The Raspberry Pi 400 thread!

[cspan]

Here

Thank you so much! Noted for future reference.

[deaglecat]

I am sorry to ask a basic question, but how well does Ubuntu 20.10 run on this device ? Is it fully compatible and is the 4Gb RAM sufficient.

(not sure why, but I am looking for another low cost Linux box and the form factor reminds me, a little bit, of an Amiga...).

[NinjaMig21]

Seems like the most popular external storage is an SSD. They appear to have speed and (physical) size advantages. But external HDD have price, capacity, and perhaps longevity advantages. Is there any reason why an external HDD is unsuitable for a Pi 400 (or 4B) boot and OS device?

I have both slim unpowered external HDD drives, as well as a powered docking station for larger, internal HDD (it has a SATA interface). Both types would connect to Pi via USB 3.0.

thanks -

I run both. SATA SSD for boot and a 1TB SSD for plex server files. No reason why you couldn't run everything from a hard drive. SSDs are popular because low end drives are very fast (compared to spinning drives) and affordable (around 20 eur for 120GB).

[NinjaMig21]

I am sorry to ask a basic question, but how well does Ubuntu 20.10 run on this device ? Is it fully compatible and is the 4Gb RAM sufficient.

(not sure why, but I am looking for another low cost Linux box and the form factor reminds me, a little bit, of an Amiga...).

I've tried Ubuntu mate and the "regular" ubuntu 20.10. They both seem to run great even from an SD card. No complaints really. 4GB ram is enough if you are conservative with browser tabs.

[maggibje]

I've got a Zenscreen go 16AP, a USB-C portable screen, and would love to get the raspberry pi 400 to use with it. The screen has an inbuilt battery and I know that the pi 400 doesn't output video from its USB-C port but could I use the USB-A port for video output or get an HDMI adaptor? I'm a bit sceptical about the HDMI adaptor as the screen seems very temperamental with adaptors.

[lingon]

The Pi 4B 8GB uses the C0 stepping of the BCM2711 as well.

Can you post a photo of Pi 4B 8GB with a C0 stepping of the BCM2711? Can you also post the corresponding output of

Code: Select all

cat /proc/cpuinfo

?

The initial release photo of the Pi 4B 8GB shows a B0 stepping.

But newer boards are likely to be equipped with more recent steppings as they become available.

[trejan]

"lscpu" shows the same stepping for my Pi4 8GB as it does for my Pi4 2GB

lscpu still shows r0p3 as that is the revision code of the ARM cores not the whole SoC. Pi 400 with the C0 stepping still shows r0p3.

Can you also post the corresponding output of

Code: Select all

cat /proc/cpuinfo

?

SoC stepping isn't shown in /proc/cpuinfo

Most reliable way at the moment is to just look at the markings on the SoC. I was trying to see if the PCIe bounce buffer difference is easily visible but it doesn't seem to be. Will need to poke around more.

[timg236]

I've compiled a list of 23 fun Raspberry Pi 400 facts - including some in this thread:

https://picockpit.com/raspberry-pi/23-f ... 400-facts/

It includes a new bonus fact I've not seen here before (yesterday): The Pi 400 still has the USB 2.0 OTG port routed to the USB C plug.

Cheers,
Max

P.S: Many thanks to all Raspberry Pi engineers who have shared background information on here & clarified things!

The Pi 4B 8GB uses the C0 stepping of the BCM2711 as well.

No it doesn't. You can't buy a Pi 4B 8GB C0

[pi3g]

Amended im my blogpost, thanks for the clarification.

Max

[jamesh]

I've compiled a list of 23 fun Raspberry Pi 400 facts - including some in this thread:

https://picockpit.com/raspberry-pi/23-f ... 400-facts/

It includes a new bonus fact I've not seen here before (yesterday): The Pi 400 still has the USB 2.0 OTG port routed to the USB C plug.

Cheers,
Max

P.S: Many thanks to all Raspberry Pi engineers who have shared background information on here & clarified things!

The Pi 4B 8GB uses the C0 stepping of the BCM2711 as well.

There are no production Pi4's with the C0 stepping, and there are unlikely to be any for some time. So if you are thinking you'll wait, it will be a long wait, and not worth it for the difference (which is small)

[ejolson]

"lscpu" shows the same stepping for my Pi4 8GB as it does for my Pi4 2GB

lscpu still shows r0p3 as that is the revision code of the ARM cores not the whole SoC. Pi 400 with the C0 stepping still shows r0p3.

Can you also post the corresponding output of

Code: Select all

cat /proc/cpuinfo

?

SoC stepping isn't shown in /proc/cpuinfo

Most reliable way at the moment is to just look at the markings on the SoC. I was trying to see if the PCIe bounce buffer difference is easily visible but it doesn't seem to be. Will need to poke around more.

Are you saying that the Pi 400 doesn't need the bounce buffers?

[trejan]

Are you saying that the Pi 400 doesn't need the bounce buffers?

Yes

[cspan]

I think this was alluded to in a query upthread regarding the "power switch", but just to confirm:

can you use an external (wired) keyboard with the Pi 400, if you're not a fan of the included keyboard but otherwise like and value most of the other changes and improvements over the Pi 4B?

[curious about the answer for wireless keyboard too, but for the moment I still prefer wired for security].

[hansotten]

I think this was alluded to in a query upthread regarding the "power switch", but just to confirm:

can you use an external (wired) keyboard with the Pi 400, if you're not a fan of the included keyboard but otherwise like and value most of the other changes and improvements over the Pi 4B?

[curious about the answer for wireless keyboard too, but for the moment I still prefer wired for security].

No problem, its just USB HID. Wireless, wired.

[pi3g]

I think this was alluded to in a query upthread regarding the "power switch", but just to confirm:

can you use an external (wired) keyboard with the Pi 400, if you're not a fan of the included keyboard but otherwise like and value most of the other changes and improvements over the Pi 4B?

[curious about the answer for wireless keyboard too, but for the moment I still prefer wired for security].

yes, you can use any USB or Bluetooth device with the Pi 400 - this includes keyboards!. You can also run several keyboards attached to the Pi 4, if you want

(in fact I run two keyboards on my desktop PC - one is a wireless Logitech keyboard, to allow to work on the console on the other display on the side, run through a KVM switch which can switch it to the Raspberry Pi as well, if needed)

[cleverca22]

yes, you can use any USB or Bluetooth device with the Pi 400 - this includes keyboards!. You can also run several keyboards attached to the Pi 4, if you want

(in fact I run two keyboards on my desktop PC - one is a wireless Logitech keyboard, to allow to work on the console on the other display on the side, run through a KVM switch which can switch it to the Raspberry Pi as well, if needed)

you can also use multiple keyboards at once to make an emoji keyboard
if i was to re-create that project on linux, i would just use the nodes in /dev/input/ to read each keyboard, and then uinput i think, to generate key presses back into the os

[trejan]

can you use an external (wired) keyboard with the Pi 400, if you're not a fan of the included keyboard but otherwise like and value most of the other changes and improvements over the Pi 4B?

AFAIK you still need to use the built-in keyboard for the Fn + F10 power button to start it though.

[ejolson]

can you use an external (wired) keyboard with the Pi 400, if you're not a fan of the included keyboard but otherwise like and value most of the other changes and improvements over the Pi 4B?

AFAIK you still need to use the built-in keyboard for the Fn + F10 power button to start it though.

My understanding is the Pi 400 boots up as soon as power is applied. If so, then one would not need to press any button.

[trejan]

can you use an external (wired) keyboard with the Pi 400, if you're not a fan of the included keyboard but otherwise like and value most of the other changes and improvements over the Pi 4B?

AFAIK you still need to use the built-in keyboard for the Fn + F10 power button to start it though.

My understanding is the Pi 400 boots up as soon as power is applied. If so, then one would not need to press any button.

Yeah. I meant if you had shut it down previously. You'd need to use press Fn + F10 on the built-in keyboard or disconnect + reconnect the power lead.

[cspan]

Bump for this question - on the 400 and 4B, what is the max delay for waiting to boot from USB, e.g., how long can you set it to wait for an external HDD to spin up? Thanks

So my question for the Pi 400 (and 4B, if boot from USB works natively on that), is: is this "wait" or delay the same as before? Or is it more forgiving of slower-to-spin-up HDD? I would sort of like my next Pi to boot up from a HDD just like my desktop PC does. Thrift, longevity, and maybe robustness to power outages lead me to favor booting from HDD instead of SSD so I'm keen to see if it's doable, and if so, what caveats may apply. Thanks!

[HermannSW]

I looked at the 6 German resellers, and most had advance booking only.
I bought by the one telling delivery in 5 workdays on website, but in email confirmation it was 10 workdays.

I wanted to buy Pi-400 only, but then thought a mouse and power supply would be good to have as well.
But that was nearly the full bundle price, so I ordered the bundle.

So the Pi-400 is my 3rd keyboard computer (years of purchase):
keyboard.computers.png

This is the "DE keyboard kit" I did order on announcement day 11/2:
https://shop.funk24.net/detail/index/sA ... aspberrypi

10 workdays would have been last Monday, so I called the reseller this morning.
He told me that the only part of bundle that is late is "beginners guide" in German language.
He told me that "DE keyboard kit" with English "beginners guide" could be send out today.
I agreed, and already got tracking information -- should arrive this Saturday.

So if your foreign language kit is late, you might want to call your reseller as well ...

[pi3g]

At least on my side ( https://buyzero.de ) we didn't get any German kits so far - with or without guide. Possibly Funk24 is combining US kits or British kits with EU power supplies and German keyboards?

Would love to do that, but we've sent out all the German keyboards we got - waiting for more stock

[HermannSW]

Possibly Funk24 is combining US kits or British kits with EU power supplies and German keyboards?

The person I had a call with said that they have German non-kit Pi400s, and all kit addons.
Just got notified by DHL that I seem to get my Pi400 kit tomorrow ...

I hope that beginners guide is at least 21cm wide, better 23.5cm.
Then I can remove it and transort my Pi400 laptop 9"/10" HDMI display instead ... will see tomorrow:
viewtopic.php?f=140&t=291123&p=1761512& ... p#p1761512

[karrika]

I just unpacked my Pi 400. The boot time from USB-SSD was a nice surprise. It starts really fast.

The SD card speed test on a Pi 400 gave the results:

Code: Select all

Raspberry Pi Diagnostics - version 0.5
Fri Nov 20 14:24:23 2020

Test : SD Card Speed Test
Run 1
prepare-file;0;0;312076;609
seq-write;0;0;312076;609
rand-4k-write;0;0;74812;18703
rand-4k-read;72255;18063;0;0
Sequential write speed 312076 KB/sec (target 10000) - PASS
Random write speed 18703 IOPS (target 500) - PASS
Random read speed 18063 IOPS (target 1500) - PASS
Test PASS

It is actually even much better than running the same SSD drive on a Pi4. Surprising.
The drive is the Samsung T5 500G connected to USB3 port with no extra power wires.
The previous test on a 4G RAM Pi4:

Code: Select all

Raspberry Pi Diagnostics - version 0.5
Wed Nov 11 18:50:38 2020

Test : SD Card Speed Test
Run 1
prepare-file;0;0;312076;609
seq-write;0;0;304818;595
rand-4k-write;0;0;60401;15100
rand-4k-read;59308;14827;0;0
Sequential write speed 304818 KB/sec (target 10000) - PASS
Random write speed 15100 IOPS (target 500) - PASS
Random read speed 14827 IOPS (target 1500) - PASS
Test PASS

[karrika]

Creating the Finnish localized Pi 400.

Start with a Swedish Raspberry Pi keyboard/USB hub combo.

20201120_152352.jpg (127.71 KiB) Viewed 3038 times

Then a Pi 400 with an UK keyboard.

20201120_152643.jpg (108.52 KiB) Viewed 3038 times

This keyboard module has a black plastic surrounding the LEDs so I gently removed that as well.

The result: A Finnish localized Pi 400.

20201120_153419.jpg (127.73 KiB) Viewed 3038 times

The Fn + F10 power off/on works with the new localized keyboard. And all characters and modifiers are in the correct places. So this is perfect for my needs.