No LED on Matrix Creator/ MALOS Active: inactive (dead)

I have been struggling to get the demos to work. I have tested multiple troubleshooting threads, uninstalled, reinstalled, firmware etc. The device can detect audio and the other sensors appear to work, but the LEDs do not light up, even when running the demos like everloop.

When i run
sudo systemctl status matrixio-malos

the output is
● matrixio-malos.service - Matrix Abstraction Layer for OS
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/matrixio-malos.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: inactive (dead) since Tue 2019-10-01 20:28:20 EDT; 13min ago
Process: 1528 ExecStart=/usr/bin/malos (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Main PID: 1528 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)

Oct 01 20:28:20 raspberrypi systemd[1]: Started Matrix Abstraction Layer for OS.
Oct 01 20:28:20 raspberrypi malos[1528]: **************
Oct 01 20:28:20 raspberrypi malos[1528]: MALOS starting
Oct 01 20:28:20 raspberrypi malos[1528]: can't open any device

Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

Hi @enduser,

Welcome to the community!

Can you send the output of dpkg -l | grep matrix ? This allows us to see which MATRIX packages you have installed.

Additionally, it would be helpful if you could let us know your Raspberry Pi model (e.g. 3, 3B+), OS (e.g. Stretch, Buster), and Linux kernel version (check with uname -a , should be around 4.19) and ensure you are using a 5V 2.5A power supply.

We recommend using the MATRIX HAL (C++) or MATRIX Lite (JS, Python, Go) library layers for ease of programming. Please install MATRIX Lite for one of the languages shown here and send over the error logs when you run the given LED rainbow example.


Thank you for the quick reply.


pi@raspberrypi:~ $ dpkg -l | grep matrix
ii  libmatrixio-creator-hal:armhf         0.3.8                             armhf        Hardware Abstraction Layer for MATRIX.
ii  libmatrixio-creator-hal-dev           0.3.8                             armhf        Hardware Abstraction Layer for MATRIX (headers)
ii  libmatrixio-malos:armhf               0.1.4                             armhf        Libraries of MATRIX abstraction layer for MOS
ii  libmatrixio-protos:armhf              0.1.6                             armhf        Protocolbuffers for MATRIX abstraction layer
ii  libswresample2:armhf                  7:3.2.14-1~deb9u1+rpt1            armhf        FFmpeg library for audio resampling, rematrixing etc. - runtime files
ii  matrixio-creator-init                 0.4.17                            armhf        Install scripts that can program the MATRIX Creator FPGA and SAM3 IMU.
ii  matrixio-kernel-modules               0.1.9                             armhf        Install kernel modules for MATRIX devices.
ii  matrixio-malos                        0.3.6                             armhf        Allows queries to MATRIX Creator hardware via ZMQ.
ii  matrixio-openocd                                     armhf        Open on-chip JTAG debug solution for ARM and MIPS systems
ii  matrixio-protobuf                     3.8.0                             armhf        Protocol Buffers - Google's data interchange format. (From GRPC 3.8.0)
ii  matrixio-xc3sprog                                    armhf        Spartan3, XCF and CPLD JTAG programmer and other utilities.

I am using a RPI 3B+ running the last version of stretch before buster.

Power supply is a NorthPada 5V 3A.

Running the lite_js install demo of index.js doesn’t produce an error, but the LEDs dont light up. I just have the solid blue LED @D49 and the blinking blue LED @D48.
INFO: [/dev/matrixio_regmap] was opened

Only thing unique is I am using a wireless Logitech K830 keyboard. I am gonna reflash the OS and start again with a hardwired keyboard.

Issue persists on clean install of stretch and the Kit image I found in the forums with a hardwired keyboard.

Is my Matrix creator bricked?

Hi @enduser,

I would recommend either measuring the voltage across your current power supply to ensure that it is outputting at 5V or trying out a different 5V, at least 2A power supply. If that doesn’t work either, then let us know and we will work something out.


New PI, power and SD card. Issue persists.

So, everything else is working except the LEDs?

Yes. all the read outs from the troubleshooting page are displaying correctly like in the examples on that page. I just spent a few more hours trying to get this to work on the new PI.


Sending you a direct message on the side to resolve this.