Feature Overview

The PowerBlockling is a tiny power button and status indicator solution for the Raspberry Pi.

  • Tiny momentary power button
  • Does safe shutdowns without data losses and switches the Raspberry on with a press of the button
  • Green LED for indicating on and off power status
  • 1×4 male pin header (included, but needs to be soldered) for attaching optional external power button and indicator LED
  • One mounting hole for fastening the board
  • One-line installation within seconds
  • Uses the first 2×6 pins of the GPIO header
  • A Raspberry Pi and a quarter are not included.

The PowerBlockling is our simplest and most affordable power button solution for the Raspberry Pi. Its momentary button and indicator LED give you the power button that the Raspberry Pi is missing without any soldering.

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Hardware Installation

Attaching the PowerBlockling

The installation of the PowerBlockling is very simple: You just have to place the PowerBlockling with its 2×6 female pin header such that it matches the Raspberry Pis GPIO header as shown in the following image:

PowerBlockling attached to Raspberry Pi

If you want to you can fasten the PowerBlock in place with the help of the two superimposing mounting holes.

Optionally, you can install an external momentary button and/or an external status LED. The PowerBlockling shows labels for, both, the two button pins as well as for the two LED pins.

If you want, you can solder a 1×4 male pin to the PowerBlockling for an easier connection with a button and LED. The pin header comes with the PowerBlockling.

Attaching the Power Supply

You attach the USB cable for the power supply directly to the original power supply connector of the Raspberry Pi. The PowerBlockling does not directly switch the power on or off. Instead, it makes use of the standby mode of the Raspberry Pi and, therefore, does not need to directly switch the power.

Driver Installation

The installation of the PowerBlockling driver is done from within the terminal of a running Raspberry Pi.You only have to execute this single line:

You can find the latest version of the driver and installation script at Github.

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Do we have a more advanced power button solution?

Alternatively to the PowerBlockling, we also offer the more advanced PowerBlock with more features and flexibility. Here is a comparison table:

PowerBlockling

PowerBlock

Safe Power Button Supported Supported
Status Indication ON, OFF (Standby) Booting, ON, Shutting Down, OFF
Supported Button Types Only momentary buttons Momentary and toggle buttons
Custom Script Execution at Shutdown Supported
Logging of power button events Supported
Optional External Signals Button, LED Button, LED, Status and Shutdown Signals
Configurable used GPIO pins Supported