Getting Started with the Raspberry Pi

Basic tutorial of how to quickly setup a Raspberry Pi from scratch with development and prototyping in mind.

PARTS:
CanaKit Raspberry Pi 4 4GB Starter Kit – https://amzn.to/2Jrlbfj

 

FLASHING OS:

[The kit comes with NOOBS pre-installed, however we are going to manually flash the micro-sd card in order to get up and running faster]

  1. Take micro-sd card and insert it into provided USB MicroSD Card Reader
  2. Plug USB MicroSD Card Reader into PC
  3. Navigate to https://www.balena.io/etcher/ and download flash software for your desktop operating system
  4. Navigate to https://www.raspberrypi.org/software/operating-systems/ and download the latest “Raspberry PI OS with desktop and recommended software [Tip: Torrent is usually a bit faster for downloading purposes]
  5. Extract Raspberry Pi Image and open up Etcher
  6. Click “Flash from file” and select downloaded .img file
  7. Click “Select Target” and select micro sd device
  8. Click “Flash”

HEADLESS SETUP [OPTIONAL]:

  1. Safely remove micro sd card from card reader and then re-insert into card reader. [BOOT drive should appear]
  2. Open up BOOT directory
  3. Download headless_setup_files and edit the wpa_supplicant.conf file. Replace “WIFI SSID” and “WIFI PASSWORD” with your wifi credentials
  4. Copy blank ssh file and edited wpa_supplicant.conf to BOOT directory

Now when your RPI boots it should automatically try to connect to your wifi network and ssh will be enabled. This will allow you to remotely log into the raspberry pi using the default credentials

username: pi

password: raspberry

 

PHYSICAL SETUP:

  1. Safely remove micro sd card from card reader and insert it into the raspberry pi micro sd card slot.
  2. [optional] attach heatsinks to raspberry pi
  3. Plug in micro hdmi to hdmi cable and connect to monitor or TV
  4. Plug in USB mouse and keyboard to USB 2.0 ports on raspberry pi
  5. Plug in USB-C power adapter into RPI and wall outlet, RPI should now boot
  6. [optional] After verifying RPI boots, shut it down and attach the case and fan

OS CONFIGURATION:

  1. Connect to WIFI if not already connected [click network icon on top right corner]
  2. Open up a terminal window and update OS by running the following commands: 
    sudo apt-get update