Setting Up The Raspberry PI 2

Introduction

It has been a while since my last Raspberry PI article. I have recently been given the new Raspberry PI 2 so I thought I would produce a new tutorial showing how to set it up.

My previous guide for setting up the original Raspberry PI is somewhat out of date. You should follow this guide regardless as to whether you have bought (or are going to buy) the Raspberry PI B+ or the Raspberry PI 2.

There are now a couple of alternative guides:

• How To Setup Raspbian On The Raspberry PI 2 Model B
• How To Setup The Raspberry PI Zero

Who Is The Raspberry PI For?

There are so many uses for the Raspberry PI that it is hard to define one single user but here are a few reasons to get one:

• Great for children and teenagers to learn how to use computers and create their own programs
• Great for children and teenagers who have an interest in electronics
• Can be used for a web kiosk in a cafe, small bed and breakfast, guest house or hotel
• Can be used for digital signage in small outlets such as local shops
• Can be used to run XBMC to turn your television into a media centre
• Can be used to run games emulators for retro gaming
• Can be used as a small file server, web server or print server
• Can be used to download large files from the internet 

In the coming weeks I will explore some of these concepts.

What Equipment Do You Need?

The image above shows the equipment I have for the Raspberry PI 2.

The items and reasons why they are required are as follows:

The Keyboard

You will need a keyboard to set up the Raspberry PI the first time. If you are going to use the PI as an actual computer then you would probably be better off buying a standard USB keyboard but if you are more likely to use the PI as a server or fpr digital signage you can buy a mini keyboard. Remember this is a one time only purchase as you will be able to use the same keyboard whether you use the original Raspberry PI, Raspberry PI B+, Raspberry PI 2 or in the future the 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7.

The Mouse

The mouse is also required during the initial setup of your Raspberry PI. Again if you use the Raspberry PI as an actual desktop computer you will need the mouse all the time but if you use the Raspberry PI as a server you will probably only need to use the mouse once.

SD Card

You will need a micro SD card for running the operating system on the Raspberry PI and for storage space.

You can buy a 16 Gigabyte SD card for as little as £5.53 and install the Raspberry PI operating system yourself (as this guide shows) or you can pay a little bit extra and buy a 16 Gigabyte SD card for £12.99 with NOOBS pre-installed.

To be honest it will take you no time at all to install NOOBS onto an SD card but you do need an SD card reader. (either built into your computer or available for purchase).

If you need to buy an SD card reader you might be better off buying an SD card with NOOBS pre-installed.

The Raspberry PI

You will of course need a Raspberry PI 2. This little computer is fantastic. There are other single board computers out there and they all claim to be better than the Raspberry PI because they either provide more memory, a better chip or some other unique selling point. The beauty of the Raspberry PI is how much you get for so little money. Just £29.99.

WIFI Dongle

If you plan to keep your Raspberry PI next to your router then you can get away with using the ethernet port with an ethernet cable and connect via a wired link but most people like to connect wirelessly to the internet from their Raspberry PI. If you plan to use the Raspberry PI for digital signage you will almost certainly need a WIFI dongle. Be careful when choosing the WIFI dongle because not all of them are as simple as plug and play. The LP Link dongles are particularly hard to use.

Bluetooth Dongle

A bluetooth dongle isn't particularly necessary but if you plan to use your Raspberry PI as a retro gaming console you will need one in order to pair up games controllers. You can use a WII controller or an OUYA controller with the Raspberry PI using a cheap bluetooth dongle.

Raspberry PI Case

A case isn't 100% necessary but if you are using the Raspberry PI as a media centre or for retro gaming it will certainly look better than a small circuit board with lots of protruding cables. If you use your Raspberry PI for electronics then the case might get in the way when trying to connect breadboards. A case will help however to keep dust off the Raspberry PI.

Powered Hub

The Raspberry PI 2 consumes less power than the original Raspberry PI but you will almost certainly need a powered USB hub. Everything you plug in to the Raspberry PI's USB ports draws power and it doesn't take much to stop your little computer in its tracks. By using a powered USB hub you can add bluetooth dongles and even an external USB hard drive without crashing the Raspberry PI. This is pretty much an essential requirement.

Power Supply

You will need a power supply in order to make the Raspberry PI 2 work. Be very careful when buying a power supply and make sure that it is designed to work with the Raspberry PI 2 otherwise you might fry the board.

Formatting The SD Card

Note: Skip this section if you bought an SD card with NOOBS pre-installed

That last section was longer than I intended it to be. Hopefully you have what you need in order to set up and use your Raspberry PI.

To actually get started however you will need to put NOOBs onto the SD Card.

Before you can put NOOBS onto the SD card you will need to format it.

Insert the SD card into your SD card reader. (If you are using an external card reader connect the reader to your computer).

This guide assumes you are using Windows to format the drive.

Visit https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/eula_windows/, read the agreement and click "Accept".

The SD Formatting software will be downloaded to your downloads folder. Open the downloads folder and double click on the SDFormatter zip file.

When the zip file opens double click on the Setup file.

A welcome screen will appear. Click "Next" to continue.

The second screen asks you to choose where to install the SDFormatter.

Unless you wish to change the default folder click "Next".

Finally you are ready to install the software.

Click "Install" and answer yes to any question that asks whether you are sure or you need to give permission to install the software.

An icon should appear on your desktop for the SD Formatter.

Double click on the icon and this screen will appear.

Add a volume label and click the "Option" button.

Make sure the format type is "quick" and that the format size adjustment is set to "On".

Click "OK" to continue.

When you return to the main screen click the "Format" button.

The SD Card will be formatted and a screen will appear telling you that the process is complete.

Install NOOBS To The SD Card

Note: Skip this section if you bought an SD card with NOOBS pre-installed

NOOBS stands for New Out Of Box System.

When the original Raspberry PI was created you had to perform a number of steps to install Raspbian which is the most popular operating system available for the Raspberry PI.

The NOOBS system makes setting up the PI easier and allows you to choose how you will use the PI and includes options for setting the PI up as an XBMC device.

To get NOOBS visit www.raspberrypi.org/downloads

Click the "Download Zip" link next to NOOBS.

Navigate to the downloads folder and open the NOOBS zip file by double clicking on it.

Click the "Extract All" button to extract all of the files.

You can choose the location where the files are extracted to.

At this stage it is worth sticking with the defaults.

Click "Extract"

Go to the extracted folder containing the NOOBS files and press CTRL and A to select all of the files.

Now drag the selected files to the drive letter assigned to the SD card.

Open the SD card and make sure the files have copied correctly.

Set Up The Raspberry PI Using NOOBS

I apologise for the quality of the images for this bit but they are direct camera shots of the Raspberry PI connected to a monitor as there is no internet connectivity at this stage.

Insert the SD card into your Raspberry PI. (Don't bother enclosing the Raspberry PI in a case at this stage in case the image has been copied incorrectly).

Make sure that you have a USB keyboard and mouse connected via the USB ports on the Raspberry PI and add a WIFI dongle or an ethernet cable from the PI to your router.

Power up the Raspberry PI. A screen should appear as shown above with an option to install Raspbian.

Check the box and click the "Install" button.

A message will appear telling you that your SD card will be overwritten with the Raspbian software. Click "Yes" to continue.

The files required to run Raspbian will be extracted to the SD card.

The process takes between 15 and 20 minutes.

A message will appear stating the OSes have installed successfully.

After pressing OK the Raspberry PI will reboot into a config screen.

As you are using NOOBS you will not need to choose option 1 as the file system will automatically be expanded.

You should however change the password for the PI. Select option 2 and press return on the keyboard.

A message will be displayed saying that you will be asked for a new password. Press OK to continue. The request for the new password will appear in the bottom left corner of the screen. Enter the password, press return and repeat the password when asked to do so. Press return again.

You can choose whether the Raspberry PI boots to the command line or a desktop operating system. You can also request for the PI to boot straight to SCRATCH which is a game programming environment aimed at kids.

By default the system boots to the command line. If you require a graphical user interface choose option 3 and press return.

If you need to change the language or keyboard layout choose option 4.

If you have a Raspberry PI camera choose option 5 to enable the camera module.

Option 6 lets you add your Raspberry PI to a global map showing all of the places where the Raspberry PI is being used.

When the original Raspberry PI was released you almost had to overclock it in order to be able to use it properly. The Raspberry PI 2 has 1 gigabyte of RAM which isn't massive but the requirement to overclock has diminished slightly.

Overclocking provides a small amount of risk and it can reduce the lifespan of your Raspberry PI. If you find that you can't use the PI for what you want to use it for then consider overclocking the device. 

To finish the setup press the tab key until the "Finish" option is selected and press return.

Raspbian

After clicking "Finish" you will be asked to reboot the PI.

A loading screen will appear and eventually you will get to the main desktop.

There is a single panel at the top with icons for the menu, web browser, file manager and terminal.

A full review of Raspbian and the Raspberry PI 2 will be coming shortly so I won't go much further than that at this stage.

The last thing I am going to focus on in this article is connecting to the internet.

Connecting To The Internet

If you have a wired internet connection via the ethernet port then you can browse the web from the PI by clicking on the icon next to the menu icon.

This section deals with setting up a wireless connection.

Click on the menu and choose "Preferences" and then "WIFI Configuration".

The GUI for setting up WIFI isn't particularly user friendly.

Press the "Scan" button.

A list of wireless networks will appear.

Double click on the one you wish to connect to.

You will now need to enter your security key.

The screen used for this is fairly large and encompasses all encryption methods and authentication types.

As you can see from the screenshot, to connect to a WPA Personal network all you have to do is enter your security key into the PSK box and click "Add".

Your internet connection should now be set up and you should see a status of completed.

After you have set up a network once you can connect to it on subsequent occasions by selecting it from the network dropdown list.

Clicking "Connect" connects you to the internet.

Further Reading

• Connect To The Raspberry PI From The HP Chromebook
• Bored Of Your Raspberry PI
• The Big Book Of Raspberry PI
• Set Up A Wordpress Site On the Raspberry PI
• Hey Raspberry PI Where's My Cat
• Connect To The Raspberry PI From The Outside World
• Set Up A Personal Web Server On The Raspberry PI
• Connect To The Raspberry PI Using VNC From An Android Tablet
• How To Install Applications Using The Raspberry PI
• A Guide To Setting Up The Internet Using The Raspberry PI

Summary

I hope you found this guide useful. I will be writing further guides in the coming weeks including taking a look at Scratch and the GPIO functions of the Raspberry PI.

Thankyou for reading.

7 comments

Posted at 23:34 |  by Gary Newell

How To Speed Up That Old Netbook With LXLE

Introduction

LXLE stands for Lubuntu Xtra Life Extension.

As you probably know Lubuntu is a lightweight Linux distribution that breathes life into older computers.

The purpose of LXLE is to take Lubuntu and add packages and options to make it more useful.

Based on data for the past 6 months, LXLE is proving to be more popular than Lubuntu and is currently the 10th most popular distribution on Distrowatch.

LXLE isn't really a distribution in its own right but a respin taking the Lubuntu LTS base and adding value to it.

This article shows you how to download LXLE and how to install it on an old laptop, desktop computer or netbook.

How To Get LXLE

You can download an image of LXLE by visiting http://lxle.net/download/.

The first thing you need to do is choose the version of LXLE you wish to download. The options are as follows:

• LXLE 14.04.1 64-bit direct download
• LXLE 14.04.1 64-bit torrent
• LXLE 12.04.5 32-bit direct download
• LXLE 12.04.5 32-bit torrent

You will also be required to either enter the words into the solvemedia box provided or answer a question.

This will take you to a sourceforge page and your download will begin. I found the download to be quite slow.

Creating A USB Drive

You will need a blank USB drive in order to follow this section.

Insert the USB drive into your computer and then visit http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/

Towards the bottom of the page you will see a box with the title "Download UUI". Click on this button. Make sure you don't accidentally click any of the other green install boxes as they are used to install completely differently applications.

When the download is complete double click on the downloaded file.

A license agreement will appear.

Click "I Agree" to get to the main application.

The actual GUI for the Universal USB Installer has 4 steps built into one screen.

The first step requires you to choose the Linux distribution you wish to install to your USB drive.

Select LXLE Desktop. Click on the Browse button and navigate to the downloaded LXLE ISO image.



In step 3 check the box to show all drives and choose the USB drive you wish to install LXLE to.

Note: Make sure you choose the correct drive otherwise you may accidentally lose important data

Check the "We will format as Fat32" checkbox so that it has a tick in it.

Click "Create" to continue.

Note: You can make the drive persistent by dragging the slider across. This means any changes you make whilst using the USB in live mode will be saved for future sessions.

A message will appear telling you what is about to happen.

Make sure you have chosen the correct drive and that you are happy to continue.

When you are ready to go click "Yes".

LXLE will now be extracted to the USB drive.




Restart your computer and leave the USB drive plugged in.

A menu will appear with an option to "Try LXLE". Select this option and press return.

Buying an LXLE USB Drive or DVD

If you don't have a blank USB drive then you either buy one from your local store or you can buy a USB drive with LXLE already installed to it.

How To Install LXLE

Hopefully you should have a screen similar to the one above.

Click on the icon in the top left corner with the caption "Install LXLE 14.04.1" (or 12.04.5 if 32-bit).

The first thing to do is choose your installation language.

Unless you feel like a challenge I would go for your native language. In my case English worked well as my grasp of Estonian is a little off kilter.

When you have selected your language click "Continue".

The next step is to choose whether to connect to the internet or not.

If you have a slow internet connection I would choose not to connect at this stage.

Click "Continue"

A list of pre-requisites will now appear.

You need to be connected to the internet, have 7.5 gigabytes of space and be connected to a power source.

Actually the only one of those you really absolutely need is to have 7.5 gigabytes of space.


Being connected to the internet makes it possible to download updates on the fly and a power source is only needed if you are using a desktop computer. I suppose strictly speaking a laptop needs some form of power source but it's battery suffices. 

Make sure you have enough battery to last until the installation is finished or plug your computer in. It takes about 20 minutes to install LXLE on an old netbook.

Note that there is a box that asks whether you want to install third party tools which enable you to play Flash videos and listen to MP3s. It is worth ticking this box.

Click "Continue".

Your next screen may appear to be slightly different to mine at this stage.

My computer had Peppermint 5 on it. Yours will either have Windows or the Linux distribution you are using on the device.




Basically there will be options to install alongside the current operating system, replace the current operating system with LXLE or something else.

Select the "Replace <current operating system> with LXLE" option.

You will notice that there are a couple of other options available.

Encrypting the LXLE partition is useful if you keep any sort of sensitive data on your computer and you are worried about the device being stolen. This is of course particularly useful if you are using a laptop or netbook which is more likely to go missing than a desktop computer.

I will be looking into the LVM option during a later tutorial but for reference purposes visit the following site.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_Volume_Manager_%28Linux%29

When you have selected the installation type click continue.

A summary screen will appear stating what is about to happen to your drive and the drive that is going to be used.

Click "Install Now".

Note: This is the point of no return, make sure you are happy to continue.

Almost there now. Just three more steps.

Choose your timezone by clicking on the map.

Click "Continue".

Now select your keyboard layout.

In the left pane choose the keyboard's language and in the right pane choose the number of keys and physical layout.

Click "Continue".

The final installation step is to create a default user.

Enter your name into the box provided and give your computer a name to identify it on a home network.

Choose a username and enter a password to be associated with the username. (Repeat it in the box provided).

You can now choose whether to allow your computer to login automatically or require a user to login. I would always recommend the latter.

There is another checkbox provided enabling you to choose to encrypt your home folder.

Click "Continue".

The files will now be copied to your computer and the system will be installed.

A message will appear when the installation is complete asking whether you want to restart the computer or continue testing LXLE.

Choose the "Restart your computer" option and when the computer begins to reboot remove the USB drive. (Don't remove the USB drive too early).

Summary

Your computer should now be running LXLE and if you have ever used Lubuntu you will begin to appreciate the advantages that LXLE brings to the table.

For those of you new to Linux altogether my next article is going to be a full review of LXLE.

Thankyou for reading.

Reader's Suggestion

I received this email with a suggestion for how to use the default users screen and how to add subsequent users and logins.
 

Very nice.

On the final installation step (Who Are You?) screen, I would recommend creating a "SysAdmin" account there rather than a single default "User Account".

After install completes, you can then login as SysAdmin to create one or more "User Accounts (via System Tools/Users and Groups)". At that same time, change each Account's default "Account type" (i.e. SysAdmin account to "Administrator" and each User Account Name to "Desktop user").

It will be important later to separate the more-privileged "SysAdmin" activities from the more-restricted daily "User Account" activities. Just something we need to do these days to help protect ourselves from bad things happening. That cautionary approach applies equally well to a Netbook, notebook, laptop or desktop PCs. 

I agree with your positive assessment of the LXLE distribution. I have installed on several different PCs with success on every attempt.

Thankyou Dennis K for this suggestion. 

9 comments

Posted at 21:43 |  by Gary Newell

How To Install Minecraft On The HP Chromebook

Introduction

I have been reworking one of the more popular articles on the site which shows how to install Ubuntu and Minecraft on the HP Chromebook.

The aim was to streamline the guide to make the steps easier to follow, cutting out the details of the command line switches and to just provide the necessary commands to get Ubuntu and Minecraft up and running.

The new guide is in three parts:

• How to create a recovery drive for the HP Chromebook
• How to install Ubuntu on the HP Chromebook
• How to install Minecraft on the HP Chromebook (This guide)

Installing Minecraft

The steps required to run Minecraft in Ubuntu are much easier than before and there is not much that is special about installing Minecraft within Ubuntu on the Chromebook.

Make sure you are running Ubuntu and open a terminal by pressing the following key combination:

CTRL + ALT + T

In the command window enter the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:minecraft-installer-peeps/minecraft-installer

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install minecraft-installer

The process is fairly quick and takes about a minute at the most.

You should at this point be able to run Minecraft from the Dash within Ubuntu but I noticed that Minecraft didn't appear as an option straight away. I had to restart Ubuntu to get Minecraft to appear.

(Click here for a guide to the Unity Dash)

Unity Dash

Minecraft On HP Chromebook

Summary

As you can see installing Minecraft is much easier than it used to be.

If you have any questions feel free to use the comments section below.

Issues

Some people are reporting issues with the line:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:minecraft-installer-peeps/minecraft-installer

If you are receiving an error with add-apt-repository run the following command first

sudo apt-get install software-properties-common python-software-properties

The solution to this issue was taken from http://lifeonubuntu.com/ubuntu-missing-add-apt-repository-command/

21 comments

Posted at 23:57 |  by Gary Newell

How To Install Ubuntu On The HP Chromebook

Introduction

One of the most popular articles on this site shows how to install Ubuntu and Minecraft on the HP Chromebook.

Some people have found the guide difficult to follow and so I have decided to rework it and I also retested all the steps to make sure they work correctly.

This guide shows how to install Ubuntu with the Unity desktop on a HP Chromebook using Crouton. 

I have cut out any waffle and I have left out all of the other switches that you can use with Crouton so that this is a basic streamlined approach to installing Ubuntu and Unity.

Feel free to read the original guide if you would prefer to try out different desktop environments or Debian.

Create Recovery Media

Before you begin make sure that you have created recovery media in case everything goes wrong.

Click here for a guide to creating recovery media on for the HP Chromebook.

Switch To Developer Mode

Bookmark this page (CTRL + D) or send a link to your email as the next step will place your Chromebook into developer mode.

To enter developer mode press the following key combination:

Esc + Refresh + Power Button

(The refresh button is the 4th button from the left at the top and looks like a curly arrow).

Enter Recovery Mode On HP Chromebook

Don't panic when the screen above appears. This is part of the process. Simply enter the following key combination to enter developer mode:

CTRL + D

A message will appear stating that you are about to enter developer mode and that this voids your warranty. This is why you need to create a recovery drive first.

If you are happy to continue press the enter key.

Enter Developer Mode On HP Chromebook

The computer will now enter developer mode and it can take quite a while to do so. (Approximately 30 - 40 minutes).

When the process is complete you will see the following screen.

Developer Mode 

Every time you start your Chromebook using the power button the above screen will appear. 

NOTE: Always press CTRL + D to get past this screen.

NOTE ALSO: You will be required to set up your internet connection and enter your user details the first time you use the Chromebook in developer mode.

Download Crouton

To install Ubuntu on the HP Chromebook you will need to download a script called Crouton.

Click here to download Crouton.

Install Ubuntu Using Crouton

Open the Chrome browser and press the following key combination:

CTRL + ALT + T

Crosh Shell

A terminal window will open. 

Now enter the following command into the window to switch to a command shell:

shell

Command Shell

To install Ubuntu with the Unity desktop enter the following command:

sudo sh -e ~/Downloads/crouton -r trusty -t unity -e

I am not going to go into too much detail about the command.

Please read the original guide to installing Ubuntu on the HP Chromebook  to find out about all the switches.

All you really need to know is that the above command installs Ubuntu 14.04, which is the LTS version, with the Unity desktop.

How long this process takes depends on your internet connection speed. It took about 45 minutes on my Chromebook.

When the script is near the end you will be asked to enter the name of a user to be associated with Ubuntu and a password. This will be your login information for Ubuntu.

NOTE: To get back to Chrome after Ubuntu starts press CTRL + ALT + LEFT ARROW
(The left arrow is the one next to the ESC button at the top).

When the installation is complete you will be back at the command prompt. To start Ubuntu enter the following command:

sudo startunity

Setting Up Ubuntu

Ubuntu On The HP Chromebook

This is the section that really improves on the previous guide as it shows how to get Ubuntu to be just like the Ubuntu you would install on a normal laptop.

As you can see from the screenshot above, this is a barebones Ubuntu and Unity install. There are no applications installed.

To set up Ubuntu properly open up a terminal window by using the following key combination:

CTRL + ALT + T

A terminal window will open.

Now enter the following command into the window:

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop

Enter your password when asked to do so.

All of the files required for Ubuntu will now be downloaded, extracted and installed. Again this can take some time depending on your internet connection.

Restart Ubuntu to see the changes.

Starting Ubuntu On Subsequent Boots Of The Chromebook

Whenever you start the Chromebook from a powered off position you will find yourself at the following screen.

HP Chromebook In Developer Mode

Press CTRL + D to enter ChromeOS.

From ChromeOS open a Chrome browser window and press CTRL + ALT + T to open a terminal.

Enter shell into the terminal window to reach a command shell.

Finally type sudo startunity to start Ubuntu.

Important Key Commands

Press CTRL + ALT + LEFT to get back to ChromeOS from within Ubuntu.

Press CTRL + ALT + RIGHT followed by CTRL + ALT + REFRESH to switch back to Ubuntu from ChromeOS.

NOTE: The left arrow is the one next to the escape key on the top row of keys and the right arrow key is the one next to it.

Summary

Hopefully this guide will make it easier for people to install Ubuntu on the HP Chromebook.

As usual, feel free to use the comments section below if you need further guidance.

Installing Minecraft On The HP Chromebook

I have rewritten the part showing how to install Minecraft on the HP Chromebook as well.

27 comments

Posted at 23:24 |  by Gary Newell

Create Recovery Media For The HP Chromebook

Introduction

One of the most popular posts on this site shows how to install Ubuntu and Minecraft on an HP Chromebook.

Some people find that guide difficult to follow. I am therefore reworking the article and cutting out any waffle. 

The first part of this process is to show how to create the recovery media for the HP Chromebook which is what this article is all about.

What You Will Need

All you will need to create a recovery drive for the HP Chromebook is a blank USB drive and a fair bit of patience. The recovery drive only needs to be 4 gb in size but as you can see from the image to the left a 16 gb drive is only £5. You can also use an .

Create OS Recovery Media

To create a recovery partition open up the Chrome browser and type the following:

chrome://imageburner

Note: there is no http:// 

A "Create OS Recovery Media" screen will appear. Insert a blank USB drive or SD Card and press "OK" to continue.

Download Recovery Media

The image will begin to download. The amount of time this takes depends on your internet connection.

Extracting Recovery Media

When the image has finished downloading it will be extracted straight to the USB drive or SD Card.

Recovery Media Created

When the process is complete a success message will appear stating that your recovery media is ready.

Take your USB drive or SD card and put it somewhere very safe and leave it there until it is needed. (Which will hopefully be never).

Summary

This is a very short post but hopefully nice and succinct.

This guide should also work for the Acer Chromebook.

Further Reading

Click here for a guide showing how to install Ubuntu 14.04 on the HP Chromebook.

6 comments

Posted at 22:27 |  by Gary Newell