[OFFICIAL] RaspberryPi: The 25$ PC

[pepedog]

Only me at the moment.
I patched so you can define the mac address, but apparently there will be a unique number in gpu which it will be derived from on production model.
All I can say is, on arch it works just as well as on debian, or any other disto

[1lj4z1]

Guys I need some help! I want to install Arch Linux on the Raspberry Pi and I can't find a guide... does anyone know how? Thanks I'll appreciate it.

[pepedog]

You got one?
Only here at the moment
http://www.raspberrypi.org/forum/distributions/archlinuxarm-on-raspberry-pi
I am not 100% happy with the kernel at the moment, not my fault.
For instance forget installing rootfs on a usb device, or adding bluetooth (first things I tried)
Also no sound drivers
Apparently Red Hat and Seneca are working on it, will be a 3.x kernel, but won't see for a while.
They are auctioning a few boards off, if you are rich
http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/raspberry_pi/?_trksid=p4340.l2559

[1lj4z1]

Haha I will wait for the public release, I am not rich. Well in the demonstrations which OS are they using? both sound and 1080p video works... I am considering making a minimal fast OS for the raspberry and I don't know where to base it from... ubuntu would be easier but no tools are available, on the other hand Debian might do it.

[pepedog]

The sound is not via the Linux kernel, SOUND is not set
I think demos are via accelerated sound and video blobs.

[andre]

Speaking about the video blob...
I remember reading about the BeagleBoard and it's closed source libraries being incompatible due they are soft-float compiled and the ArchLinux for the ARMv7 architecture is hard-float compiled.
But since the RaspBerry pi is an ARMv5, it uses the other respository. And I am wondering, how are these compiled? Can we expect simular issues when it comes to these libraries? ( http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/592 )

[pepedog]

I think you overall feel of that blob is there will be no issues.

[OrionFyre]

Just poking my head in here and saying 'sup.

I've been an avid Arch user for quite some time and i've been following the Pi project since their first blog post.

I currently administer upwards of 70 different computers for friends, family, and my own. All of which use Arch. I forced everyone to let me install linux or I would no longer fix their computers. and now... I no longer have to fix computers. Really the only problems I've had since setting up my administration has been issues related to differing hardware between the machines and the such (think ATI, nvidia, xorg and the like).

I'm particularly keen on the Raspberry Pi because such a cheap affordable device would allow me to substantially reduce my administration overhead (lower than it is already) and would perfectly cover what most of the machines are used for. i.e. browsing, youtube, email, and facebook. I am not in any particular rush to get things moving and I won't be buying one from the first batch, but in the end I can see myself getting a dozen of these guys running for fun and actual use such as to replace the 14 media center PC's which currently run XBMC. I most likely will hold off migrating the web browsing computers and such until an accelerated graphics driver arrives. But in discussing the matter with the computer owners all of them are extremely intrigued by the concept and expressed and interest in moving towards this platform if it meant reduced energy use and ease of administration on my end.

When the purchase restriction is lifted is most likely when I'll b placing an order for about a dozen to start and I will be more than willing to help here with the effort. I plan to stick with Arch and pacman since all my current scripts and self-written utilities will drop right in. I see mention of a possibility for building a dedicated repo and I would be willing to help with such effort if it is undertaken and the help is required.

[WarheadsSE]

At this point, we're debating on it, and it is an option. The issue we see is that we can integrate the needed changes into the build system, but we don't actually have any of the devices to truly test our work (pepedog has one, and that about it as far as core developers).

[pepedog]

It's been more of a curse being the only one. A lot of documentation has just been released.
If I told you it's not mentioned that-
if you build kernel with L2 cache on, and not in config file, no boot
if you build kernel without L2 cache on, and put it in config file, no boot
(there are 2 text files in /boot for options)
Anyway, midori starts in 5 seconds now, and lxde has problems.
I got an invite to launch event, 60 miles away, no date yet.