Raspberry Pi: By a non-expert in Linux

Like my colleague at RS, I had a chance to play with one of the first Raspberry Pi boards in the UK. My remit was to see how easy it is for someone unfamiliar with Linux to get a system working from scratch.

The Fedora Remix seems to be the recommended option on the Raspberry Pi site. If you don't know much about installing Linux distros, then this is the route to take because a special image installer program is provided which runs under Windows. Other, possibly better distros are available, but are more awkward to transfer to the SD memory card. It is not just a question of copying files across. So step 1 is to download the Fedora Remix (all 500MB of it) followed by the installer program. You need to unzip the installer into a suitable directory, making sure the directory name contains no spaces. Running the program puts up a simple window inviting you to browse to the location of the downloaded image file, and to specify the destination drive. The program detects any Flash memories present (SD card, memory stick, etc) and you just need to select the SD card, assuming it is plugged into a suitable reader. The installer does not present your C: drive as a choice, thus preventing you from trashing your system. As I said, the installer does not copy files: it overwrites the destination memory with an image wiping out everything already there. This image transfer proceeded smoothly in my case and the SD card was then plugged into the 'Pi prior to switch on.

Before switching it on by plugging in the microUSB power plug, it's a good idea to check all your cable connections. I used an HDMI cable connected to the DVI input of my monitor via an adapter. You need a USB keyboard plugged in and if you want to use a GUI, a USB mouse is also required. I used my iPhone's power unit to supply the 'Pi as it has a USB socket and can provide a current of 1A. At this point I realised that I only possessed USB cables with mini - not micro - connectors. Grrrr. Small delay while an adapter was procured.

Powering up for the first time gets you screen fulls of executing program with the only error messages being due to the lack of real-time clock hardware on the 'Pi. They don't stop installation though. Eventually you get to the bit setting up passwords, and are asked if you want the GUI to boot up. I said yes and then things started to go pear-shaped. I was asked to change my newly created user password to something else and then the program stopped with some sort of prompt on the screen. Having no idea what else to do I pulled the power plug and rebooted. Amazingly it booted up into the GUI login screen, but would go no further, rejecting my just set up password. More grrrr. I can confirm that things seem very slow: it can't even keep up with relative slow keyboard input.

At least I confirmed that the hardware works, but will need to get the software problems sorted before making any further comment. For the asking price it would be churlish to complain about these teething problems which I'm sure will be sorted by the time we start delivering hardware.