Unexpected Setup Results

[GadgetPi]

I've been using RasPi, both 2 and 3, for coming up on two years. Unfortunately, it's always been for a couple of intense weeks at a time, followed by resumption of normal work duties, so my actual Pi time is a lot less than two years would suggest.

Most of the things a guy runs into I have solved by searching online or just using my Linux knowledge to work the puzzle.

There are a couple of things, however, that are uniquely Raspberry.

Last week I tried to get one of my Pi 3s to sign on to the corporate network. I'd done it before, and the results were still in wpa_supplicant.conf so I brought that up to date and tried again (PEAP + MSCHAPV2). The result was that, not only could I not connect to the corp network, I couldn't connect to any WiFi, and the wlan0 interface just stopped.

No problem. I had brought in a new SanDisk 32GB card, so I formatted that and loaded a fresh NOOBS download. Since I had my project files on the old card, I put it into a USB-to-SD adapter and plugged it into a USB port, and on another port I plugged in the 32GB Toshiba thumb drive that had the backup copies of the project files.

And then I booted up the Pi 3 with the new microSD + NOOBS, and 1) the WiFi setup was absolutely painless, so whatever you guys did with that, kudos! 2) I then went through the install of (and this is important) the DEFAULT version "[recommended]" of Raspbian.

You senior engineer types already know what happened next.

The NOOBS installer annexed both the 32GB Toshiba thumb drive and the old microSD card in the USB-to-SD adapter, assigning new partitions and reformatting, of course, and then it installed Raspbian [recommended] ... ONTO THE USB THUMB DRIVE.

Naturally, all my files were gone. Naturally, all my files on the OLD card were also gone. When I removed the thumb drive and took it over to my laptop, it looked (shocking, I know) EXACTLY like a microSD card that had Raspbian installed on it, right down to the media volume label "RECOVERY."

It's been years and years -- decades -- since I have committed a single event that lost so much data in the space of half an hour.

Lesson one: Always disconnect any additional storage media from the Raspberry Pi before installing NOOBS. (Exception: the Western Digital PiDrive procedure may require leaving the PiDrive connected, but that would be a special case.)

Okay, well, that sucked. And I can't boot the Pi without the thumb drive, so let's just reinstall NOOBS using, yes, Raspbian [recommended].

Up comes the installer. It says I have Raspbian [recommended] installed. Crap. Well, let's just uninstall that and use this other thing, Raspbian (with PIXEL). Oh. It's a download. A large download. Okay, go to lunch.

Excellent. It's done. Boot it up. Oh. This is different. This PIXEL thing has different defaults and stuff. I want my old Raspbian [recommended] back. Well, no problem, I'll just reinstall NOOBS. Hold SHIFT on boot. Wait. Raspbian [recommended] is no longer an option. Crap!

Clean card. Copy NOOBS. Boot up. What the heck??! Where did Raspbian [recommended] go?

New card. Format. Copy NOOBS. Boot up. DAMMIT! Where is Raspbian [Recommended] now? Did something in the install of Raspbian (with PIXEL) alter the firmware?

Two more tries. Same thing both times.

Okay. Fine. I can figure my way around PIXEL.

I'm fuming because I lost important project data. I'm resigned about PIXEL. And my work mates are all "dude, you look stressed."

So, I've spent yesterday and today recreating -- from memory -- the whole project. It's actually not too bad. Only a couple of minor things to sort.

But I'm annoyed that I can no longer install Raspbian [recommended] on this board. This is a walled garden application, with no exposure to the Internet, so I don't have the security concerns that make PIXEL the preferred choice.

So, having (mostly) resolved the lost data thing (yes, I found a backup of the 14GB of photos), my only remaining frustration is this: how do I revert back to being able to install Raspbian [recommended] from NOOBS instead of Raspbian (with PIXEL)? And what happened that made Raspbian [recommended] disappear from the list of available OS choices?

I hope you have found this entertaining, but I also hope you have something like an answer to "how can I get Raspbian [recommended] back?"

(P.S. I have ordered a new Pi 3. Hoping I can get DIFFERENT results with that, but I'm assuming things about the firmware.)

[MaxK1]

I guess my first question is - Why are you using NOOBS when you could just download a Raspbian image and install that directly. It eliminates one layer of potential problems. You don't appear to need it and it sounds like it may be doing something you didn't expect.

[klricks]

..... my only remaining frustration is this: how do I revert back to being able to install Raspbian [recommended] from NOOBS instead of Raspbian (with PIXEL)? And what happened that made Raspbian [recommended] disappear from the list of available OS choices?

I hope you have found this entertaining, but I also hope you have something like an answer to "how can I get Raspbian [recommended] back?"

(P.S. I have ordered a new Pi 3. Hoping I can get DIFFERENT results with that, but I'm assuming things about the firmware.)

The full version of Raspbian Jessie (Pixel) is and has always been the recommended OS.
Did you install NOOBS or NOOBS Lite?
NOOBS contains only one OS...... Raspbian Jessie (Pixel). To get any other OS requires an Internet connection
NOOBS Lite has no pre-installed OS and requires an internet connection to download any OS.
If you don't need a GUI then install Raspbian Jessie Lite, but that is not the recommended OS.

IMO and as mentioned by other reply, there is no point in using NOOBS at all unless you need to install more than one OS.
Use etcher or win32diskimager to write the standalone image Raspbian Jessie Pixel or Raspbian lite to the card. No formatting is required.

There is no firmware on the RPi board that can be altered by the user. You can't 'brick' a RPi.

[GadgetPi]

Ah.

Forgive me for being a little slow, but, if Raspbian+PIXEL is the only "recommended" OS, then I don't understand why, on the first light-up of NOOBS, the two items showing in the install list -- before I activated the WiFi -- were "Raspbian [recommended]" and "LibreELEC_RPI2" (or something very like that).



AFTER I activated the WiFi, Raspbian Lite and Raspbian+PIXEL became visible.

Am I to understand that the Raspbian [recommended] entry in that menu is actually the Raspbian+PIXEL distribution? Because it didn't download anything, it just installed.

When I switched to Raspbian+PIXEL, then download ensued.

In any case, if Raspbian+PIXEL is now the standard install, then I can take that as read.

However, if I elect to be a Luddite and wish to download just the Raspbian distribution, where will I find that (yes, I may be a little thick on this, but "download" has always taken me to the NOOBS page). If one of you could shine the flashlight in that corner that I've managed to miss, I'd be much obliged.

I do apologize for having done all my learning to date outside the RasPi community. It makes conversation awkward when there's an impedance mismatch in terminology and "what's obvious" to the other guy. I hope to overcome this in short order.

[Burngate]

... However, if I elect to be a Luddite and wish to download just the Raspbian distribution, where will I find that (yes, I may be a little thick on this, but "download" has always taken me to the NOOBS page)...

As a fellow Luddite, ... RaspberryPi front page, at the top, DOWNLOADS. To the right of Noobs, RASPBIAN. That should take you to a choice of Jessie with Pixel or Jessie Lite

[GadgetPi]

As a fellow Luddite, ... RaspberryPi front page, at the top, DOWNLOADS. To the right of Noobs, RASPBIAN. That should take you to a choice of Jessie with Pixel or Jessie Lite

Oh. I didn't realize that "Raspbian Lite" is the current nomenclature for what I've been calling "Raspbian [recommended]."

So, if I understand this correctly, if I install Raspbian Lite, I will have the OS that I'm familiar with from previous installs -- like last year when I set up my first Pi 3.

Man, I really MUST do a better job of keeping up.

(And it seems that I will need to embrace the PIXEL version as well.)

Thanks, guys. Appreciate the help.

[MaxK1]

Depends on whether you need/want a GUI or not. Personally, I use the full blown Raspbian image but I don't configure the GUI to start "automatically".

Things do move pretty quickly around here... Try to keep up - there will be a pop-quiz any day now.

[GadgetPi]

Thanks, Max.

I believe I have what I need -- at least to get myself into the next level of trouble.

I also found, over on the Element14 forums, a link to all the back releases of NOOBS and Raspbian.

I also found the release notes which contain a timeline of releases, which lets me know how far back I'd have to go to get a pre-PIXEL Jessie.

So, I've downloaded the ones I want to try. I'm presuming the *.img file in the Raspbian ZIP files can be installed on the card directly using something like Etcher.

You have been most helpful.

[MaxK1]

The link to older releases could be handy for others -could you post it?

[klricks]

The link to older releases could be handy for others -could you post it?

All OS releases past and present can be found on official RPF site by 'drilling down' here: http://downloads.raspberrypi.org/