• Raspberry Pi 4.. 8gb baby!

    From paulie420@VERT/RETROBBS to DOVE-Net.Hardware_Software_Help on Sat Jul 11 18:00:43 2020
    So I received a package yesterday.. I ordered 2 RPi's in the 8gb variety. I am simply amazed at the entire life of Raspberry Pi machines. I was a buyer of the very first one, and that blew my mind some 5 or so years ago... where RPi has come is just as awesome!

    A few weeks ago I decided to try out Ubuntu Mate with my RPi 4 1gb model... you can install Ubuntu Server, and from there perform a couple tweaks to fix some WiFi & other issues; ultimately putting mate on top and having a full Ubuntu install. Well, I got as far as that anyway... Userver went on without a hitch, and the tweaks were fine... heck, even mate went on without a hitch... but that's where the party ended. 1gb just wasn't enough to do anything. Open one chromium browser and the memory load would get to the high 8-900s, rendering the RPi worthless. Ah ha, but fast forward to NOW with more memory...

    (I've preface with the fact that I've heard good things about Ubuntu Mate on RPi with as little as 2gb, or the 4GB variety..) but boy oh boy, this 8gb does the trick! I'm getting solid, do I even say good!?- performance... it'll play 4K video- I did turn on some video graphics tweaks to give the GPU its own dedicated memory; and had to turn on access to that in chromium... but it flies now.

    I just can't believe for less than $75 you can get a machine that runs Ubuntu really well... sure it's still ARM, but I think software will continue to support it more and more; I envision a time when ARM even gets more popular...

    At any rate, I highly suggest the RPi 4 8gb model- BBSes? Done. Coding/programming/playing with hardware? Done. You're all [mostly] from me era; we were paying $5000 or more in 1995 for this computer!

    Anyone else have good experience with this new RPi? I have tons of projects and production pi's:

    Home assistant
    BBS server
    RetroPie emulation
    FreeBSD box for hardware hacking
    Kiwix Wireless Access Point server

    What are YOU doing with raspberry?

    pAULIE42o

    ---
    ­ Synchronet ­ RetroBBS - rocksolidbbs.com
  • From Digital Man@VERT to paulie420 on Sat Jul 11 15:37:41 2020
    Re: Raspberry Pi 4.. 8gb baby!
    By: paulie420 to DOVE-Net.Hardware_Software_Help on Sat Jul 11 2020 06:00 pm

    continue to support it more and more; I envision a time when ARM even gets more popular...

    I'm pretty sure ARM is already the most widely used (popular) microprocessor architecture - but I suppose the margin could increase.

    digital man

    This Is Spinal Tap quote #38:
    Artie Fufkin: I'm not asking, I'm telling with this. Kick my ass.
    Norco, CA WX: 99.6øF, 23.0% humidity, 7 mph NNE wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs

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  • From alterego@VERT/ALTERANT to paulie420 on Sun Jul 12 09:17:28 2020
    Re: Raspberry Pi 4.. 8gb baby!
    By: paulie420 to DOVE-Net.Hardware_Software_Help on Sat Jul 11 2020 06:00 pm

    Anyone else have good experience with this new RPi? I have tons of projects and production pi’s:

    So I've been using Pis for years as well. My first usage was the first Pi, connected via USB to the TV (for power), running XBMC (whatever was before libreElec) to be my media controller.

    (Behind the scenes, I had a server with home videos, pics and a mythtv server, recording FTA TV).

    As new Pi models came out, I sold the old model and upgraded. Then apple TV came out :(

    So now my TVs have an apple TV, using Plex and the Pis (I have 3x3's and a 3+) have been repurposed.

    1 (the 3+) is the BBS and Fido Hub (running in docker).
    1 is a RetroPi that I setup for my son (in a cool case I got from Amazon)
    1 will be a RetroPi HAT that my son will get for his birthday - got the HAT but havent had a chance to play with it yet.
    1 was running RISC OS - I was playing with VideoTEX (VHOST) but sadly telnet keeps crashing after a few days - and I know nothing about RISC OS. On this Pi, I also have a SD card with HomeAutomation - which seemed to work well and I've even running hercules (the mainframe emulator).

    My son is getting to the age that he'll want his own PC, so he may get the last one of these Pi's running a desktop of some sort...

    (Typing this, I have just realised he'll have 3 of my Pis!)

    ...ëîåï

    ... Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.

    ---
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  • From Arelor@VERT/PALANT to paulie420 on Sat Jul 11 17:55:28 2020
    Re: Raspberry Pi 4.. 8gb baby!
    By: paulie420 to DOVE-Net.Hardware_Software_Help on Sat Jul 11 2020 06:00 pm

    Anyone else have good experience with this new RPi? I have tons of projects and production pi's:

    Home assistant
    BBS server
    RetroPie emulation
    FreeBSD box for hardware hacking
    Kiwix Wireless Access Point server

    What are YOU doing with raspberry?


    I have two of the early ones. I have used them as Mumble (Voice Chat) servers, i2p and tor gateways, backup desktops and
    multimedia players. You can survive with less than 1GB if you are careful. The real RAM killer of these days is modern web
    browsers. The Web sucks. Depending on your use case you can go with lightweight browsers that only support the most basic sites
    or use regular browsers with many functions disabled...

    There is a Tiny Core Linux port for Raspberry that is probably great, but I have yet to try it. It should be good because it
    reduces the read/writes to the SD card and is realy a compact operating system. I have been playing with Tiny Core Linux for
    old wintel computers and response is very good. It has its own problems though.

    --
    gopher://gopher.operationalsecurity.es

    ---
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  • From Dennisk@VERT/MINDSEYE to paulie420 on Sun Jul 12 12:10:00 2020
    paulie420 wrote to DOVE-Net.Hardware_Softwar <=-

    So I received a package yesterday.. I ordered 2 RPi's in the 8gb
    variety. I am simply amazed at the entire life of Raspberry Pi
    machines. I was a buyer of the very first one, and that blew my mind
    some 5 or so years ago... where RPi has come is just as awesome!

    A few weeks ago I decided to try out Ubuntu Mate with my RPi 4 1gb model... you can install Ubuntu Server, and from there perform a couple tweaks to fix some WiFi & other issues; ultimately putting mate on top
    and having a full Ubuntu install. Well, I got as far as that anyway... Userver went on without a hitch, and the tweaks were fine... heck, even mate went on without a hitch... but that's where the party ended. 1gb
    just wasn't enough to do anything. Open one chromium browser and the memory load would get to the high 8-900s, rendering the RPi worthless.
    Ah ha, but fast forward to NOW with more memory...

    (I've preface with the fact that I've heard good things about Ubuntu
    Mate on RPi with as little as 2gb, or the 4GB variety..) but boy oh
    boy, this 8gb does the trick! I'm getting solid, do I even say good!?- performance... it'll play 4K video- I did turn on some video graphics tweaks to give the GPU its own dedicated memory; and had to turn on
    access to that in chromium... but it flies now.

    I just can't believe for less than $75 you can get a machine that runs Ubuntu really well... sure it's still ARM, but I think software will continue to support it more and more; I envision a time when ARM even
    gets more popular...

    At any rate, I highly suggest the RPi 4 8gb model- BBSes? Done. Coding/programming/playing with hardware? Done. You're all [mostly]
    from me era; we were paying $5000 or more in 1995 for this computer!

    Anyone else have good experience with this new RPi? I have tons of projects and production pi's:

    Home assistant
    BBS server
    RetroPie emulation
    FreeBSD box for hardware hacking
    Kiwix Wireless Access Point server

    What are YOU doing with raspberry?

    I have the Raspberry Pi B, so an older, slower one. Its either used to download large files overnight, or used by my daughter to play Minecraft Pi. It mostly serves the latter purpose!

    ... MultiMail, the new multi-platform, multi-format offline reader!
    --- MultiMail/Linux v0.52
    þ Synchronet þ Mind's Eye - mindseye.ddns.net - Melbourne Australia
  • From Nightfox@VERT/DIGDIST to Digital Man on Sun Jul 12 00:15:51 2020
    Re: Raspberry Pi 4.. 8gb baby!
    By: Digital Man to paulie420 on Sat Jul 11 2020 03:37 pm

    continue to support it more and more; I envision a time when ARM even
    gets more popular...

    I'm pretty sure ARM is already the most widely used (popular) microprocessor architecture - but I suppose the margin could increase.

    I don't doubt that.

    On a side note, I recently heard Apple plans to transition their Mac computers from Intel x86 to their own ARM-based processors:
    https://www.wired.com/story/apple-will-put-its-own-chips-into-macs/

    They say transitioning Macs to ARM will more easily allow apps in the Apple ecosystem to run on all of their devices.
    I think it's interesting, since I heard Apple initially approached Intel to produce processors for their iPhone, but Intel declined. Intel probably dropped the ball on that deal, and Intel has since struggled to make processors that are power-efficient enough for mobile devices. For a while (around 2013 or 2014, if I remember), there were a few Android phones and tablets that appeared with Intel processors, but Intel has since stopped their mobile processor efforts. Declining the iPhone deal may have been one of Intel's worst decisions. If Intel had developed some efficient mobile processors, perhaps they could have had more of an advantage in the market these days.

    Nightfox

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com
  • From Vk3jed@VERT/FREEWAY to paulie420 on Sun Jul 12 21:20:00 2020
    On 07-11-20 18:00, paulie420 wrote to DOVE-Net.Hardware_Software_Help <=-

    Anyone else have good experience with this new RPi? I have tons of projects and production pi's:

    I love the Pi series. I've got 2 E=Pi 2B+s and a 3B+. In addition, I have a Banana Pi running 2 BBSs, and a spare Banana. I also have an Orange Pi Zero, but I tried to load an image on it and got no joy. I'll try a more standard OS image and see what happens.

    Home assistant
    BBS server
    RetroPie emulation
    FreeBSD box for hardware hacking
    Kiwix Wireless Access Point server

    What are YOU doing with raspberry?

    R-Pi 2B+ #1 - 44-Net IP-IP tunnel router.
    R-Pi 2B+ @2 - Packet radio gateway (still needs a radio)
    R-Pi 3B+ - Experimental SDR transceiver.
    Banana Pi #1 - 2 x BBSs and night time white noise generator (actually makes the background sound of a TNG era starship ;) ).
    Banana Pi #1 - Spare
    Orange Pi - TBD :)

    I also plan on setting up a MMDVM digital gateway on yet another Pi. ;)


    ... The trouble with facts is that there are so many of them.
    --- MultiMail/Win v0.51
    þ Synchronet þ Freeway BBS, Bendigo Australia. freeway.apana.org.au
  • From Vk3jed@VERT/FREEWAY to Digital Man on Sun Jul 12 21:26:00 2020
    On 07-11-20 15:37, Digital Man wrote to paulie420 <=-

    I'm pretty sure ARM is already the most widely used (popular) microprocessor architecture - but I suppose the margin could increase.

    I'd sau you're right - all those phones and tablets, fruity Pi boards and more. :)


    ... The trouble with facts is that there are so many of them.
    --- MultiMail/Win v0.51
    þ Synchronet þ Freeway BBS, Bendigo Australia. freeway.apana.org.au
  • From Mortifis@VERT/EPHRAM to paulie420 on Sun Jul 12 12:40:40 2020
    So I received a package yesterday.. I ordered 2 RPi's in the 8gb variety. I am simply amazed at the entire life of Raspberry Pi machines. I was a buyer of the very first one, and that blew my mind some 5 or so years ago... where RPi has come is just as awesome!

    A few weeks ago I decided to try out Ubuntu Mate with my RPi 4 1gb model... you can install Ubuntu Server, and from there perform a couple tweaks to fix some WiFi & other issues; ultimately putting mate on top and having a full Ubuntu install. Well, I got as far as that anyway... Userver went on without a hitch, and the tweaks were fine... heck, even mate went on without a hitch... but that's where the party ended. 1gb just wasn't enough to do anything. Open one chromium browser and the memory load would get to the high 8-900s, rendering the RPi worthless. Ah ha, but fast forward to NOW with more memory...

    (I've preface with the fact that I've heard good things about Ubuntu Mate on RPi with as little as 2gb, or the 4GB variety..) but boy oh boy, this 8gb does the trick! I'm getting solid, do I even say good!?- performance... it'll play 4K video- I did turn on some video graphics tweaks to give the GPU its own dedicated memory; and had to turn on access to that in chromium... but it flies now.

    I just can't believe for less than $75 you can get a machine that runs Ubuntu really well... sure it's still ARM, but I think software will continue to support it more and more; I envision a time when ARM even gets more popular...

    At any rate, I highly suggest the RPi 4 8gb model- BBSes? Done. Coding/programming/playing with hardware? Done. You're all [mostly] from me era; we were paying $5000 or more in 1995 for this computer!

    Anyone else have good experience with this new RPi? I have tons of projects and production pi's:


    I recently picked up the 4gig and am, well, not super impressed with the wifi and screen resolution, but after updating the firmware it seems adequate for a few of my 'gizmo' projects

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Realm of Dispair BBS - http://ephram.synchro.net:82
  • From DaiTengu@VERT/ENSEMBLE to paulie420 on Mon Jul 13 08:10:35 2020
    Re: Raspberry Pi 4.. 8gb baby!
    By: paulie420 to DOVE-Net.Hardware_Software_Help on Sat Jul 11 2020 06:00 pm

    I just can't believe for less than $75 you can get a machine that runs Ubuntu really well... sure it's still ARM, but I think software will continue to support it more and more; I envision a time when ARM even gets more popular...

    Apple is switching over from x86 CPUs to building their own ARM processesor in their machines starting at the end of this year. So you're probably quite correct.

    Anyone else have good experience with this new RPi? I have tons of projects and production pi's:

    Home assistant
    BBS server
    RetroPie emulation
    FreeBSD box for hardware hacking
    Kiwix Wireless Access Point server


    I have a RPi3 and an 8GB RPi4. the 4 was an upgrade for my RetroPie, which I tool around on every few months.

    I'm trying to figure out what to do with my 3, I may set it up at my cottage to do some monitoring (if it goes offline due to power outage, I know how long, which will let me know if I need to throw the stuff in the refrigerator out), and maybe set up a camera or two around the property to keep an eye on things.

    DaiTengu

    ... The nicest thing about growing older is that it takes such a long time.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ War Ensemble BBS - The sport is war, total war - warensemble.com
  • From Nightfox@VERT/DIGDIST to DaiTengu on Mon Jul 13 09:00:19 2020
    Re: Raspberry Pi 4.. 8gb baby!
    By: DaiTengu to paulie420 on Mon Jul 13 2020 08:10 am

    Apple is switching over from x86 CPUs to building their own ARM processesor in their machines starting at the end of this year. So you're probably quite correct.

    I built a hackintosh computer a long time ago and had considered doing so again, but I guess there wouldn't be much point in doing that now.

    Nightfox

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com
  • From Gamgee@VERT/PALANT to DaiTengu on Mon Jul 13 14:51:00 2020
    DaiTengu wrote to paulie420 <=-

    I have a RPi3 and an 8GB RPi4. the 4 was an upgrade for my
    RetroPie, which I tool around on every few months.

    I've got an RPi4 (the 4GB model) that I'd like to play with
    RetroPie on... One question I've got that you may know - how do
    you plug an NES controller into the Pi? (it's not a USB
    connector). Thanks for info.



    ... Is fire supposed to shoot out of it like that!?
    --- MultiMail/Linux v0.52
    þ Synchronet þ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL
  • From DaiTengu@VERT/ENSEMBLE to Nightfox on Wed Jul 22 23:19:23 2020
    Re: Raspberry Pi 4.. 8gb baby!
    By: Nightfox to DaiTengu on Mon Jul 13 2020 09:00 am

    Apple is switching over from x86 CPUs to building their own ARM
    processesor in their machines starting at the end of this year. So
    you're probably quite correct.

    I built a hackintosh computer a long time ago and had considered doing so again, but I guess there wouldn't be much point in doing that now.


    You can run OSX on a virtual machine now. It's much cheaper. :)

    DaiTengu

    ... Everybody should believe in something: I believe I'll have another drink.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ War Ensemble BBS - The sport is war, total war - warensemble.com
  • From DaiTengu@VERT/ENSEMBLE to Gamgee on Wed Jul 22 23:20:50 2020
    Re: Re: Raspberry Pi 4.. 8gb baby!
    By: Gamgee to DaiTengu on Mon Jul 13 2020 02:51 pm

    I've got an RPi4 (the 4GB model) that I'd like to play with
    RetroPie on... One question I've got that you may know - how do
    you plug an NES controller into the Pi? (it's not a USB
    connector). Thanks for info.

    You don't. At least, there's no way to do it that i know of. You can buy USB "retro" controllers for like $20 off Amazon now. I have an SNES one that works quite well.

    For most things though I just use a PS4 controller

    DaiTengu

    ... If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ War Ensemble BBS - The sport is war, total war - warensemble.com
  • From Nightfox@VERT/DIGDIST to DaiTengu on Wed Jul 22 22:49:41 2020
    Re: Raspberry Pi 4.. 8gb baby!
    By: DaiTengu to Nightfox on Wed Jul 22 2020 11:19 pm

    I built a hackintosh computer a long time ago and had considered
    doing so again, but I guess there wouldn't be much point in doing
    that now.

    You can run OSX on a virtual machine now. It's much cheaper. :)

    Yeah, I've seen OS X running on a virtual machine. Sometimes I like an OS running directly on hardware, but I guess a VM is an option.

    Nightfox

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com
  • From Nightfox@VERT/DIGDIST to DaiTengu on Wed Jul 22 22:55:53 2020
    Re: Re: Raspberry Pi 4.. 8gb baby!
    By: DaiTengu to Gamgee on Wed Jul 22 2020 11:20 pm

    You don't. At least, there's no way to do it that i know of. You can buy USB "retro" controllers for like $20 off Amazon now. I have an SNES one that works quite well.

    For most things though I just use a PS4 controller

    For a long time, I used a PS1 controller with the analog sticks with a Playstation USB adapter on my PC to play old emulated console games.

    Nightfox

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com
  • From Gamgee@VERT/PALANT to DaiTengu on Thu Jul 23 07:14:00 2020
    DaiTengu wrote to Gamgee <=-

    I've got an RPi4 (the 4GB model) that I'd like to play with
    RetroPie on... One question I've got that you may know - how do
    you plug an NES controller into the Pi? (it's not a USB
    connector). Thanks for info.

    You don't. At least, there's no way to do it that i know of.
    You can buy USB "retro" controllers for like $20 off Amazon now.
    I have an SNES one that works quite well.

    Okay, thanks. I've ordered the Amazon SNES retro one, should get
    it tomorrow. Looking forward to trying this out.



    ... Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes all the way to the bone.
    --- MultiMail/Linux v0.52
    þ Synchronet þ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL
  • From Mortifis@VERT/EPHRAM to Gamgee on Thu Jul 23 13:23:17 2020
    DaiTengu wrote to Gamgee <=-

    I've got an RPi4 (the 4GB model) that I'd like to play with
    RetroPie on... One question I've got that you may know - how do
    you plug an NES controller into the Pi? (it's not a USB
    connector). Thanks for info.

    You don't. At least, there's no way to do it that i know of.
    You can buy USB "retro" controllers for like $20 off Amazon now.
    I have an SNES one that works quite well.

    Okay, thanks. I've ordered the Amazon SNES retro one, should get
    it tomorrow. Looking forward to trying this out.


    Thought you might find these useful ...

    https://projects.drogon.net/nes-controller-on-the-raspberry-pi/

    https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=79703

    https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=153958

    ~Mortifis

    ---
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  • From Gamgee@VERT/PALANT to Mortifis on Thu Jul 23 21:20:00 2020
    Mortifis wrote to Gamgee <=-

    I've got an RPi4 (the 4GB model) that I'd like to play with
    RetroPie on... One question I've got that you may know - how do
    you plug an NES controller into the Pi? (it's not a USB
    connector). Thanks for info.

    You don't. At least, there's no way to do it that i know of.
    You can buy USB "retro" controllers for like $20 off Amazon now.
    I have an SNES one that works quite well.

    Okay, thanks. I've ordered the Amazon SNES retro one, should get
    it tomorrow. Looking forward to trying this out.


    Thought you might find these useful ...

    https://projects.drogon.net/nes-controller-on-the-raspberry-pi/

    https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=79703

    https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=153958

    Excellent, thanks! More work than I want to do at the moment, but
    definitely saving this for future reference. For now I'm gonna
    just try it with the wireless/usb clone controller mentioned
    above. Appreciate the info!



    ... AAcckk!! II''mm iinn hhaallff dduupplleexx
    --- MultiMail/Linux v0.52
    þ Synchronet þ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL
  • From Tracker1@VERT/TRN to DaiTengu on Wed Aug 5 17:13:26 2020
    On 7/22/2020 9:20 PM, DaiTengu wrote:
    I've got an RPi4 (the 4GB model) that I'd like to play with
    RetroPie on... One question I've got that you may know - how do
    you plug an NES controller into the Pi? (it's not a USB
    connector). Thanks for info.

    You don't. At least, there's no way to do it that i know of. You can
    buy USB "retro" controllers for like $20 off Amazon now. I have an
    SNES one that works quite well.

    For most things though I just use a PS4 controller

    They have/had some retro to USB adapters, but not aware of where to even
    find them now.

    Half the retro controllers or alternative controllers I've tried have
    really sucked. Really like the Sega Saturn layout for controllers
    though, since you get enough buttons in a layout to cover Sega and up to
    SNES layout.

    But the quality is so bad, buttons stop working in weeks, and within a
    few months, all are ineffective. Best bets are a good XBox or PS
    controller with a Bluetooth connection.

    Currently using a couple XBox wired controllers, but will probably get a couple wireless controllers, all the others I've used have been horrible.

    --
    Michael J. Ryan
    tracker1 +o Roughneck BBS

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