Hi Stewart, On Sat, Aug 8, 2020 at 3:21 PM Stewart C. Russell via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
> Hi Aruna - > > Just covering some points that didn't quite match my experience. 4GB > Raspberry Pi 4 good, 8 GB better, which it sounds like you've discovered. > Yes thanks to Scott and others :-) > > > How hot does the unit become ? Does it require an add on fan shim ? > > Or will work fine without one ? > > You can definitely get by without one. I have the temperature-controlled > Pimoroni Fan Shim in one, and it very rarely operates. It used to run a > lot before the firmware update late last year, but these days I barely > notice it. > Oh-kay but am gonna get a fan just to be on the safe side. I am paranoid when it comes to hardware. > > > How easy or difficult would it be to boot off an external hard disk > > as compared to the SD card that comes with the Pi ? > > More difficult, but not that hard. Note that the Raspberry Pi is picky > about SATA adapters. This one has a chipset that will give you pretty > close to the maximum speed possible with the Raspberry Pi 4's slightly > wiggly data path: STARTECH USB 3.0 to 2.5" SATA III Hard Drive Adapter > Cable w/ UASP — > > https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=5_1336_96&item_id=085674 I am curious when you say slightly wiggly data path ? How wiggly ? > > > This may all get radically simpler when UEFI for the Raspberry Pi > becomes a stable thing, but that's a little way off yet. > I hate UEFI always gives me a hard time when I have to do a dual boot linux/Windows installation. > > > Any other things to watch out for and be aware of before I purchase ? > > If you do buy the full kit including keyboard and mouse, the compact > keyboard and mouse are surprisingly good (for my values of "good"). It > also has the clever feature of a 3-port USB hub built into the keyboard, > so you can plug in the mouse and only use one port - and still have a > nearby port for USB stick use. > I was thinking of getting a USB extender hub with 4 ports or similar. > > The full kit comes with 2x micro-hdmi to HDMI cables. Absurd numbers of > Raspberry Pi 4s are selling as dual-monitor thin clients, but note > there's only room for *micro* HDMI connectors: it's hard to bodge with > adapters. > Alright noted with thanks. > > You also said: > > > The hardest I will run that Pi will be when compiling the Linux > > Kernel and when making Video calls. > > Ah. The Raspberry Pi kernel is *not quite* mainline yet. Building a new > kernel will likely lose you useful things in the stock kernel, such as > 3d graphics acceleration and video acceleration. You also (currently) > lose that if you run a 64-bit kernel. > Oh no-no I meant compiling the Raspberry Pi kernel itself. I found some code here: https://github.com/raspberrypi Again just to teach myself and see if I can make it have a smaller footprint. > The stock Raspberry Pi OS image (formerly known as Raspbian: it's > Debian-based) has the best user experience. Every other distro hasn't > got as much user support. The Raspberry Pi Foundation has a very > definite view of how their desktop should look, so if you've done lots > of customization to their LXDE-based desktop, it *will* all get reverted > at the next refresh of the UI. This happens roughly quarterly. > So is the quarterly refresh of the UI automatic ? or you are given the option to choose and say yes go ahead or uh-uh stick with my modified one ? > > Also, video calls: I don't know of any of the major video call providers > that support ARM and Raspberry Pi. Google Meet through Chromium, maybe. > Anything that requires a binary (so Zoom, Skype) is right out. Going to > ARM from x86 for the first time can be a bit of a blow: the number of > systems that only work on x86 is annoyingly high. > Video calls are what I use to stress test a system. I did find some links about making video calls using the Pi: Video Calling on Raspberry Pi 3 <https://www.instructables.com/id/Video-Calling-on-Raspberry-Pi-3/> Working from home with your Pi <https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/working-from-home-with-your-raspberry-pi/>Turn a Raspberry Pi, a Webcam and a TV into a video call ... <https://www.balena.io/blog/put-friends-and-loved-ones-on-the-big-screen-with-this-instant-video-call-project/> > > The Raspberry Pi camera is also fixed focus and doesn't do audio. It's > not useful for video calls. > Okay good to know again. > > I don't know anyone well enough in the Edmonton area to help with > installation, sorry. > No worries, you have been a big help. Thank you. > > cheers, > Stewart > > > cheers, > Stewart > --- > Post to this mailing list talk@gtalug.org > Unsubscribe from this mailing list > https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk >
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