OS Version and Upgrade

[maverickbane]

Hi all,

I'm relatively new to Linux and have been using my Raspberry Pi to learn the basics like most.

I saw that the 2013-05-25-wheezy-raspbian image was released recently and was to ask how can I tell what version of OS i'm currently running and how would I go about upgrading to 2013-05-25?

Thank you.

[rpdom]

The following commands will make sure all your currently installed software is the latest versions as used on the new image.

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sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

When asked any [Y/n] questions, you can press Enter and it will take it as "Y".

Any extra software that is on that image, you will need to install afterwards - if you think you need that software. The usual way to install extra software in Raspbian is

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sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install things-you-want-to-install

This will install the programs you ask for (if it is available) and any other programs that they need as well.

The "sudo" means DO this as SUperuser (like Windows Administrator)
The "apt-get" is the main Debian (and therefore Raspbian) software manager.

[maverickbane]

@rpdom - Thanks. How do I check what version I'm running and if it is actually the latest? 'uname -a' shows me a version that doesn't resemble 2013-05-25. Is what it's showing the kernel version?

[ghans]

Yes , you have no real method to determine which image you
are using. I guess the easiest way is to check the date of
last change on the files.

Other interesting commands :

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sudo vgencmd version

gives the firmware version.

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lsb_release -a

gives onfo on which distro/release you are using.

ghans

EDIT : I might be wrong on this one. There used to be some
notes in /boot . Do they contain any release information ?

[Rob73]

Updated 6Apr16:
1) As per ghans' post (below), for me “cat /boot/issue.txt” seems to work best for getting the original Rasbian-Base-Image-Issue-Date (ie. the Rasbian-Image “Version Date” as listed on the “www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian” website):
* Eg. “Raspberry Pi reference 2015-02-16 (armhf)”
* or. "Raspberry Pi reference 2016-02-26"
* or. "Raspberry Pi reference 2016-03-18"

2) For me, the DATE-listed under "uname -a" is a couple of days before the Raspbian-Image “Version-Date” for a NEW Image install, for example:

For Image used = RASPBIAN JESSIE Version:Feb? 2016 Release date:2016-02-26:
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ uname -a
* "Linux raspberrypi 4.1.18+ #846 Thu Feb 25 14:11:56 GMT 2016 armvXX GNU/Linux"

For Image used = RASPBIAN JESSIE Version:March 2016 Release date:2016-03-18:
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ uname -a
* "Linux raspberrypi 4.1.19-v7+ #858 SMP Tue Mar 15 15:56:00 GMT 2016 armvXX GNU/Linux"

HOWEVER, once I do a "sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade", this usually changes the above “uname –a” reported version numbers and dates.

3) For me, "lsb_release -a" does not seem to work in “Wheezy”, and in “Jessie” gives the same release-number for both the above 2 different releases of Rasbian Jessie:
* Eg. “Description: Rasbian GNU/Linux 8.0 (Jessie), Release: 8.0”

[ghans]

There used to be a file in /boot called issue.txt .

It contained info on which base image used , perhaps
the Jessie images still contain it.


ghans