❯❯ Cables: You’ll need cables to connect it all up, too. In particular, you need an HDMI cable (if you’re using an HDMI or DVI monitor), an HDMI-to-DVI adapter (if you’re using a DVI monitor), an RCA cable (if you’re connecting to an older television), an audio cable (if you’re connecting the audio jack to your stereo), and an Ethernet cable (for networking on models with an Ethernet port). Note that current Raspberry Pi models send the RCA video signal through a 3.5mm jack (headphone socket), and earlier ones had a dedicated RCA socket. You will need a different cable, depending on which version of the Pi's design you have. If you have a Raspberry Pi Zero, you will also need a converter for the Mini HDMI socket, and for the Micro USB socket. You can get these cables from an electrical-components retailer and might be able to buy them at the same time as you buy your Raspberry Pi. Any other cables you need (for example, to connect to PC speakers or a USB hub) should come with those devices.
FIGURE 1-3: A NOOBS card. The MicroSD card fits into the SD card adapter. The MicroSD card works on the current Pi models, and inside the adapter it also fits the older Model A and Model B.
FIGURE 1-4: The Pibow Coupe case for the Raspberry Pi 3, Pi 2, and Model B+.
A list of compatible and incompatible devices is maintained at http://elinux.org/RPi_VerifiedPeripherals, and you can check online reviews to see whether others have experienced difficulties using a particular device with the Raspberry Pi.
If you’re buying new devices, you can minimize the risk by buying recommended devices from Raspberry Pi retailers.
In any case, you should set a little bit of money aside to spend on accessories. The Raspberry Pi is a cheap device, but buying a keyboard, mouse, USB hub, and cables can easily double or triple your costs, and you might have to resort to that if what you have on hand turns out not to be compatible.
Chapter 2
Downloading the Operating System
IN THIS CHAPTER
❯❯ Introducing Linux
❯❯ Downloading NOOBS
❯❯ Preparing the MicroSD or SD card
❯❯ Copying NOOBS to the MicroSD or SD card
❯❯ Flashing your MicroSD or SD card
Before you can do anything with your Raspberry Pi, you need to provide it with an operating system (OS). The operating system software enables you to use the computer’s basic functions and looks after activities such as managing files and running applications, like word processors or web browsers. Those applications use the operating system as an intermediary to talk to the hardware, and they won’t work without it. This concept isn’t unique to the Raspberry Pi. On your laptop, the operating system might be Microsoft Windows or Mac OS. On iPads or iPhones it’s iOS, and on other devices it might be Android.
In this chapter, we introduce you to Linux, the operating system most frequently used on the Raspberry Pi, and we show you how to create an SD or MicroSD card with an operating system on it. You’ll need to use another computer to set up the SD or MicroSD card. It doesn’t matter whether you use a Windows, Mac OS, or Linux machine, but you need to have the ability to write to SD or MicroSD cards using it and a connection to the Internet.
Introducing Linux
The operating system used on the Raspberry Pi is GNU/Linux, or often just Linux. The Raspberry Pi might be the first Linux computer you’ve used, but the operating system has a long and honorable history.
Richard Stallman created the GNU Project in 1984 with the goal of building an operating system that users were free to copy, study, and modify. Such software is known as free software, and although this software is often given away, the ideology is about free as in “free speech” rather than free as in “free beer.” Thousands of people have joined the GNU Project, creating software packages that include tools, applications, and even games. Stallman aimed to make his operating system compatible with Unix, an operating system that was created by AT&T’s Bell Labs and that started to gain popularity in the 1970s. That would make it easy for existing Unix users to switch to using the GNU Project.
In 1991, Linus Torvalds released the central component of Linux, the kernel, which acts as a conduit between the applications software and the hardware resources, including the memory and processor. He still works on the Linux kernel, sponsored by the Linux Foundation, which is the nonprofit consortium that promotes Linux and supports its development. The Linux Foundation reports that over 11,800 people from almost 1,200 different companies have contributed to the kernel since 2005.
GNU/Linux brings together the Linux kernel with the GNU components it needs to be a complete operating system, reflecting the work of thousands of people on both the GNU and Linux projects. That so many people could cooperate to build something as complex as an operating system, and then give it away for anyone to use, is a modern miracle.
Because GNU/Linux can be modified and distributed by anyone, lots of different versions of it exist. They’re called distributions, or distros, but not all of them are suitable for the Raspberry Pi. The recommended distribution of Linux for the Raspberry Pi is Raspbian. (See Chapter 3.) Software created for one version of Linux usually works on another version, but Linux isn’t designed to run Windows or Mac OS software.
Strictly speaking, Linux is just the kernel in the operating system, but as is commonly done, we refer to GNU/Linux as Linux in the rest of this book.
Creating a NOOBS Card
The easiest way to get started with the Raspberry Pi is to use the NOOBS software. NOOBS is short for new-out-of-box software, although it’s also a pun on the term noob, sometimes used to describe beginners in any field of computing. Don’t underestimate the power of this software, though, especially if you’re a more experienced user: NOOBS is easy to copy to the SD or MicroSD card, but provides you with a simple menu for installing a number of different operating systems, including different versions of Linux and the Kodi media center software. The options are described in more depth in Chapter 3.
As we say in Chapter 1, you can buy a card with NOOBS already on it, and that might be the quickest way to get started. If you’ve got one of these, you can skip ahead to Chapter 3 – but maybe read through this chapter while you’re waiting for the OS to install. It’s useful to know how to create your own NOOBS cards: It means you can get started with a new card in about 20 minutes, rather than having to wait for the postman to deliver one to you.