Raspberry Pi2?

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JusTertii

Raspberry Pi2?

Post by JusTertii »

Hi all,

I've recently become acquainted with a cool little computer called a Raspberry Pi. For those who don't know what it is, here's a link here.

I was just wondering if anyone's used it and their thoughts? I'm also curious as to whether it would be possible to run, say, Linux Mint (with something like XFCE of course). Or hey, let's just chat about the tech like the nerds we are. The floor's open to you guys (and gals).
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xenopeek
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Re: Raspberry Pi2?

Post by xenopeek »

JusTertii wrote: whether it would be possible to run, say, Linux Mint
Nope. Linux Mint is built for x86 and x86-64 processor architectures. RPi uses ARM processors. You have to use a distribution that supports ARM processors (or do the work to compile all the Linux Mint stuff for RPi 2 :wink:).

In addition, you'll want a distribution that actually takes advantage of the new ARM processor that the RPi 2 ships with. That's the ARMv7 architecture, not the ARMv6 architecture of the original RPi. From what I saw, there's quite a few RPi distros still needing to catch up to that.

Arch Linux ARM already supports it: http://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv7 ... berry-pi-2. I don't know about other distros.
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MartyMint
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Re: Raspberry Pi2?

Post by MartyMint »

You can get Raspbian...a Debian based spin for the Pi.

http://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/
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Re: Raspberry Pi2?

Post by jimallyn »

I've got a Raspberry Pi B+, first generation, not the new one. I've been using it as a learning tool. I've been teaching myself to program in Python, to connect via ssh and vnc, and a few other things. It's a nice little gadget, and I will probably get a Pi2 one of these days.
“If the government were coming for your TVs and cars, then you'd be upset. But, as it is, they're only coming for your sons.” - Daniel Berrigan
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Re: Raspberry Pi2?

Post by xenopeek »

Problem with Raspbian is exactly as I illustrated; it's ARMv6, won't take advantage of the ARMv7 capabilities that the RPi 2 has. Raspbian is a poor choice right now; till they sort out this mess:
Remember you’ll need an updated NOOBS or Raspbian image including an ARMv7 kernel and modules from our downloads page. At launch, we are using the same ARMv6 Raspbian userland on both Raspberry Pi 1 and 2; over the next few months we will investigate whether we can obtain higher performance from regular ARMv7 Debian, or whether we can selectively replace a small number of libraries to get the best of both worlds.
Ditch Raspbian for now.
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JusTertii

Re: Raspberry Pi2?

Post by JusTertii »

xenopeek wrote:or do the work to compile all the Linux Mint stuff for RPi 2 :wink:
I'm guessing that'd be more than just loading it up and using the make command? (Or whatever it is)

Cheers for the info about Arch. I hadn't previously thought of running Arch on R Pi. I guess it makes sense - AFAIK, Arch is a smallish distro, no?
jimallyn wrote: I've been teaching myself to program in Python, to connect via ssh and vnc, and a few other things. It's a nice little gadget, and I will probably get a Pi2 one of these days.
Hey, that sounds cool. Glad for the +1. Got any good projects you're using it for?
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Re: Raspberry Pi2?

Post by xenopeek »

JusTertii wrote:I'm guessing that'd be more than just loading it up and using the make command? (Or whatever it is)
Might not be; but it will take a lot of your time to rebuild all the Mint specific packages and migrate customizations done to another distro (on that is installable on ARM).
JusTertii wrote:I hadn't previously thought of running Arch on R Pi. I guess it makes sense - AFAIK, Arch is a smallish distro, no?
You boot to a root console :) From there you install what you need; you can keep if very small and lightweight--for example using LXDE/LXQt.

Arch Linux ARM developers have just been interviewed by the Linux Action Show folks; starts about midway in the episode: http://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com/7747 ... ch-lup-80/
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Re: Raspberry Pi2?

Post by Algus »

These things are meant for education but you can do some supercool projects with them. At one of the retro gaming websites I hang out at, a few guys are using them to power repro MAME cabinets. I'm not that sophisticated but I have messed with one for powering emulators. It's so portable that it is easy to move around. One cool thing about it is that it uses SD cards for storage so totally tearing your system down and rebuilding it is as simple as swapping out a card.

Great tool for Linux junkies for messing with some of the different ARM projects that are out there.

I don't have a Pi 2 yet but I will get around to replacing my old Pi eventually.
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Re: Raspberry Pi2?

Post by jimallyn »

JusTertii wrote:Got any good projects you're using it for?
Not yet, I'm still learning. But I have thought about using one to remotely control my mother's entertainment system.
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Re: Raspberry Pi2?

Post by xenopeek »

I have two RPis; not yet considering splurging on the RPi 2 (however tempting :)).

The one I've installed as a weechat relay server; it connects to IRC for me, so when I'm not on my own computer I can still use IRC from other locations. I'm using glowing bear (https://github.com/glowing-bear/glowing-bear) as front-end to that.

The second one had been gathering dust for a while. I'm considering how to set it up as a web proxy with ad blocking, so I can connect through it if I'm on a device that makes it difficult to block ads.
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Re: Raspberry Pi2?

Post by JusTertii »

xenopeek wrote:The second one had been gathering dust for a while. I'm considering how to set it up as a web proxy with ad blocking, so I can connect through it if I'm on a device that makes it difficult to block ads.
That... is an awesome idea! The ad-blocking functionality is brilliant. There are heaps of how-tos on setting up a base proxy, so I'd imagine integrating some open source adblocker wouldn't be too hard?
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Re: Raspberry Pi2?

Post by xenopeek »

Privoxy is probably a good match for this; you can import adblock plus filters. Arch wiki has a bit about it: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/pr ... th_Privoxy. You can of course load Privoxy on top of other RPi distros as well.
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Re: Raspberry Pi2?

Post by Red Squirrel »

Been thinking of getting myself one. I am brainstorming a redesign of my home automation system, right now it's a mix of proprietary relay controller/sensor board and a separate arduino, which is then connected to a 1U box that acts as the BAS. I could do all of that with just 1 RPI. Even the 1 would work but the 2 has even more IO pins. It looks like the IO pins are really easy to access too, they basically show up in /proc. So should be easy to use C++. I use a 1 for my HTPC but never really read up much on the IO pins as I was mostly just interested in a cheap Linux PC that has ethernet and HDMI, but it's more than just that.

Arduino is cheaper though but then I still need a computer to interface with it... so if I go the PI route it can sit in a nema cabinet with the relay boards and bit shift registers and other goodies and be a nice self contained unit that has it's own IP, SSH server, web server etc.
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