The newbie... Part 2

So you have your Pi, now what?

first things first, you have to figure out how you want to control it?

you have two simple options...

1) connect a screen & keyboard
2) take advantage of the wonders of networking and use a remote access configuration

Word of advice... - Just because the Pi has HDMI your tv wont make a good display (esp if its only a 720p resolution like mine...), all it'll do is make your eyes hurt... in addition, if you run a remote access setup, you can just copy and paste all the code for the projects you see on here :)

Step 1

Plug it in!!! Turn it on!!!

If you have not done so already, wonder over here to work out how to set up a remote connection (sorry I have only catered for OSX - feel free to tell me I'm the anti Christ.. :P )

Remember the default Username is "Pi"
and the default Password is "Raspberry"

Step 2


The RasPi plead with you to set it up with the most basic of settings...

here comes your first syntax:

sudo raspi-config

The above will launch a configuration tool (see image below) which as a newbie you only need to tinker with a tiny little bit.

The 1st thing to do is to Expand the Filesystem - this allows any extra space on your SD card to be utilised by the OS if and when it requires.

The 2nd thing to do is to set the Internationalisation Options (see image below)... (now isn't that a big word...)
Setting your location just means that the RasPi knows where it is, and so it can tell you the time if you ever ask...

Finish... Reboot... And your done!!!

WooHoo!!

I promise these celebration will become more tactful... remember its a learning curve :)

The newbie... Part 1

Hello World!!

So I guess you have your RasPi and you're looking to do some really cool stuff with it... well I'm in the same boat as you, so I thought I'd document my journey and hopefully make it easier for others by helping them avoid the mistakes that I made along the way...

At this point I'm assuming that you have a whole bunch of bits just sitting in front of you and you're wondering what happens next.

The bare minimum... 

1) RasPi
2) Compatible Power Supply - Remember - 5V 1A
3) SD Card 4GB+
4) Ethernet Cable
5) Keyboard & Monitor (if your not planning on using a remote connection)

Now Remember... You have to crawl before you walk...

First things first, you will need to upload some kind of OS onto your SD card so your RasPi has a brain... otherwise its just a headless chicken!

The Guys & Gals at RasberryPi.org have us covered on this front, I like to use Rasbian so surprise surprise... thats the one that I'm going to be talking about on here!!

I wont go into details as they have pretty much put together a fool proof guide on how to get the disk image onto your SD card so that you can get going.

Just Follow this link and come back when your all done :)


WooHoo!!

Although my celebration may seem a tad bit premature, I think brain surgery deserves a big pat on the back! remember before you started you had a body but no brain, now you're ready to go... To infinity and beyond!!!

Click over to part 2 to see more :)

SSH (Secure Shell)

SSH is a tool that allows you to connect to and control another machine on a network.

In its most basic form the SSH allows access to the command prompt of another machine which is connected to a network.

To begin a SSH connection you would need the local IP address of the machine you would like to connect to.

Setting Up A Remote Connection To Your RasPi

1) Connect your RasPi to the network (using ethernet)
2) Power up your RasPi
3) Access your router settings and note down the IP address for your RasPi

For Mac OS (Yosemite)

4) Open Terminal
5) On the Menu Bar select "shell"
6)  Select "New Remote Connection"
7) Under the services box select "Secure Shell (ssh)"
8) Click on "+"
9) Enter the IP address that you noted down from your router settings (see #3)
10) Enter "pi" in the User box
11) Click Connect
12) When prompted enter your password (Default: Raspberry)

Congratulations - you should now be connected to your RasPi

Hello World!

Maybe you got a Pi for Christmas, I've had one lying around since 2013, but have only recently got around to playing around with it, follow me as I venture into the unknown.

As someone who is only a fanboy, I do not have an academic background in CS or Engineering, but have always been the go to guy for "dude my printers not working" or "can you fix my phone for me", hell as a kid I broke open all my toys as I wanted to know what was inside them. Curiosity has always been the fuel to my passion, today my passion is Pi :)

Stay tuned and hopefully we can take a journey where we make many mistakes, have many frustrating, days, evenings, and nights, but rise victorious over all things technical.

The beauty of the world we live in today is that we can learn so much from everyone else, this is not the first blog on RasPi projects and it will not be the last, but I hope I can help answer many questions that many novices may have.