Electronic stuff never fails to amaze me.

[Krupski]

Right now, I'm online using a computer that's about 2 by 3 inches and runs on a USB port. I've got a full 1080P screen, a web browesr and a multitasking operating system (Linux). The board is plugged into my monitor, a USB keyboard and USB mouse are plugged into the board (as is the network cable). The board costs under $30.00.

This is what I'm running right now:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Raspberry_Pi_B%2B_top.jpg/300px-Raspberry_Pi_B%2B_top.jpg

...and it uses about 3 watts of power. Absolutely incredible.

It's not quite as fast as my main PC, but for a tiny board... wow.

[Oswald Bastable]

Link?

[rci2950]

ooh a rasberrri pi

so its good?

[Schuetzenman]

Stuff (computers) have come a long way since the IMB desk top XT model.

[Goodman]

Nice. I've been looking at Pi on Adafruit. I still compare everything to the Apple II and this is light years beyond that.
Got any special projects going?

[5.56NATO]

Neat but don't tablets have the same abilities yet have their own monitor and kb/mouse?

[Krupski]

Link?

Ask and ye shall receive: LINK (http://www.raspberrypi.org/)

[Krupski]

Neat but don't tablets have the same abilities yet have their own monitor and kb/mouse?

Yeah, but the cool thing is it's a complete computer for under $30 that can run on a few tiny batteries or a USB cable.

The WHOLE computer (CPU, memory, video "card", USB ports, disk access, etc..) is ALL in one chip about 1/2 inch square (and that's the outside of the package. The silicon chip inside can't be more than a 3/8 inch square piece... as thick as 2 sheets of paper).

That's what amazes me... the tip of a teaspoon's worth of beach sand, a little magic and you have a small shard of purple glass that is a complete computer that uses less power than a flashlight.

It's gotta be alien technology! :)

[deth502]

im slow to accept change. when everyone else has moved on to something else and its old tech, then ill look at the pi.

[Broondog]

Stuff (computers) have come a long way since the IMB desk top XT model.



oh the good ol' days! i had a Pine Com PC XT 8088 with 64K RAM running 4.7MHz and a 1200 baud internal modem. 10MB hard drive, 5 1/4 floppy and Hercules monochrome graphics. what more could a guy ask for back then? it was a big step up from the Commie 64!

[Oswald Bastable]

Ask and ye shall receive: LINK (http://www.raspberrypi.org/)

Very cool...and they have 5 megapixel cameras that can be used with them...looks awesome for an interlinked security system in a very concealable package...

[Krupski]

im slow to accept change. when everyone else has moved on to something else and its old tech, then ill look at the pi.

The Raspberry Pi is more of a controller or a platform to build some kind of dedicated device (like, for example, what Ozzie said, a small, concealable Internet spy camera).

Although you can actually use this as a "home PC" and browse the web and such, it's not meant for that purpose. Plus, it's WAY too slow to use as a "home PC".

Speed wise, using it as a "home PC", it feels like an old 486 machine (or maybe one of the first Pentiums).

Not something you would want on a desktop today.

[Krupski]

oh the good ol' days! i had a Pine Com PC XT 8088 with 64K RAM running 4.7MHz and a 1200 baud internal modem. 10MB hard drive, 5 1/4 floppy and Hercules monochrome graphics. what more could a guy ask for back then? it was a big step up from the Commie 64!

My VERY first computer was a home made (wire-wrapped) 8008 with 256 bytes (yes, BYTES) of ram, a video display generator and 16 toggle switches (8 for address, 8 for data) plus a few pushbuttons (enter and reset).

After building it with my buddy, we sat in his basement while his GF fed us iced tea and sandwiches. We worked on it all day, only stopping to flush out the iced tea.

After THREE DAYS of looking up processor opcodes, calculating branch offsets, learning how the video display chip worked and writing the code for it by hand (and entering it byte by byte using the toggle switches), we finally got it to work. After three days and tens of failed attempts, we finally flipped a coin to see who would get to press "reset" and see if it worked.

I won the toss, pressed reset, the 9 inch B&W TV connected to it jumped and a bright white letter "A" appeared on the upper left corner of the screen.

We both yelled "YEAH!!!!!!" I jumped up with my fists above my head and rammed my knuckles into the ceiling (the floor joists of the first floor). Ouch.

We literally had to code like this:

Code we wanted:

MOV AL,65
MOV DX,8000h
MOV DX,AL

Which in machine code was something like this (don't remember the actual codes now):

0xB4,0x41,0xB8,0x00,0x80,0xC4,0xB2

Then we had to convert it into binary:

Address 0: off, off, off, off, off, off, off, off
Data 0: on, off, on, on, off, on, off, off
(press the enter button)

This was for just the FIRST byte (the 0xB4). We did this for each byte and had to get the binary pattern right, as well as remembering to increment the address switches each time. And there was a LOT more than just the few things I showed above.

It got so that I thought in binary. How many fingers do I have? 00001010 fingers!

Of course, the program was stored in the 256 bytes of ram, so if we turned it off, all the data went away and we had to start from scratch.

No keyboard, no mouse, no icons not even an error beep. If there was a mistake, it just sat there dead and did nothing.

Many years later I "graduated" to a Cromemco Z-80, then a Commodore PET (the expensive one with 64K of memory!), then a Radio Shack Color Computer II and III, then finally a 386SX PC.

That's why I get so annoyed at people who click an icon and then whine "it doesn't work - can you help me?". Geez try doing it the way WE did it back in the day!

[skorpion]

I read/heard some time ago that a modern basic calculator is more powerful than the room-sized computers from decades ago. I don't know if that's true, but either way, it's amazing how fast electronic technology evolves.

[deth502]

The Raspberry Pi is more of a controller or a platform to build some kind of dedicated device (like, for example, what Ozzie said, a small, concealable Internet spy camera).

Although you can actually use this as a "home PC" and browse the web and such, it's not meant for that purpose. Plus, it's WAY too slow to use as a "home PC".

Speed wise, using it as a "home PC", it feels like an old 486 machine (or maybe one of the first Pentiums).

Not something you would want on a desktop today.

i respectfully disagree. raspberry pi is much more than that, as you demonstrated by connecting a keyboard and monitor to it and connect to the internet.

if i were to do something as simple as an internet camera, i could just as easily do that with an arduino.

like i said, i stay a step behind in tech. when the arduino hit the market, it renewed my interest in microcontrollers. but fuck learning something new, so i channeled my renewed interest into the more vaguely familiar platforms like stamp, avr, and pic. it was not until recently, when the pi started coming out, that i have ventured into arduino. im more into the hardware side of it instead of the software side, another reason the pi is less appealing to me.

[deth502]

thought you might like this:


HOT NEWS: The Raspberry Pi 2 is out!
5 Things You Need To Know About RPi 2:
1. Raspberry Pi 2 has a faster processor -- a Quadcore ARMv7.
2. Double the RAM (up to 1GB)
3. Users will see 6x performance over the existing Raspberry Pi B+.
4. The price will be the same as the price of the B+: $35 exclusive of taxes.
5. It's backward compatible with the original Raspberry Pi.
"We’ve worked very hard to make sure everything’s backwards-compatible with the original Raspberry Pi."
-- Liz Upton, Head of Communications, Raspberry Pi Foundation


https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/v/t1.0-9/1532120_983872111636606_1054385896676017329_n.jpg? oh=519db8b7921b831f1fefb0ab8282b903&oe=555873CB

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10009854_983872408303243_5846961521861294021_n.jpg ?oh=96dfebca7e835e15447e0c3b17ba948a&oe=554F88EA&__gda__=1431331171_1db76a313a3618d3734323365e9bbf4 8

[deth502]

just saw this as well...

Microsoft To Offer Windows 10 Free To Raspberry Pi Devs

http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/02/windows-10-free-for-pi-devs/?ncid=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&utm_content=FaceBook

[skorpion]

just saw this as well...

Microsoft To Offer Windows 10 Free To Raspberry Pi Devs

http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/02/windows-10-free-for-pi-devs/?ncid=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&utm_content=FaceBook
Damn. Windows is up to version 10 now? I'm still sporting Vista - set in classic XP mode - on my 7-year-old Gateway laptop.

[Krupski]

thought you might like this:



That's what I have. A Model B+, version 1.2 (your pic shows a v1.1).

(edit to add): Here's my board... in fact I took this pic while I was typing the original post in this thread...

(click pic for larger)
http://www.gunsnet.net/photopost/data/500/medium/pi.jpg (http://www.gunsnet.net/photopost/data/500/pi.jpg)

[Krupski]

just saw this as well...

Microsoft To Offer Windows 10 Free To Raspberry Pi Devs

http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/02/windows-10-free-for-pi-devs/?ncid=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&utm_content=FaceBook

That will never work. People who use things like Arduino, Raspberry Pi and other open source hardware have been using Linux for years and have no love for Microsoft's security hole ridden, bloated junk.

A few may grab a copy of WinBlows just for the hell of it if it's free, but Microsoft made their bed a LONG time ago and us "hacker types" feel pain merely THINKING about Microsoft let alone USING their shit.

Only the "unwashed masses" use Windows... mostly because they don't know any better...

[deth502]

Damn. Windows is up to version 10 now? I'm still sporting Vista - set in classic XP mode - on my 7-year-old Gateway laptop.

me too!!

[deth502]

That will never work. People who use things like Arduino, Raspberry Pi and other open source hardware have been using Linux for years and have no love for Microsoft's security hole ridden, bloated junk.

A few may grab a copy of WinBlows just for the hell of it if it's free, but Microsoft made their bed a LONG time ago and us "hacker types" feel pain merely THINKING about Microsoft let alone USING their shit.

Only the "unwashed masses" use Windows... mostly because they don't know any better...

the article addresses a lot of that. they said the motivating factor was that they want to give it away to get ppl to use it to regain its standing as a viable platform. they realize that everyone is moving away from it and are trying to "sweeten the pot" as it were to try to bring ppl back.

and if its going to run on a 2gb micro sd card, it cant be that bloated, right? (they (pi) do run the os from the sd card, dont they?)

[Krupski]

the article addresses a lot of that. they said the motivating factor was that they want to give it away to get ppl to use it to regain its standing as a viable platform. they realize that everyone is moving away from it and are trying to "sweeten the pot" as it were to try to bring ppl back.

and if its going to run on a 2gb micro sd card, it cant be that bloated, right? (they (pi) do run the os from the sd card, dont they?)

Yes, the Pi runs Linux off a micro-SD card. The OS takes up about 2GB (that's with a TON of apps installed).

I seriously doubt that the BOOTLOADER for a Microsoft product could fit on a 2GB card.

Even if they could, what would people get? Internet Explorer, security holes and daily updates and patches?

I'll pass.

[deth502]

im going to design my own small single board computer to compete with raspberry pi. it will be designed for downloading porn from the internet. i will call it the hair pi.

that said, roger, you asshole. i just spent $120 on ebay buying raspberry pie, and touchscreen, and keyboard, ect.. and i blame you for it!!!

[Helen Keller]

can drop a 1000lb bomb down a chimney but , I cant get 4g reception .

[Krupski]

im going to design my own small single board computer to compete with raspberry pi. it will be designed for downloading porn from the internet. i will call it the hair pi.

that said, roger, you asshole. i just spent $120 on ebay buying raspberry pie, and touchscreen, and keyboard, ect.. and i blame you for it!!!

Hair Pi! :yeah:

Ha ha!!! Yeah the Pi "only" costs $30... but then you need a $30 wireless USB keyboard, a $25 wireless USB mouse, a $250 HDMI display monitor (or a $100 TFT touchscreen).

I want to put maybe a 5" or 7" color TFT display on mine, but all of them (so far) connect to the Pi via the HDMI port. What's the point when the Pi has a serial RPi port for video?

We SHOULD be able to just slide the thin ribbon cable from a TFT display into the native display port on the board. But currently there aren't any available.

I built a small computer with a mini motherboard, a small SSD and a video card. The idea was to connect it to the TV and be able to play any kind of media (ripped DVD and BD disks, MP3 music, YouTube video or just browse the web on the TV). We've been using it for several years now and it works fine... but the kicker is that a Raspberry Pi board can do the same thing as our TV media player box. A board that you could hide in a pack of cigarettes does the same thing as a whole PC.

Our home file / media server is just a box running Linux and filled with hard drives. It doesn't even have any video output. But it's got five 4TB drives setup as RAID-6 (which gives me 12 TB of storage and can tolerate the failure of up to two drives at the same time).

I was thinking of making it RAID-5 (16 TB and can survive one bad HDD) but I figured with my luck when drive #1 died, another one would die while I was replacing the first one and then all out stuff would be gone.

So far only 1.4 TB are used, so I guess it's OK to basically "waste" 8 TB on redundancy.......

[Krupski]

can drop a 1000lb bomb down a chimney but , I cant get 4g reception .

If you drop a 1000 lb bomb down your chimney, you won't need 4g reception.

[deth502]

i only got the little 3.2" touch screen that plugs right into the top of the pi. it was only $20

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261653219529?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT#

and im sure theres more i 'need" that i dont even know yet. i know i didnt get the wifi dongle thing. i did get the little wireless keyboard though. thats the only thing that came in the mail so far.

[deth502]

ok, fuck technology. i cant even get the damn os burnt onto the damn sd card after 2 days of screwing with it now.

[Krupski]

ok, fuck technology. i cant even get the damn os burnt onto the damn sd card after 2 days of screwing with it now.

Do you run Windows or Linux?

In Linux, it's super easy to copy the boot disk image to the SD card. If you run Windows, look up a program called "WinImage" http://www.winimage.com/

This will let you do anything with any disk... copy an image to a disk, copy a disk to an image, etc... but be careful if you write data to the wrong drive there's NO WAY to get it back. You are screwed. Double and triple check that you are on the right disk before you click "OK".

Or, if you want I can get a micro SD card and burn it for you, then mail it to you and you mail me the cost of the SD card. Up to you.

[deth502]

i just got that to work last night. all of the tutorials i saw said to use fedora to write the image. (i am running win vista) fedora wouldnt work for shit! last night i came across win image and finally got it to work.

one of the reasons i wanted to try this whole raspberry pi thing out was because it is linux based. i have a fear of linux, so i dont want to leave windows for it, but i figure this will help me get my feet wet with it and be a little more comfortable with it.