(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Discussion about ordering is becoming intense here:
http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/764#comments

and I inserted a URL to help survey the Raspberry Pi ordering problems (example - my country was not in Farnell's shipping routes! Will have to add that this evening.)
http://raspisoft.org/showthread.php?tid=1

I've already ordered my Raspberry Pi but at the moment my expected shipping date is June 14.Guess I should have time to get all the accessories together.

There will be some delay in shipping the RPi because of the manufacturer's use of a wrong ethernet connector:
http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/781

I've registered the interest, not ordered yet as the lead time looks to be quite long -

goona be fun to play with

We have another operating system (Fedora) available
This is the official recommended distro for the Rpi
http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/805

I used 3 commands to install it
You can see them mashed in the following raw and untested script
While I am writing to my SD card - waiting for Rpi may take a bit longer . . .
Importantly the Fedora image has drivers for the Broadcom videocore GPU chip
Anyway if you wish to improve the script feel free
Hope it works

Here's my raspberry pi experience:

I intended to stay up for the announcement, but I fell asleep at 11PM, an hour before the announcement (I'm GMT-6).

February 29, after a couple of tries, I was able to register an interest at both Farnell and RS.

On March 2nd, Farnell/Newark/Element14 emailed me saying I could now order.

I placed an order with them on March 3rd, for $35. I chose " Standard Delivery - 2-3 Day Delivery at Ground Rate". They did NOT quote any actual shipping amount, but did give me an "order acknowledgement". The credit card has NOT yet been charged the $35, except there are two "pending transactions" from Newark, each for $1 on 3/03 and 3/04. On 3/04 I got a formal emailed "Order Confirmation" with an order number, again not quoting shipping, and saying "Final Expected Ship Date: 05/14/2012".

I got an email today from RS saying:
"Thank you for joining the Raspberry Pi revolution and registering your interest in Raspberry Pi’s Model B board from RS Components.
We have received extraordinary levels of demand for this product. To help ensure as many people as possible can experience the Raspberry Pi concept, we are initially limiting boards to one per customer, and we will send you regular updates on availability. As boards arrive into stock, they will be allocated on a first-come first-serve basis, in order of when requests were received.

Thank you for your patience; we will be in touch as soon as possible with more details."

So, so far, Farnell seems more active, but we'll have to see when either of them actually ships boards...

manufacturer's use of a wrong ethernet connector

Ay Chihuahua

The manufacturer sourced a cheaper or similar component
The Rpi team x-rayed - yep x-rayed the boards,
checking for all other anomalies.
Rest seems OK.
They have sent the boards back to China for replacement Ethernet plugs and told us of the error. Quite interesting.
http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/781

Meanwhile . . .
A modification of Fedora (the Rpi recommended distro WITH GPU support) is known as a spin . . .
http://spins.fedoraproject.org/support
Looking into that . . .

Guys I have two potential 5v chargers
one is 5v 400mA
and the other is 5v 1A
reading Barry's blog, I should use and be safe with the IA (1000mA)?
http://bkhome.org/blog/?viewDetailed=02736

The speed issue Barry mentions:
It concerns me too.
However I think the potential for a common ARM platform for Puppy to work from and develop from is too compelling.

Now a bit of recycling.
IF the Rpi have sent me an A board (was meant to go out late this week) then I still need an HDMI cable for a complete set up.
Already asking family and friends if they have a spare . . .
So far blank. In use.
Using the RCA plug, which I may have but does not support sound, not so good.
I can get an HDMI cable at Argos if really necessary or even online cheaper but somehow it rankles me . . .
Want to be able to just make do if possible.
Anyone have a spare HDMI not being used they can send me?
(I am in UK) PM me.

No board by Monday and I will have to contact Rpi.
I just know they are working flat out . . .

Another distro for RPi has been released
http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/810
and Puppy has not one development board between the whole kennel.
Are we in the doghouse?

Hi Lobster,
you can get a HDMI cable for £1.19 here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001 ... ukdeals-21

Tinker and I have a similar experience, and I added the story in the RS forum (I was running a poll there before I remembered that polls are possible here, too).

tinker wrote:Here's my raspberry pi experience:

I intended to stay up for the announcement, but I fell asleep at 11PM, an hour before the announcement (I'm GMT-6).

February 29, after a couple of tries, I was able to register an interest at both Farnell and RS.

On March 2nd, Farnell/Newark/Element14 emailed me saying I could now order.

I placed an order with them on March 3rd.. "Final Expected Ship Date: 05/14/2012".

I got an email today from RS saying: "Thank you for joining the Raspberry Pi revolution and registering your interest in Raspberry Pi’s Model B board from RS Components.
We have received extraordinary levels of demand for this product. To help ensure as many people as possible can experience the Raspberry Pi concept, we are initially limiting boards to one per customer, and we will send you regular updates on availability. As boards arrive into stock, they will be allocated on a first-come first-serve basis, in order of when requests were received.

Thank you for your patience; we will be in touch as soon as possible with more details."

So, so far, Farnell seems more active, but we'll have to see when either of them actually ships boards...

As Raffy pointed out, with two firms selling the same item, it's likely that many people will double order. I got in at Farnell first, and I'll probably not order at RS when and if I get to the head of the line there. I'll take my changes with Farnell and how long they'll take, not knowing either firm.

I'm not going to try to tell RS that I don't want one from them (they're probably too busy dealing with people who WANT to order), but they should get the idea if I don't respond.[/i]

Thanks stu90, thanks guys
Cable ordered x 4 - Now that is more sensible, (4 for less than the price of one)
OK it might be one Rpi to start with but after the first slice . . .

Meanwhile our combined tumblr Rpi blog is going well
- Here is a post - spot any mistakes? Well I guess that is what the comments are for . . .
http://raspberrypy.tumblr.com/post/1905 ... uppy-linux
Any others want to join our combined blog?

This piece at RaspberryPi says that when Farnell/Element14 told early-orderers of May/June deliveries, they were in error. So maybe I'll get mine sooner than 5/14? I hope so.

http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/764

Lobster wrote: Meanwhile our combined tumblr Rpi blog is going well
- Here is a post - spot any mistakes? Well I guess that is what the comments are for . . .
http://raspberrypy.tumblr.com/post/1905 ... uppy-linux
Any others want to join our combined blog?

Hmm, does that mean you have spotted some mistakes?

4. Linux file-systems don’t fragment as much as Windows - so you don’t need to defragment your hard-drive.

As far as I know, they don't fragment at all. The storage methodology is different. You will need to keep the last 5% free but as far as I am aware Linux saves in continuous blocks. Is that right?



and now for something completely different . . .
I have picked up two discarded 10 cig packets during a morning cycle (environmental improvement and a case of raspberries) to use as a first biodradeable container. I think 20 might be the right size.
Somehow not right. Think I may stick with a plastic saffron container I have . . .

Scrapping some old electronics gear, I pull them apart for bits so I can fix others.

Included an old type1 digital set-top box. Type 1's could only be re-programmed for stations a limited number of times as they used a simple storage prom that wasn't eraseable, they overwrote the old area with ff's and started the new storage on the next block.

Inside found a separate power supply with suitable plugs you could convert for a raspberry Pi motherboard and wired hub, etc. Not gigantic capacity, but more than suitable with both 12v and 5v and a 'led drive'.

Plenty of space left, when the motherboard was removed.

On the outside were mounted a usb mini socket with a standard type 1motherboard usb plug inside, aerial in and out sockets, the usual digital rca and a s-video socket on the back, power switch, red and green leds, plus two useable push buttons on the front, were channnel selection, now maybe a ?reset and something else.

Airgaps on the side of the cover looks like they will handle screw mounted usb1 sockets, right length and vertical spacing anyway.

!looks like I got my raspberry case.

I wonder how many of you have these lying around somewhere or you know someone who has a dead one if you asked?

Apart from some early Sagem units which were incapable of working within the new bands, most of the defunct ones coming my way failed due to PSU faults - one even caught fire! Not a useful omen for RPi mods.
As for reprogramming, most folks struggle to understand how to do it once, much less net-connect and use their SmartTVs...

Raspberry Pi mentioned the RacyPy puplet on their Facebook page. I had 504 hits yesterday. I've also set up a fb page for
RacyPy.

If you live in Canada and if you're looking for a power supply
I would suggest a FactoryDirect store. (factorydirect.ca)

I bought a Scosche Dual USB AC charger for $12.99 plus tax.
The cables have to bought extra ($4). It's rated at 1A per port
which should be enough to power the raspberry pi.


I found a picture of the newer model which is designed for the ipad
and has a higher power rating (over 2 A needed for the ipad).
It will be quite a bit more expensive.($30)


http://www.scosche.com/consumer-tech/product/1922

_____________________________________________

It seems the power supply is pretty basic at preventing overvoltage from inputs

http://www.raspberrypi.org/wp-content/u ... 12/psu.png

Many 5v plug type PSUs with outputs of 1 or 2 amps are readily available/cheap [less than £5/about $7/8 on ebay/China],

http://tinyurl.com/7duzsms

....but some give out as much as 10 volts!

http://www.raspberrypi.org/forum/genera ... ly-warning

A suitable variable o/p voltage and current limit device/board is available on ebay as LM2596 LM2596S DC Power Supply Module Constant Current IN 4V-35V OUT 1.25V-30V
[from China] for less than £4

http://tinyurl.com/7m5547x

which should give users added safety for their projects

[These boards also make very useful NiCd/NiMh battery chargers/led power supplies, or with an added usb port, can be useful booster usb power sources for all manner of usb devices, including hard drives which sometimes fail to boot due to poor usb leads unable to supply sufficient current/voltage from PC ports]

A digital voltmeter in your toolkit is useful for setting them up...usual safety cautions apply

Aitch

Freedom for raspberrians!
Chargers for mobile phones are often 5v. Those with a mini USB are the ones recommended, Relatives, friends, colleagues may have and not be using . . .
USB keyboard, mouse? SD card? HDMI cable? Have you put the Debian or other image on SD? Quite a lot of preparation. Pre-order in?

We are not going straight to tablet, it is still a volatile market.
In a years time, Samsung and other clones will be commodity and generic items.
At that time again we may well ask for a hardware commitment. Buy the Kindle, OLPC tablet, Chinese tablet, Asus generic clone - whatever emerges as affordable and mainstream . . .

Puppy will not be designed for your out of date closed off BSD Ipaid. Marketing dictating your behaviour? Your machine in their Icloud. Sound Igood? Ithink Inot.

No longer believing the lies of MS huckster Steve Balmer at all?

Our hardware.
Our Choice.

Our Puppy
Doing Linux Good!