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Raspberry Pi Reviewed, With an Initial Setup Guide

Posted by timothy on from the put-your-fruit-in-order dept.

jjslash writes "It has been six years in the making, with the original goal of the project intending to reignite computer programming in schools across the country. Despite those honorable intentions, the $35 ARM-based credit-card sized computer has captured the imagination of programmers, consumers and tinkerers alike, resulting in unprecedented demand for the product. Last month the first 10,000 credit-card sized computers were set to make their way to those who pre-ordered them back in February. TechSpot takes a look at the Pi Model B, covering the basic steps for setting up the computer, as well as basic post-installation tasks those first using it might encounter."

44 of 188 comments (clear)

  1. Interesting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Now you can buy an entire computer for less than a license for the Windows operating system.

    1. Re:Interesting by girlintraining · · Score: 5, Informative

      Now you can buy an entire computer for less than a license for the Windows operating system.

      You've been able to do that since the turn of the century. Here's the sad part: Long after every computer that can run any of the windows operating systems to date have been put in landfills or as non-working museum exhibits, and everyone who reads this today is dead -- it'll still be illegal to give it to a friend.

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    2. Re:Interesting by fragMasterFlash · · Score: 2

      Its been a few years since I left the embedded space (take a hint, recruiter-droids!) but per-device Windows license pricing broke down along the following lines:

      Windows CE: $5
      Windows XP Embedded: $40

    3. Re:Interesting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      And well it should be. Friends don't do things like that to friends.

    4. Re:Interesting by blind+biker · · Score: 4, Informative

      You've been able to do that since the turn of the century. Here's the sad part: Long after every computer that can run any of the windows operating systems to date have been put in landfills or as non-working museum exhibits, and everyone who reads this today is dead -- it'll still be illegal to give it to a friend if you live in the USA .

      In Finland, and most other countries in Europe (all countries in Europe?) when you buy software, you own it. You can resell it or give it away as a gift, and Microsoft can do fuck-all about it.

      --
      "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
    5. Re:Interesting by TheRaven64 · · Score: 4, Funny

      The license for the last version of OS X was about $25. The dongle, however, was a lot more expensive.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    6. Re:Interesting by catmistake · · Score: 2

      ...it'll still be illegal to give it to a friend

      Also, I should think, impossible... unless there is some other definition for friend of which I am unaware.

      --
      The Admin and the Engineer
    7. Re:Interesting by realityimpaired · · Score: 4, Interesting

      1: Some modern distros require 768 MB RAM or more, and almost all of them are 256 MB+, while XP Home Edition is 64 MB required, 128 MB recommended.
      Much of this bloat is in the kernel, which even if built fully modular now has so many hooks and semi-optionals that you can't run a normal distro on minimal hardware.

      You'd be wrong on that point. My system boots up to 80MB of RAM used (full graphical desktop, with several applications open in the tray, using a 3.0 kernel. There is a newer kernel available in the distro, but I don't see the point in upgrading yet, as there's no new support for my hardware), and even now, with Chromium open and a dozen tabs, it's peaking at 236MB of memory actually used. If I was actually trying to pare down the memory usage, this particular distro (which is quite modern) can boot up to less than 40MB of memory in use, simply by disabling CUPS at startup, using a lighter weight browser, and getting rid of a few of the widgets in e17. The minimum spec for this distro is 128MB of memory recommended (but it'll install in 64MB if you don't mind having a swap partition), and a 300MHz processor.

      It's not the kernel that uses so much memory in mainstream distros, it's the desktop environment. KDE in particular is a beast, but Gnome3 isn't that great, either.

      Also, Windows XP recommends 64MB minimum memory in the same way that Vista recommended 1GB minimum memory: It'll run, but if you're planning on doing more than one thing at a time, you'd better hope most of them are editing a text file in notepad.

      2: The good old problem with hardware support. All old desktops will have XP drivers, but the same can't be said for Linux drivers. (And when they do, depending on the hardware and type, they sometimes won't work as just generic .ko modules, but need special hooks in the kernel, see #1) You have to do your homework to know you get hardware you can fully use under Linux.

      That's weird. It's weird because every old computer I've tried installing on, including an ancient Dell laptop (a Latitude LS from ~1999) as recently as yesterday, everything "just worked". No need to install graphics drivers, audio drivers, special hooks, or anything. Even the Prism2-based PCMCIA wireless card worked out of the box. And e17 absolutely flies, even with full screen OpenGL compositing enabled, on the 800MHz P-III with 256MB of RAM.

      I still haven't had a single machine where everything Just Worked, and I've lost count of how many dozen Linux installations I've done over the years. The closest I have gotten is the current "Dell Optiplex n" machine at work, but even there, the front panel audio detection doesn't work. You'd think that their "n" line which is sold with no OS (ok, with FreeDOS) would have full hardware/driver support in non-Windows, but this doesn't seem to be the case. I suspect they really sell them for a market of pirates that run illegal copies of Windows, plus a few MS Select customers who do their own licensing.

      And yet, here I am typing this on a Vostro v130n, which came with Ubuntu LTS preinstalled, where again, everything "just works". It's been a *very* long time since I've had to fiddle with drivers on a Linux installation, and it's almost always because I want better performance out of a video card.

      Of course, all of this is missing an extremely important point, which is that the OP was talking about *new* computers, not something you got 2nd hand from a thrift store. I plan to buy one of these myself, once I see some reviews of XBMC decoding performance. I can power it from the USB plug on my TV, and connect it by HDMI to the TV. Plug it in to the ethernet then point it at my network fileserver, and it's a perfect silent HTPC.

    8. Re:Interesting by arth1 · · Score: 2

      I call bullshit on that.

      Try booting something like Fedora on a 64 MB system. Even to runlevel 3.

      You seem to be saying unused/useless kernel *code* eats up your RAM,

      No, that's not what I'm saying. Sure, it contributes, but it's a combination of code, data, tables and buffers.

      As for total memory used by the kernel, I don't know how to see that. Do you?

      A couple of pointers:
      The kernel itself:
      # egrep "(T _text|A _end)" /boot/System.map-$(uname -r)
      ffffffff81000000 T _text
      ffffffff81e64000 A _end
      Unless I remember my hex all wrong, that's a bit over 14.5 MB.

      Then the kernel allocation (slab):
      # cat /sys/kernel/slab/*/slab_size | awk '{sum += $1} END {print "Sum: "sum}'
      Sum: 160136
      Granted, all other things being equal, this would have been smaller on a system with less memory, but not proportionally so.

      (There's also /proc/slabinfo)

  2. What did Larry say about Java on Pi? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I want my 2 dollars.

  3. Re:Nothing new except... by sjwt · · Score: 2

    Indeed, they forgot about Apple users!

    --
    You have 5 Moderator Points!
    Which Helpless Linux zealot/MS basher do you want to mod down today?
  4. Not credit card sized by SteveFoerster · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's not really credit card sized. If it were it'd look like SELMA from Time Trax. It has two dimensions that correspond with a credit card, but it's a lot thicker. Not that I'm complaining, it's still amazingly small. I just think it's better described as "deck of cards sized" or "pack of cigarettes sized" or whatever.

    --
    Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
  5. the $35 ARM-based credit-card sized computer by frovingslosh · · Score: 4, Funny

    I remember back in the good old days when it was called the $25 ARM-based credit-card sized computer.

    --
    I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
    1. Re:the $35 ARM-based credit-card sized computer by dwindura · · Score: 5, Informative

      Model A cost $25 and model B cost $35

  6. "Despite"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Fucking braindead slash editors.

  7. Alternatives? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Just out of curiosity, what functional (as opposed to ideological) alternatives to the Raspberry Pi are there in this price bracket?

    1. Re:Alternatives? by White+Flame · · Score: 4, Informative

      Depending on your definition of "functional", I believe some of the Arduinos, BASIC Stamps, and the similar are in that range. Of course, these will require custom programming and don't just drop into a self-hosting Linux environment, and don't have video out, but they are fully self-contained computing & IO devices.

      While the RPi is pretty weak compared to the current ARM offerings, it does trounce the microcontroller range in computational capability, but its IO would require extra hardware (it's not buffered, etc) to do some real interfacing.

    2. Re:Alternatives? by Alwin+Henseler · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Just out of curiosity, what functional (as opposed to ideological) alternatives to the Raspberry Pi are there in this price bracket?

      None, I think. Only less functional (say, 8-bit microcontroller kit / Arduino stuff?), more expensive ones (like Beagleboard), or used / bulky / second hand gear.

      Personally I like the Raspberry Pi a lot for its combination of cheap, small, brand new, and open-friendly. Biggest minus IMHO is that it's not 100% open due to lacking chipset documentation/drivers. Which limits what OS'es you can run or develop on it. Had such documentation been complete, this would be a perfect dev board for alternative OS experiments.

    3. Re:Alternatives? by larry+bagina · · Score: 2

      Sheeva plug, guru plug, etc.

      --
      Do you even lift?

      These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  8. Early adopters. by MnemonicMan · · Score: 2

    I am going to pick up a Raspberry Pi, once the initial hu-bub dies down. I'm waiting for them to appear in a form that already has a case and a physical power switch however. Shouldn't be more than another 3-4 months or so I would expect. I'm already swimming in computers so there isn't a pressing rush. Still, once I get mine, it'll be a badge that "yes you can have cool stuff."

    1. Re:Early adopters. by outsider007 · · Score: 2

      Right. He said he was willing to wait. You sound like you can't believe that not everyone has drills, soldering irons, solder, Raspberry Pi cases and power switches lying around.

      --
      If you mod me down the terrorists will have won
  9. User friendliness? by Announcer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    My 2c worth:

    How about making it so that when it powers-up, it's ready to go, without having to set up a user account, etc... just create the image on the SD card, then have the Pi come up to a desktop environment with a few helpful links. One of them should be a user-friendly programming environment that's just a mouse-click away, containing a few useful and easily modified example programs. Make the language something better than BASIC, but just as easy-to-use/learn... "Think of the children".

    --
    Willie...
    1. Re:User friendliness? by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Screw the children. The raspberry sounds like a near perfect platform for a freedom box. Imagine your own personal "facebook" server that knows how to find the personal servers of all your friends without actually relying on the "man in the middle attack" that is facebook itself.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    2. Re:User friendliness? by ArchieBunker · · Score: 2

      Its designed by linux fundies. Of course its going to be hard to use and non intuitive.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    3. Re:User friendliness? by kamapuaa · · Score: 2

      Yeah, and get 20 extra, because the advantage of Facebook is that random family & friends are likely to have an account, while you don't know a single person who has a freedom box. It's like being the only person on the block with a video phone.

      --
      Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
    4. Re:User friendliness? by TheRaven64 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I believe the Freedom Box is meant to run things like a dynamic DNS client and XMPP / mail server, so you can, for example, already use it to communicate with anyone with a mail client or chat with anyone using XMMP (including Google Talk). That just leaves the more advanced features, but once you're using them there's more incentive for other people that you communicate with to start.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    5. Re:User friendliness? by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 3, Interesting

      the advantage of Facebook is that random family & friends are likely to have an account, while you don't know a single person who has a freedom box.

      Network effect. And for those who don't want an actual freedombox, let them run an instance in the cloud, it is still better than facebook's model of centralization for corporate stalking purposes. Amazon has tiers that are essentially free for personal use as long as you stay under cputime/diskspace/bandwidth limits.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    6. Re:User friendliness? by Bert64 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Not only that, but provide a foolproof way to roll back to the factory image...

      If education is the goal, the ability to experiment with the system safe in the knowledge that you can't permanently damage it is very important...

      To give an example:

      When i started with computers, i had a Sinclair Spectrum... This machine, and some of the subsequent systems i had provided me a FAR superior introduction to computers than todays windows boxes for a number of reasons.

      1, this computer was mine and mine alone, my parents never used it and couldn't care less about it... i could experiment with it all i liked, by contrast had it been a shared family computer i would be scared of breaking it for fear of angering my parents and siblings.

      2, the computer came with a manual clearly laying out that whatever you do you can't break the machine via software, if you made it crash worse case you just hit reset and your back at the original basic prompt as if nothing had happened. by contrast, a windows system is very easy to break and could be quite complex, time consuming and expensive to fix afterwards. Knowing that you can't permanently break the system and that worst case you can perform a trivial reset procedure is VERY important, as it gives you (especially as a child) confidence to experiment with the system, and experimentation is the best way to learn.

      3, the computer came with a manual that gave programming examples and encouraged you to try things out, again safe in the knowledge that you couldn't break it... by contrast, windows actively discourages users from messing with the system, certain files are hidden by default, certain locations on the filesystem are considered off limits and display a warning (which is quite scary to inexperienced users) when you try to access them...

      4, the computer came with a built in programming language that was readily accessible and oriented at beginners and also came with lots of examples, providing a good way to ease people into it, i don't think windows even includes qbasic anymore and even when it did it was well hidden.. instead you have a few scripting languages that are not beginner friendly, are not located where a novice will find them and are not documented in the supplied paperwork...

      5, you got a paper manual... sure i would usually advocate electronic manuals because they are more environmentally friendly, searchable and easier to update.. BUT, for a novice having an electronic manual is a stumbling block - with zero computer knowledge, how will they know how to view the electronic manual?

      Hopefully if properly marketed and distributed, the raspberry pi can replicate much of what made the earlier computers so accessible to youngsters, and teach people to experiment with computers rather than to be fearful of them.

      --
      http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
  10. And to sum this up... by ZeroPly · · Score: 5, Funny

    From the article: "We assume you're on Windows or you probably wouldn't need this guide."

    It's hard to explain to the GUI crowd why this is such a big deal...

    --
    Support microSD: in a post 9/11 world, it is unwise to carry your data on media that you cannot comfortably swallow.
  11. Re:They emailed shipping dates by tftp · · Score: 2

    What exactly does "non-profit" mean?

    Something like this.

    Why don't we see a lot more 'small businesses' doing this for the tax break?

    They are not on the list, and probably they want to use profits to get rich.

    There's nothing stopping a non-profit from switching back to for-profit later, right?

    I suspect a reorganization would be required to set up a new corporation, with different name, different charter, its own board of directors, etc. It's doable, but it's not something you can do just by calling your Secretary of State.

  12. Re:Nothing new except... by dgatwood · · Score: 2

    Not really. I'd expect a lot more Mac users know how to use a UNIX/Linux command line than Windows users, given that Mac OS X... you know... has one.

    --

    Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

  13. I was too by ArchieBunker · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Then by accident I found the rtl-sdr software radio project. Long story short is that a $20 USB dongle designed for receiving digital TV can also be used as a wideband receiver from 64Mhz to over 1.6GHz. Yes it works on Linux too.

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
  14. default user is "pi" by Chirs · · Score: 2

    The guide adds in another username, but that isn't strictly necessary. I expect they had it come up into commandline mode by default to avoid starting X if it's not needed.

  15. Re:Nothing new except... by smi.james.th · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Most Mac users I know didn't even realise there Macs have a command line, over here it's more of a fashion accessory though.

    --
    One thing I know, and that is that I am ignorant...
  16. Re:might as well since this may be a once in a lif by flyingfsck · · Score: 2

    As young as possible - some kid is bound to try and chew on it and then a lawyer will file a class action because it doesn't taste like rapberries.

    --
    Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
  17. Disappointed... by wet-socks · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Well mine arrived yesterday. First impressions:

    Build quality is a bit iffy - the SD / HDMI and power connectors won't last 5 minutes with frequent swapping and some of the solder joints look to have been "reworked".

    Connected keyboard/mouse and HDMI monitor put the Fedora image on an SD card and powered her up.... Kernel panic :( Futzed around for a while and finally found that it didn't like the keyboard I was using (generic cheepie).

    Connected the network and removed the keyboard and mouse. Eventually booted to a login prompt on the display. SSH in and all looked good.

    Decided to try Debian. That had the same problem with the keyboard as Fedora. Found another keyboard (ancient Fujitsu Siemens one) that it didn't object to and got into the GUI. Biggest problem here was the resolution was some strange one (1896x788 or something) which looked awful on a 1920x1080 screen, but at least I was able to fire up the browser and "surf the web".

    Back to Fedora... Tried to get into the GUI again with the working keyboard but startx crashed the first time and just came up with a blank screen the second.

    Reflashed the image and had an awful row with the password settings. By luck I'd set a local timeserver when I'd first logged in by SSH (no, I don't give extarnal access to every device on the network so the default timeservers weren't accessible). This meant the passwords were set with a valid date. Second time around the "firstboot" script ran, setting up users but without the time being set, so the passwords were flagged as expired and had to be changed on every login - very annoying.

    Finally got into the Fedora GUI but it was slooooooow.

    Overall, yes it works. Some effort is needed on the default images if it's to be used by the great unwashed. Need to play with the GPIO as that's where my interest is...

    1. Re:Disappointed... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      "some of the solder joints look to have been "reworked""

      The ones associated with the ethernet socket, perhaps? Yes, that got "reworked" because the manufacturer substituted the specified sockets with cheaper ones that didn't contain "magnetics". The manufacturer had to take the boards back and fix that.....

      As for the keyboard problem, its entirely possible that your USB PSU isn't as capable of putting out the 1A @ 5v it claims on the plate. If you go to the Pi forum, you will find a couple of threads from other early adopters describing this problem and the necessity to have a PSU that can actually consistently puts out about 800mA, otherwise the USB port malfunctions. I'd say the keyboards that don't work have a higher current draw than the ones that do.

  18. Re:I don't get it by Spliffster · · Score: 5, Informative

    Do you know what the purpose of the Pi is? An educational computer for children (like the amiga or the atari back when we were young).

    It has a TV out and an HDMI Port. I live in Europe, I don't know any family without a TV (well very few, but they don't have a TV by choice and not because they can't afford one, however they have a computer and therefore a computer display). RasPi is a UK Company. The European community is regulating cellphone chargers. They must use an USB Micro-B connector (with 800-1000 mA output). Guess what? This is also the sort of power supply the RasPi needs. Since most Europeans get a new cellphone every 1-2 years, these chargers are disposable (every new phone comes with a new charger even though the old one is still working perfectly).

    So display available, check. Power supply available, check.

    Now all we need is an SD card, a Keyboard and a mouse (USB). I live in one of the most expensive places in the world. But a cheap keyboard and a cheap mouse would not cost more than 15 us dollars. And if I were a smart kid, I'd ask family and friends if I could buy used ones (which I probably would get donated). NEarly all families already have a mac or windows pc (but might not want their children to break it while experimenting) mouse and keyboard could be used from the already available computer.

    Well, now we have only one item left that is missing, the SD card. Many digital cameras are replaced here with smart phones. It's not the same but I see those aging cameras laying around in many house holds. Guess what, they often use SD cards. But since the SD card needs to be reformatted and somewhat inserted permanently into the device, it might be reasonable to buy a separate one.

    This leaves us with one extra expense: a new SD card for $20-30, big deal!

    I personally think the RasPi team has a very neat design there, don't you?

    Cheers,
    -S

  19. Debian notes by laptop006 · · Score: 4, Informative

    I was playing with one last weekend (someone at my office somehow got *two* the lucky guy) and wrote a buch of notes about the default Debian image.

    --
    /* FUCK - The F-word is here so that you can grep for it */
  20. Re:I'm still waiting by lobiusmoop · · Score: 2

    TFA is wrong in saying "When the first 10,000 devices shipped in mid-April", Only around 1500 devices were shipped in April I believe, with another 8000 going out during May. This is because the ethernet jack had to be replaced by hand on all 10,000 initial boards which takes a lot of man-hours (more likely woman-hours) to do, and so was done in 2 stages.

    --
    "I bless every day that I continue to live, for every day is pure profit."
  21. Re:Nothing new except... by TheRaven64 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Most of the Mac users I know have a PhD in computer science or engineering. Yay for selection bais...

    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  22. Re:They emailed shipping dates by Patch86 · · Score: 2

    They're a registered UK charity, which means they're subject to fairly strict rules around profit and public benefit.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charitable_organisation#United_Kingdom

  23. Re:I don't get it by Spliffster · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Some people think Desktop with shiny windows if they hear the word computer.

    The Pi has (for example) GPIO ports along with SPI, I2C, UART and more. If this is not enough, or you don't want to design your own PCB you might add a gert board and you get motor drivers without any knowledge of electronics. Now you have a robotics platform. Since it is running Linux one has a plethora of programming languages at hand to do something useful with these features (for example robotics).

    Or you may just want to build an appliance which can be controlled via http, IR whatever (media center any one?).

    Of course, it can also be used as very cheap desktop or server of some sort. But for people with an imagination beyond the Desktop this little computer is a big deal.

    2 millions ordered in that short time without millions of marketing budget tells me that some people might have a vision beyond the Desktop. And that for only $35.

    Cheers,
    -S

  24. Re:might as well since this may be a once in a lif by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 2

    As young as possible - some kid is bound to try and chew on it and then a lawyer will file a class action because it doesn't taste like rapberries.

    Sir,

    I can foresee that you will have a very bright future in the legal profession

    --
    Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !