Hi! My son gave me a Raspberry Pi 4 for Christmas. It's my first Raspberry Pi. I was impressed by the Raspberry Pi OS, but chose to install Ubuntu. Then I tried a couple of times to install the Cinnamon Desktop Environment, but it failed both times. I'm not finished playing with it, just sharing my tiny computer experience. Also, (this is not a software issue), the case my son chose is cast metal (probably aluminum), very nice, but I've noticed that the WiFi and Bluetooth functions of the RPi have extremely limited range, and I presume the limited range is the result of the metal case. Just sharing my experience with you all, for what it's worth.
Ubuntu and Raspberry Pi
- Thread starter Scribe1
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Thanks!
I do not think you can use LMDE 7 (or any other version) on the Pi. They haven't released a version for the CPU type that is in the Pi. The Pi is ARM-based, so you need something like ARM64 (AArch64).
I'm pretty sure of this, but only like 95% sure. I mean, I'm sure about the ARM bit. It's the LMDE bit that I'm not sure about. There might be a download available and I just don't know where it is. The only LMDE that I know of is x86_64 (AMD64).
I'm pretty sure of this, but only like 95% sure. I mean, I'm sure about the ARM bit. It's the LMDE bit that I'm not sure about. There might be a download available and I just don't know where it is. The only LMDE that I know of is x86_64 (AMD64).
The RPi manufacturer quite strongly recommends only their version of Debian.
That's what I did. I've seen many folks try another OS on their Pi, and with resulting problems.
The case may contribute some to the limited range you're experiencing.
In addition, there isn't much board real estate dedicated to the antenna, which can severely limit the range.
There are various folks who have suggested ways to deal with the small antenna.
Often, these are people who have considerable RF experience.
One such approach I found on the web was to construct a wire antenna and attach it to the factory antenna.
If you GOOGLE the issue, I think you'll find some answers.
Ray
Samuel8989
New Member
Isn't cinnamon to heavy? I haven't personally tried but I rather choose xfce. Cinnamon is yesterdays desktop environment and xfce is much liter. Cosmic is a promising option but it's but stable yet.
Also I choose edubuntu for my son because it's more optimized for learning. Thought Linux mint is a good option if you like a simple option to ubuntu. But I still would say edubuntu is better. I do connect a module that has zero trust on applications, so I can have full control over apps. Then you can set zero trust for browser forthright browser that make you have a list for accessible websites.
And buy a wifi dongle, don't bother with internal mounting if you don't have to.
I love Cinnamon, and I have it on all my more capable hardware. Since I'm a novelist and not a techie, system resources can be occupied with the desktop environment and I don't worry about it. (But I do invest in RAM with any device I intend to use a lot). The Cinnamon environment might be "yesterday's," but so am I, at 68 years old. I like the idea of a Wifi dongle or the other suggestion of a wire antenna, and if I really need more range for some reason, I'll try one of those suggestions.
Also, now that I think about it, Cinnamon (and the requirements) may not yet have been compiled (by the Ubuntu people) to work with ARM-based CPUs. I decided to take a quick peek at Ubuntu Cinnamon, and they only have x86_64 (AMD64).
Thank you! I plan to simmer down and enjoy my tiny computer as it is right now. It's still amazing what that little thing can do.
They're surprisingly capable devices. I owned some of the original examples but didn't use them. I was going to give them away, except it looked like I had already done so. After all, they were not only missing from where they should have been, they were missing from everywhere else I've been in the house.
If you're going to get into the Pi, you'll maybe want to start watching some videos. Specifically, these videos:
Jeff Geerling
Father, author, developer, maker. Sometimes called "an inflammatory enigma".
www.youtube.com
He's pretty much an expert on SBCs, including the Pi. He does some great things with SBCs. It's pretty impressive.
theLegionWithin
Well-Known Member
another good channel is https://www.youtube.com/@ExplainingComputers/videos - lots of sbc coverage there
Cool! Thanks for the advice, the link, and the anecdote. I do hope your Pi units turn up - as originals they might be valuable antiques someday, and in the meantime, they're just fun to play with, IMHO.They're surprisingly capable devices. I owned some of the original examples but didn't use them. I was going to give them away, except it looked like I had already done so. After all, they were not only missing from where they should have been, they were missing from everywhere else I've been in the house.
If you're going to get into the Pi, you'll maybe want to start watching some videos. Specifically, these videos:
Jeff Geerling
Father, author, developer, maker. Sometimes called "an inflammatory enigma".
He's pretty much an expert on SBCs, including the Pi. He does some great things with SBCs. It's pretty impressive.
Thank you! I'll have a look.
The missus thinks she remembers me giving them to a 'neighbor kid'. (They are a drive from my house, but that's a 'neighbor' in my neck of the woods. Then, the 'kid' bit means he's an adult who lives with his parents and has some disabilities.)
I'm sure they're not actually using them. He was probably eager to have them and then didn't do anything with them, or hasn't told me that they did anything. If he'd told me that he'd done something with them, I'd probably remember giving them to him!
Ah, well...
It won't really mean anything to me if they're a 'valuable'. They'd still sit in a drawer, as I'd almost certainly never try to sell them. I value my time more than any dollar value they might bring.
I do sort of regret that I didn't send them to a good home. There are other people for whom they would be more useful and educational. They're not very powerful, but you can do some small things with them. Hmm... Maybe I should ask him if he's going to use them. If he says no, I can ask for them back. I could then send them to a more appropriate home. I searched all the usual places in my house because I was going to do exactly that.
They seem to work well in a group. Putting several together in a small space (running Linux of course) can replace a huge physical and electrical footprint. Someone close to me did that and it worked like gangbusters (can't go into details).
When I bought them, my plan was to make a smart gate to block my driveway, complete with RFID cards for certain people and schedules about when cards (and/or manual codes entered physically at the gate) could be used.
Family would get like 24 hour access and a code that always worked. The UPS driver would get an RFID card that only worked part of the time and only when I was expecting a delivery. I'd be able to give out single-use codes. Friends would have cards or codes that worked for certain hours of the day. Employees would get access during the day. You know, that sort of stuff.
Suffice to say, I never even got around to doing more than an outline of what I'd need to accomplish this goal.
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