installation

Installation

This is a how to guide to install piComputer. Work in progress.

Step 1: Install a minimal Raspberry Pi OS

Install a minimal raspian Raspberry Pi OS on your pi following official guide. Choose Raspberry Pi OS (arm64).

Setup wifi and ssh. You'll need an internet access.

Extra: Experimental configuration script for preparing the installation

You can skip steps 2 to 4 and use this script instead: qtaped/sysconfig.sh Download and execute it on your piComputer.

wget https://gist.githubusercontent.com/qtaped/18fdb9f3b234d248b707ba084617372f/raw/bf1692cd333dff3a76a80526f6d364d851e7679c/sysconfig.sh
chmod +x syslog.sh
./syslog.sh

Step 2: Make the screen work

## Step 2: Make the screen work

The wide screen does not work out of the box, you have to connect to your pi thru ssh (or plug your pi to a standard hdmi screen during this step).

Sample files are in system folder.

2.1 Setup HDMI

Make a backup of your config:

sudo mv /boot/config.txt /boot/config.txt.backup

Download & copy system/config.txt to /boot/:

sudo wget -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/qtaped/picomputer/main/system/config.txt -P /boot/

Note: In this file, a GPIO Default State is changed, it allows you to turn on/off the screen by controlling output2 on retroPSU, and always keep it on if piComputer restart.

2.2 Rotate screen in console mode

Append fbcon=rotate:3 to file /boot/cmdline.txt
Optional: append logo.nologo if you do not like raspberries.

sudo awk '{$0 = $0 " logo.nologo fbcon=rotate:3"} 1' /boot/cmdline.txt | sudo tee /boot/cmdline.txt >/dev/null

/boot/cmdline.txt should look like this:

console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 root=PARTUUID=XXXXXXXX-XX rootfstype=ext4 fsck.repair=yes rootwait logo.nologo fbcon=rotate:3 

2.3 Graphical acceleration

Run sudo raspi-config, go to Advanced Options and enable Glamor graphic acceleration.
Download & copy system/00-picomputer.conf

sudo wget -L  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/qtaped/picomputer/main/system/00-picomputer.conf -P /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/

2.4 Increase and change font in console mode (optional)

Edit /etc/default/console-setup to include the following:

FONTFACE="TerminusBold"
FONTSIZE="12x24"

2.5 Reboot

reboot your piComputer. At this stage, the wide screen should work.

Step 3: Get configuration files and scripts

## Step 3: Get configuration files and scripts

Clone (or download) and run the install bash script.

e.g.

sudo apt install git
git clone https://github.com/qtaped/picomputer.git
cd picomputer
chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh

The install script will basically run apt to install some packages (zsh, vim, xorg-server, i3, polybar, rofi, dunst...) and links configuration files.

Where are the files?

All configuration files and scripts will be move in $HOME/.picomputer once installed (it is a hidden folder). The install script will make symbolic links to standard path. e.g. $HOME/.picomputer/config/i3 → $HOME/.config/i3/config

Step 4: Reboot

reboot your piComputer.

Et voila !