Issues Booting OS on Orange Pi 3 Zero 4GB – Request for Assistance

MarcM86

Good day,

I am experiencing the following issue and hope for some assistance.
I am trying to get an OS running on my Orange Pi 3 Zero 4GB, but none of the images seem to work. I have now tried almost all available options and flashed them using both Win32DiskImager and Balena Etcher.

Hardware:

• Orange Pi 3 Zero 4GB (passively cooled)
• Raspberry Pi 27W power supply (also tested with other fast-charging adapters)
  

SD Cards Used:

• Sandisk Ultra 32, 64 GB SXC I Class 10
• Intenso: 8 GB
• 32 GB Pro Plus Smart Card: Class 10
  

Images Used:

• Opios-arch-aarch64-xfce-opizero3-24.07-linux6.1.31.img
• Orangepizero3_1.0.6_ubuntu_noble_desktop_xfce_linux6.1.31.img
• Orangepizero3_1.0.6_ubuntu_noble_server_linux6.1.31.img
• Orangepizero3_1.0.4_debian_bullseye_desktop_xfce_linux6.1.31.img
• debian-trixie-arm64-reu7ca.img
• ubuntu-noble-arm64-zoze7f.img
  

Behavior without an SD card or with a non-functional image:

• Screen powers on, prompt appears, no boot medium detected...
  

Behavior with an image, e.g., Opios-arch-aarch64-xfce-opizero3-24.07-linux6.1.31.img:

• Monitor powers on, screen remains black, green LED blinks continuously in a relatively fast double-flash pattern.
  

What does the double-blinking green LED indicate? I can only find explanations for triple blinks online.
Could it be that the Orange Pi is defective, and should I consider returning it? Or is there something I may have overlooked?
I also have two Raspberry Pi 5 (8GB) devices that work without any issues using the same SD cards.