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Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

raspberrypi.org

341–350 of 521 posts

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#341
post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two years after buying mine, I put the pi to a good use only last week! Now I am using it as ad-blocker thanks to http://pi-hole.net/ , works like a charm. I ported the web interface for pi-hole to Go single executable ( https://github.com/girishso/pi-hole-web ) Now looking for something interesting to do on my second pi! Edit: Added pi-hole-web link.

How does it do performance wise? I can only imagine that DNS + Blocklist checking is already a big task for a PI. I always wanted to have something like this, and am on the search for something like a PI but a bit better since then.

It works pretty well, in fact page loading times have significantly reduced for me, may be because it caches the DNS records locally. I think PI is good enough for this purpose.

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#342
post #318
post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may be interested in CHIP. 8 USD (this Monday only), and includes wi-fi as well as integrated flash storage. http://getchip.com/

And it has an armv7. But no builtin display adapter?

It only supports RCA on-board, but adapters for VGA and HDMI are coming out a few months after launch. Unfortunately, due to licensing costs, they cost $15 (which is why they aren't on-board in the first place).

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where are those chips actually made? ;).

What does it matter? broadcom wont sell you them. and you cant legally import them yourself.

Just because Broadcom won't sell them doesn't mean the factory won't make some more. This is China, they have a pretty liberal (and one could argue: more reasonable) approach to issues of intellectual property :).

Or at least it used to be so; sadly, in the last few years the US was pressuring Chinese government to crack down on it. Anyway, you can read more about this phenomenon here: [0].

Oh, and one more thing. It may not apply to RPi in terms of cloning it because it's still quite a niche product, but in general, they actually recycle electronics here. Like, seriously, when you throw away your smartphone, it'll likely end up in China for desoldering. So will your laptop. The amount of desoldered components and especially ICs available for sale is staggering. I have no data for this, but I'm pretty sure people here are making small-scale production runs out of recycled ICs. So Broadcom may not sell you their chip, but the lady on the first floor of SEG building in Shenzhen just might.

BTW., I love how they recycle components so much, and how it leads to interesting situations sometimes. For instance, I recently got my phone fixed - $15 and 15 minutes of waiting was all it took to get the front half of Galaxy S4 replaced with a brand new part (screen + touch surface + glass + box) and to get a new camera (electronics, lens and all). The equivalent repair at home would cost me around $240 and would take a few days. The secret of such cheap and fast repair? They took the broken parts from me. They'll regain 90% of value of that repair by simply replacing broken subcomponents in their own time, and then pushing the fixed modules back onto the market.

[0] - http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?cat=20

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#344
post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

The only modern distro it runs is Raspbian. Ubuntu and Kali don't run on it let alone Windows 10 IoT core, same goes for Arch and pretty much everything else. This is a ARMv6, for which most distros stopped support several years ago if they ever ran on it.

Arch will definitely run on a Pi:

http://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv6/raspberry-pi

So will Win10 IOT core, Ubuntu, and several other things:

https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no ethernet port. So, also an ethernet adapter. But there's only one USB port (µUSB, too, so you most likely need an adapter to regular USB). So if you want more than just ethernet, you'll need an USB hub. But the RasPi's power supply has always been weak, so better get an actively powered one… And soon you're paying four times as much for the accessories than for the RasPi.

How exactly has the power supply been weak? I've been running three PIs (A+, B and B+) for a few years with no problems with just simple cell phone power adapters. However, I'm not plugging any extra hardware into them...perhaps that's why I haven't run into problems?

Yes, the parent was talking about lacking power through the Pi's USB ports thus often requiring a powered USB hub.

My issue is with the Pi's use of micro USB for power, I'd rather it use a barrel connector, it's not like it doesn't have the space. Yes, I know the choice is based on the presumption that everyone already has a micro USB power adapter from a cell phone. The use of micro USB for power on this Pi Zero makes a lot more sense given the form factor.

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#346

This is great, but for people who want to "get started in computing", don't they also need a display, a mouse and a keyboard? LCD screens are like, $100, a mouse is $10-$20 new and low-end keyboards are $10-$30. At that combined price, why does it matter if the computer is $25 or $5? And if one is going to outlay the 150 bucks in peripherals, they might as well spend a bit more than $5 on the computer to get a signif…

There is a lot of peripherals lying around. Even years ago when I didn't have two pennies to rub together I could still get unwanted keyboards/mice and even smaller unwanted screens. On the flip side, I don't need a screen for all my computers. Some are network devices now (SSH only) and some share the same screen because I use them for different things at different times.

Right? But there are also plenty of computers with 512 MB of RAM lying around that you can get for free. And they're 'programmable' too.

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#347

This is great, but for people who want to "get started in computing", don't they also need a display, a mouse and a keyboard? LCD screens are like, $100, a mouse is $10-$20 new and low-end keyboards are $10-$30. At that combined price, why does it matter if the computer is $25 or $5? And if one is going to outlay the 150 bucks in peripherals, they might as well spend a bit more than $5 on the computer to get a signif…

Good point although remember that the (full size) Raspberry Pi has composite video output that can be used with the cheapest of TVs.

IMO the Raspberry Pi Zero is more of a reaction to the C.H.I.P $9 computer on Kickstarter and not a cheap computer for people who cant afford a full size Pi.

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why the huge difference in costs..? International shipping..?

It's almost nonexistent in the market, so people having it, take advantage and sell it for imaginary prices compared to the original prices.

If there is a user group, then purchasing together and dividing costs might make life a little easier. could be a fun base to work on for making more hardware available too.

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#349

This is great, but for people who want to "get started in computing", don't they also need a display, a mouse and a keyboard? LCD screens are like, $100, a mouse is $10-$20 new and low-end keyboards are $10-$30. At that combined price, why does it matter if the computer is $25 or $5? And if one is going to outlay the 150 bucks in peripherals, they might as well spend a bit more than $5 on the computer to get a signif…

>LCD screens are like, $100

http://www.walmart.com/ip/41177602

>a mouse is $10-$20 new

http://www.walmart.com/search/?query=mouse&sort=price_low&ca...

Re: Raspberry Pi Zero: the $5 computer

#350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no ethernet port. So, also an ethernet adapter. But there's only one USB port (µUSB, too, so you most likely need an adapter to regular USB). So if you want more than just ethernet, you'll need an USB hub. But the RasPi's power supply has always been weak, so better get an actively powered one… And soon you're paying four times as much for the accessories than for the RasPi.

How exactly has the power supply been weak? I've been running three PIs (A+, B and B+) for a few years with no problems with just simple cell phone power adapters. However, I'm not plugging any extra hardware into them...perhaps that's why I haven't run into problems?

> However, I'm not plugging any extra hardware into them...perhaps that's why I haven't run into problems?

Yes. Phone chargers provide plenty of power for the Pi itself, but once you add several USB devices like wifi/ethernet you'll need beefy ones.

But even that is normally not much of a problem, because (especially on the B+) each device has their own port. If you plug several into a hub, however, you'll quickly exceed the hub port's power rating. Hence the need for an active hub.

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