Raspberry Pi® For Dummies®

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2021941416

ISBN 978-1-119-79682-4 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-79686-2 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-79687-9 (ebk)

Raspberry Pi® For Dummies®

To view this book's Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Raspberry Pi For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Introduction

About This Book
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here

Part 1: Setting Up Your Raspberry Pi

Chapter 1: Introducing the Raspberry Pi
1. Introducing the Raspberry Pi Range
2. Figuring Out What You Can Do with a Raspberry Pi
3. Getting Your Hands on a Raspberry Pi
4. Determining What Else You Need
Chapter 2: Downloading the Operating System
1. Introducing Linux
2. Imaging a microSD Card for Your Raspberry Pi
3. Choosing the Right Operating System for Your Raspberry Pi
Chapter 3: Connecting Your Raspberry Pi
1. Connecting Your Raspberry Pi
2. Setting Up Your Raspberry Pi
3. Configuring Your Raspberry Pi in Raspberry Pi OS
4. Changing Your Wi-Fi Settings
5. Configuring Bluetooth Devices
6. Connecting the Raspberry Pi Camera Module
7. Connecting Using SSH
8. Connecting Using VNC

Part 2: Getting Started with Linux

Chapter 4: Using the Desktop Environment
1. Navigating the Raspberry Pi Desktop
2. Using the Task Manager
3. Using File Manager
4. Browsing the Web with Chromium
5. Sending and Receiving Email with Claws Mail
6. Using the Image Viewer
7. Using the Text Editor
8. Configuring Printers
9. Customizing the Desktop
10. Playing the Games
11. Finding and Installing New Applications
12. Backing Up Your Data
13. Logging Out and Shutting Down
Chapter 5: Using the Linux Shell
1. Understanding the Prompt
2. Exploring Your Linux System
3. Understanding the Long Listing Format and Permissions
4. Slowing Down the Listing and Reading Files with the Less Command
5. Speeding Up Entering Commands
6. Using Redirection to Create Files
7. Creating Directories
8. Deleting Files
9. Using Wildcards to Select Multiple Files
10. Removing Directories
11. Copying and Renaming Files
12. Finding Files on Your Raspberry Pi
13. Installing and Managing Software on Your Raspberry Pi
14. Managing User Accounts on Your Raspberry Pi
15. Learning More about Linux Commands
16. Customizing the Shell with Your Own Linux Commands
17. Shutting Down and Rebooting Your Raspberry Pi

Part 3: Using the Raspberry Pi for Both Work and Play

Chapter 6: Being Productive with the Raspberry Pi
1. Installing LibreOffice on Your Raspberry Pi
2. Working with LibreOffice on the Raspberry Pi
Chapter 7: Editing Photos on the Raspberry Pi with GIMP
1. Working with GIMP
2. Finding Out More about GIMP
Chapter 8: Playing Audio and Video on the Raspberry Pi
1. Setting Up Your Media Center
2. Navigating the Media Center
3. Adding Media
4. Enjoying Your Media
5. Changing the Settings
6. Using a Remote Control
7. Turning Off Your Media Center
8. Playing Music in the Desktop Environment

Part 4: Programming the Raspberry Pi

Chapter 9: Introducing Programming with Scratch
1. Understanding What Programming Is
2. Working with Scratch
Chapter 10: Programming an Arcade Game Using Scratch
1. Starting a New Scratch Project and Deleting Sprites
2. Changing the Backdrop
3. Adding Sprites to Your Game
4. Drawing Sprites in Scratch
5. Naming Your Sprites
6. Controlling When Scripts Run
7. Using Random Numbers
8. Detecting When a Sprite Hits Another Sprite
9. Introducing Variables
10. Making Sprites Move Automatically
11. Fixing the Final Bug
12. Adding Scripts to the Stage
13. Duplicating Sprites
14. Playing Your Game
15. Adapting the Game’s Difficulty
16. Taking It Further with Scratch
Chapter 11: Writing Programs in Python
1. Working with Python
2. Creating the Times Tables Program
3. Creating the Chatbot Program
Chapter 12: Creating a Game with Python and Pygame Zero
1. Collecting Your Sounds and Images
2. Setting Up Your Folders
3. Creating and Running Your First Program
4. Exploring Pygame Zero Further
Chapter 13: Programming Minecraft with Python
1. Playing Minecraft
2. Preparing for Python
3. Using the Minecraft Module
4. Adapting the Program
Chapter 14: Making Music with Sonic Pi
1. Understanding the Sonic Pi Screen Layout
2. Playing Your First Notes
3. Using Note and Chord Names
4. Playing Timed Patterns
5. Composing Random Tunes Using Shuffle
6. Changing the Random Number Seed
7. Using List Names in Your Programs
8. Playing Random Notes
9. Experimenting with Live Loops
10. Using Samples
11. Adding Special Effects
12. Synchronizing with Your Drumbeat
13. Bringing It All Together
14. Next Steps with Sonic Pi

Part 5: Exploring Electronics with the Raspberry Pi

Chapter 15: Understanding Circuits
1. Discovering What a Circuit Is
2. Getting Familiar with the GPIO
3. Looking at Ready-Made Add-On Boards
Chapter 16: Taking Control of Your Pi’s Circuitry
1. Accessing Raspberry Pi’s GPIO Pins
2. Your First Circuit
3. Starting Out with a Dice Display
4. Pedestrian Crossing
Chapter 17: Lots of Multicolored LEDs
1. Making Colors
2. The Way Forward
3. Rainbow Invaders
4. Keepy Uppy
5. LEDs Galore
Chapter 18: Old McDonald’s Farm and Other RFID Adventures
1. How RFID Work
2. Dressing Up a Paper Doll
3. Old McDonald’s Farm

Part 6: The Part of Tens

Chapter 19: Ten Great Software Packages for the Raspberry Pi
1. Penguins Puzzle
2. FocusWriter
3. Mathematica
4. Fraqtive
5. Tux Paint
6. Grisbi
7. Beneath a Steel Sky
8. Brain Party
9. Pure Data
10. Inkscape
Chapter 20: Ten Inspiring Projects for the Raspberry Pi
1. One-Button Audiobook Player
2. Heartbeat Monitor
3. Smart Fridge
4. The Next Verse
5. Electric Skateboard
6. T-Shirt Cannon
7. Magic Mirror
8. Pi in the Sky
9. Raspberry Turk
10. Sound Fighter
Chapter 21: Ten Great Add-Ons for the Raspberry Pi
1. Picade
2. CamJam EduKit 3
3. Piano HAT
4. Rainbow HAT
5. Display-O-Tron HAT
6. Flick
7. Unicorn HAT HD
8. Inky pHAT
9. Pirate Audio
10. Witty Pi

Appendix: Troubleshooting and Configuring the Raspberry Pi

Troubleshooting the Raspberry Pi
Troubleshooting Your Network Connection
Adjusting the Settings on Your Raspberry Pi
Fixing Audio Problems
Fixing Software Installation Issues
Mounting External Storage Devices

Index

About the Authors

Advertisement Page

Connect with Dummies

End User License Agreement

List of Illustrations

Chapter 1

FIGURE 1-1: Two of the Raspberry Pi boards used in the University of Southampto...
FIGURE 1-2: The Raspberry Pi 4 Model B (center), Model A+ (top right), and Pi Z...
FIGURE 1-3: The Raspberry Pi 400 hides the computer inside the keyboard.
FIGURE 1-4: The Micro USB–to–USB converter cable and the Mini HDMI–to–HDMI conv...
FIGURE 1-5: The Pibow Coupe case on the Raspberry Pi 4.
FIGURE 1-6: The Raspberry Pi 4 Case Fan.

Chapter 2

FIGURE 2-1: The Raspberry Pi Imager software.
FIGURE 2-2: Some of the operating system options that appear when you click Cho...

Chapter 3

FIGURE 3-1: The Raspberry Pi Configuration tool in the desktop.
FIGURE 3-2: Adjusting the screen resolution.
FIGURE 3-3: The Bluetooth and Wi-Fi buttons, beside the volume control and cloc...
FIGURE 3-4: The Raspberry Pi High Quality Camera (left) and Camera Module (righ...
FIGURE 3-5: Connecting the Raspberry Pi Camera Module to a Raspberry Pi Zero.
FIGURE 3-6: Connecting the Raspberry Pi Camera Module to a Raspberry Pi 4.

Chapter 4

FIGURE 4-1: The Raspberry Pi Desktop.
FIGURE 4-2: The Applications menu.
FIGURE 4-3: The Task Manager.
FIGURE 4-4: The File Manager on the Raspberry Pi Desktop.
FIGURE 4-5: Removable storage attached to your Raspberry Pi is automatically de...
FIGURE 4-6: Right-clicking a file in File Manager brings up a menu of options.
FIGURE 4-7: The Chromium browser.
FIGURE 4-8: Adding a bookmark in Chromium.
FIGURE 4-9: Gnomes on phones, as seen through the Image Viewer.
FIGURE 4-10: Cavern, one of the games in Raspberry Pi OS.
FIGURE 4-11: The Add/Remove Software menu.
FIGURE 4-12: The SD Card Copier application.

Chapter 5

FIGURE 5-1: Part of the directory tree on your Raspberry Pi.
FIGURE 5-2: Changing file permissions using File Manager.

Chapter 6

FIGURE 6-1: The LibreOffice entries, on the Applications menu.
FIGURE 6-2: Writing a letter with LibreOffice.
FIGURE 6-3: How much?! Planning a holiday budget in LibreOffice Calc.
FIGURE 6-4: Creating a photo slide show using LibreOffice Impress.
FIGURE 6-5: Making a party invitation using LibreOffice Draw.

Chapter 7

FIGURE 7-1: GIMP enables you to edit photos on your Raspberry Pi.
FIGURE 7-2: The scale options in GIMP.
FIGURE 7-3: Cropping a photo in GIMP.

Chapter 8

FIGURE 8-1: The main menu on the left and the empty library area on the right. ...
FIGURE 8-2: The browsing options for adding media to your Kodi installation.
FIGURE 8-3: Playing music in VLC Media Player.

Chapter 9

FIGURE 9-1: The screen layout in Scratch.
FIGURE 9-2: The number of degrees used to face in different directions.
FIGURE 9-3: The grid coordinates on the Stage.
FIGURE 9-4: The blocks used to show sprite information on the Stage.
FIGURE 9-5: A simple script to make the cat walk around the Stage.
FIGURE 9-6: You can change a sprite’s appearance by giving it a new costume.
FIGURE 9-7: Some of the Looks blocks you can use to change your sprite’s appear...
FIGURE 9-8: The different graphic effects you can apply to your sprite, with th...
FIGURE 9-9: Adding sound effects to your sprite.
FIGURE 9-10: Emulating the Sense HAT.

Chapter 10

FIGURE 10-1: Mousing over the Choose a Backdrop button reveals different ways t...
FIGURE 10-2: The Paint Editor in Scratch.
FIGURE 10-3: Setting a graduated fill pattern.
FIGURE 10-4: Using a green flag Events block to reset your sprite.
FIGURE 10-5: The Forever block can be used to make the ship rotate the entire t...
FIGURE 10-6: The If block is used to enable keyboard movement of the sprite.
FIGURE 10-7: The script for resetting and then controlling the ship.
FIGURE 10-8: The scripts for the fireball sprite.
FIGURE 10-9: The script to reset the alien at the start of the game.
FIGURE 10-10: Setting up the alien and detecting when it’s hit.
FIGURE 10-11: Detecting when the alien catches the player's spaceship.
FIGURE 10-12: The alien’s movement script.
FIGURE 10-13: The final scripts for the fireball, including the firing flag.
FIGURE 10-14: How to build the If block that checks whether the ship should fir...
FIGURE 10-15: The scripts for the Stage.
FIGURE 10-16: The final game.

Chapter 11

FIGURE 11-1: The Thonny Python IDE, just after it opens.
FIGURE 11-2: Using the editor.
FIGURE 11-3: The Times Table program, in development.
FIGURE 11-4: The finished multiplication table. Now, what was 8 times 7 again?

Chapter 12

FIGURE 12-1: Your first Pygame Zero program puts an image in the middle of the ...
FIGURE 12-2: Clouds drifting up the screen.

Chapter 13

FIGURE 13-1: Minecraft on the Pi.
FIGURE 13-2: The starter grid.
FIGURE 13-3: Your grid in Minecraft.
FIGURE 13-4: Finding your way around the maze.

Chapter 14

FIGURE 14-1: The Sonic Pi screen layout.
FIGURE 14-2: Choosing a synth using the autocomplete feature.

Chapter 15

FIGURE 15-1: Two circuit symbols representing a switch.
FIGURE 15-2: Just a few of the many different physical forms a switch can take.
FIGURE 15-3: Schematic symbols for some components.
FIGURE 15-4: A schematic of a simple circuit.
FIGURE 15-5: A schematic of a circuit with switch closed.
FIGURE 15-6: A circuit with the effective series resistance values shown.
FIGURE 15-7: A GPIO when used as an output.
FIGURE 15-8: Two ways of driving an LED.
FIGURE 15-9: Two ways of using a GPIO as in input.
FIGURE 15-10: The Sense HAT.
FIGURE 15-11: Trill sensors have two bars, a square, and a ring.
FIGURE 15-12: The LED SHIM shown with wires soldered on.

Chapter 16

FIGURE 16-1: GPIO header pins and their function.
FIGURE 16-2: GPIO template identifying the pins.
FIGURE 16-3: Soldering a header pin to a Pi Zero.
FIGURE 16-4: A typical cobbler connector, for bringing out all the pins to a br...
FIGURE 16-5: The Flat HAT hacker attached to the rear of the Raspberry Pi 400.
FIGURE 16-6: An LED and switch, wired to the GPIO pins.
FIGURE 16-7: Scratch program to blink the LED.
FIGURE 16-8: Scratch program to control the LED blink rate with a push button.
FIGURE 16-9: LED dice schematic.
FIGURE 16-10: LED dice physical layout.
FIGURE 16-11: Photo of the LED dice project.
FIGURE 16-12: LED dice display patterns.
FIGURE 16-13: LED wiring for independent blinking.
FIGURE 16-14: Pedestrian Crossing schematic.
FIGURE 16-15: Layout of the Traffic Crossing circuit.
FIGURE 16-16: A better traffic light display.

Chapter 17

FIGURE 17-1: Three types of basic RGB LEDs.
FIGURE 17-2: Wiring common anode and common cathode LEDs.
FIGURE 17-3: A PWM signal controlling the LED’s brightness.
FIGURE 17-4: DotStar (APA102C) and NeoPixel (WS2812b) LEDs.
FIGURE 17-5: Wiring of an APA102C LED chain.
FIGURE 17-6: Timing diagrams for the WS2812b and APA102C LEDs.
FIGURE 17-7: Soldering wires to the back of the Blinkt! strip.
FIGURE 17-8: Black HAT Hack3R, giving two sets of GPIO pins.
FIGURE 17-9: APA102C driver circuit.
FIGURE 17-10: Some shapes from the RasPio Inspiring LED strip range.
FIGURE 17-11: Adafruit’s high-density matrix display.
FIGURE 17-12: Making a matrix with raster wiring and serpentine raster wiring.
FIGURE 17-13: Wiring up a battery-powered Pi Pico controller.
FIGURE 17-14: Our battery-powered Pi Pico controller.

Chapter 18

FIGURE 18-1: Block diagram of an RFID system.
FIGURE 18-2: Mounting a reader on a breadboard.
FIGURE 18-3: Schematic and layout for attaching to a Pi.
FIGURE 18-4: Doll clothes RFID cards.
FIGURE 18-5: Dolls we created.
FIGURE 18-6: Audacity.
FIGURE 18-7: Old McDonald’s farm.

Chapter 19

FIGURE 19-1: Penguins Puzzle is a cute 3D puzzle game.
FIGURE 19-2: Two plot examples from Mathematica.
FIGURE 19-3: Generate colorful fractal images easily using Fraqtive.
FIGURE 19-4: Tux Paint turns every child into an artist. And us, too.
FIGURE 19-5: Beneath a Steel Sky, an interactive science-fiction story.
FIGURE 19-6: Testing Pure Data (Pd).
FIGURE 19-7: Making a theremin using Pure Data (Pd).
FIGURE 19-8: A beer mat design created using Inkscape.

Chapter 20

FIGURE 20-1: The design for the Magic Mirror, showing where the Raspberry Pi ca...

Chapter 21

FIGURE 21-1: The Flat Hat Hacker (left) and Raspberry Pi 400 GPIO Adapter (righ...
FIGURE 21-2: The Picade console with 10-inch screen.
FIGURE 21-3: The HATs in this chapter, left to right from the upper left: Piano...

Appendix

FIGURE A-1: The Nano text editor with the config.txt file open.

Introduction

Raspberry Pi computers are at the forefront of the maker movement, where people make their own inventions using a mixture of traditional craft skills and modern coding and electronics knowledge. They’ve also given more and more people access to a computer that provides a gateway into programming, electronics, and the world of Linux — the technically powerful (and free) rival to Windows and Mac OS. As a supercheap computer, the Raspberry Pi is also being pressed into service in media centers and as a family computer for games, music, photo editing, and word processing.

You might be a geek who relishes learning new technologies, or you might be someone who wants a new family computer to use with the children. In either case, Raspberry Pi For Dummies, 4th Edition, helps you get started with your Raspberry Pi and teaches you about some of the many fun and inspiring things you can do with it.

About This Book

Raspberry Pi For Dummies, 4th Edition, provides a concise and clear introduction to the terminology, technology, and techniques that you need to get the most from your Pi. With this book as your guide, you’ll learn how to

Set up your Raspberry Pi.
Discover and install great free software you can use on your Raspberry Pi.
Use the desktop environment to run programs, manage files, surf the web, and view photos.
Use the Linux command line to manage your Raspberry Pi and its files.
Use the Raspberry Pi as a productivity tool.
Edit photos.
Play music and video.
Create animations and arcade games with the child-friendly Scratch programming language.
Write your own games and other programs using the Python programming language.
Compose music by programming with Sonic Pi.
Get started with electronics, from an introduction to soldering to the design and creation of electronic projects controlled by the Raspberry Pi.

Incidentally, within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If you’re reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as it’s noted in the text, pretending as though the line break doesn’t exist. If you’re reading this as an ebook, you’ve got it easy — just click or tap the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

Foolish Assumptions

Raspberry Pi For Dummies, 4th Edition, is written for beginners, by which we mean people who have never used a similar computer. However, we do have to make a few assumptions in writing this book, because we wouldn’t have enough space for all its cool projects if we had to start by explaining what a mouse is! Here are our assumptions:

You are familiar with other computers, such as Windows or Apple computers. In particular, we assume that you’re familiar with using windows, icons, and the keyboard and mouse, and that you know the basics of using your computer for things like browsing the Internet, installing software, or copying files.
The Raspberry Pi is not your only computer. At times, you’ll need to have access to another computer — for example, to create your SD or microSD card for the Pi. (See Chapter 2.) When it comes to networking, we assume you already have a router set up with an Internet connection and a spare port that you can plug the Raspberry Pi into if you’re using a wired connection.
The Raspberry Pi is your first Linux-based computer. If you’re a Linux ninja, this book still gives you a solid reference on the Raspberry Pi and the version of Linux it uses, but no prior Linux knowledge is required.
You share our excitement. The Raspberry Pi can open up a world of possibilities to you!

Other than these assumptions, we hope this book is approachable for everyone. The Raspberry Pi is being adopted in classrooms and youth groups, and this book is a useful resource for teachers and students. The Raspberry Pi is also finding its way into many homes, where people of all ages (from children to adults) are using it for education and entertainment.

Icons Used in This Book

If you’ve read other For Dummies books, you know that they use icons in the margin to call attention to particularly important or useful ideas in the text. In this book, we use four such icons:

The Tip icon highlights expert shortcuts or simple ideas that can make life easier for you.

Although we’d like to think that reading this book is an unforgettable experience, we’ve highlighted some points that you might want to particularly commit to memory. They’re either important takeaways, or they’re fundamental to the project you’re working on.

As you would do on the road, slow down when you see a Warning icon. It highlights an area where things could go wrong.

Arguably, the whole book talks about technical stuff, but this icon highlights something that’s particularly technical. We’ve tried to avoid unnecessary jargon and complexity, but some background information can give you a better understanding of what you’re doing, and sometimes we do need to get quite techy, given the sophistication of the projects you’re doing. Paragraphs highlighted with this icon might be worth rereading, to make sure you understand, or you might decide that you don’t need to know that much detail. It’s up to you!

Beyond the Book

In addition to what you’re reading right now, this book comes with a free access-anywhere Cheat Sheet with tips on installing software and using Scratch. To get this Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and type Raspberry Pi Dummies Cheat Sheet in the Search box.

Also be sure to check out this book’s companion website (www.dummies.com/go/raspberrypifd4e), where you can download the code listings that appear throughout this book.

Both of us maintain our own personal websites too, which contain some additional information on the Raspberry Pi. Mike’s is at www.thebox.myzen.co.uk/Raspberry/Punnet.html, and Sean’s is at www.sean.co.uk.

Where to Go from Here

It’s up to you how you read this book. It’s been organized to take you on a journey from acquiring and setting up your Raspberry Pi to learning the software that comes with it, and from writing your own programs to finally creating your own electronics projects. Some chapters build on knowledge gained in earlier chapters, especially the sections on Scratch and Python — and all of Part 5.

We understand, though, that some projects or topics might interest you more than others, and you might need help in some areas right now. When a chapter assumes knowledge from elsewhere, we include cross-references to help you quickly find what you might have missed. We also include some signposts to future chapters, so you can skip ahead to a later chapter if it provides the quickest answer for you.

If you haven’t set up your Pi yet, start with Part 1. If you have your Pi up and running, Part 2 shows you how to use the software on it. Part 3 covers productivity, creativity, and entertainment software. To flex your programming muscles, perhaps for the first time, read Part 4. You can learn Scratch, Python, or Sonic Pi here, and feel free to start with any one of those languages. The Python chapters provide a good foundation for Part 5, where you can start building your own electronics projects.

Part 1

Setting Up Your Raspberry Pi

IN THIS PART …

Get to know the Raspberry Pi and what other equipment you will need to be able to use it.

Download the Linux operating system and prepare a microSD card for use on your Raspberry Pi.

Connect your Raspberry Pi to the power, keyboard, mouse, and screen.

Install and test the Raspberry Pi Camera Module.

Change the settings on your Raspberry Pi.