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Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

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Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#141

Post by mgraupner »

IanCal wrote: post #121
mgraupner wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even more awesome: Skip the extra Arduino and use the ESP8266 as your Arduino. https://github.com/esp8266/Arduino

I realise how silly this question may seem but here we go: If I get an ESP8266, I can have something that run code, sit on my home network wirelessly and use it to do things like report on sensor inputs? Am I missing some larger expense that would be required as this seems very cheap compared to other options I've seen.

The only other part needed to get this running is a programming cable. The ESP8266 does not have a USB port but a serial one, so you need an adapter to connect and programm it. e.g.: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12977

Just be careful not to connect the 5V VCC to the ESP8266, it will probably kill it.

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#142

Post by david-given »

frigo_1337 wrote: post #22

I don't see anything about Ethernet/Wi-Fi. Am I missing something? I understand they had to cut some features to reduce the prize. But networking is such a fundamental requirement for these types of systems, you'd think that it would be the last feature to be excluded.

Can the HDMI port be abused for some kind of networking?

There are a whole bunch of extra features tucked away inside HDMI. I know the Pi doesn't support Ethernet-over-HDMI, because it's missing the necessary PHY, but apparently it does support I2C-over-HDMI. I2C isn't very fast (tops out at 3.4Mbit, if you're lucky); is there anything else which could be used hidden inside somewhere?

One interesting thing about I2C, though, is that it would be cheap and easy to build a chassis with a whole bunch of these $5 modules wired together via I2C. It's almost certainly not cost effective in any way, but would be interesting, particularly if you could get useful work out of it...

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#143

Post by creshal »

Natanael_L wrote: post #134
makomk wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is probably the result of boards like the $9 C.H.I.P. stealing their thunder a little. (Which should actually be able to run Debian, unlike the Pi - Debian Jessie has built-in support for that generation of Allwinner chips.) The Pi has not actually been all that cheap lately compared to the competition. There's no reason they couldn't have done this years ago; like that Allwinner chip, the BCM2835 is an old, slo…

This could even act as a custom chromecast-ish device. Still cheaper too! (Although it lacks WiFi AC that the new chromecast has, and probably way weaker graphics, but a cheap WiFi adapter or ethernet and having most stuff streamed should be workable.)

> (Although it lacks WiFi AC that the new chromecast has, and probably way weaker graphics, but a cheap WiFi adapter or ethernet and having most stuff streamed should be workable.)

This irks me a bit with the new "$5" RPi. Yes, it's $5… For a device without a power cord, without networking, and where you need adapters (and/or solder on a UART) to plug anything into it.

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#144

Post by Mchl »

grp wrote: post #119
joosters wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many people are there in your circle who want a computer but don't have one? Perhaps your crowd aren't the target for point 1.

Oh, yep sure! And the visible facts are? (really, no needs to downvote me. I would love to see this thruth, just sceptical)

Here are some articles in this subject: https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/tag/developing-world/

Not saying it proves or disproves anything. I'm also interested in this aspect of cheap-o-computing

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#145

Post by makomk »

rdancer wrote: post #128
makomk wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cable to connect the computer now has more markup than a 1 GHz computer. Micro-USB OTG and mini HDMI adapters go for £1 each shipped on eBay, and I think most of that price is shipping. (Likewise, they've omitted the 40-pin GPIO header unless you buy the £10 bundle with the "Essentials kit", compared to £4 for the Pi itself.) Old, old business model - cut the headline price to the bone, make it back on cables.

I can't really see that — neither the circuit board header nor the cables are proprietary.

Doesn't have to be - they're relying on people not shopping around for the cables and accessories, much like big brick-and-mortar retailers such as Best Buy have done for a long time.

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#146

Post by rdancer »

aorth wrote: post #112

Fantastic development, but I can't help but think about the years of pain we're going to be in security wise when people inevitably start using these for all sorts of "Internet of Things" purposes. Software stacks on these type of devices inevitably have lackluster cipher suites, sub-par protocol support, unpatched kernel/userland, etc—even if they run all the latest things out right now, they WILL get out of date an…

Not sure what you mean by "these type of devices", but you will be overjoyed that on Raspbian, updating the system is as easy as `apt-get udate && apt-get -y upgrade`, the kernel is currently v4.1.13 [1], and the rest of your comment is also FUD.

[1] https://github.com/raspberrypi/firmware/blob/master/boot/ker...

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#148

Post by makomk »

bigiain wrote: post #131
IanCal wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I realise how silly this question may seem but here we go: If I get an ESP8266, I can have something that run code, sit on my home network wirelessly and use it to do things like report on sensor inputs? Am I missing some larger expense that would be required as this seems very cheap compared to other options I've seen.

Yes. At least for limited values of yes. You need to run it on 3.3v which means 3.3v versions of your sensore or external level shifting. You've got limited IO compared to, say, Arduino. But of you've got 3.3v sensors - yeah - all you need is an ESP8266 and some way of providing 3.3v. (And probably some pulldown/up resistors and decoupling caps...)

I'm pretty sure the digital I/O on the ESP8266 is actually 5V tolerant according to the datasheet, though this isn't widely advertised and there's some inaccurate information drifting around from back when the specs weren't fully known. (The same isn't true of some official Arduino boards which should not be exposed to 5V on the I/O pins.) It's a very nice little chip.

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#149

Post by yuhong »

edent wrote: post #123
rwmj wrote: post #51

I know I'm complaining about an almost free computer, but ARM11 (ARMv6) isn't compatible with most Linux OSes which long ago moved to ARMv7. If only this was compatible with ARMv7 it would run a lot more stuff.

Not sure I understand. I runs Debian derivatives like Raspian, Ubuntu, and Kali. If you're a masochist it'll run Windows 10 IoT core. https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/ https://www.offensive-security.com/kali-linux/raspberry-pi-l...

That is Raspberry Pi 2 I think.

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#150

Post by creshal »

trymas wrote: post #31

Next awesome step would be RPi with integrated wifi/bluetooth, and it would become ultimate IoT/embedded development platform. Such step would increase price, I know, but AFAIK, most people are almost always buying either wifi or bluetooth dongles anyway. All in all, RPi ables to deliver exciting, rather (for me) unexpected and most importantly great and user-friendly products.

You can find zigbee, wifi or bt dongles for $8 or less these days. I suspect board development costs are the limiting factor for the Foundation here, it's easier to slap on USB and tell users to plug in what they need.
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