Raspberry Pi - $35 Linux computer

  • Thread starter Thread starter daz
  • Start date Start date
Tweet from the @FarnellNews account 15 mins ago: "NO DELAY for @Raspberry_Pi! Mar/Apr delivery estimates still stand, new dates apply to new orders only, sorry! More at ow.ly/9tTCc" So looks like the May dated e-mail was an error:

Frequently Asked Questions about Raspberry Pi
UPDATED AT 7:30am CST, March 6

Raspberry Pi Delivery Dates
Q: I got an email from Farnell element14 stating that my delivery date for the Raspberry Pi I ordered is now into May or June, is this correct?
A: Sorry! We updated the data in our system so that new customers placing their pre-order would be advised of the delivery date at the end of May or beginning of June. If you originally had an estimated delivery date in March or April, your delivery estimate is still as per the original communication.
Click to expand...
 
tonyyeb said:
Tweet from the @FarnellNews account 15 mins ago: "NO DELAY for @Raspberry_Pi! Mar/Apr delivery estimates still stand, new dates apply to new orders only, sorry! More at ow.ly/9tTCc" So looks like the May dated e-mail was an error:
Click to expand...

Yeah just came on here to post it. Good news thankfully :).
 
Can someone help me out on the basics, so basically one of these tiny things can be used a basic computer? Could i throw an internet browser on there with a word/excel type program, using linux connected to a usb harddrive?

Thanks
 
Jay™ said:
Can someone help me out on the basics, so basically one of these tiny things can be used a basic computer? Could i throw an internet browser on there with a word/excel type program, using linux connected to a usb harddrive?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Yes. Just install Linux onto it, plug in network cable, keyboard, mouse, monitor (via HDMI) and you can use it for browsing and Open Office, LibreOffice (I believe they have ARM versions?) etc for word processing / spreadsheets.
 
It is my understanding that its basically an Android phone in terms of specs (with a hdmi/ethernet/usb) but fully unlocked allowing you to install different distros of linux as opposed to different android ROMs?
 
As above, just without any inherent phone capabilities and be aware of the memory limitation of only 256MB.
 
Been reading up but can't seem to work it out at all. Could I run an extra USB port through the GPIO headers?
 
desires said:
Will it run XBMCbuntu?
Click to expand...

No, Ubuntu do not support ARM, but there is at least 1 XBMC build based upon a different flavour of Linux though.

I doubt we'll see any stable releases until some Pis manage to escape the distribution channels and get into developers hands.
 
Evilpaul said:
No, Ubuntu do not support ARM, but there is at least 1 XBMC build based upon a different flavour of Linux though.

I doubt we'll see any stable releases until some Pis manage to escape the distribution channels and get into developers hands.
Click to expand...

If it just needs to be compatible with ARM, then surely people can do this without the need of a Raspberry Pi?
 
Dunks said:
If it just needs to be compatible with ARM, then surely people can do this without the need of a Raspberry Pi?
Click to expand...

You can easily just set up a cross-platform build environment, but tweaking everything to be optimal would not be easy without access to some hardware. Especially when it comes to interfacing with the proprietary binary blob that gives access to the GPU.


Edit:
have a read of this forum post to get an idea of some of the difficulties in getting a fully optimised build made: http://www.raspberrypi.org/forum/general-discussion/debian-armhf-hard-float-abi-for-raspberry-pi
 
Last edited:
Raspi xbmc build
or just install it on the Fedora/debian/Arch distros that are released.

You'll need to use a usb hub as it only has 1/2 ports (depending on model) if you need more usb. Probably could use a bluetooth/wireless set etc.

my order is due 23rd april but hoping to hear from RS...
 
Evilpaul said:
You can easily just set up a cross-platform build environment, but tweaking everything to be optimal would not be easy without access to some hardware. Especially when it comes to interfacing with the proprietary binary blob that gives access to the GPU.


Edit:
have a read of this forum post to get an idea of some of the difficulties in getting a fully optimised build made: http://www.raspberrypi.org/forum/general-discussion/debian-armhf-hard-float-abi-for-raspberry-pi
Click to expand...
My first thought would be that Gentoo would be the optimum system for this - everything compiled in place with perfectly tweaked compile options. Then it occurred to me just how long it would take to build Gentoo on one of these machines - I was doing some rough estimates under QEMU with ARM1176 and it wasn't exactly quick. I'm not so sure just how much of that is QEMU though.

The other thing we still need to work out is what the GPU can actually do as I've yet to see tests using the binary blob from Broadcom yet...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom