gallexme/nerves_system_rpi

Base Nerves system configuration for the Raspberry Pi A+ and B+

Raspberry Pi Model A+, B, and B+

This is the base Nerves System configuration for the Raspberry Pi A+, B, and B+. It will also work with the Raspberry Pi Zero, but usually nerves_system_rpi0 is preferable since it configures the USB port so that it can be plugged into a computer. This is very convenient for powering and debugging the Pi Zero. If you want to use the Raspberry Pi Zero's USB port in "host" mode (e.g., to attach a USB Flash drive or other peripheral), then this repository works and may be more appropriate.

This is not the configuration for the Raspberry Pi 2 or 3.

^{Image credit}

Feature	Description
CPU	700 MHz ARM1176JZF-S for A+, B, and B+, 1 GHz ARM1176JZF-S for the Zero
Memory	256 MB for rev 1 boards, 512 MB for rev 2 and the Zero
Storage	MicroSD
Linux kernel	4.4.50 w/ Raspberry Pi patches
IEx terminal	HDMI and USB keyboard (can be changed to UART)
GPIO, I2C, SPI	Yes - Elixir ALE
ADC	No
PWM	Yes, but no Elixir support
UART	1 available - ttyAMA0
Camera	Yes - via rpi-userland
Ethernet	Yes
WiFi	Requires USB WiFi dongle
Bluetooth	Not supported

Supported USB WiFi devices

The base image includes drivers and firmware for Ralink RT53xx (rt2800usb driver) and RealTek RTL8712U (r8712u driver) devices.

We are still working out which subset of all possible WiFi dongles to support in our images. At some point, we may have the option to support all dongles and selectively install modules at packaging time, but until then, these drivers and their associated firmware blobs add significantly to Nerves release images.

If you are unsure what driver your WiFi dongle requires, run Raspbian and configure WiFi for your device. At a shell prompt, run lsmod to see which drivers are loaded. Running dmesg may also give a clue. When using dmesg, reinsert the USB dongle to generate new log messages if you don't see them.

Linux kernel and RPi firmware/userland

There's a subtle coupling between the nerves_system_br version and the Linux kernel version used here. nerves_system_br provides the versions of rpi-userland and rpi-firmware that get installed. I prefer to match them to the Linux kernel to avoid any issues. Unfortunately, none of these are tagged by the Raspberry Pi Foundation so I either attempt to match what's in Raspbian or take versions of the repositories that have similar commit times.

Installation

If you're new to Nerves, check out the nerves_init_gadget project for creating a starter project for the Raspberry Pi Zero or Zero W. It will get you started with the basics like bringing up the virtual Ethernet interface, initializing the application partition, and enabling ssh-based firmware updates.

Image credit: This image is from the Fritzing parts library.