Friday, December 11, 2015

Raspberry PI Zero is here

I just received mine. And it just works. It takes a ridiculous amount of energy, and works just like its bigger brothers. Just a couple of things to keep in mind:
  • Use the latest RasPian image, I used - successfully - the one from Nov-11, 2015 (2015-11-21-raspbian-jessie.img)
  • If you use a desktop USB keyboard, you need a powered USB hub
  • Once started, do not forget to expand your file system, so it uses all the space available on your SD card
I used it with the small Edimax Wireless USB dongle (the powered hub is not required for this one), I got started in no time. I was able to ssh to it and run everything on it! So far, it is an amazing machine. A real fully featured Linux computer for $5. And 20 times more memory than the one I had in my desk 25 years back...
. . .
That would remind many things to some of us... Amstrad, Amiga, Atari, wow! I must be getting old.

PS: About the pinout: Put the SD Card on top, the biggest Raspberry design under the board. The pin #1 (3V3) is at the top left of the header.