"Steve Syfuhs, a Principal Engineering Manager at the Windows behemoth, managed to release the magic smoke from a Raspberry Pi 5 in five minutes, he says. Outside his day job dealing with authentication, Syfuhs is not averse to a bit of tinkering. He's not alone. Microsoft has more than its fair share of curious people, keen to poke hardware to see what it does."
"The Raspberry Pi 5 is a small and inexpensive ( less so recently) computer. One feature is its General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) interface, a 40-pin header to which HATs (Hardware Attached on Top) and other devices can be connected. In addition to official add-ons such as the recent AI HAT+ 2, enthusiasts can put the pins to work for all manner of purposes."
"The pins aren't keyed, so it's a relatively easy (if silly) thing to do. Worse, the HAT was powered, sending electricity where it didn't belong. The result was magical smoke and the smell of burning. The problem is that the Pi doesn't really have much in the way of protection against user error. Use the wrong pin, and there's every chance a short circuit could result. Or, in the case of Syfuhs, a puff of smoke and instant regret."
An engineer at Microsoft fitted a Raspberry Pi 5 HAT backward and powered it, causing an immediate short circuit and visible burning. The Raspberry Pi 5 features a 40-pin GPIO header that is not keyed, allowing incorrect orientation of HATs. When pins are misaligned, powered pins can send electricity where it does not belong, often resulting in smoke, smell of burning, and permanent damage. The Pi provides minimal protection against user wiring errors, making shorts likely. Recent price increases make a 4 GB Pi 5 about $85, increasing the cost of such mistakes. Careful HAT alignment is advised.
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