[Closed] Raspberry Pi numpty seeks help

If you are just looking at programming then all you need is a pi, SD card, keyboard, mouse, phone charger power and HDMI lead ( As well as a TV to plug into and a PC with internet to get started). There's some great interfacing stuff as well if you want to make it do something. There also some pretty cases. I'd start simple though.

You can but the pi stand alone then pick up the other bits from Amazon/eBay/play/7dayshop/etc

If you are getting a monitor make sure it has HDMI. Might be cheaper to buy a TV

Also you might want some way to connect to the internet. Network cable or compatible wifi dongle

My mate works here: http://shop.pimoroni.com/

Little startup in Sheffield with him and a few friends.
They sell Pi kits, cases and other lovely stuff.

I love geekery and all things programming, looked at the pi and think the whole approach is a mess.... get him a cheap laptop, loads of free compilers and such like.

My kids both learned to code in Scratch and a Pi is as good a tool for that as any.

If you're not technical I'd get a kit that you can plug and play with (and try it before Christmas morning so you *know* you can get it to work).

My daughter had a great little add on with various buttons switches etc that you coudl cause to trigger events on the screen.

I love geekery and all things programming, looked at the pi and think the whole approach is a mess.... get him a cheap laptop, loads of free compilers and such like.

Does a laptop have easily accessible GPIO pins? And nice easy to follow tutorials for kids? And books? And shields, Pi-Face etc?

Any machine is a good tool to learn how to write some python but that's not really the point.

looked at the pi and think the whole approach is a mess....

I started playing with a Pi not really knowing anything and I now have three:
One connected to our PV inverter uploading generation data to a web site during the day and backing up work data to Amazon S3 storage at night.
Another one is monitoring the hot water temperature and loading this onto a web site that it hosts at another house. Its duties will soon also include controlling wireless sockets in that house so I can switch heaters on and off remotely.
The other one is controlling lights (depending upon ambient light levels which it monitors) at our main house while also running XBMC.

Some of the programming I've done myself and some bits I've borrowed/adapted from various web sites - but it's all Python which I'd never even heard of before getting the first Pi.

Hugely satisfying.

very commendable, there's no doubt it's a very powerful bit of kit.

One connected to our PV inverter uploading generation data to a web site during the day and backing up work data to Amazon S3 storage at night.
Another one is monitoring the hot water temperature and loading this onto a web site that it hosts at another house. Its duties will soon also include controlling wireless sockets in that house so I can switch heaters on and off remotely.
The other one is controlling lights (depending upon ambient light levels which it monitors) at our main house while also running XBMC.

I dream of the days where I own my own house and can do things like this.

My mate works here: http://shop.pimoroni.com/

That is a great site.

As mentioned above, Pimeroni is a great site.

Their starter kit has everything you need to get going:

[url= http://shop.pimoroni.com/products/b-raspberry-pi-starter-kit ]Raspberry Pi Starter Kit[/url]

You want to get the Model B raspberry Pi as it has an extra usb port and more memory. This starter kit also comes with an sdcard pre-loaded with the operating system so that will save you some faffing around

Oh, and if you are looking at monitors make sure they have a HDMI connection

(or get a converter from HDMI to VGA/DVI depending on what connector the monitor has)

get the Model B raspberry Pi

Assume you mean B+ - OP make sure you get this one, it's newer, the same price as the B and has a few more GPIO pins, USB ports and is just generally better.

Also if you do get the above kit, make sure you get the "Coupe" case, otherwise the pins are inaccessible.

To me that looks an excellent starter kit though, and packaging etc looks nice too so an ideal present.

Assume you mean B+

Yeah, you're right, I just meant not the Model A!

This [url= http://shop.pimoroni.com/products/adventure-in-raspberry-pi-building-a-jukebox-kit ]http://shop.pimoroni.com/products/adventure-in-raspberry-pi-building-a-jukebox-kit[/url] and the accompanying book look like a nice idea for a beginner.

EDIT: The kit that Jam1e linked to is good, but you might already have an SD card/keyboard/usb power supply already spare at home, so you could save a bit of cash buying only what you need.

You want the B+ really. More gpio ports, slightly less power consumption (but a headless Pi will only use about 2w anyway) and more resistance to crashing when USB devices are unplugged when they shouldn't be. Also only uses microSD cards while the B can use either (with an adapter).
B+ has no more memory than the B.

how easy is it to remote desktop into a raspberry pi?

[url= http://www.raspberrypi.org/video-demo-of-the-day-vnc-on-raspberry-pi/ ]Try this Jammy[/url]

Answer is: pretty easy.

cool. quite fancy tinkering but don't have a spare monitor/keyboard/mouse so would rather not have to buy them as well. be easier if I can just remote into it from my laptop.

I never connect a keyboard/monitor to my pis - always run them remotely. Though I'm not using a desktop, just doing things the old fashioned way with a text terminal, so no need for remote desktops. No good if you want a desktop or aren't comfortable with a purely text interface, but to be honest you can do most stuff people do with a pi that way. I'm using PuTTY to do an SSH connection (and mounting shared directories so I can edit files on my laptop which then appear on the pi as native files - also WinSCP is a useful tool for transferring files from a laptop).

Unless I'm missing something sharkbait, that demo is using the pi as a client, so not what jam is after - I've also used a pi as a Spice client to run a Windows VM from a server (though it struggles a little with performance for that).

[quote=jam1e ]Oh, and if you are looking at monitors make sure they have a HDMI connection
(or get a converter from HDMI to VGA/DVI depending on what connector the monitor has)

No real advantage to HDMI over DVI - the cables are just as cheap as no conversion required, it's just a different plug. Conversion required for VGA, but the converters are so cheap that's not really an issue either - I've got one of [url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/Neewer-Black-Adapter-Converter-Laptop/dp/B007KEIRNG ]these[/url] which works fine.

I think the idea with the pi was that most people have an HDMI TV to plug into, but even if you're still in the dark ages like me, the composite video connection actually works OK if you've got an old telly to plug into.

iamsporticus, if you do go for the Pimoroni kit, try using the code 'landlubber' for 10% off

😀

I had a Leisure Suit Larry moment there.

Quite fancy a Pi, in a "don't have a scooby what I'd actually do with it" sort of way. Struggling to find a kit that actually has useful, interesting stuff like GPIO cables and project trickery rather than tat I don't need like HDMI cables, keyboards and power supplies though.

Feeling inspired

Thanks

Quite fancy a Pi, in a "don't have a scooby what I'd actually do with it" sort of way.

just bought one of these on that basis:

http://shop.pimoroni.com/products/raspberry-pi-model-b-with-pibow

was gonna buy a netatmo weather station for my christmas present but think I might have a go at building one myself.

Interesting thread - thanks everyone.

I run a weather station on my Pi. Feeds weather info to the web every 5 minutes.

http://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=ISTIRLIN11

Use a Pi connected to a Maplin USB Pro weather station:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/silver-usb-wireless-touchscreen-weather-forecaster-n96fy

Then followed the instructions here: http://www.weather.dragontail.co.uk/index.php?page=pywws_setup

Total cost was £100, including a pole for the weather station!

A Pi is worth it for XBMC alone, simply awesome and totally changed the way I watch TV and films.

I've never really got beyond using mine for XBMC either, but a weather station sounds like a great idea.

At what age do they start using these at school?

used mine for as a media center for while when the xbox refused recognize the windows pc upstairs 🙄 but has since been replaced by the bluray player as it does a better job.

after someone here posted [url= http://audio.toddkumpf.com/ ]The Audio Infuser 4700[/url] last year I was inspired to try a pi for streaming music from NAS to stereo.

Finally started it this week. So far got the sound working and am able to stream from NAS to amp which I am pretty cuffed with. Next step get some sort of on off switch to work and some remote controlling so no need for mouse, keyboard and monitor. Then a nice case and maybe soundcard. And done. Fingers crossed.

One of the first fun things I did with a Pi was to set it up to take a picture using a usb cam and email it to me - this all happened when the connection between two gpio pins was broken (really not difficult, loads of tutorials on the pi web site).

I took the kit and put it in one of the kitchen cupboards running off a small phone charging battery and hooked the wires to the gpio pins to the magnet that holds the cupboard door closed - when the door opened the contact was broken and the picture was taken/emailed.

Using this method I discovered which of my lovely daughters was eating all the biscuits 🙂

At one point I was considering adapting the system to detect when a mole was at a particular point in the run and then having the Pi trigger a trap/small explosive charge!

Pi's are ace.

Thanks for the recommendation of [url= http://shop.pimoroni.com/ ]http://shop.pimoroni.com/[/url]

I've been thinking about having a tinker with one of these and seeing if it might spark an interest with daughter number 2. I contacted Pimoroni and got some great advice, so placed an order.

Looking forward to getting cracking soon.

Are most of you programming in Python

I have a Pi, I'd originally envisaged using it as an in-car multimedia centre with an SSD hooked up to it. I got as far as googling for Linux media players when I stumbled upon RetoPi.

My Pi now emulates a number of 1980s computers, consoles and arcade cabinets and is a great way of spending a Saturday evening enjoying a retro-nerdfest. My only complaint is that the C64 and Amiga emulators are way too slow.

My mate works here: http://shop.pimoroni.com/

[quote=sharkbait ]One of the first fun things I did with a Pi was to set it up to take a picture using a usb cam and email it to me
...
Using this method I discovered which of my lovely daughters was eating all the biscuits

Like. 😀

I'm coding in C (was going to write C++, but actually no, it's C). Had a play with Python, but given I'm used to coding in C no real advantage to Python, and I'm also doing some low level stuff you can't really do in Python (and I'd have to write wrappers if I wanted to do the rest of my stuff in Python).

Though I suppose my most recent project is written in HTML, Javascript and PHP 8)

All good stuff

Thanks all

Really pleased at all the positive comments about Pimoroni.
I got a text from my mate thanking me for the increase in their site traffic 😀

Sod the text - he owes you a beer!

[b]Thread Ressurection[/b]

Pimironi have a KickStarter going for a bunch of RasPi add on modules called Flotilla:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pimoroni/flotilla-for-raspberry-pi-making-for-everyone

GrahamS - Member
My mate works here: http://shop.pimoroni.com/

Can you ask them to answer one of the several emails I've sent asking for games that were promised with the picadade when I bought it?

#SorryForTheArseyCommentAsIThinkYoureANiceBloke!

Paul: well I spoke to him about it, he's not directly involved in the Picade stuff but he said there was an [url= https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pimoroni/picade-the-arcade-cabinet-kit-for-your-raspberry-p/posts/1104060 ]update posted on the Picade KickStarter backers page[/url] a few days ago, the short version is "No news on games yet". He also said sorry for the lack of response and that they hope to have better news about official game releases in the near future as Picade gears up for retail release.

Thread resurrection!
Looks like the starter kit is out of stock at Pimoroni.
Does anyone know of any starter kits available else where that contain the same bits? Otherwise, could some please help with specing up the equivalent kit?

They are pretty standard parts. see earlier posts. Basically:

Pi
Case (not needed)
USB keyboard
USB mouse
SD card. 8Gb or more
HDMI lead
Network lead or WiFi dongle; optional
USB power supply. Phone charger will do. 1 Amp version is best.

I've also used the good ship Pimoroni and have nothing but praise for them. Backed the Floatilla project too which is quite exciting!

Still at the 'not quite sure of the purpose of this' stage, but hoping to develop something useful/interesting with it. Probably VPN and webcam to watch the dog at home whilst I'm at work. That'll definitely increase my productivity...

Looks like the starter kit is out of stock at Pimoroni.

I guess they weren't stocking it before the release of [url= http://shop.pimoroni.com/products/raspberry-pi-2-starter-kit ]Raspberry Pi 2 Starter Kit[/url]