A little light reading

OK, so a bits happened since my first post which was a brief overview about what bits to get should you be interested in getting a Raspberry Pi.

To put things simply those bits have arrived.

So now for a rundown on selecting bits that will work with your Pi, and make things simpler. To put things into a simpler to understand context, when you take a trip to your local computer bits seller, you'll see loads of bits you can plug straight into any Windows based computer. You can be using it within a few minutes of your return, because Windows is a well supported operating system with drivers available to run pretty much everything you can buy.

The Raspberry Pi on the other hand runs for the most part a version of Linux. Whilst Linux has a fairly good support base for most common hardware, if you want to move beyond common items, you may run into difficulties if you are looking to run other more exotic peripherals. Fear not there is an ever expanding list of equipment that has been tested with the Pi. Some stuff works, some doesn't  so to figure out what will work, and therefore is worth buying in the first place, have a look here.

Armed with this info, you can start picking bits that will give you a better chance of success. One point that is worth noting is the power supply you choose. As you start digging into some of the websites for Pi based info, it will become readily obvious that a lot of stability issues relate directly to your choice of power supply. Power supplies as stated from my previous instalment are a common micro USB type, frequently supplied with android smartphones. However not all power supplies are created equally, and some have been categorised as 'Problem' devices. Therefore I'd recommend you stick to the list on power supplies. The one I'm using is a Samsung Galaxy S supply, it was a spare supply to power my girlfriends phone when she stops over with me.

Now for the other stuff I got. Working on the theory that I wanted an install with a minimum of wires, I looked for a wireless keyboard and mouse combo that used a single wireless USB dongle. The Logitech MK260 is a reasonably priced combo wireless mouse and keyboard. It has the useful feature that the wireless dongle is really low powered, so it can run directly plugged into the Pi's USB socket. Coming back to those power supply issues, some of the USB based peripherals and dongles can't run directly as they draw too much power from the Pi.

So thats the power supply, keyboard and mouse dealt with, next to look at SD cards. You may have these lay about the house, but these days, they are really cheap, so check you have a suitable card here. It'll help ensure you have a stable running system when you start tinkering. Mine happen to be 8 Gb Kingston cards, thats what I had to hand, fortunately they are listed as being good cards. Which is why they have been pressed into use in my Pi setup.

Next, whilst I have the opportunity to connect the Pi to the internet via a cable, I'd rather use WiFi. So a bit of research led me to the Edimax EW-7811Un. Its a tiny USB dongle that offers a 802.11b/g/n wireless. Best of all its cheap, low enough power requirements to run directly from the Pi, and is plug and play on the Pi, so it should work with no problems.

The case I got is a clear blue case, partly because it was cheap, partly because it was useful to have a clear case for any photo's I take. As for the rest of the bits, well a spare Cat 5 network lead, HDMI lead and my TV have all been pressed into service as thats what I have to hand.

So thats it for this post, use the lists to pick the bits you need, do some research, and you'll save time and money having to buy twice, if the stuff you get is known to cause problems.