Author Topic: Raspberry Pi's $35 Linux PC (Read 117092 times)

Deozaan · « **Reply #125 on:** February 03, 2015, 10:00 PM »

(see attachment in previous post)
The $35 credit card sized computer just got much faster

The article says it will be able to use a version of Windows 10 from Microsoft. Would this ruin it?
-Arizona Hot (February 02, 2015, 07:06 PM)

Just for reference, this was mentioned in this post:

Raspberry Pi 2 out now; includes support for Windows 10

The Windows 10 that runs on it will be very much stripped down. Not at all what regular folk are used to, methinks.

bit · « **Reply #126 on:** February 03, 2015, 10:09 PM »

Techwise & chatwise I'm just not on the up and up with new developments (i.e. I've never even owned or used a cell phone before), but from skimming this thread it looks like the Raspberry Pi tablet does not quite have what it would take to use it as a replacement for my PC yet.
I have a full size mid-tower pc with AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core 4400+ cpu, Windows 7 Pro 32-bit, 4GB ram, and multiple HDs of 500 to 750GB, and an NVidia GTS 450 gpu.
When I see posts & stuffs like this, it makes me wonder when the day may come that I could swap out my box in place of a tablet to plug in my desktop mouse, keyboard, HDs, monitor, and headphone amp to my headphone & speakers.

PS - and do it for $35 (or shall we say less than $100).
PPS - One could use the tablet's onboard HD, and save the old HDs as backups.
Then the only power-hungry thing I'd have left would be my old 19-inch CRT screen; I wonder what the DPI is on those tablets?

Hey, I just passed 400 posts.

Deozaan · « **Reply #127 on:** February 03, 2015, 10:24 PM »

The Raspberry Pi isn't a tablet. It's a little credit card sized computer board (without a case). You have to provide your own keyboard, mouse, monitor, wifi, SD card, HDD, etc., if you want those things.

Also, the architecture (for Pi 2) is ARMv7, as opposed to x86 (or x86_64), which means you can't run Windows on it. And even though the Pi 2 will have some stripped down version of Windows 10 available for it, I suspect it won't be what you might think, (e.g., you probably won't be able to run any .exe file on it like you'd want to).

But if you were to install a flavor of Linux on something like the $35 ODROID-C1 (Quad core 1.5Ghz, 1GB RAM) you just might have a nice little portable computer replacement.

bit · « **Reply #128 on:** February 03, 2015, 10:26 PM »

Gives new meaning to putting a Pi in the microwave.

Some Dude Hacks Microwave, Puts Manufacturers to Shame

Of course, nobody here would actually put a Pi in the microwave. But, if you did you might get a Pi with superpowers(quantum?) like the Fantastic 4. Of course, you most likely would end up with something usuable only for Facebook (or AOL, if it's still around) like the Hulk, if anything good happened at all.
-Arizona Hot (July 18, 2013, 02:35 PM)

How about a container of liquid nitrogen?

ewemoa · « **Reply #129 on:** February 04, 2015, 07:26 AM »

The article says it will be able to use a version of Windows 10 from Microsoft. Would this ruin it?
-Arizona Hot (February 02, 2015, 07:06 PM)

Not sure why that would ruin it.

Sounds somewhat similar to being able to use Mathematica on the Pi.

Also, AFAICT, it's not just that you will be able to use a version of Windows 10:

The Raspberry Pi 2-compatible version of Windows 10 will be available free of charge to makers.

40hz · « **Reply #130 on:** February 04, 2015, 09:22 AM »

* Boy is Microsoft ever getting desperate to get everybody on Windows 10.

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #131 on:** February 06, 2015, 10:44 PM »

Raspberry Pi 2 hands-on - first boot on 2nd-gen.jpg

Raspberry Pi's $35 Linux PC

Raspberry Pi 2 hands-on first boot on 2nd-gen - SlashGear

If someone made an iOS emulator for the Raspberry, would you call it an Apple Pi or an iPi?

Target · « **Reply #132 on:** February 07, 2015, 02:35 AM »

(see attachment in previous post)
Raspberry Pi 2 hands-on first boot on 2nd-gen - SlashGear

If someone made an iOS emulator for the Raspberry, would you call it an Apple Pi or an iPi?
-Arizona Hot (February 06, 2015, 10:44 PM)

IoSPI?

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #133 on:** September 22, 2015, 02:11 PM »

21's Bitcoin Computer is a Raspberry Pi-powered mining tool.jpg

Raspberry Pi's $35 Linux PC

21's Bitcoin Computer is a Raspberry Pi-powered mining tool

Raspberry Pi - the DIY computer celebrity.

f0dder · « **Reply #134 on:** September 22, 2015, 04:44 PM »

21's Bitcoin Computer is a Raspberry Pi-powered mining tool

Raspberry Pi - the DIY computer celebrity.
-Arizona Hot (September 22, 2015, 02:11 PM)

Hrm, sounds like a moneygrab. Even with a "custom mining chip", it's hardly going to be able to generate any worthwhile amount of BC, considering people are running massive amounts of monstrous custom ASICs.

wraith808 · « **Reply #135 on:** September 22, 2015, 05:19 PM »

21's Bitcoin Computer is a Raspberry Pi-powered mining tool

Raspberry Pi - the DIY computer celebrity.
-Arizona Hot (September 22, 2015, 02:11 PM)
Hrm, sounds like a moneygrab. Even with a "custom mining chip", it's hardly going to be able to generate any worthwhile amount of BC, considering people are running massive amounts of monstrous custom ASICs.

-f0dder (September 22, 2015, 04:44 PM)

I'd agree. They're taking advantage of a the fact that a lot of people don't know how mining actually works.

Deozaan · « **Reply #136 on:** September 22, 2015, 11:54 PM »

21's Bitcoin Computer is a Raspberry Pi-powered mining tool

Raspberry Pi - the DIY computer celebrity.
-Arizona Hot (September 22, 2015, 02:11 PM)
Hrm, sounds like a moneygrab. Even with a "custom mining chip", it's hardly going to be able to generate any worthwhile amount of BC, considering people are running massive amounts of monstrous custom ASICs.

-f0dder (September 22, 2015, 04:44 PM)

Yup.

Raspberry Pi: $35
128 GB Class 10 SD Card: $70
USB WiFi Adapter: $10
Micro USB Power Supply: $8
------------------------------
Total: $123

This Device: $399
??????????

I mean, OK they have a special chip and a fan bolted on there. But really?
-http://fyre.it/h5wQ7P.4

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #137 on:** March 15, 2016, 03:15 PM »

Raspberry Pi: $35
128 GB Class 10 SD Card: $70
USB WiFi Adapter: $10
Micro USB Power Supply: $8
------------------------------
Total: $123

This Device: $399
-Deozaan (September 22, 2015, 11:54 PM)

CanaKit Raspberry Pi 3 Complete Starter Kit - 32 GB Edition.jpg

Raspberry Pi's $35 Linux PC

CanaKit Raspberry Pi 3 Complete Starter Kit - 32 GB Edition Computers & Accessories

Western Digital ships $31, 314GB PiDrive for the Raspberry Pi 3.jpg

Raspberry Pi's $35 Linux PC

Western Digital ships $31, 314GB PiDrive for the Raspberry Pi 3 PCWorld

Very soon people will be hacking IBM with Raspberry Pis. "I learned everything about programming using my Pi and I still use it for everything."

Deozaan · « **Reply #138 on:** March 15, 2016, 05:48 PM »

Meanwhile the $40 Odroid-C2 is superior in virtually every way, other than a slight price premium.

Deozaan · « **Reply #139 on:** March 15, 2016, 05:56 PM »

21's Bitcoin Computer is a Raspberry Pi-powered mining tool

Raspberry Pi - the DIY computer celebrity.
-Arizona Hot (September 22, 2015, 02:11 PM)
Hrm, sounds like a moneygrab. Even with a "custom mining chip", it's hardly going to be able to generate any worthwhile amount of BC, considering people are running massive amounts of monstrous custom ASICs.

-f0dder (September 22, 2015, 04:44 PM)

Hmm... I guess I missed the part where it comes with a custom mining chip. Some custom, specialized-for-mining chip might be pretty expensive.

As far as I understand, ASICs aren't necessarily ultra powerful machines. They just do one thing and do it really well, and do it even better in parallel/groups. So I suppose it's feasible that the custom mining chip can perform at a decent hash rate for a single machine, and is intended to be used with a mining pool or in large quantities (or both) if any actual BTC are intended to be mined from it. Unless there's something I'm fundamentally misunderstanding about how mining works.

But other than that, I kind of like the idea of using a little SBC as a non-mining, full Bitcoin node. It would be kind of like a PirateBox.

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #140 on:** March 19, 2016, 09:48 PM »

Meanwhile the $40 Odroid-C2 is superior in virtually every way, other than a slight price premium.
-Deozaan (March 15, 2016, 05:48 PM)

I don't think such a cutting-edge system is for everyone.

antekgla · « **Reply #141 on:** March 22, 2016, 10:10 AM »

Meanwhile the $40 Odroid-C2 is superior in virtually every way, other than a slight price premium.
-Deozaan (March 15, 2016, 05:48 PM)

That could be true. Hardware is better (way better) but sometimes a active community of developers are important.
Is useless have the cutting edge hardware with buggy software.
Maybe Odroid-C2 developers are dedicated but nothing compares with the HUGE raspberry pi community.

mouser · « **Reply #142 on:** March 22, 2016, 10:35 AM »

That could be true. Hardware is better (way better) but sometimes a active community of developers are important.
Is useless have the cutting edge hardware with buggy software.

very well said. give me the slower hardware but better community and software support every time.

CWuestefeld · « **Reply #143 on:** March 22, 2016, 12:49 PM »

One thing I've been very foggy about for years is software compatibility between Unix-type systems. I guess drivers will certainly differ, but given a common CPU architecture (e.g., ARM processors), will software like RetroPie run on something like an ODROID?

f0dder · « **Reply #144 on:** March 23, 2016, 10:16 AM »

Keep in mind that ARM is not just "ARM" - there's several revisions of the CPUs, including 32- and 64-bit versions, support of "Thumb" mode (running 16bit code alongside 32bit code), and then the pretty varied platforms because arm i usually system-on-a-chip (i.e., not just a CPU).

I'm not sure about the level of compatibility, but for e.g. native code in Android applications (where you don't get to systems-level with drivers and stuff, but only add some native usermode code because of performance), afaik you have to compile for some number of ARM architectures to be able to use native code across a wide range of Android devices.

Deozaan · « **Reply #145 on:** March 23, 2016, 05:24 PM »

One thing I've been very foggy about for years is software compatibility between Unix-type systems. I guess drivers will certainly differ, but given a common CPU architecture (e.g., ARM processors), will software like RetroPie run on something like an ODROID?
-CWuestefeld (March 22, 2016, 12:49 PM)

I just learned about ExaGear which allows you to run x86 applications on ARM devices. It's kind of like qemu but supposedly has much better performance.

Combined with WINE, you may even be able to run some Windows applications on your little ARM device.

https://eltechs.com/...uct/exagear-desktop/

f0dder · « **Reply #146 on:** March 23, 2016, 05:57 PM »

I just learned about ExaGear which allows you to run x86 applications on ARM devices. It's kind of like qemu but supposedly has much better performance.
-Deozaan (March 23, 2016, 05:24 PM)

Hm, there's claims of 5x the performance of QEMU - that sounds pretty incredulous. I was under the impression that QEMU used dynamic code translation and was pretty fast, but I guess the translation involved in x86-on-arm might be lacking.

Deozaan · « **Reply #147 on:** March 25, 2016, 02:01 AM »

Perhaps that claim is based on the idea that QEMU has 5-10 times the overhead as compared to ExaGear, which uses binary translation? Honestly I'm not sure what these terms mean exactly. I'm just going by what I read out of the March 2016 Odroid Magazine article on ExaGear.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #148 on:** March 29, 2016, 07:59 AM »

I'm thinking of proposing a project based on one of these - or something like it - assuming what I'm after actually exists.

What I'm after is a Pi type mini device that is capable of running the Win10 IoT edition, that has 2 RJ45 Ethernet ports, and (preferably) some type of case that allows it to be discreetly plugged into the wall like a wall-wart power supply.

The purpose for this device is - or rather will be - to allow our Techno-Tarded sales staff to just pop this thing into the wall at a client location, plug a cable into it, and give us remote access to the network to monitor various pieces of equipment that are under contract.

The software part I'll most likely end up writing from scratch (I really hate me when I do this to myself), so I'm really just looking for hardware options at this point that will give us something that is small, cheap, and id10t simple for anyone to deploy. Because our IT staff - me included - is currently wasting far too much time running all over the %&$^ countryside trying to keep our current -(big name, fancy, basically shit)- "solution" running and reporting properly.

CWuestefeld · « **Reply #149 on:** March 29, 2016, 02:16 PM »

just pop this thing into the wall at a client location, plug a cable into it, and give us remote access to the network
-Stoic Joker (March 29, 2016, 07:59 AM)

Is your customer going to be OK with that? I'm assuming you're only leaving it there temporarily, while the troubleshooting is going on? I'd be surprised if anybody is going to let you drop a device into their internal LAN.

Years ago we built an ESD solution for my employer (we sell computer HW and SW) according to requirements provided by several key customers. At the time, bandwidth was more scarce, and to conserve this, they wanted us to put satellite servers in their DMZ from which downloads could be streamed when authorized. That became part of the basic system architecture, but in the whole history of the system (over 10 years) exactly one customer (and that wasn't even one of the ones who demanded that feature) has ever let us deploy a device into their DMZ. And that's not even their internal network.