New graphic

25th of November 2011 by liz

Thanks to Paul Beech for this and some other spectacularly lovely design work we’ll be showing you soon. We’re using this diagram on handouts and posters at the moment, and it’s going down a treat.

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Hi, I'm having a similar problem... I'm trying to create a custom interface to control six relays attached to my Raspberry Pi. Everything works using the stock interface, but I want to make custom buttons that will turn each relay…
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Latest conversion is BusSpeed with the benchmark and source code included in:http://www.roylongbottom.org.uk/Raspber ... hmarks.zip This benchmark is designed to identify reading data in bursts over buses, with measurements covering caches and RAM. The program starts by reading a word (4…
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leol wrote:Thanks dom, works great now.Has anything else changed? Still pictures seem sharper now, but could be just because the sun is shinning at last!Still are now higher resolution. We were previously incorrectly capturing 2Mpixel stills (rather than 5Mpixel).viewtopic.php?f=43&t=44879

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180 comments

sh4d0w0lf on
November 25, 2011 at 1:57 pm said:

oooh shiny

Comment ↓
sh4d0w0lf on
November 25, 2011 at 1:58 pm said:

when are ya gonna be selling posters ect??

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 25, 2011 at 2:03 pm said:
  
  When we start selling the devices themselves. There will be t-shirts and peripherals too (including a tested, reliable, multi-region power adaptor, which I know some of you were worried about).
  
  We’re not selling any merch apart from the low-value stickers at the moment because the *moment* we started selling them a chorus of angry geeks around the internet started accusing us of being a scam with no real hardware. The best way to demonstrate that we’re not is to hold off on the more expensive merchandise – and this includes posters – until we ship some hardware. If this really was a scam, it’d be a hell of a lot less well documented, and I hope we’d be smart enough to sell something a little more expensive and less fiddly than stickers!
  
  Speaking of stickers, we’ve got some new, larger ones coming in next week, because so many people have requested them.
  
  Comment ↓
  - Seanp2k on
    November 25, 2011 at 3:37 pm said:
    
    Gotcha. I’m getting two of the B models as soon as they’re available — one to play with and one for production/appliance use :3
    
    Can’t wait guys, keep up the great work. Many many people are super pumped for this launch.
    
    Comment ↓
    - bananasdoom on
      November 27, 2011 at 7:41 am said:
      
      I cant say it any better my self
      
      Comment ↓
Montekuri on
November 25, 2011 at 1:59 pm said:

I made this question on the other topic but, as somebody would want to know too…
Was this picture made in scale?

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 25, 2011 at 2:05 pm said:
  
  I believe so – but I’ll leave that for Paul to confirm.
  
  Comment ↓
- guru on
  November 25, 2011 at 2:12 pm said:
  
  The dimensions are not exact by any means. They are a rough guide based on the PCB layout, so don’t use this to make a case or anything like that
  
  Any accurate diagram will have to wait for final, tested units.
  
  Comment ↓
  - liz on
    November 25, 2011 at 2:18 pm said:
    
    Thanks Paul.
    
    Comment ↓
    - Montekuri on
      November 25, 2011 at 3:19 pm said:
      
      Thanks, Liz and Paul.
      I just wanted to make a 3D drawing with the dimensions and positions, even not being official or final:
      [img]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i6/montekuri/R-Pi/3d_drawing_board.jpg[/img]
      
      Comment ↓
mdafbmm on
November 25, 2011 at 1:59 pm said:

Very nice. The wait is almost too much to bear. Any little updates are always welcome. It’s nice to see a really clear layout.

Comment ↓
Brian Smith on
November 25, 2011 at 2:00 pm said:

Just saw this on the FAQ – very nice.

Just to clarify, the SD card and DSI interface are in the same place – is the SD card on the underside / DSI interface on the top?

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 25, 2011 at 2:04 pm said:
  
  That’s right, yes.
  
  Comment ↓
James McCombe on
November 25, 2011 at 2:30 pm said:

I’m really looking forward to this, heard about it from a friend and have since been making plans to turn my 40″ into my home PC, such a wonderful idea behind this aswell, technology should be available to all, i love it

Comment ↓
Method on
November 25, 2011 at 2:36 pm said:

I haven’t bought a poster since I was 16, and now I think I might make an exception.

Comment ↓
jean on
November 25, 2011 at 2:50 pm said:

We can buit a new house too with this plan ?

Comment ↓
albertfrutos on
November 25, 2011 at 3:07 pm said:

I read in the Wiki (beginners) that we have to connect the board to the computer using COM (RS232). The problem is that I don’t see a COM (RS232) connection in the board schematics. In the computer we can use a USB-to-RS232 adaptor, but in the board… (the wiki says the adaptor in the computer, not the board). How will we do this?

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 25, 2011 at 3:10 pm said:
  
  Albert – you’ve emailed me, messaged me, posted this twice on the forums, and here too, all in the space of about five minutes. I’m trying to find out for you now, but I am beginning to feel a little spammed. (And if you’ve read the Wiki, you’ll see that the information on there is created by the community, not the Foundation.) Cool it, please!
  
  Comment ↓
- vladhed on
  November 25, 2011 at 4:02 pm said:
  
  Ah, that’s really old – I think it was aimed at Alpha board developers that would have to boot-strap the board to get an OS running. Us regular mortals will have access to SD cards or SD card images that we can just stick in the slot and boot Linux. Then plug in a keyboard, mouse and TV and go at it…or just telnet/ssh to it using the DHCP assigned IP address.
  
  Comment ↓
- Sancho on
  November 26, 2011 at 8:21 pm said:
  
  Still, you can use the JTAG connector – even thou the voltage is 3v3. Use google to find out about JTAG
  
  Comment ↓
agharta on
November 25, 2011 at 3:11 pm said:

Very nice!
Hope to buy it as soon as possibile!!!

Comment ↓
Fekete Tamas on
November 25, 2011 at 3:25 pm said:

Must have!

Comment ↓
JustACat on
November 25, 2011 at 4:05 pm said:

Nice! ^_^

Comment ↓
DaQatz on
November 25, 2011 at 4:19 pm said:

=) that is all.

Comment ↓
Nightwing2012 on
November 25, 2011 at 4:30 pm said:

Wow!

Comment ↓
JaffaBoy on
November 25, 2011 at 4:42 pm said:

oooh wallpaper #3 (must admit the pcb one is hurting my eyes)

and thanks for the 4 stickers, only paid for 2, well that’s the work pc sorted too

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 25, 2011 at 4:48 pm said:
  
  They’re right ones for reproducing in the envelopes, those stickers.
  
  Comment ↓
Pingback: New graphic | Raspberry Pi | Raspberry Pi | Scoop.it
Tulio Adriano C Muniz on
November 25, 2011 at 5:35 pm said:

It was great, very nice!
I’m waiting to buy my Raspberry Pi.

Comment ↓
hamjudo on
November 25, 2011 at 6:35 pm said:

Is there a preferred connector style for the GPIO?

If not, could you declare a preference?

For situations, where there will be a cable running from the GPIO connector on the Raspberry Pi to something else, any connector will work, as long as the correct mating connector is chosen.

Years ago, we had a robotics club meeting where people had soldered up copies of a development board that was popular back in the day. (It was a PIC based system, so this would have been last century.) It is possible to use either male or female connectors, and to put them on either the top or the bottom of the board. 3 out of the 4 possibilities were represented. They all worked with their associated robots, with the associated cables, but they weren’t interchangeable.

Obviously, you don’t want to force people to use a particular style, and only that style, but when it doesn’t make a huge difference, it is nice if there is a preferred default.

The female connectors are sturdier, and are mostly insulated so a loose wire won’t easily short pins together. For most of my applications, I want all of the connectors coming out the top or the sides. Therefore, my personal preference, is for female connectors on the top. Obviously, there are situations where one of the other three choices makes sense.

Comment ↓
- Geraint Rowlands on
  November 25, 2011 at 7:07 pm said:
  
  I’d innocently expected that it’d be a case of soldering header pins onto the board, and then using a ribbon cable. Are you intending on soldering a D-sub connector on instead?
  
  Comment ↓
  - liz on
    November 25, 2011 at 7:34 pm said:
    
    Your innocent expectation is correct. We’re not providing pins – you’ll have to solder them yourself. This is partly an issue of price – those pins are mighty expensive to mount – and partly because we want to ensure that anyone playing with GPIO knows what they’re doing first!
    
    Comment ↓
    - Geraint Rowlands on
      November 26, 2011 at 9:10 am said:
      
      Sorry, I was asking hamjudo what he intends to solder on his boards.
      
      Comment ↓
      - hamjudo on
        November 26, 2011 at 7:25 pm said:
        
        It would be a connector to go to a board with Pololu A4988 stepper drivers, to run a 3 axis mill.
Vincent Mercier on
November 25, 2011 at 6:50 pm said:

Are there any mounting holes on the PCB board ?

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 25, 2011 at 6:53 pm said:
  
  Not in this first iteration, I’m afraid. We’re likely to tweak the design to allow for them at some later point, but for now you’ll have to use sticky dots.
  
  Comment ↓
  - Anthony on
    November 25, 2011 at 11:13 pm said:
    
    No mounting holes.
    
    Grrr.
    
    Sticky dots aren’t worth a crap in something that you’d like to put outside in a weatherproof enclosure. They lose adhesive and fall off.
    
    Such a shame that such basic needs for mounting aren’t met in an otherwise stellar design.
    
    Comment ↓
    - liz on
      November 25, 2011 at 11:17 pm said:
      
      Have you experimented with Sugru? We’ve had great success with it at very high temperatures and in the wet (it even dishwashes well). It’s non-conductive, and it sounds like it’ll suit your needs.
      
      Drilling holes, sadly, costs money which we’re having to shave off at the moment. And they’re not vital for the people this board is aimed at (kids) – like I say, later iterations will have holes, but you won’t see holes in the betas.
      
      (And grr to you too. $25! Neal Stephenson would tell you to display some adaptability.)
      
      Comment ↓
      - Anthony on
        November 25, 2011 at 11:34 pm said:
        
        Sugru might work, as a last resort, but I wouldn’t trust it in the long haul. Virtually ever adhesive solution I’ve ever tried failed at some point. Systems I build often go for years unattended. My application ideas for the Raspi would put it in a solar powered box in hostile climates worldwide. I can’t hope that adhesive holds up. Fixing the unit due to an adhesive failure is 20x the cost of the unit itself due to accessibility.
        
        Perhaps I can desolder the RCA connector, cut the trace and at least make use of the hole there for a standoff to the backpanel.
        
        Admonishing me adaptability? Oh please. I thought the idea behind this product was to make it as adaptable to as many venues as possible.
        
        You’ve pretty much told everyone (and especially me) who raise issues about mounting and cabling management to bugger off.
        
        No love for us OEM’s that would like to take this beyond the hobby/hack level I suppose.
        
        I really like what the design is electronically. It is a true accomplishment. The mechanical side, not so much.
      - Anthony on
        November 25, 2011 at 11:36 pm said:
        
        wait…I may have read too fast, if so my apology
        
        “but you won’t see holes in the betas.”
        
        Are you saying then that there will be mounting holes in final production boards?
      - liz on
        November 25, 2011 at 11:42 pm said:
        
        Can’t leave a threaded reply more than five deep, but yes, later boards will have holes. And I don’t know, Anthony, but there’s something about the way you present yourself here that just screams at me that you need admonishing.
        
        Seriously – test some Sugru. It’s a very good material; projects of mine have survived well above boiling and below freezing. It’s a silicone resin, so it’s more resilient than most (and a lot better than something like Araldite), and I’ve only had one instance where it lost adhesion, which was because I hadn’t cleaned the surface properly and it was a bit greasy.
      - Anthony on
        November 25, 2011 at 11:51 pm said:
        
        One of the failure of email is that it doesn’t covey tone (unless of course you write in ALL CAPS) but that’s something I never do.
        
        I’m just an engineer that over-engineers things to be sure they don’t fail. Because failure just isn’t an option where we put stuff. So I may come off too demanding in the hobby sect.
        
        For example, I’m dealing with a guy in Brazil right now on a separate email thread that had one of our remote systems fail due to a battery rupture/leak during shipping, something we’ve never had happen before. He’s aggravated because I want photos so I can understand how it happened so I can prevent it again or minimize damage.
        
        I build things so they don’t break in harsh conditions. Your Raspi board can be a center for a whole new product where we’d buy thousands. I can deal with the cabling issues. Lack of holes to bolt it down so it doesn’t flop off and short out a year from now when the adhesive gives way might be a deal killer.
        
        I’m hopeful though that final production will have them. Thanks for responding.
      - guru on
        November 26, 2011 at 1:06 am said:
        
        +1 for Cryptonomicon. Love that book. +1 for Sugru.
        
        Antony, sounds like you’ve explored a lot of extreme cases and know what works well for you.
        
        If you’re talking in the thousands of units, then you’ll probably be waiting until production is well established beyond the initial 10,000 units, and that could be quite a way down the road in terms of learning what does and doesn’t work for the Raspi and then the Foundation finessing the design ready for shipping to kids.
        
        Since mounting holes have been mentioned as a desired thing I wouldn’t worry too much, but right now getting a board that’s functionally solid to more people for $25/$35 is the focus I think
      - TinWhisker on
        November 26, 2011 at 8:00 pm said:
        
        Another few possibility’s are:
        Use some perf-board and solder pin-headers through that and the R-Pi.
        Or
        Use PCB mount stand-offs.
        Or
        Solder a mount across the Ethernet (and other) port(s).
        
        Infact, the more I think about it, the more ideas appear – either from experience or from existing designs.
        
        You could even make a plug and mold sugru into an asthetic design, rather than thumbing it into shape.
        
        Pioneer that monkey!
    - Katawa on
      November 26, 2011 at 3:36 am said:
      
      Just screw plastic clips down on the outside of the board, problem solved.
      
      Comment ↓
      - jamesh on
        November 26, 2011 at 10:12 am said:
        
        Quite, there are many options. I’d prefer holes, but needs must.
        
        A point about adhesives. If you haven’t got one to work on your task, then you haven’t tried the right one yet. There is a glue for everything. Get a list of Epoxies for start – everything you could possibly want. The Lotus Elise for example is glued together with no problems.
        
        Although in this case, for a stationary outside device that’ temperature proof I would use an elastic band and rubber pads – one made of silicone admitedly for better resistence to, well, everything. But a band nevertheless. A flexible connection like that improves resistance to heat cycling stress damage that you would get with a rigid mounting.
      - Julian Grammer on
        November 30, 2011 at 8:58 pm said:
        
        I see no reason why a well-designed bracket with mounting holes couldn’t fit the bill, even if it increased the overall footprint/volume for casing purposes. We’re starting with something pretty damn small to start with, what’s an extra 5mm all round?
  - bananasdoom on
    November 27, 2011 at 8:20 am said:
    
    Seriously, you are going to have to design an enclosure that has to conform to the screw holes of the board if that is not an option then design an enclosure that has clips (example: http://goo.gl/cMmEi) it will cost more but so would a board with holes. Remember these cost $25 or $35, an additional 45c per enclosure is not bad.
    
    Comment ↓
    - bananasdoom on
      November 27, 2011 at 8:21 am said:
      
      lets have some engender ingenuity
      
      Comment ↓
Chris on
November 25, 2011 at 6:51 pm said:

Its, beautiful……. simply beautiful….

Comment ↓
Sander on
November 25, 2011 at 7:08 pm said:

The picture says “RCA” / “RCA Video”. I had to look that up … and there are some quotes from the Wiki which were helpful to me, so maybe others too:

“The name “RCA” derives from the Radio Corporation of America”.
“An RCA connector, sometimes called a phono connector or cinch connector”
“RF coaxial connector”

What’s in the picture, I would call that a “Japanese tulip plug”.

In other words: it is the well-known yellow composite video connector, which signal is defined as: “Composite video is the format of an analog television (picture only) signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier.”

Comment ↓
nino on
November 25, 2011 at 7:18 pm said:

I’m looking forward to buy my first ( of many others) B board
Just a couple of question:
no power on/off switch, Will the Pi-board start on plugging in the power adaptor?
About Camera connector, i suppose there is a chance to add a webcam, will it decrease the usb data speed?

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 25, 2011 at 7:33 pm said:
  
  That’s right – it’ll start when you plug it in.
  
  We’ll be producing an add-on board with camera next year which connects via PCI, not USB, so that won’t affect your USB data speed. If you attach a USB camera, it will, of course, affect the data speed over USB.
  
  Comment ↓
  - meltwater on
    November 26, 2011 at 9:20 am said:
    
    Oooo can’t wait for that!
    
    Comment ↓
  - jamesh on
    November 26, 2011 at 10:18 am said:
    
    I think you mean CSI2 not PCI!
    
    Comment ↓
    - liz on
      November 26, 2011 at 10:32 pm said:
      
      Good spot, smartypants.
      
      Comment ↓
wcchandler on
November 25, 2011 at 7:33 pm said:

Leave it to you brits to post while us yanks are on vacation.

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 25, 2011 at 7:35 pm said:
  
  Today I have been accused of not posting enough, not posting things that are newsworthy enough, and now posting at the wrong time. I am not thankful.
  
  Comment ↓
  - Sancho on
    November 26, 2011 at 8:35 pm said:
    
    You are not thankfull, maybe, but the rest of us are for each letter you write
    I am watching twitter, email, facebook, your RSS feed and everything ever hour to make sure nothing slips unnoticed
    
    Comment ↓
    - adrian on
      November 28, 2011 at 10:18 am said:
      
      And +++ for your sense of humour, even in the face of this relentless questioning. It’s so nice not to have to read corporate drone-talk.
      
      Comment ↓
jojopi on
November 25, 2011 at 8:06 pm said:

Is is supposed to look like a Broadcom advert? With their logo inexplicably visible through the PoP RAM, while the SMSC LAN9512 is treated as a jellybean part.

Comment ↓
- Katawa on
  November 26, 2011 at 3:41 am said:
  
  Well I wouldn’t downplay the role broadcom has played in the pi’s overall development. Showing that off on a part, which is actually pretty darn tiny in real life, shouldn’t really be an issue.
  
  Comment ↓
- jamesh on
  November 26, 2011 at 10:17 am said:
  
  Well, without Broadcom the Raspi would not exist and they are providing the SoC at a discount normally reserved for very large purchases, and STILL providing tech support for free.
  
  I think they deserve a bit of an advert in recompense.
  
  Comment ↓
- psergiu on
  November 26, 2011 at 7:51 pm said:
  
  Well … on most of the one-image adverts i have seen for computers in my life, the CPU brand is listed (Zilog Z80, Intel, AMD …) and the make of the network card is not.
  
  Comment ↓
  - Sean on
    November 27, 2011 at 5:35 am said:
    
    I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure the BroadCom ARM IS the CPU.
    
    Comment ↓
    - psergiu on
      November 27, 2011 at 9:12 pm said:
      
      Exactly.
      So the poster has the Broadcom logo and does not have the SMSC one.
      Same as any Intel PC advert has the Intel logo on it and not the Realtek one (or whatever else company made the network card).
      
      Comment ↓
Marcus Engene on
November 25, 2011 at 8:29 pm said:

From what I’ve read about the broadcom ic, it should be able to do H.264 encoding in 1080p. Is it possible, somehow, for this card to receive a video stream? The obvious example would be making the Raspberry record telly, surveillence cameras etc.

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 25, 2011 at 8:34 pm said:
  
  We aren’t implementing encode yet – it’s a *lot* of work, and until we produce the camera add-on board we’re planning for next year it’s not really something our core audience (schoolkids learning to code) will need. If you can hang on, it’ll be available some time in 2012.
  
  Comment ↓
- jamesh on
  November 26, 2011 at 10:20 am said:
  
  Camera should be easy enough once camera is chosen and SW is written, but encoding a video stream isn’t possible without a frame grabber chip of some description.
  
  Comment ↓
  - rew on
    November 27, 2011 at 8:51 am said:
    
    I’m expecting that they will hook up the camera using something digital like CPI (camera parallel interface) that is used in mobile phones. It’s not quite impossible that all the infrastructure is already in place on the chip.
    (ARM chips are often used as the processor in phones, and those have a CPI camera!)
    
    Comment ↓
    - jamesh on
      November 27, 2011 at 9:58 am said:
      
      The chip supports CCP2 and CSI2. Various drivers for various camera are available, but it’s likely that the camera used by Raspi will be a newish one that needs a new driver and tuning. Or not. Depends on being able to get the camera is the small quantities needed.
      
      Comment ↓
M1C4HTRON13 on
November 25, 2011 at 9:10 pm said:

Ok so hear comes a total nood question.
Where’s the on switch?

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 25, 2011 at 9:11 pm said:
  
  There isn’t one. You turn it on by plugging it in, and turn it off by unplugging it. 8)
  
  Comment ↓
  - Barnaby Walters on
    November 26, 2011 at 9:29 am said:
    
    That’s going to really mess with the instincts I’ve built up over the last five years of “Shut down, then unplug”
    
    Comment ↓
    - psergiu on
      November 26, 2011 at 7:52 pm said:
      
      A great opportunity for a 3rd party peripheral: Microusb cable with ON/OFF switch.
      
      Comment ↓
      - Sancho on
        November 26, 2011 at 8:38 pm said:
        
        Somehow I miss the reason to switch it off – it consumes less power in full load than my microwave owen clock does
      - liz on
        November 26, 2011 at 9:03 pm said:
        
        We *like* that idea. We should be selling branded USB power supplies from the start (I’ve got some samples arriving next week), but one with an integrated switch is a great idea.
      - Brian Smith on
        November 27, 2011 at 3:02 pm said:
        
        I picked up one of these:
        http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Enclosed-4-X-AA-size-Battery-Box-6V-Switch-/230658232782?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item35b44d51ce
        
        Battery pack with small on/off slider built in. Hoping to solder it on to make a portable rpi. With 4xNiMH batteries, getting about 5.5V which should be OK I hope.
      - jarreboum on
        November 27, 2011 at 7:58 pm said:
        
        Well if you’re British you surely have a switch on your wall socket. If you’re from some other part of the world yes, you will need a switch on your cable.
  - Julian Grammer on
    November 30, 2011 at 9:07 pm said:
    
    Haha. My current home PC network of 9 machines, running a number of OS and services is on 24/7. I don’t think I’ll be worrying about switching off the RasPi. Probably choose the table lamp to go first.
    
    Comment ↓
Pingback: Raspberry Pi – Finales Boardlayout fertig… « go-seven.de || Pascal Tippelt's Blog
Mohammed Al-Sayegh on
November 25, 2011 at 9:34 pm said:

Look for it ^_^

Comment ↓
PiOfCube on
November 25, 2011 at 9:52 pm said:

Would it be possible (I know it’s asking a great deal) to get a high res scan of the PCB at some point… I mean without the components mounted.

If that’s possible, I would create a 3D model with components and have it realistically textured so anyone can do tutorials etc with it… Useful for demonstrating how computers work and creating tutorials on how to expand the board by adding stuff to it.

It would save an end user (like me) having to sacrifice a board by desoldering it all. I just thought that it would be very easy for the Raspberry Pi team to grab a board before it gets the bits added to it.

Thanks,
PiOfCube.

Comment ↓
- Sancho on
  November 26, 2011 at 8:40 pm said:
  
  Well, it’s a good idea but I would suggest to only request the top and bottom PCB layer (I do expect from the current renders there is a lot more of the layers on the PCB) – the top and bottom are the only visible and therefore the only relevant to a rendering.
  
  Comment ↓
  - Sean on
    November 27, 2011 at 5:49 am said:
    
    You can almost work up your own from the .png that was posted some time back. It’d take a little work, but I just spent 5 minutes in GIMP to satisfy myself it would be doable
    
    Comment ↓
electrodacus on
November 25, 2011 at 10:09 pm said:

Is there a reset button or a reset pin on one of the headers?
Also are there pins for power on? or is the micro USB the only possibility to power the board?
I think the other difference that is not visible in this picture is that model A has only one USB and model B two. Also the LAN controller I guess will only be on model B or you just remove the LAN connector?
I’m hoping to buy one or two of the model B.

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 25, 2011 at 10:50 pm said:
  
  No reset button or pin. There is a pin you can power the device from, I believe. And yes, the LAN controller is only on the Model B.
  
  Comment ↓
  - electrodacus on
    November 26, 2011 at 12:56 am said:
    
    Thanks.
    You can of course cut the power but is not as convenient.
    Still I can not wait to buy the model B hope it will be available in December.
    
    Comment ↓
    - Sancho on
      November 26, 2011 at 8:41 pm said:
      
      Well, it’s a VERY long time since I was forced to use hard reset on my linux machine, so I would consider reset pin as a wasting of valuable resources (money)
      
      Comment ↓
Philippe on
November 25, 2011 at 10:12 pm said:

Have you guys considered adding a wifi chip for easier use?

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 25, 2011 at 10:50 pm said:
  
  See the FAQ at the top of the page.
  
  Comment ↓
Steven Richardson on
November 25, 2011 at 10:42 pm said:

Hi, can you find out the pin outs on the GPIO header? Does it expose any UART / SPI pins? Hoping for full UART with CTS/RTS.

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 25, 2011 at 10:49 pm said:
  
  I’m not allowed to publish the pin outs at the moment – I should be able to let you know very soon, though.
  
  Comment ↓
  - Katawa on
    November 26, 2011 at 3:43 am said:
    
    Right on, thank you for your continued dedication to the Pi and the fans liz.
    
    Comment ↓
Maeur1 on
November 25, 2011 at 10:47 pm said:

Just a question, if we buy the model A, can we solder the ethernet port on ourselves and it will work?

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 25, 2011 at 10:51 pm said:
  
  There is no LAN chip on the model A, I’m afraid, so you won’t have anything to solder to!
  
  Comment ↓
  - Maeur1 on
    November 25, 2011 at 11:02 pm said:
    
    I guess you should edit the photo then and put next to the LAN controller: B
    
    Comment ↓
    - guru on
      November 26, 2011 at 1:09 am said:
      
      After reading the forum I see the problem now. I labelled the Ethernet port, but not the chip. As I considered it a more esoteric bit of information I failed to consider that it’s not there on the ‘A’. Will make this clear in future revisions
      
      Comment ↓
      - Maeur1 on
        November 26, 2011 at 1:53 am said:
        
        Ahhh cool, thanks man, ill get B anyway but i just wanted to clarify that there is no lan chip on the A, cause if there was i would just get A and solder a ethernet port onto it.
Maeur1 on
November 26, 2011 at 12:15 am said:

I saw the sugru post above and i was intrigued by it as i have never heard of it, would you sell the single packets to make little raisers on the corners of the board in the pi shop as merchandise?

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 26, 2011 at 12:29 am said:
  
  That’s something we’ve been considering – I’m a big fan of the stuff, and I think it’d be handy for all kinds of Pi projects.
  
  Comment ↓
  - QtConvert on
    November 26, 2011 at 3:02 am said:
    
    If only sugru was A LOT cheaper, I would also have a LOT of use for it Oh well. Hopefully someone will come with SugruPi, similar stuff for 1/3 the price
    
    Comment ↓
    - MmmPi on
      November 26, 2011 at 6:14 am said:
      
      Have you tried Oogoo? You do have to trade price for some disadvantages tho.
      
      Comment ↓
  - ukscone on
    November 26, 2011 at 4:04 pm said:
    
    With Duct tape, sugru and a hammer you can fix anything.
    
    Comment ↓
    - Sancho on
      November 26, 2011 at 8:44 pm said:
      
      Haven’t you forgot WD40?
      
      Comment ↓
  - Anthony on
    November 27, 2011 at 1:21 am said:
    
    After careful examination, I think Sugru might work in combination with a couple of standoffs/spacers to raise the board up above the back plane in the weatherproof box we are looking at. Standoff are needed for connector clearance and to keep the board from shorting out against the metal backplane in the box. Probably this with a dot of Sugru in the top threaded side:
    
    http://search.digikey.com/us/en/products/4800/4800K-ND/255337
    
    I won’t know until I try it. It has to withstand holding the device vertically from 135F to – 30F (57C to -34C) for me to call it a success.
    
    The idea floated above by Maeur1 perhaps combined with a couple of small standoffs might well be worth selling. The problem with Sugru is minimum purchase 20 packs, and for this nobody really needs 20 for this.
    
    Comment ↓
    - jamesh on
      November 27, 2011 at 10:10 am said:
      
      You’ll defo. want some sort of flexible mounting unless your get your coefficients of expansion the same between case and board. Mounting holes would be problematic I think, causing board flexes and stretch between those temperatures.
      
      Sugru is just a hard(ish) set silicone I believe. You’ll probably get away with normal builders silicones in this situation. Much cheaper. You could still use it for moulding if you make a mould, not with fingers though.
      
      Comment ↓
      - Neil on
        November 28, 2011 at 11:13 am said:
        
        Err…no, don’t use normal silicone on a PCB. The vinegary smell… that’s acetic acid. Will happily eat its way through the PCB traces.
    - liz on
      November 27, 2011 at 11:21 am said:
      
      It is? I’ve been able to buy it by the single pack in the UK; their distribution in the US may be different. I agree, that’s a lot of Sugru!
      
      I’ve been thinking about stocking it in our shop when we launch (in single packs!); it’s a nice fit with the maker/hacker demographic, and a useful material.
      
      Comment ↓
      - CheechWizard on
        November 28, 2011 at 12:54 am said:
        
        I’ve talked with the Sugru folk at Maker Faires. It only has a shelf-life of around 6 months (unless you store it in the fridge, then it’s more around 1 year). Just something to keep in mind if you decide to become resellers v.v. keeping costs contained; hate it when inventory goes stale .
    - Maeur1 on
      November 27, 2011 at 6:41 pm said:
      
      I got the idea of standoffs from my massive arduino board, which is as awesome as the raspi, the university that my teacher got it from already puts these rubber corners on them so that it is slightly elevated off the ground, i got a image here for ya
      
      http://imgur.com/DMV7d
      
      Comment ↓
    - psergiu on
      November 27, 2011 at 9:23 pm said:
      
      How about Hot Glue ? Lots of it. As long as you won’t cover the required contacts, the two chips and whatever regulators are in there so they can cool off, it becomes a solid unbreakable (and unserviceable) mass.
      
      Comment ↓
KATO Fuga on
November 26, 2011 at 6:27 am said:

Cool!

Comment ↓
KyRol on
November 26, 2011 at 8:46 am said:

So in final board all connectors and switches will survive from alpha board?

Comment ↓
- jamesh on
  November 26, 2011 at 9:45 am said:
  
  Not all of them. There are three button switches on the Alpha, they’ve gone. Also one of the JTAG’s and a couple of the other connectors are no more.
  
  Comment ↓
KyRol on
November 26, 2011 at 11:24 am said:

Will be any chance to get alpha too except regular/final board in sell time?

Comment ↓
KyRol on
November 26, 2011 at 11:35 am said:

Will be cool if Paul Beech will create similar schema for alpha. It’s possible?

Comment ↓
ajacker on
November 26, 2011 at 12:35 pm said:

Will there be VAT added to the $25/$35 for sales in the UK?

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 26, 2011 at 12:35 pm said:
  
  Yes, there will, unless you’re VAT exempt.
  
  Comment ↓
  - nichobb on
    November 26, 2011 at 3:51 pm said:
    
    Will we UK tax payers be able to opt in for gift aid? Thanks.
    
    Comment ↓
    - jacklang on
      November 26, 2011 at 8:53 pm said:
      
      Yes. We are a registered charity so donations from UK tax payers are eligible for gift aid if you opt in to the scheme. There will be a tick box on the web site.
      
      However this is only for the donation part. The actual purchase (+postage and packing+VAT) is not eligible for gift aid.
      
      For those not aware, Gift Aid is a scheme which increases the value of donations to charities by allowing them to reclaim basic rate tax on gifts from UK tax payers. If you are a UK tax payer and pay higher rate tax or capital gains tax you can claim extra relief on your donations. If you claim age-related allowances or tax credits, Gift Aid donations can sometimes increase your entitlement.
      
      Comment ↓
      - nichobb on
        November 27, 2011 at 2:38 pm said:
        
        Thank you for reply. Didn’t realise purchase not included (bet you had fun getting head around the rules). Guess every little helps you and few occasions we get to decide how our tax is spent.
        
        For those that want more info tax site is actually in readable english:
        http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/individuals/giving/gift-aid.htm
  - rew on
    November 27, 2011 at 8:59 am said:
    
    Do you have the infrastructure in place to handle international tax-exemption (EU).
    
    You have to ask for my VAT-number (and officially you’re supposed make sure it’s correct, but so far I haven’t bothered) and then deliver the list of numbers and amounts to the tax department, whatever it’s called in the UK.
    
    Comment ↓
npo4 on
November 26, 2011 at 1:47 pm said:

I never realised that the Model B also had more RAM as I was planning to buy the Model A, but I think it’ll worth the extra for it.

I’ll might also use it for large downloads overnight with the ethernet port which would be another benefit.

Comment ↓
Brendan on
November 26, 2011 at 2:38 pm said:

Hey forgive me if im wrong or,if its been posted already but shouldnt the diagram show 2 usb ports for model b?

Im about to get on the bus. So I cant read all 86 comments to check if its mentioned. I might be being stupid though.

First post but been following rpi for quite some time now

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 27, 2011 at 9:21 pm said:
  
  They’re stacked on top of each other, so you can only see one in the diagram.
  
  Comment ↓
Brendan on
November 26, 2011 at 2:56 pm said:

Also, arent you shipping from the uk. Surely you would have the plus vat price? Sorry something I thougg I should point out. That takes is up from £16 to around £19.

In saying that its still cheap. But vat is a sizable amount.

I love what you do though liz. Im a web developer and anything you think you may need to further the site, let me know. Ill do it for free. And ill give you the source code to edit.

Comment ↓
- jamesh on
  November 26, 2011 at 6:36 pm said:
  
  Don’t blame the sizeable VAT amount on Raspi- it’s really down the the government! Fax them.
  
  Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 26, 2011 at 6:42 pm said:
  
  We’re selling all over the world, so VAT is added on at checkout for those who are eligible, sadly! Those outside the UK, obviously, and schools and other bodies, will be exempt. Thanks for the compliment; it’s much appreciated.
  
  Comment ↓
  - psergiu on
    November 27, 2011 at 9:30 pm said:
    
    Yay for UK’s low VAT !
    
    As an EU citizen, i will be able to get the RPi with only 20% of VAT and not the 24% VAT of my country.
    
    For a model B RPi i save almost half of the shipping price
    
    Comment ↓
  - Maeur1 on
    November 27, 2011 at 9:57 pm said:
    
    so wait. Let me get this straight. So if i buy one from NZ, i will be paying 19 pounds and the NZ tax (no VAT here:)) plus the shipping? So going by current exchange rate: 39.18+15%=$45+shipping?
    
    Comment ↓
    - liz on
      November 27, 2011 at 10:02 pm said:
      
      Not at all. If you live outside the EU, you don’t have to pay VAT on products from the EU. And I’ve just looked up the New Zealand import taxes (which you should look at too if this sort of thing worries you) – a Raspberry Pi is hundreds of dollars cheaper than the threshold over which you’d have to pay import duty.
      
      Comment ↓
      - Maeur1 on
        November 28, 2011 at 2:43 am said:
        
        Ahhhh i saw that its almost $400 worth to actually have import duty, which is heck of a lot more than what the raspi is worth so no need for it there
Niels on
November 26, 2011 at 4:19 pm said:

Are there two USB ports on the B model?

Comment ↓
- Montekuri on
  November 26, 2011 at 6:01 pm said:
  
  Yes.
  And I know your next question: why isn’t it specified on the drawing?
  They forgot. They are human.
  
  Comment ↓
  - jamesh on
    November 26, 2011 at 6:34 pm said:
    
    Not forgotten, they are one above the other so only one shows up on an plan diagram.
    
    Comment ↓
    - Montekuri on
      November 27, 2011 at 1:57 am said:
      
      As “specified in the drawing” I meant, specified in the label:
      A B
      128 Mb 256 Mb RAM
      1 USB 2 USB Ports
      
      Comment ↓
- jamesh on
  November 26, 2011 at 6:26 pm said:
  
  Yes.
  
  Comment ↓
Liquid_chaos on
November 26, 2011 at 4:50 pm said:

What happened to my comment? Brendan

Comment ↓
- jamesh on
  November 26, 2011 at 6:33 pm said:
  
  It was awaiting moderation. It’s the weekend….
  
  Comment ↓
6502 on
November 26, 2011 at 9:19 pm said:

Micro USB Power? What does this mean? Does that mean I need to connect it via USB to a real PC to power it? If not, what do I need and is it included?

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 26, 2011 at 9:23 pm said:
  
  It means that the thing you plug into the wall socket is the shape of a Micro USB port. Basically, exactly like a phone charger – and the new standards from last year mean that very soon all phones will come with a Micro USB charger. You can connect it straight to the wall – a PC isn’t recommended because it probably won’t provide enough power. You will be able to buy a Raspberry Pi branded power supply from us for less than $10, you can buy one elsewhere, or you may well have one in the house already – check your phone chargers!
  
  Comment ↓
  - Sean on
    November 27, 2011 at 5:57 am said:
    
    Too bad it’s power only.
    It’d be kinda cool to plug one into a larger computer as a peripheral.
    
    …
    Or daisy chain them using USB cords for no particular reason.
    
    Comment ↓
    - Tor on
      November 28, 2011 at 11:49 am said:
      
      Check out the drawing again – there’s a proper USB 2.0 port there, and that’s what matters. That the power connector uses a micro USB plug these days is of no importance.
      
      Comment ↓
      - liz on
        November 28, 2011 at 11:53 am said:
        
        Two USB 2.0 ports on the B version, actually! (One on the A.)
Austin W. Dunham, V on
November 26, 2011 at 10:28 pm said:

Liz,
My questions have been answered by previous posts. I wanted to thank you for your commentary on these forums. They’re smart, informative, and are consistently civil. Thanks for the time you’ve taken to answer all our questions!

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 26, 2011 at 10:30 pm said:
  
  Thank you very much!
  
  Comment ↓
Jimmy Merrild Krag on
November 26, 2011 at 11:18 pm said:

Would still like the Final PCB artwork in a much higher resolution. My girlfriend wants to print it and put it on the wall

Comment ↓
Gonçalo Fernandes on
November 26, 2011 at 11:44 pm said:

Will model B be able to PXE boot?

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 26, 2011 at 11:44 pm said:
  
  Not by default, but there’s no reason it shouldn’t – why not look at writing a port?
  
  Comment ↓
gerardo di iorio on
November 27, 2011 at 10:07 am said:

hi, the first batch is of 10’000 board…. but model A or B?????

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 27, 2011 at 11:18 am said:
  
  Both, but we’ll be making a lot more Bs than As, because the demand is higher.
  
  Comment ↓
Lobster on
November 27, 2011 at 10:30 am said:

When you have a little board that cute, you need a cute Linux.
Puppy is preparing its Woof build system for ARM CPU
http://bkhome.org/blog/?viewDetailed=02612

Being especially frisky our main forum admin is away from the Internet, avoiding the dog catchers . . . so we have a new temp forum . . .
http://puppylinux.info/
Our management system is very simple, It is based on the mind of a child . . .
Let us hope Puppy never grows up to be a big dog . . .
Ay Chihuahua!

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 27, 2011 at 11:18 am said:
  
  We would *love* to see Puppy on board – thanks for the links!
  
  Comment ↓
athos on
November 27, 2011 at 2:51 pm said:

this is surely a stupid question, but what’s the dsi display connector?

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 27, 2011 at 4:16 pm said:
  
  It’s MIPI DSI – a flat-panel display standard.
  
  Comment ↓
  - athos on
    November 28, 2011 at 1:01 pm said:
    
    well, thanks!
    
    Comment ↓
    - dclaar on
      December 2, 2011 at 2:25 am said:
      
      Thanks to you, too, athos, I was wondering the exact same thing! I tried google, but it kept coming back with Nintendo, and although this board is pretty amazing, I don’t think it has a Nintendo DSi tucked inside!
      
      Comment ↓
SiR on
November 27, 2011 at 7:14 pm said:

Just wondering if there’s much free space on the edges of the board? I’m hoping to 3d print a case in plastic, and as there are no screw mounts I was thinking of perhaps a push-fit/clip-in/living hinge style mounting.

Comment ↓
- liz on
  November 27, 2011 at 7:15 pm said:
  
  Honest answer – I’m not sure! As soon as we have populated boards, I’ll make sure there are plenty of pictures and some measurements for those of you who are case-modding. (And for everyone else who just wants to salivate over them!)
  
  Comment ↓
  - SiR on
    November 28, 2011 at 8:30 am said:
    
    Thanks – that was a impressively speedy reply!
    
    Comment ↓
pictuga on
November 27, 2011 at 8:22 pm said:

Is there any .svg version of the image so that we can print it as big as we want ?

Comment ↓
Patrick on
November 27, 2011 at 8:38 pm said:

release before christmas possibility?

Comment ↓
- hamjudo on
  November 28, 2011 at 12:33 am said:
  
  I am not speaking for the Raspberry Pi project, just speculating based on what I have read!
  
  It is possible, perhaps even likely, that the 10k board run will be shipped before Christmas. However, the demand far exceeds 10k units, so it would not be prudent to make any plans assuming that you personally would be one of the lucky ones to get one from that first batch.
  
  I am going to try to get one myself in that first batch, and I will be thrilled if I succeed. However, I am planning to use Arduinos to teach the High School Robotics team programming this season, since the sessions will be in January.
  
  Comment ↓
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apl on
November 29, 2011 at 7:55 pm said:

Do you have preorder option?

Comment ↓
- jamesh on
  November 29, 2011 at 10:50 pm said:
  
  No. See the FAQ for details as to why not.
  
  Comment ↓
Jay on
November 30, 2011 at 10:34 am said:

To bad there isn’t wifi built in. I guess there is always this [[link removed by moderator]]

Comment ↓
- jamesh on
  November 30, 2011 at 10:40 am said:
  
  Well, that site isn’t affiliated with Raspberry Pi, and I doubt any of those adapters have been tested – its just someone trying to make money on Google adwords or similar. There is a list of tested adapters on the Wiki.
  
  Comment ↓
  - liz on
    November 30, 2011 at 10:46 am said:
    
    I’m looking at getting this taken down. They’re advertising the dongles as being appropriate for use with the Raspi, when I suspect they have no idea whether or not they are (we certainly don’t know, and we’re the only people in a position to know).
    
    Comment ↓
Slavko Glamocanin on
December 3, 2011 at 8:13 pm said:

Hello can the B model be powered by POE – power over ethernet? Thanks!

Comment ↓
- jamesh on
  December 3, 2011 at 8:36 pm said:
  
  No.
  
  Comment ↓
BluishGreenPro on
December 6, 2011 at 5:18 am said:

Very nice! I love the idea of Raspberry Pi. Have you thought of making a screen to go along with the computer? You could call it the “Pi Dish” and have it serve as a USB hub for the computer itself (which could tuck into the back of the screen, maybe they even run off of a single power cord?). After all, what good is a $25 computer if you don’t have a cost-effective screen to run it off of?

Comment ↓
Zerbo on
December 6, 2011 at 9:02 am said:

This looks great, it will be great for developing and teaching! Do you have a release date in mind for the purchase of the first 10,000 units?

I know linux would be the best os for this device, but have you or do you know if Windows XP Embedded would work with the unit?

Comment ↓
- jamesh on
  December 6, 2011 at 9:28 am said:
  
  Looks like the beta batch will be end of this year now, and the main 10k very early next year.
  
  Windows won’t work unless Microsoft port it, and they won’t.
  
  Comment ↓
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Engelbotschaften on
December 17, 2011 at 1:12 pm said:

Dear Liz,
Thanks for the info, A design either looks right, or it doesn’t. Whether it is a sign, a brochure, or the side of a truck. It is not very common to find someone who can describe accurately why one design looks good and another doesn’t… but the ability to see the difference between the high quality version or the inferior alternative is very common, whether the person can tell you why, or not.
All the Best

Comment ↓
Malcolm Ingsley on
December 23, 2011 at 9:32 pm said:

This product is long overdue gives every one a chance to develop and experiment with the hope many will go on to to develop the control instrumentation and electronic systems we badly need today .

Comment ↓
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