Interesting tutorial on getting the Java 8 JDK working on the Pi, but this time with the hard-float stuff working!
Cyntech Case for #RaspberryPi – Review
Manufacturer: Cyntech.co.uk
Supplier: NewIT.co.uk
Price: £7 (approx) + 99p for SD card slot cover
Rating: 7.5/10
UPDATE: There is now a cover for the SD card slot available. As this was the key impractical aspect of the case, I revise my Rating up to 8.5/10
This case scores high because of it’s attractive looks, even if it loses some marks for a bit of impracticality. It is also available in black, pink and frosted white.
The case is constructed of high-quality hard plastic and includes light-pipes and labels for the 5 LEDs on the board. There is also a very well-printed official Raspberry logo. On the reverse are two mounting points for hanging it on the wall and also four screw holes (more on them in a moment). The protruding RCA composite video connector is protected somewhat by being set back inside the case. There is a slot for a GPIO ribbon cable (pictured below) that is a very practical solution to GPIO accessibility. I like the way that the front of the case is shaped around the USB and ethernet ports rather than letting either of them ‘stick out’ – it gives the case that ‘designed’ look that is particularly attractive if your Pi needs to be ‘on show’ as a media centre, for example.
This is the most protective case of the ones I own due to strength of the plastic it is made out of. The only minor flaw is that the SD card, as usual, sticks out. It is held quite solidly though and I’ve been told that a shield for the card is being designed that can just clip into existing cases.
UPDATE: This cover is now available and can be purchased for an extra 99p. This is an excellent addition as it makes this case hugely practical and protective.
The picture above shows the four screws and this is the main flaw with the case. Whereas most cases clip together, this one requires you to use four screws to hold it together. This does, admittedly, make it feel very ‘solid’, but it does mean that access to the Pi is a chore. Also, the screws it came with didn’t fit all that well so I ended up finding some different screws which fitted. Having said that, because of the attractiveness of the case, it is much more suited to a more “permanent” installation so accessing the Pi all the time shouldn’t be necessary. I do miss the easy-opening of other cases I own, though.
One of the best things about the case is the light pipes. Unlike the SB Components case, the lights are well-separated.
Overall, I would recommend this case particularly to Pi owners who want to use their board as a media centre. The semi-permanent nature of the screw fixings means you won’t want to keep taking the top off and because of the quality of the design and build, I can easily see it sitting well next to your set-top box or satellite receiver. Definitely worth getting if you need a case.
Guide to installing applications on the #RaspberryPi [reblog]
An excellent beginners article on installing applications on your Pi. Explains a lot of the terminology and settings required.
Everyday Linux User: Everyday Linux User guide to installing applications on the Raspberry PI.
Driving a Relay using #RaspberryPi GPIO
Great tutorial/article about controlling a relay from the Pi. It’s quite an old post (from June 2012) but it does mean that there are loads of comments at the bottom of the post with more information. If you’re interesting in controlling mains voltage from the Pi, have a read!
ModMyPi Case for #RaspberryPi – Review
Supplier: ModMyPi
Price: £2.99 – £5.99 (plus delivery)
Rating: 6/10
Another case review. This is for the widely-available ModMyPi case. I purchased two of these cases for £2.99 each. They were ‘GAMBLE Mix N Match‘ cases which means I did not know when I ordered what colours I would get.
As it turns out, I received blue and red top halves and black and white bottom halves, which I was pleased with. There were slight differences between the two bottom halves – one had holes for the mount points on Rev 2 Pis, the other didn’t.
These are well-made cases using good-quality plastic. I have no doubt that they provide good protection for the Pi.
Below is a picture of my Blue-White combo case. Please ignore the flaky white stuff (this is polymorph which I was using to make something else and it stuck to the case).
Here’s the Pi inside the bottom half of the case.
When placing the Pi inside the bottom half of the case, I noticed that it wasn’t a tight fit and I was hoping that the top half of the case would have kept the Pi solidly in place. However, the top doesn’t contain anything to do this and as a result the Pi does move around a fair amount (about 2mm) when shaken. This is disappointing as it means that the Pi could possibly become damaged in transit.
The external ports of the Pi are all easily available and I had no problem connecting all my peripherals to it.
In terms of accessing the GPIO pins, the makers of the case provide a ‘cut-out’ area above the pins. This requires cutting out some plastic ‘struts’ (as seen in the top picture above). I had to use a Dremel rotary cutter to do it properly (see my efforts below) but, because the slot is close to the side of the case, it’s difficult to do the job neatly. As you can see, my cutting job wasn’t the cleanest.
Getting the ribbon cable out of the case is difficult if you don’t cut out enough of the slot and, in fact, the area given to you to cut-out isn’t big enough. Lots of trial and errors required here. I would have been a lot happier if the slot had been covered by an easily-removable piece of plastic rather than something that needs a specialist tool to cut out!
Overall, these are good cases if you want something cheap and don’t mind taking the lucky dip of the GAMBLE. I wouldn’t pay £6 for one for two reasons: The loose-fitting of the Pi inside and the GPIO slot. It’s a pity as the build quality of the product is very strong.
Update: Later versions of the cases (such as those now on sale at ModMyPi) have push-out sections for the GPIO and are apparently a slightly better fit. So, say 8/10 with those modifications.
Robot Arm with the #RaspberryPi
Not a particularly new idea, but still interesting nonetheless. Matt Dyson has got the Raspberry Pi and a robotic arm bring controlled by an XBox 360 controller. I believe this is the same robot arm that Maplin are selling in the UK.