/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>launching in three days

lol....

>>152976
this

>rage against the machine

Can somebody explain to me what's so special about this Raspberry Pi?

IF (and I mean if) raspberry pi goes into mass production, and if it's technically speaking possible with the hardware, I'd love to build a portable nes/snes/genesis emulator setup with integrated screen and controller. Basically a big, ugly psp for shitty old games.

>>152979
It's the size of a credit card, has about as powerful a cpu as a an original iPhone, has a more powerful gpu than the iPhone 4S, has HDMI out, 2 USB ports, ethernet, RCA out, and will run off a few AA batteries. It can output 1080p, uses an SD card for storage, has 256 mb ram, and will run a wide range of linux distros.

The small size means you can put it just about anywhere, in anything. It's only $35, so it's cheap as fuck. When they're in full swing production, they'll be well-neigh disposable. Since they run linux, and subsequently support languages like Python, they're easy for beginner-level programmers like yours truly to work with. It already has XMBC, so you can run your entire media center off one at a third the price of an apple TV box, with a whole lot more freedom and flexibility. There's already a kit being made for GPIO, so robotics will be quite cheap, easy, and beginner-friendly.

It's the ultimate /diy/ item - a full-fledged computer, the size of a credit card. What's not to love?

>>152979
speculating over vaporware

>>152979

Price.

>>152976
>>152978
>>152991
and_then_there's_this_asshole.jpg

Production finishes in 3 days, 10 beta boards have been sold already so people could get early serial numbers, and there have been multiple live demonstrations of the alpha boards. They also won an award at ARM TechCon.

That's hardly vaporware.

gonna use it to play Quake 3 at McDonalds.

>>152989
it only supports hardware acceleration for h.264, no other codecs, means the cpu would have to handle everything other than h.264 and some ppl with beta boards mentioned that it really has problems with mpeg2, so mediacenter ?? maybe later when we can buy additional codecs.
as for robotics, having access to the gpu would be nice for video processing, but thats also impossible.

sure its really nice, but for a _great_ board we will have to put a lot of work into it like reverse engineering the gpu

>>153054
The gpu is proprietary?

>>153054
>mpeg2
>2012
You know what goes here.

Besides, the licensing for mpeg2 was apparently expensive as fuck.

I'm sure we'll get more info on the GPU eventually, though, as well as whatever is needed to utilize it properly.

>>153067

Yes and documentation is not available.
Same applies to the whole SoC.

Which kinds of video output does it support? Also, how well will it run flash games like, say, robot unicorn attack?

>>153080

I don't think it would be good for flash. Flash is really resource-heavy.

>>152993
they've pushed back the release a shitload of times. i will be pleasantly surprised if they release in 3 days. but i wouldn't put money on it. i know it isn't vaporware, but the people running it aren't exactly the most deadline-oriented.

it can host usb, so you can put a camera on it and make embedded systems with imaging

>>153071
I just realized how dumb a question that was. Shame there's not more interest in this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Graphics_Project

>>153091
If you hadn't read the blog lately, do so. Manufacturing is complete for the first batch, they're arriving Monday. The web store will open when they arrive.

all the raspberry pi shit on here lately is just mass viral marketing isn't it?

>>153251

>theyre_onto_us.jpg

hi complete newfag to this but what is this "rasberry pie" everyone is talkin about? is it like a mini computer or something.....

>>153286
no. its a hyped up microcontroller that speculation fags keep calling a "computer".

>>153251
No. They don't need to market it, because the group making them is non-profit. People are just excited to see something this small with such a good price-to-power ratio.

>>153286
Yes. It's a surprisingly powerful, linux-only computer the size of a credit card. It's also incredibly cheap. It's about as powerful as an original iPhone, with a much better graphics chip.

And since you're a newfag, welcome to /diy/. It's a good board, if you abide by two rules:

Ignore the /b/ refugees that hang out here, like >>153337
Ignore anyone that uses the word 'kid'.

>>153337
>hurp durp imma ignore the beta boards that have already been sold, as well as the videos made and awards won by the developers. lol stupid speculationfags.

>>153054
Not just h.264. All the mpeg4-based codecs are hardware accellerated (Divx, Xvid, VC1, etc).

The mpeg2 problems are only at very high resolutions, it's got more than enough CPU power to do SD mpeg2 decoding (i.e. DVDs) - who the hell encodes a 1080p rip in mpeg2 anyway? It's a shitty old codec that needs to die, and apparently the licensing fees for it are outrageous.

>>153337
Shit, man, I guess my old P3 fileserver isn't a computer either, since this thing massively outclasses it.

I cannot wait to replace that thing and its 50w power draw with this 2w device.

>>153054
Not just h.264. All the mpeg4-based codecs are hardware accellerated (Divx, Xvid, etc).

The mpeg2 problems are only at very high resolutions, it's got more than enough CPU power to do SD mpeg2 decoding (i.e. DVDs) - who the hell encodes a 1080p rip in mpeg2 anyway? It's a shitty old codec that needs to die, and apparently the licensing fees for it are outrageous.

OPINIONS!

I don't think the Rasp Pi threads are viral marketing.

I DO think that the entire Raspberry Pi project is a viral marketing program by Broadcom to pimp their Videocore SOCs.


There are cheaper SOC's the .org could have used, mostly only sacrificing the h.264 capabilities (I'm mostly thinking of the WonderMedia series of SOCs often used in cheap chinese Android tablets).

Despite that belief, I still like the device, and I will be trying to buy a model B out of the first batch. The potential price difference would be trivial, and the Broadcom's video support is a nice bonus.

>>153893
> mostly only sacrificing the h.264 capabilities
Considering that most people want a raspi for watching videos in xbmc it wouldn't be wise to sacrifice it.

>>154487

Really?

>>153893

Design a competitor for it. It looks like people would be interested, if you managed to sell it for $5 less.

>>154502
I doubt that "undercutting the Raspberry Pi" is a sustainable business model.

yep >>153251 "all the raspberry pi talkt on /diy/ is mass marketing, am i right?"

>>152991
I saw the thing in person at an ARM conference, so I know that the prototypes are at least real.

On the other hand, they seem to be operating on Valvetime, so who knows when we'll see an actual release.

So... How do you use it? And what is it good for?

>>152989
This sounds like a marketing pitch.

btw you can't fit all that in something "the size of a credit card". "a few AA batteries" is already larger than a credit card, and then all those ports? get real

>>155993
I think he is talking about length and width, not so much depth wise.

So what do you guys would use as case for this thing? I have an old ness I'd like to put this in and put it in my living room to play with emulators. Wonder if it will be able to run n64/ps1...

>>156028
nes*

>>153893
I seem to remember that at least one of the guys involved with the project works/worked for broadcom so I'm sure they're getting some assistance from them.

>>156028
I've been trying to source some non-working stuff to use as a case (Original Gameboy, See N Say StoryBook, 2XL) but I've not had a lot of luck finding stuff that's DOA. Right now I'm going to just take a dremel to a plastic soap case. I figure once I actually get one in my hands then I'll go back to planning grandiose cases for it.

>>156028
Building a temporary case with LEGO until I get home from college and can scrounge for something better. My Dad has an ancient US Robotics modem, I'm tempted to put it in that case. I'd kinda hate to do that though, since afaik it still works. Besides, when SOPA passes and my internet gets shut down, I can use the phone line and browse 4chan mirrors at 56k.

I may just dumpster dive until I find one. Doesn't get any more /diy/ than diving for a case to mod for your raspi.

>>152973
I would like to hear more details about your idea, OP, or any others you may have along those lines.

>>156770
Put it in an inconspicuous box. Maybe even make it look like an air freshener, the kind you plug in a wall. Have wall socket to mini USB powering it and a USB hub. On the hub, you have a fairly powerful USB wifi adapter. You set it up to pick up the strongest unsecured wifi signal in the area, or crack a WEP network and connect to that. Plug it into the wall and leave it there for a few days. Best done to public buildings and in oft-overlooked areas - under shelves and the like. Nowhere a janitor would notice and wonder "Huh, when did we start using those?"

Alternately, design a waterproof case and do it outside. Maybe in an alley what happens to have a plug on the outside. There are all kinds of ways to disguise it as something that belongs there.

I hadn't thought of any other particularly good uses. I have a friend interested in distributing music with this thing. Perhaps a wifi ftp server, kinda like a dead drop you don't have to find the exact location of?

One of my favorite ideas that doesn't involve messing with 'the system' is hooking a Pi up to video goggles. I had mentioned that in a previous RasPi thread some months ago. Still haven't found a good pair that happens to be cheap. DIYing my own would be a little much for me in my current situation.

Revived for the users.

I'm going to put it in a case with a bunch of buttons. I'm going to connect that to my MIDI keyboard. Each button will switch to another preset sound. It'll be primarily for jam sessions where I don't want to go Autechre on everyone.

>>152973
>>seed off unsecured wifi with
what would you use for the wifi adapter?

Also how much power does a raspberry pi use?

Why not put some solar panels on that sucker? You could leave it pretty much ANYWHERE!

Have it charge up all day, then run at night.

>>159175
Anything that's decently powerful and has drivers for the pi.

Not a lot. It'll run for an hour and a half off 4 AA batteries.

Because not only is solar unreliable, you'd need a surprising amount of power and a fairly large battery to run it overnight.

>>159328
the sun
>unreliable

>>159334
>clouds
>night
>winter

>>153893
Most of the rasperry pi team works for broadcom, they don't make this a secret.

>>156028
Computer sciences guy here, I doubt you can get to fully emulate anything sustancially better than a snes... specially not a ps1, As i remember the thing had lots of processors.

>tfw this entire thread feels like dejavu

>>157026
are you me? that was my thought exactly as I first heard of the rp.

I thought of disguising it as a waterproof distributor box (no idea what it's actually called in english, but pic related) with a Li-Ion/Li-Po power-source inside.
Then drive around town, crack myself a wifi, set up ftp/vnc and stick it next to an electricity reader.

while I think this is a very interesting gadget, and yeas I have signed up to get one if and when it ever comes out, I think the FXI Cotton Candy is a far more interesting device with far more possibilities, if only because its USB stick footprint makes it far more innocuous . As a full fledged Android/Ubuntu device the possibilities innocent and nefarious, are almost limitless.

>>159504

>>specially not a ps1, As i remember the thing had lots of processors.

Specifically the proprietary "Emotion Engine" graphics chip which IIRC was built to specifically run PS graphics at a very low level very quickly.

>>156028
>>159504
I emulate PS1 games on my shitty ASUS 900SD that has a 800mhz single core Celeron CPU, 512MB RAM and 64MB VRAM. I also watch DVD movies from an external HDD on it all the time. If it can do it....

But, its SHIT as web browser rendered Flash. Flash files not in a web browser runs perfect on it though.

When can i buy it??!

>>159557
When it's done.

But seriously, subscribe to the newsletter on their homepage.

>>159522
Don't think you're me, I'll check the mirror to make sure. And you'll probably want more power than that, you'll want to plug this thing in.

>>159554
It won't emulate PS1. It's ARM based, the the overall CPU power is still much lower than your PC. We also don't know what we'll be able to do as far as 3d graphics.

Also, was anyone else weirdly excited to read that it can be overclocked to about 800 mhz without major difficulties?

>>159531
rasp pi: $35
cotton candy: $200

the ONLY thing that make pi interesting is that it is so cheap. you can get much better hardware in that size, but it'll cost you $150-$300.

>>159557

If you don't want to wait buy this instead. It's $129 but comes with a case and other stuff....

https://www.genesi-usa.com/store/details/11

Freescale i.MX515 (ARM Cortex-A8 800MHz)
3D Graphics Processing Unit
WXGA display support (HDMI)
Multi-format HD video decoder and D1 video encoder (currently not supported by the included software)
512MB RAM
8GB Internal SSD
10/100Mbit/s Ethernet
802.11 b/g/n WiFi
SDHC card reader
2 x USB 2.0 ports
Audio jack for headset
Built-in speaker

Size: 160 x 115 x 20mm (smaller and thinner than a DVD case)
Weight: 250 grams (8.8 ounces)

>>159328
>>159336
where I live, we don't have winter. And cloudy days are also rare.

Studies done with solar powered sensors(which have to talk to a cellphone network all the time!) in my area have proved it to be the best power source for this sort of thing.

Aside from wind, which didn't work out because rednecks like to take pot shots at anything that moves. True story.


Plus, if you're seeding or cracking WEP, you don't need to be on all the time.

>>159522
>>electricity meter
Why not put an inductive coupling on your box, so you can stick it on an AC electrical line going to the box and inductively leech power from it. You won't be able to get much, but you'll probably get enough to power the pi.

You wouldn't even need to plug in anywhere or attach wires to it. You could pot the damn thing in epoxy to waterproof it.

Is there anything small like the pi, but more powerful?
I'm currently dreaming of a portable snes emulator or something.

I could do a wearable computer. Pipboy-like device.

Just need a small screen to cannibalize and a power source. The rest is input and casing.

>>159772
hi, is this a computer? best OS?

would it be possible to use this to make a diy mp3 players if i'm willing to sacrifice anything but audio, storage space and battery life( preferable rechargeable)

>>159538
that's the PS2.
The 1st few revisions of the PS1 had dual processors, later versions had a single, faster cpu.

It should be able to pull off PS1 graphics - the GPU has the hardware to do it if the emulator's capable of using it, and some version of openGL will be working on this thing at launch via the official Broadcom drivers.

>>159772
yeah, not spending $129 on an ARM machine.

>>160100

It is a stand-alone computer, runs Ubuntu from the factory and other OS's are available. This system was used by Fedora to compile Fedora Remix for ARM devices. See it in action in this video, also Pi goodness in video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbWE6qF7pIM

>>160074
This was posted up above you. Should be able to emulate the SNES easily. Runs Ubuntu, so emulators are mature and stable.

https://www.genesi-usa.com/store/details/11
>>160146
Thanks for letting us all know, we were worried about whether or not you were going to spend $129 on an ARM machine. This post allows us to sleep easy at night.

>>160146

Holy Flying Fuck it's peanutfreemom, Um, Yeah, go back to twitter.

Bodhilinux is available in ARM, does anyone know if this will run on the Pi ??? Seems it would be ideal to address the Pi's limitations.
http://bodhilinux.com/

A better comparison than "It's more powerful than the iphone" is the fact that it's more powerful than the original xbox.

>>160443

The GPU is equivalent or better but the ARM 11 based chip does not have the grunt that the Pentium 3 based chip in the original xbox. Don't get me wrong it's still remarkable that is even close, especially at the price they are selling it for. Hopefully they keep the party going and release an ARM Cortex 8 based unit in the next couple of years.

>>160465

Yes it does.

Yes! I am going to make myself a PirateBox

Raspberry + USB stick/external HDD + wifi router = free wireless sharing when ACTA comes

I have just 1 little problem
I would like to have HTML page popping to everyone that connects to PirateBox(saying that its not real internet here, and that you can download shit here...classical HotSpot shit)
But that can be only done with MicroTics or WRT routers, but i am trying to be as cheap as possible and WRT router cost a bit more than i want

My networking teacher told me that it can be done with server, but he dont know how because he never done it, only heard of it

>>160472

source??? All the benchmarks have been saying no. Has someone ran an actual test with a different result?

>>160556

It is slower than an xbox celeron chip. It is equivalent if the xbox cpu was running at 400-500mhz from posted benchmarks. The GPU is fairly good, but the arm11 chip is nowhere near as fast as the cortex. This thing isn't meant to be a everyday computer, it's meant to teach kids how to code.

>>160622
Were those benchmarks from programs compiled with or without floating point support?

The Videocore IV in the rasp pi has a floating point unit, but the default setting for all popular compilers (including GCC) is no FPU on ARM.

At this point the official rasp pi Fedora remix is ignoring the on chip FPU, which means a massive performance hit in any software that does a lot of floating point math.

Benchmarked with Linpack, compiled with floating point support enabled, it gets about the same score as a 500mhz P3 (full p3, not celeron). Without floating point support, it gets about the same Linpack score as a 133mhz Pentium 1.

>>160431
should I know who that is? Because I'm not a twit.

how much will shipping be?

In the US?

>>160862
Benchmarks without proper optimization, by the looks of it scrolling a website is very choppy. So pretty bad for cpu speed, but with the gpu PS2/dreamcast/pentium 2 with a decent p3 era radeon/ is easy.

>>160536
I honestly can't figure out what you're trying to say here, except it's sorta like what I'm doing.

Are you trying to use the pi itself as a fileserver? Something people can connect to via wifi and download files from?

>>161858
yes, without being connected to internet

but i would like to make it that after someone connects to router and than turn on Web Browser it would not use their default Main Page but mine(some kind of easy HTML page with rules, maybe chat)

>>162519
It's possible. You basically have to install on it DHCP, DNS and web servers that will redirect every request to the page you will make.
It's a hotspot, not connected to the Internet.

>>162576
but i dont know how...

I know i can do it with OpenWRT router or microtic, but i am trying to be as cheap as possible, and my teacher told me that i can be done with server(that i set up on raspberry pi)

But my networking Teacher never done that so he have no idea how, and i am really unefficient googling it

It's been launched! Anyone able get an order in?
Farnell's site is down while RS's site lets you sign up to "express interest".

>>164064
Nope. The Foundation is pissed off that the store is still down. I'd be too. Fuck, I AM pissed... I want one of these things, and I want one in the first batch.

In other pi news, the Model A will be shipping with 256mb ram, as they managed to cut costs enough to fit it in. I'd rather see the B kicked up to 512, but I'll take what I can get.

farnell is up. kinda. they seem to have screwed up this release pretty hard.

>>164072
Apparently, RS's "express interest" page is not the correct one, according to the RasPi twitter. The whole affair seems rather disorganized.

>>164064
No luck. The official Rpi store is down with a static page message redirecting you to the .org

The .org gives links to two 3rd party web stores that will be selling it, both of which are damn-near unusable from the traffic. The RS components site is doing slightly better, but I haven't even been able to get to a product page.

the Farnell site is finally loading something for me. A static page...

>Our websites are currently unavailable whilst we perform a scheduled system upgrade.

I'm trying to get through the RS storefront and find the product, but it takes like 20 tries to get anything to load on their site (but when it does load it seems functional)

They picked the wrong damn partners for this launch. An amazon-marketplace shop, yahoo storefront or an eBay store would have served SO much better then some guys who can't even keep a web page up.

>>164097
Farnell is sold out and RS is still being a pack of cockmunchers.

>>164097
Yea for what's supposed to signal a new frontier, they really dropped the ball on picking companies to help them bring this product live in a "new frontier" style..

On the plus side, the announcement that the model A will have 256 MB of RAM, just like the model B, has made me change my overall plans. If I can't get a unit out of this first batch, I will order an A. There's no longer any reason to buy a B - spending $10 for a USB hub and a USB ethernet adaptor is silly.

RS' website is no longer fucked, but only has an "express interest" form up, no proper product page.

Farnell is still hosed, but rumors are that they sold out during the brief period the site was reachable.

People who have reached RS by telephone are reporting
a) they are only selling to businesses and
b) they will not be available until the end of the week

The .org tweets that both of those things are contrary to what they negotiated with RS.

>>164157
Hint: some of the farnell subdomains are still up, like nl.farnell.com Not sure if this does any of you any good though:

http://nl.farnell.com/jsp/bespoke/bespoke7.jsp?ICID=I-RASP-HPBLOF-0015&bespokepage=farnell/en_UK
/promotions/raspberryPiex.jsp

RS is now saying they're going to be using the "Register your interest" form as a list of who gets the first batch.

Parnell's american partner, Newark, is allowing you to order, but with $20 s/h fee for expidited shipping from the UK. If you want to skip the international dropship, you can telephone their USA sales office directly at 800.463.9275, and only have to pay standard UPS ground, but you have to wait a couple weeks for the US warehouse to get their shipment, coming via (slow) cargo ship.

I'm seriously considering waiting for the Model A now.

You don't get to be a success without pissing off a few neckbeards.

I'm going to install LOIC on these guys, hide them everywhere and use them for DDOSing.

>>165132
not unless LOIC is available for linux, BSD, or wince you're not.

>>165132
Ooh, DDOS is a good idea for these. LOIC is windows-only, but it's not exactly difficult to make a DDOS client. And there are plenty out there if you're too lazy.

My local transit authority offers real-time bus arrival info via the web, but has no publically viewable output of it at stops.

I was going to nab a few cheap USB VGA video cards, and some old free 15"-17" CRT monitors, try and pitch the idea of placing these in empty retail storefront windows at busy bus stops, just displaying the arrival info for the stop. It'd cost about $50 per unit, total.