Raspberry Pi 4 for sale or for a donation, anyone?

Sun 13 Feb 2022, 22:09

eeeek!

Sun 13 Feb 2022, 11:39 (last edited on Sun 13 Feb 2022, 11:40)

Hi Malcolm,

I don't think that the hp elite desk will do 4K at 60Hz just 30Hz ( they are about £250). Also you have to consider it's not just about the GPU maintaining the refresh rate, the core system needs enough grunt and buffering to maintain the throughput of…

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Sat 12 Feb 2022, 13:24

Colin, you recommended HP EliteDesk 800 G1 laptops as a basis of a presumably spy-free 4k video system and programmes recording system. Do you have suggestions as to where are good sources or places to get them?

My partner uses a rather physically plasticky and heavy low cost business HP for her work which has 4k resolution enabling her very large screen finance spreadsheets to be displayed with sharp text on a good v. large external monitor or two. I assume the HP you mentioned will be like that. Although as just the basis for a 4k system a 15” display is unnecessary. A small notebook size would suffice if it could keep up 4k at 60hz etc over a good HDMI cable. But a “good “ touchpad so as not to need a mouse would be nice the only touchpads I have ever used that just work well have been on MacBooks. The others on PC format cheap laptops are horrid. Suppose a seperate trackball would do the job too, to put a TV controlling laptop on a small coffee table next to the armchair.

The more I read about the extent of the spyware and selling of our TV viewing data the more attractive Colin’s homebrew solution is. DHLs delivery of the package to the wrong place has saved me from one wrong rabbit hole descent. However there were a couple of other things I wanted the USB 4, for.

And has anyone done it wirelessly without a HDMI cable without going down the Apple ecosystem all the way?

Finally. Anyone ever got their money back from a mis-delivery by DHL, especially where it was signed for with a clearly false name and to me with criminal intent. How did they do it?

Thu 10 Feb 2022, 20:56

All a theoretical project now cos the delivery has disappeared! 

Wed 2 Feb 2022, 00:26 (last edited on Wed 2 Feb 2022, 00:28)

Thanks Colin - you've pointed out things of which I know nowt and will need to do some duckducking/googling to understand. But it does sound like trying to run a Pi at 4k resolution might get a bit ... toasty. I wonder if a fan and heatsink arrangement I noticed in the online store might suffice for when running the TV?

There was a really thought provoking article in the Guardian a few days back, detailing the quite disturbig level to which smart TVs were being very smart about scooping up your personal data and selling it on. I'll try and find the reference link.

The DIY idea to use a standalone computer equipped with a proper operating system having some sense of security - running the picture to the TV - has a lot to be said for it.

BTW instead of having to have HDMI and audio cables running around the room, are there ways to transmit a high resolution TV picture wirelessly? The house has 1gb wired and wireless networking to the TV and speakers location.

Sun 30 Jan 2022, 11:04

I use a smart TV that has the Plex application for viewing and scheduling recordings . For the back-end recorder I use a network based HDhomerun twin tuner and an Intel NUC running Linux and the Plex server software.  You can configure the NUC to sleep and wake up on LAN to save power. I also run a pi hole DNS server on my network using a Pi 4 to stop any devices like the smart TV sending tracking data the various corporations. 

I hear that the Pi 4 runs very hot when attempting 4K output. I would never run video via USB 3 to hdmi converter and advise strongly against doing it. Also remember for 4K you need a well specified hdmi cable as any old rubbish will not work.

There are good deals on used HP EliteDesk 800 G1 which when given a good operating system (erase windows) would be ideal for a media centre ( make sure you get the i7 and not i5 or i3 variant ).

I noticed for playing about with python the pi pico is quite reasonable price.

Wed 26 Jan 2022, 21:02

Hmmmm. Well I do have a spare Raspberry Pi 3 which I got couple of years back on the misapprehension that the USB ports had been upgraded, and then stalled.

 That might not be up to displaying at 4K TV speed standard but it will be quite good enough, surely, for an ordinary smart TV gone dumb. 

Just that I've never done anything like media with a Pi so a steep learning cliff... And I assume one can get remote controls for it...? 

Anyone done a media streaming thingummie with a cute 'lil ol' sweetie Pi? 

Wed 26 Jan 2022, 16:42

I have an Amazon Firestick. It worked for a bit, then a software update made buffering problems too much to put up with. Glad it works for some people; but alas not for me.

My smart Panasonic TV has gradually lost apps over the years as the software gets updated (or not, in the case of the apps for ITV and C4). I had been wondering about replacing it with a Samsung to gain access to BFI streaming on the TV in a relatively uncomplicated way. But I see Samsung TVs after 2019 no longer have this facility. Annoying.

Wed 26 Jan 2022, 14:26

Amazon *Firestick*? No that’s sort of percolated out of my mind! Heard of the term but not really paid any attention at all. Good idea. After 20+ years of nigh on exclusive Linux use the kids cajoled me over to join the Slightly Paler Side and now over the last few weeks am with a almost full suite of Apple Ecosystem second hand kit: Apple MacBook, a top end big iPad-refurbished, a little old iPad Mini (as an Kindle ebook reader, just slightly bigger than a Kindle but I find the screen easier to read) - and a refurbished big X-RAY phone - why not just give up kicking against the pricks and get Apple stick too - presumably USB connected to the TV?- and get all bought into the Gloaming environment.

If I am waiting for the “definitive tech plateau “ of the ultra nice new QLEDS then a big 42+” TV second hand cheap could be firesticked…

Wed 26 Jan 2022, 14:07

Regarding the tv. Have you thought about plugging an Amazon Firestick or similar into an HDMI port? This solved the lack of apps available on a second hand tv I bought a couple of years ago.

Wed 26 Jan 2022, 11:22

Or Appliances Online

Wed 26 Jan 2022, 10:09

Head down to Richer Sounds in Oxford and snap up a 43" Toshiba smart TV Ultra HD for £ 249. They have many other models as well. https://www.richersounds.com/clearance-bargains/in-store/52.html?tv_screen_size_breaks=817

Wed 26 Jan 2022, 07:31

Agree with a James.  We just bought a 42” TV and it’s great!  Otherwise it will take over the room!

Wed 26 Jan 2022, 06:23

Just buy a decent 4k 42”+ TV. If you’re going from an aged 32” then it will look amazing in comparison. Don’t need a 60” OLED for the cost they are.

Wed 26 Jan 2022, 03:01

I’m awaiting my Pi. Fortunately I had spotted something about the overheating problem and got a big heat sink but one thing I was toying with was combining it with a Tv server and having a go at recording some stuff, like the old TiVo, as my trivial use would…

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Mon 24 Jan 2022, 17:29 (last edited on Mon 24 Jan 2022, 18:00)

This is the Reddit account and the post of the guy who upgraded a Pi 400 from 4GB to 8GB. It's a delicate operation, and it needs a hot air soldering rework station (he set it to 350 C). Modern surface mount components are not like old through-the-hole components. It…

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Mon 24 Jan 2022, 15:16 (last edited on Mon 24 Jan 2022, 15:18)

As for upgrading a 4gb RAM chip to an 8gb chip - who said anything about moi being normal, eh? But over the last 16 or 17 years since moving to Charlbury with the then young children have done very little soldering and virtually none with the modern lead-free solders which seems to need melting the plastic matrix first before the solder gives and have cooked a couple of chips trying to supposedly repair the boards :-( 

Wish had laid more stocks of the toxic traditional stuff in, but for repairs the problem is actually being able to melt the original solder off to extract them without ruining the components themselves and thus far my success rate is depressing. So a couple of tubes of leaded solder wire is just as well if one can't get the knack of getting the lead free solder from a production line vat, free in the first place to easily resolder back with some good 'ol trad stuff - plumbum and all. 

A thought - does protecting the environment from lead really lead to a better overall ecosystem impact than not being able to easily repair stuff due to the trivial issue of a melting point?

I wonder how many gb's of memory a Pi could support- 16? 32? Just out of curiosity. 

Mon 24 Jan 2022, 15:00

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY NINE Pounds sterling - an Amazon price for a Raspberry Pi 4 8gb RAM starter kit.

Or just the board ONE HUNDRED FIFTY NINE on its own.

Surely no-one expects to sell them at that price? And if you'd wanted to build a utterly essential system around…

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Sat 22 Jan 2022, 01:35

Somebody has upgraded a Raspberry Pi 400 to 8GB, but it is, to put it mildly, not straightforward. The RAM on a the Pi is soldered onto the board and the only way to remove it is to apply a lot of heat (especially as it's lead free solder)…

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Fri 21 Jan 2022, 19:39

Hmmm. Tempting though why oh why not do that with enough ram memory to be a really useful little pooter? Was thinking of running it headless (sans monitor and keyboard once set up). So that raises two questions… could there be any chance of someone really good with a fine soldering iron running on some more chips (which counts me out with a semi paralysed set of fingers on one hand and over twenty years at least since tackling any soldering of such delicacy… plus having a failed soldering iron I must remember to ask Colin to see if he can attempt a repair). There is also another idea- could a little switch be soldered in to enable the keyboard to be instantly changed from connecting to the Pi board inside and become just an external keyboard for any other computer on the desk?

I’ll check Pi Hut again as now it’s been nigh on a fortnight since I checked them, and I’m pretty sure I did, and the deliveries may have picked up from the vacation rush.

But the price is double what they used to be!

Any thoughts on bodging a RAM upgrade anyone with the skills and equipment to do it? I wonder if they can support 64gb. >;)

Fri 21 Jan 2022, 14:59

The Pi 400 is the opposite of a board designed for embedded us. It's a computer integrated into a keyboard and designed as a general purpose computer.

This is specification

• Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 (ARM v8) 64-bit SoC @ 1.8GHz
• 4GB LPDDR4-3200
• Dual-band (2.4GHz and 5.0GHz) IEEE 802.11b/g/n/ac wireless LAN
• Bluetooth 5.0, BLE
• Gigabit Ethernet
• 2 × USB 3.0 and 1 × USB 2.0 ports
• Horizontal 40-pin GPIO header
• 2 × micro HDMI ports (supports up to 4Kp60)
• H.265 (4Kp60 decode); H.264 (1080p60 decode, 1080p30 encode); OpenGL ES 3.1, Vulkan 1.0
• MicroSD card slot for operating system and data storage
• 78- or 79-key compact keyboard (depending on regional variant)
• 5V DC via USB connector

So there are some things missing that are in the P4, like one of the USB2.0 ports, sound is via HDMI only, no camera port and so on. It's meant as a stand along computer.

In any event, there are lots of reviews on the Internet.

Fri 21 Jan 2022, 14:10

Thanks Steve, I’ll think about it as I’m not familiar with the 400 which without checking assume is for embedding whereas I’m looking for something behaving like a’pooter with some big disks etc that were choked somewhat by speed transfer. I’ve also got a spare case so hoping form factor stayed the same…

And the COST is ridiculous given the original raisin d’etre of the Raspberry Pi project even when you can find them retail. So one could even get a situation where for those who are really determined to get it, a second hand board costs more than the retail price!

Hopefully now the Xmas rush is over some more pallet-full’s will turn up tho doubt the price will ever get back to the same proportional levels as the original philosophy.

Are they still finally assembly fabricated in Britain or has that gone too?

Fri 21 Jan 2022, 13:56

I don't know how critical it is that it's a Raspberry Pi 4 board, but you can still obtain Raspberry Pi 400s (I've just bought one) which has the 2 x USB 3 ports and one USB 2.0 port. I've seen a supplier with just the base units available at £66.90 (expensive for a Pi 400 I know). The Pi 400s only have 4GB of memory though, but does have a slightly faster processor at 1.8 Ghz (and can be reliably overclocked too).

The board can be extracted, but it's specific to the model and I don't know how it works without the keyboard connected (which I believe is attached via a ribbon cable). It also has a specific O/S build. It's also a different form factor.

At the opposite end of the scale I've recently bought some Raspberry Pi picos for a microcontroller project and I'm looking forwards to comparing those to the Arduino boards I've used.

Thu 20 Jan 2022, 22:25

Damn you’re a greedy man!  >;) I just want one! Why the Pi 3 didn’t equip with USB 3 is a mystery, can’t have been that the chips were that much more expensive- and now look how much they are having to pay for the new components reflected in the retail price!

Thu 20 Jan 2022, 19:12

no I'm keeping my two :-)

Thu 20 Jan 2022, 17:57

Raspberry Pi 4 for sale or for a donation, anyone?

The global chip shortage has made stock disappear from sales - at least I haven’t found one. If anyone has a Pi 4 - and it has to be a 4 model with the USB 3 ports for the project- then I will happily take it off your hands for payment. Either to you or something like a contribution to the Food Bank or some other good cause.

Charlbury came up trumps with finding the original Pi 1 board fallen into disuse when our one failed, but leaving all the ancillaries. The use was not worth a newer more capable later version which would have been a waste. 

Perhaps someone has the latest version with the USB 3 ports and more RAM - 8 gigabytes or even more would be better but the minimum 4gb would do - perhaps there is a Raspberry Pi 4 from an abandoned project or that the kids’ have outgrown in a drawer or cupboard…?

Can Charlbury trump global supply crisis this time too?