating other operating systems, we encountered a similar issue and discovered that the newer system no longer supports the configuration method used by our older installer. After updating our Raspberry Pi system and testing with the newer kernel ourselves, we implemented a fix that resolves this problem.
Could you please run the installation command again? The installer will automatically download the latest version.
Please make sure the installed version is v1.3.16. After the installation is complete, let us know whether the issue has been resolved.
The previous post IS the result of reinstalling as requested.
Le sigh, is this merry-go-round of false promises and false reassurance that everything was tested and worked, the incredible amount of time and money I’ve invested in Sunfounder products, the incredible amount of research and testing that I’ve done for Sunfounder, across several products, only to be let down again and again and again and again, ever going to end?
To be honest, I think the best course of action for me is to divest myself of all the Sunfounder products that I’ve purchased, and that is over a dozen products, and chalk the entire sad affair up to a series of bad purchasing decisions on my part.
The last promise that was made to me was " After updating our Raspberry Pi system and testing with the newer kernel ourselves, we implemented a fix that resolves this problem."
My Pi OS before I began the installation was a clean install, the only thing that was done after the OS install was to run “sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade && sudo rpi-eeprom-update -a”
This is the result of hostnamectl immediately prior to the reinstallation of the Pipower 5 software:
Besides Pironman 5 Pro Max and PiPower 5, do you have anything else installed on this Raspberry Pi? → NO
Is PiPower 5 connected to the Pro Max through the GPIO header, or are you powering the Pro Max through USB only? → GPIO HEADER
PiPower 5 reads its telemetry data through I2C communication with the Raspberry Pi. If only the USB power connection is being used, the power data cannot be read correctly. This time, you did not send us any installation error messages. Does that mean the installation completed successfully without any errors? → NO ERRORS
=======================================================
PiPower 5 Doctor
Hardware & Driver
✓ I2C device (0x5C)
✗ sysfs interface → Driver not loaded or device not present. Reboot or run ‘sudo modprobe pipower5’.
✗ kernel module loaded → pipower5 module not loaded. Run ‘sudo modprobe pipower5’.
✗ power_supply registered → Power supply not registered. Driver may need reload.
✓ dtoverlay in config.txt
✓ device tree blob (.dtbo)
Module not loaded
→ Run: pipower5 doctor --fix
kc5jim@Pi5-16gb-Pro-Max:~ $ pipower5 doctor --fix
=======================================================
PiPower 5 Doctor
Hardware & Driver
✓ I2C device (0x5C)
✗ sysfs interface → Driver not loaded or device not present. Reboot or run ‘sudo modprobe pipower5’.
✗ kernel module loaded → pipower5 module not loaded. Run ‘sudo modprobe pipower5’.
✗ power_supply registered → Power supply not registered. Driver may need reload.
✓ dtoverlay in config.txt
✓ device tree blob (.dtbo)
Module not loaded
→ Running modprobe pipower5…
=======================================================
kc5jim@Pi5-16gb-Pro-Max:~ $ sudo modprobe pipower5
modprobe: FATAL: Module pipower5 not found in directory /lib/modules/6.18.34+rpt-rpi-2712
kc5jim@Pi5-16gb-Pro-Max:~ $
We’re sorry for the frustrating experience you’ve had.Our team has been in contact with you via email, and our General Manager will continue to follow up with you directly to discuss the matter in detail.
