Troubleshooting
Battery and power
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Nothing happens when switched on | Check the battery is charged and plugged in, and both switches are ON. |
| Board got warm or stopped working after a new battery | The battery polarity may be reversed. Disconnect it at once and check the wires against the GND marking. |
| LED 1 doesn't light when charging | Set Switch 1 ON and Switch 2 OFF. Try another Micro USB cable and a 5 V charger. |
| Battery runs out quickly | Charge until LED 2 lights. A 200 mAh battery is recommended. Old LiPo cells lose capacity: replace them if they swell. |
Bluetooth connection
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Device not found | Check both switches are ON. Look for EAREEG (some units show IronBCI). Move closer to the computer or phone. |
| Found but won't connect | It may already be connected to another app or phone. Close the other app, switch IronBCI-8 off and on, and try again. |
| Connected, but no data | Switch 2 must be ON. Disconnect, switch off and on, and reconnect. |
| Connection drops | Keep the device within a few metres, with a clear line of sight. Avoid crowded 2.4 GHz areas (Wi-Fi routers, many Bluetooth devices). |
| PiEEG Cloud has no Bluetooth button | Use Chrome or Edge over HTTPS. Safari, Firefox and iPhone / iPad browsers don't support Web Bluetooth. |
PiEEG Server: bleak missing | Install the extra: pip install "pieeg-server[ironbci]". |
| PiEEG Server can't find the name | Pass it explicitly: --ble-name IronBCI, or use --ble-address with the address from 1.Find_Device.py. |
| Python SDK finds nothing | The scripts look for the name EAREEG. If your unit uses another name, change DEVICE_NAME at the top of the script. |
| macOS: no devices found | Allow your terminal (or Python) to use Bluetooth: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Bluetooth. |
| Linux: permission errors | Make sure bluetoothd is running and your user can use BlueZ (sudo systemctl start bluetooth). |
Signal
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| All channels noisy at once | Check the reference and bias ear clips first. Clean the earlobes and clip them firmly. |
| One channel flat or very large | That electrode isn't touching the skin. Part the hair, press it in, or add gel. |
| Values in the thousands of µV | Normal DC offset in raw data. Turn on a band-pass filter (for example 1–40 Hz). |
| Strong 50/60 Hz hum | Keep away from chargers, power strips and laptops on chargers. Never record while IronBCI-8 is charging. |
| Big slow spikes on the front channels | Blinks and eye movements. Ask the person to keep the eyes still or closed. |
| Bursts of high-frequency noise | Jaw, face or neck muscles. Relax the face, don't talk or chew. |
| Signal jumps when someone moves | Cable movement. Keep electrode leads short and the device fixed to the cap or headset. |
See Noise elimination for a step-by-step way to find the source of noise.
Still stuck?
Ask on Discord (opens in a new tab), open an issue on GitHub (opens in a new tab), or email pieeg@pieeg.com.