back to article Raspberry Pi celebrates fourth birthday with fruity version 3

As rumoured last week, the Raspberry Pi Foundation is celebrating its fourth birthday today with the release of the Pi 3, packing a 1.2 GHz 64-bit ARM Cortex A53, 802.11n Wireless LAN capability and Bluetooth 4.1. The Raspberry Pi 3 The Raspberry Pi 3 We spoke to Pi head honcho Eben Upton last week ahead of the unleashing …

  1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

    Still 100MBit Ethernet

    The rest of the spec looks promising. I may get myself one as a "birthday present" to see if it can finally be usable as a desktop

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Still 100MBit Ethernet

      I doubt you can use it as a desktop. My desk is about 4 foot by 3, and still gets too cluttered. 2 inches just won't be enough, and all those chips make it too bumpy to write on.

    2. Lysenko

      Re: Still 100MBit Ethernet

      You might find the:

      http://www.banana-pi.org/m3.html

      ...a better fit for that. Gives you proper 1Gbps Ethernet (i.e. not thunked over USB internally), double the RAM, double the cores and SATA support. About £42, inc VAT.

      1. werdsmith Silver badge

        Re: Still 100MBit Ethernet

        The wired Ethernet is still on the USB, but the WiFi is not, it's on SDIO.

      2. LaeMing
        Boffin

        Re: Banana Pi SATA

        That BPI-M3 certainly looks nice. But I do notice the SATA is just a USB-SATA adapter hung off a USB hub on board, so not necessarily any better than a USB HDD plugged into a Pi. (Though you do have the option of not sharing that USB2 line with anything else and still having another port available, unlike the Pi).

        8 cores, 2GiB ram and 8GiB eMMC are very nice, though.

        However, until I see decent PowerVR 3D drivers in OSS, I won't be there.

    3. moylan
      Alien

      Re: Still 100MBit Ethernet

      1gb of ram isn't enough. i used till last year an ancient netbook with 1gb as my main system. web browsers need more. 2gb would be better but i suspect 3gb would be needed before it stops hammering virtual memory. you can use lite browsers. midori, qupzilla, but those have sites they won't work properly on or just crash when loading.

      i'll still buy one when i can find a shop in dublin selling them. the added bt and wifi is most welcome as it frees up usb ports and reduces space it needs without those been occupied.

      1. Martin an gof Silver badge

        Re: Still 100MBit Ethernet

        i used till last year an ancient netbook with 1gb as my main system. web browsers need more

        An Intel-based netbook running (presumably) some variant of Windows and Internet Explorer is a completely different beast to an ARM-based Pi running a reasonably optimised Linux (Debian - Raspbian) with a lightweight desktop (LXDE) and an efficient web browser.

        As I have mentioned elsewhere, a Pi 1 with single-core processor and 512MB RAM was useable for many desktop tasks, and until I upgraded them to a Pi 2 my boys did most of their schoolwork on one. The Pi 2 is so much more usable with its quad-core processor and 1GB of RAM that nowadays they only use the "family" Mac Mini if a: they both need to use the computer at the same time or b: they need to access a website which uses Flash.

        Albeit the Mac Mini is an old 32-bit Core Duo model, it often feels like treacle compared to the Pi 2.

        I am 75% sure than when we finally have to retire the Mini I'll install a Pi 3 or two instead (maybe there'll be a slightly enhanced next model). The family is already storing most files on the file server rather than locally.

        Yes, I do have another computer which is a bit more beefy for those things neither the Pi nor the Mac can handle such as video editing ;-)

        M.

        1. moylan
          Alien

          Re: Still 100MBit Ethernet

          the netbook was running xubuntu, also tried lubuntu but stayed ultimately on xubuntu in the end.

          browsers eat memory. their biggest weakness. run a browser for 3-4 weeks on a system that is up 24x7 and see how that memory lasts. on the netbook i needed to restart the browser to free memory 4+ times a day as it started to slow down. using midori sorted that mostly but for wacky reasons theregister site makes it crash hard. the new 64bit arm would probably be beefier than the ancient atom but i don't see it solving the memory problem with the browsers.

          don't get me wrong, i'll be buying one but if there was one feature i wanted to see upgraded it was memory more than anything else. with 2gb i could easily see me replacing current wonky laptop at home as main system.

          1. Martin an gof Silver badge
            Happy

            Re: Still 100MBit Ethernet

            browsers eat memory. their biggest weakness. run a browser for 3-4 weeks on a system that is up 24x7 and see how that memory lasts

            I'm not denying that, but honestly, how hard is it to restart every now and then on a desktop machine? Keep it on all day, switch off at bedtime - perform updates as necessary - switch it on again in the morning. The Pi 1 could handle half a dozen tabs open on sites like BBC news, Hornby, a1steam, The Register, duckduckgo and still be (just about) usable. The Pi 2 has no problem at all.

            Horses for courses, if you need to have 37 tabs open on multiple graphics- and script-heavy websites, a Pi is not the computer you need. Neither is an Atom-based notebook to be honest (I have an EeePC 901 with 2GB RAM) but crumbs, for £30 I can put up with a little bit of being sensible!

            It's a flippin' long way up from saving files to cassette tape and AMX Pagemaker (later Stop Press) having to "page" strips of an A4 page to floppy disc every time you scrolled.

            <insert usual "kids these days" gripe >

            <grin>

            M.

            1. Dave 126 Silver badge

              Depends on the browser?

              Anecdotal evidence, possibly not relevant to Linux, please feel free to correct me:

              Using some old Windows XP desktops with around 1GB of RAM, I found Chrome too memeory hungry, so I installed Opera. My reasoning at the time was that each Chrome tab was a sandboxed instance, so using resources. Whether I was right or wrong, Opera worked better than Chrome on these underpowered machines.

      2. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

        Re: 1GB of RAM works fine

        A Pi2 can handle TheRegister, internet shopping, and the enormous attack surface required for internet banking. I am sure there are sites that will bring it to its knees, but a do not visit sites that try to mine bitcoins with javascript. Openoffice did the minimal tasks I require of it (convert docx and xls to odt and csv). Cropping and scaling a 6Mpixel image to 1920x1080 with the gimp required patience.

        1. werdsmith Silver badge

          Re: 1GB of RAM works fine

          I am sure there are sites that will bring it to its knees, but a do not visit sites that try to mine bitcoins with javascript.

          Any site with Disqus comments.

          1. Someone_Somewhere

            Re: Any site with Disqus comments

            That's what Ghostery is for :D

      3. Francis Boyle Silver badge

        "1gb of ram isn't enough"

        The Pi has a special feature to deal with that - it doesn't run Flash.

        Edit: Seems I can't add an icon after posting so please imagine the joke alert.

      4. paulc

        Re: Still 100MBit Ethernet

        1gb of ram isn't enough.
        <p>your problem is that you are using Firefuscked and probably KDE... stick to using the default browser on RPi and LXDE or XFCE or enlightenment or blackbox as the desktop and you're well in...<p>Personally, I'd love to see KDE 2 or Gnome 2 running on this... I had a 900 MHz laptop with only 256MB of ram back in 2002 and it was fine running those..

      5. Bob_L

        Re: Still 100MBit Ethernet

        good (albeit late) news , the Maker shop (near trinity college) sell them off the shelf, had a few when I was there ...also if that user name is your surname we're probably very very distantly related ..small world eh ;)?

    4. Preston Munchensonton
      Boffin

      Re: Still 100MBit Ethernet

      Beyond the NIC still running connected via USB, the other major limitation is storage. The Pi 2 was a dramatic improvement over the first gen iterations, but even the Pi 3 will suffer the same, very low IOPS performance that will render the unit unusable for many people.

      So long as one as proper expectations, the Pi 3 will be more capable than the Pi 2. For me, I tried to stand a couple up as DHCP/DNS servers at home and they failed miserably. The storage performance just wasn't good enough, even moving the rootfs to a USB flash drive.

      1. Danny 14

        Re: Still 100MBit Ethernet

        Pi2 makes a cracking openelec (kodi) machine. Plays everything i need so the pi3 will simply be smoother.

      2. Chris Parsons

        Re: Still 100MBit Ethernet

        It's £30, FFS!

        1. Lester Haines (Written by Reg staff) Gold badge

          Re: Re: Still 100MBit Ethernet

          Fair point, well put.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Still 100MBit Ethernet

        Bad at DNS and DHCP?

        Ive used a Pi B+ as a stand in DNS box (BIND) for whilst I was performing maintenance. The DNS server it stood in for was authoritative for 150+ domains and countless subdomains. It handled it with ease.

        Mind you, I changed the defsult memory split and applied a moderate overclock.

        Oh and its also worth spending a few quid extra on a Class 10 or better SD card.

  2. redpawn

    Wonderful...

    Still waiting on a Zero. Now I can double my project fun.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    highest-selling single computer model of all time

    I think the Jesus Phone beats that hands down, depending on the definition of a "computer", CPU, GPU, RAM, ROM, keyboard, programmable (even inside a walled garden), peripheral expansion and the additional advantage of a screen and a modem. Seems to check a lot of boxes for a "computer".

    1. moylan
      Alien

      Re: highest-selling single computer model of all time

      debateable, but to me programmable means i can use itself to program it. the ios platform needs a real computer to write the programs. a real omission to my mind as it is powerful enough to have some level of programming built in.

      but then i was spoiled by having a psion organiser in 90s which allowed me to write apps in opl on the device.

      1. BurnT'offering

        Re: programmable means i can use itself to program it

        So I can't interest you in some fresh punch cards?

        1. Long John Brass
          Joke

          Re: programmable means i can use itself to program it

          @BurnT'offering

          > So I can't interest you in some fresh punch cards?

          Why yes, that would be marvellous!

          I'll take two decks please

          1. BurnT'offering

            Re: programmable means i can use itself to program it

            OK - I'll swap you for a crochet hook. Mine's gone blunt. That's what we given to punch them with when we studied programming at school (and ... cue the Python quotes)

      2. Down not across

        Re: highest-selling single computer model of all time

        but then i was spoiled by having a psion organiser in 90s which allowed me to write apps in opl on the device.

        Very much so. And I loved how long Psion 3a lasted on its batteries. I did prefer the 5mx that I upgraded to. The keyboard was so much better.

      3. Justin Clift

        Re: highest-selling single computer model of all time

        debateable, but to me programmable means i can use itself to program it. the ios platform needs a real computer to write the programs. a real omission to my mind as it is powerful enough to have some level of programming built in.

        Pythonista is excellent, if you're on an iPad of any variety.

  4. Charlie Clark Silver badge

    Networking

    Anyone know if 5Ghz is supported? That's been my biggest problem so far.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Networking

      Nope, no 5GHz.

      First world problems, eh?

  5. 45RPM Silver badge

    I'm afraid to say that I've bought all the Bs so far, including both versions of the original logic board. I think I might be a bit of a Pi fan boy. They're all used too - some of them as loaner units for my friends. Will I be buying the 64 bit version? Hell yeah! I only wish that decent cases like the Plusberry were easier to come by.

    1. Peter Mount

      You're not the only one, have got every model released including the a's & compute boards.

      1. 45RPM Silver badge

        @Peter Mount

        I take my hat off to you, sir. You're a bigger Pi fanboi (flanboy?) than me. I only have the B's, no compute boards, no A's and no Zero (yet). I'm considering getting a Zero to build a robot around though.

        1. Francis Boyle Silver badge

          I'd love to add a Zero to my collection

          but I'm beginning to think that 'Zero' stands for the number in stock at any reliable outlet.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    One or 2 more ethernet ports..

    .. and I'd finally have a small/cheap enough machine to run a firewall on :).

    1. DropBear

      Re: One or 2 more ethernet ports..

      A board that connects to networking via USB (on-board) isn't exactly router material. For that purpose you're better off with one of the OpenWrt-running boards (about 15Eur at Olimex IIRC) which are built with... surprise... using the chips that normally go into routers. Or, you know, just buy a router that can run OpenWrt to get something that comes in a box directly...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: One or 2 more ethernet ports..

        Or, you know, just buy a router that can run OpenWrt to get something that comes in a box directly...

        Makes more sense, actually. Time to hit DuckDuckGo..

    2. Pete 2 Silver badge

      Re: One or 2 more ethernet ports..

      > One or 2 more ethernet ports

      A tenner will buy you a USB - Ethernet adapter. Or < £3 if you buy from China

  7. Paratrooping Parrot
    Boffin

    Interface with an Arduino

    I think if you can get it to interface with an Arduino, then you can get a really good system to run as a robot controller with the Pi doing the processing and the Ardruino interfacing with sensors.

    By the way, what is the speed of the latest Raspberry Pi like? Is it like a Celery or an Atom or faster?

    1. werdsmith Silver badge

      Re: Interface with an Arduino

      Arduino interfacing is fine. You can buy Arduino clones that mount directly on the Pi GPIO.

    2. DropBear

      Re: Interface with an Arduino

      For that you first need to specify the speed of an unladen Celery - and no African/European shenanigans please...

      1. WonkoTheSane

        Re: Interface with an Arduino

        "For that you first need to specify the speed of an unladen Celery - and no African/European shenanigans please..."

        Oldest known reference to celery is from Tutankhamen's tomb, so definitely African.

      2. John Bailey

        Re: Interface with an Arduino

        "For that you first need to specify the speed of an unladen Celery - and no African/European shenanigans please..."

        Self blanching or traditional?

    3. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Re: Interface with an Arduino

      FCC Celary or CE Celary?

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "I think the Jesus Phone beats that hands down"

    There has been 12 different major models so far - and with the different storage configurations that's how many models, 30 or so? Which one has been the highest selling model and how many millions have been sold? I'm genuinely curious.

    RPI has now had 6 different models, with altogether 8 million units sold.

    Commodore 64 had two models, but I don't know how many C-64c models were sold. C64c was really the same model with a redesigned chassis, but how many of each model was sold, I can't say.

    1. werdsmith Silver badge

      I make it 8

      Pi Models:

      A,

      A+

      B 256MB,

      B 512MB,

      B+,

      Pi2B,

      Pi3

      Compute Module

      (I'm not including the red PCB and very rare blue PCB specials and I think you could further refine the list into the minor revisions)

  9. Hans 1
    Linux

    Thanks, now I need a new excuse for the missus to get my third pi ...

    1. Neil Barnes Silver badge

      "my third pi ..."

      Now you're just going round in circles.

    2. The Axe
      Coat

      Won't it be your 3.14159th Pi?

      I'll get my coat.

  10. Jess

    Fourth Birthday?

    I must have missed the 29th Feb, the last three years.

    4 years, yes

  11. Someone_Somewhere

    Whichever way you slice it

    1GB RAM is not enough for a 64bit OS (let alone a server running a LAMP/ownCloud/open-X-change stack) even on ARM - not for /my/ purposes anyway.

    In fact, 1GB RAM isn't even sufficient to run a 32bit desktop OS these days - unless you're a masochist.

    <sigh> I can add a wireless dongle if I want/need to, but I'll never get 1Gb/s out of either network connection on this - and even if I could, there isn't enough RAM to do anything sensible with it :|

    1. theOtherJT Silver badge

      Re: Whichever way you slice it

      Well, sure, for your purposes, but it rather depends what you're going to do with it. Mine's very useful, but then I don't even have a monitor attached to it. It exists to be a DNLA server and something I can reliably SSH into when I'm not at home.

      1. James Hughes 1

        Re: Whichever way you slice it

        Weird, I use a Pi2 with 1GB RAM running the Pi version of LXDE and it's great.

        Can I suggest you stop using badly written memory hogging programs?

    2. werdsmith Silver badge

      Re: Whichever way you slice it

      and even if I could, there isn't enough RAM to do anything sensible with it :|

      What's your definition of "anything sensible".

      I suggest you use himem.sys and load your drivers high. ;)

      Spoilt times we live in.

    3. Chemist

      Re: Whichever way you slice it

      "In fact, 1GB RAM isn't even sufficient to run a 32bit desktop OS these days - unless you're a masochist."

      Well I've had a pi 2 for a few days now and I've never seen more than 400MB used - more if you count caches etc certainly.

      I've got a browser with BBC main news page, LibreOffice calc with a 23000 row * 20 col. spreadsheet with all cells occupied with calculations, filemanager, taskmanager, terminal window and synaptic package manager all open on the desktop and and a lightweight webserver running too - memory usage is ~370MB

      pi@raspberrypi ~ $ free

      total used free shared buffers cached

      Mem: 948120 933348 14772 82056 24104 539240

      -/+ buffers/cache: 370004 578116

      Swap: 102396 4 102392

      1. Someone_Somewhere

        Re: Whichever way you slice it

        I've got firefox with 137 addons, 63 tabs, a clipboard manager and the XFCE panel with some system-reporting plugins monitoring my resource usage.

        RAM usage: 778 MB

        Swap usage: 604 MB

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Whichever way you slice it

      My headless Pi 2 has been running BitTorrent sync for 2tb of files as well as a MiniDLNA server for a year without a crash, hang or reboot. Not bad for £25...

    5. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: Whichever way you slice it

      "but I'll never get 1Gb/s "

      If you *need* 1Gb/s Ethernet then a Pi of any type probably isn't the board you are looking for.

    6. Long John Brass

      Re: Whichever way you slice it

      @Someone_Somewhere

      > there isn't enough RAM to do anything sensible with it

      Oh I don't know, I have one Model2 running the SimpleMetal printer via OctoPrint and an old 256MB modelB running SimH which runs RSTS, RSX11, rt11 and VaxVMS

      That is 3 PDP/11's and a VAX off one old ras-pi

  12. Someone_Somewhere

    Re: Whichever way you slice it

    I would stop using badly written, memory hogging programs, if there /were/ any.

    Okay, I'm being unfair - the biggest culprit on my desktop is Fireofx, but since the only other options are Google (and its clonewars spawn), MS or Apple, I don't really have much choice in that regard.

    Also, it isn't just the software that's at issue - no matter how good the software, audio and video production just requires /enormous/ amounts of RAM to do properly - latency simply isn't an option.

    Moreover, as I said, slice it any way you like, 64bit means more RAM is required than is for 32bit for the same operations.

    So a 'pocket'-production-studio isn't gonna be an option with 1GB on /any/ system.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Whichever way you slice it

      the biggest culprit on my desktop is Fireofx

      I rather like Fire-offix - that's how my installation behaved for a bit until I replaced it :).

      FF is not a bad program, but trying to run that on a Pi is, umm, taxing..

      1. Someone_Somewhere

        Re: until I replaced it

        What with?

    2. lorisarvendu

      Re: Whichever way you slice it

      "Moreover, as I said, slice it any way you like, 64bit means more RAM is required than is for 32bit for the same operations."

      Isn't it only the processor that's 64bit internally? The board is still 32-bit.

      1. Someone_Somewhere

        Re: Whichever way you slice it

        The CPU is still gonna use 8B, instead of 4B, memory pointers though.

        1. James Hughes 1

          Re: Whichever way you slice it

          Which actually doesn't make a huge difference - its what they point to that is important.

          Oh, and if you want to do heavyweight audio of video production - why on earth do you expect to do it on a $35 SBC? People buy Macs at $1000 for that, with as much memory as Apple can get away with charging for.

          1. Someone_Somewhere

            Re: Whichever way you slice it

            >its what they point to that is important.

            AND how, but I'm prepared to be reassured, if you know more than I do and can explain it. :)

            > Oh, and if you want to do heavyweight audio of video production - why on earth do you expect to do it on a $35 SBC?

            I don't - I have a lot of /very/ expensive kit for that.

            But I travel a lot and bulk/weight is an issue. Yes even a laptop makes a difference when you're hiking through some of the more far-flung parts of the world in order to meet your clients/collaborators, as I often have to.

            Moreover, I'm working on a 'startup' project with a couple of people, for which a more powerful Pi-type device would be more suitable than a laptop/desktop could ever be - it just needs more RAM and gigabit ethernet to be what's required, not a supercomputer - acting as a portable/'pocket' server for clients who don't have/can't afford Internet access.*

            > People buy Macs at $1000 for that, with as much memory as Apple can get away with charging for.

            Some do, yes - those using ProTools/Logic.

            Those using Cubase**, however /don't/.

            Nor do those using Ardour.

            Not all A/V is produced in Abbey Road/Hollywood and that which is often needs to be recorded elsewhere first*** - so the lighter the kit, the better :)

            * and even those who can, can't necessarily make use of it on top of a mountain, in the middle of the Amazonian rainforest or deep in the heart of the Serengeti

            ** who vastly outnumber the ProTools/Logic contingent in my field.

            *** the price conscious seldom set foot inside a studio and preprocess as much as they can first before they spend hundreds/thousands of $ unnecessarily - even small studios can cost not inconsiderable sums.

            1. Paul Smith

              Re: Whichever way you slice it

              Sorry, but I have to call BS on this one. Nowhere that requires you to 'hike' in requires fancy AV manipulation. Bring a modern smartphone instead and record your photos, video and audio (and get free GPS and communications thrown in) and do the AV processing when you get back to civilization. Saying the Pi can't do it because it only has 1GB is like saying Google is a useless search engine because it doesn't know where you left your keys.

              1. Someone_Somewhere

                Re: Whichever way you slice it

                >Sorry, but I have to call BS on this one.

                No, you're not and, no, you don't, but you /are/ entitled to be as opinionated as you like.

                I'm not troubled by your opinion because I do what I do and know what the facts of the matter are - and no amount of wishful thinking on your part will change them.

                > Nowhere that requires you to 'hike' in requires fancy AV manipulation.

                I didn't say it did, I said I need something more portable than a laptop to act as a server, so that I could meet with clients/colleagues and rcord/preprocess material collaboratively - prior to fancy A/V manipulation upon my return to base, where all the serious kit is.

                > Bring a modern smartphone instead and record your photos, video and audio (and get free GPS and communications thrown in)

                When I can get reliable, free GPS and comms in the middle of the Sahara, I will be only too happy to do exactly that - until then, however, I'll have to do it differently.*

                But, no, my mobile phone will /not/ provide the recording quality of an Earthworks SR-30, so I'm not going to waste time even thinking about that option.

                > Saying the Pi can't do it because it only has 1GB is like saying Google is a useless search engine because it doesn't know where you left your keys.

                I didn't say it couldn't do it, nor did I say the Pi wasn't an amazing bit of kit, I just said it wasn't suitable for /my/ needs (yet) - nor those of the project I am working on for which (had it just that bit more RAM and faster ethernet) it /would/ be.

                You seem to be putting words in my mouth for some reason that I can't really fathom: the Pi3 is great for /your/ needs, not for /mine/ and that's really all there is to it, so, unless you had a hand in designing it and therefore feel slieighted by my comments, I really can't see what you're so upset about; each to their own, live and let live and don't make assumptions about others - I do what I do and you're in no more position to call BS on what I do (about which you know no more than the tiny hints I have given you**) than I am about what I don't know about anything you might say about /your/ occupational requirements.

                Enjoy your PI.

                And I'll look forward to the next iteration - that might be just what I need.

                Simples. :)

                * I can't even get a signal in Whitby, let alone many of the places I travel to for my work.

                ** I'm sure you don't want to be bored with the details, so, I haven't done so.

                1. Stoneshop
                  FAIL

                  Re: Whichever way you slice it

                  When I can get reliable, free GPS and comms in the middle of the Sahara, I will be only too happy to do exactly that - until then, however, I'll have to do it differently.*

                  GPS is freely available all over the Sahara, as well as the Gobi and Atacama deserts, Greenland, Namibia, and whatever inaccessible location you feel you have to hike into and out of.

                  Comms may be unavailable, but that's neither the smartphone's fault nor will it be solved by taking a Pi. And lack of comms won't stop a smartphone from working as a camera and an ad-hoc file server.

        2. LaeMing
          Flame

          Re: The [64 bit] CPU is still gonna use 8B, instead of 4B, memory pointers though.

          No. NO. And isn't this a tech site or something?... NO!

          Unless you are addressing memory as an absolute address over +2G* or relatively over +/-2G away from where your are, you will use the CPU's native 4 byte pointers. The vast majority of jumps and references will be rolled into 9-12 bit pointers burried in with the 32-bit op-code.

          * 2's-compliment negative absolute addresses (which use the MSB that would otherwise get you to 4G) are generally reserved for kernel space.

          Sheesh. Are people who haven't even glanced at an op-code sheet in their lives considering themselves CPU experts now? Of course they are! Even the 6502 had 8-bit varients of its addressing modes - this isn't a new idea!

          1. Someone_Somewhere

            Re: The [64 bit] CPU is still gonna use 8B, instead of 4B, memory pointers though.

            >Unless you are addressing memory as an absolute address over +2G* or relatively over +/-2G away from where your are, you will use the CPU's native 4 byte pointers. The vast majority of jumps and references will be rolled into 9-12 bit pointers burried in with the 32-bit op-code.

            >* 2's-compliment negative absolute addresses (which use the MSB that would otherwise get you to 4G) are generally reserved for kernel space.

            Thanks for the lesson.

            >Sheesh. Are people who haven't even glanced at an op-code sheet in their lives considering themselves CPU experts now? Of course they are! Even the 6502 had 8-bit varients of its addressing modes - this isn't a new idea!

            Oooh, you know something someone else doesn't - and you're so humble about it too!*

            * You must be /very/ popular - I bet you get invited to /all/ the parties.

      2. P. Lee

        Re: Whichever way you slice it

        >64bit internally? The board is still 32-bit.

        The ghost of QL casts a long shadow.

  13. Someone_Somewhere

    Re: DNLA server

    Apart from my A/V production needs, I'm looking for something I can use as a VM server for my business - not quite cloud server farm, but the same principle.

    Sure, they're small and cheap enough to use real hardware instead of VMs, but then there are other issues I face when I need to take my business on the road - my needs are indeed /very/ specific and, in all fairness, the Pi wasn't really conceived for them, but I can dream, can't I? ;)

  14. Someone_Somewhere

    Re: himem.sys

    Oh, God, hahahahaha!!!

    Thanks for the grin :D

    Hang on, I think I've got an old ZX81 in the loft - maybe I could peek and poke at that a bit ;)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: himem.sys

      Hang on, I think I've got an old ZX81 in the loft - maybe I could peek and poke at that a bit ;)

      I've got a working Psion Organiser II LZ64 here if you can't find your ZX81, pokes and peeks too and you don't need to plug in a power supply, screen or storage :)

      1. Someone_Somewhere

        Re: himem.sys

        > Psion Organiser II LZ64

        All I'd need would be another 26 of those and I could build a 3.3.3 transputer!

  15. Someone_Somewhere

    Re: LXDE

    I use XFCE as it is - I tried fluxbox/openbox for a while, but even I have certain minimum aesthetic requirements ;)

  16. The Eee 701 Paddock

    Somewhat tempting...

    I have one of the earliest RasPi models (from before they started building them in Wales) in my lounge - unfortunately, it's gathering dust, as I find it's just too underpowered for the few uses I could put it to. (We already have a Synology NAS and a Roku player, so the Pi wouldn't be needed for those tasks.)

    That said, I get the idea the RasPi 3 is quite a bit more powerful than OldPi, and with four USB ports and built-in Bluetooth and WiFi, I can imagine it making a useful always-on Linux box at home.

    Hopefully, there's no problem installing Arch Linux ARM on the RP3 - time to query the Pi forums...

    1. Someone_Somewhere

      Re: Somewhat tempting...

      https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/arch-linux-arm-available-for-download/

      1. The Eee 701 Paddock

        Re: Somewhat tempting...

        Thanks! :-)

        Actually, I should've clarified my question - my OldPi usually runs off Arch Linux ARM (and has done since the beginning. I was wondering if ALARM needed rebuilding in any way, due to the new Broadcom SoC, the new WiFi/Bluetooth hardware, etc.?

        Hopefully not, but you can't take these things for granted...

        1. Someone_Somewhere

          Re: Somewhat tempting...

          More than I know, I'm afraid: I don't have a Pi - and won't have until it hits at least 3GB RAM and at least 1 SATA port I can attach an FSI port-multiplier to.*

          Good luck with yours though :)

          * preferably 1Gb/s ethernet as well.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Damnit, no 4k (w/HEVC) support

    1. James Hughes 1

      With the wide NEON and faster cores, you can just about decode HEVC in software. Probably up to 720p, maybe 1080 if you are lucky. Will need to be tested.

      But I doubt 4K at 30fps, but testing will show what it can do. As soon as they hit the end users I am sure someone will try it.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        HDMI 1.3 doesn't have the bandwidth, I don't think.

        I was really hopping the new one would be capable of 4k@60fps.

  18. Magani
    Happy

    I was a little concerned that it would suffer the same fate as the Pi Zero as another victim of The Australian Tax. (The Pi Zero was last seen here advertised for AUD19 or about £9.50 plus postage! Currently neither RS nor Elements 14 have it advertised.).

    The good news seems to be that it's going to be between about AUD50 and AUD69, so I can live with at least the former.

    To misquote Fleetwood Mac, "You Make Computin' Fun"

  19. Sir Alien

    Still waiting...

    I am still waiting for the Compute Module to be updated and what is holding off my purchase. If they can get the compute module with this 64 bit processor and 2GB RAM minimum (preferability 4GB) then I would buy a version 3.

    At this point, as I have a Wifi dongle with a Pi2B, the Pi3 is kind of a no need at the moment. Pi foundation, please update your compute module.

    - S.A

    1. James Hughes 1

      Re: Still waiting...

      Planned for this year.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    But can it run Crysis?

    People need to know :-)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: But can it run Crysis?

      Hah! Crysis! Luxury!

      I was running Wumpus on a Kim 1..

  21. Salts

    Right ...

    RPi w/Bluetooth LE built in, Heart Rate Monitor, Stride Sensor, treadmill and me, now that's what I call active programming :-)

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I have just bought a few RPi3B's to play with, they do seem to be available this year at launch which is a nice change. Stated current requirements seems to have crept up to 2.5A @ 5V1, so I had to buy something a bit beefier than old cellphone micro-usb chargers, just in case we're not talking about 2500mA 'fully loaded'.

    Last year, whilst training people on Linux SBC programming & e-mail security, it was quite nice to see the look on their face when told that after a few days of training on this small PC that they could actually take it home with them (leaving the keyboards & monitors)

    Maybe the new Pi will be able to reliably decrypt Proton Mail messages, the Pi2 was a bit marginal. . .

    1. James Hughes 1

      You will only need 2.5A if using lots of high current USB devices and probably a Pi LCD as well.

    2. This post has been deleted by its author

  23. FuzzyWuzzys
    Happy

    MAME on TV

    Looking for a miniature system to run MAME through HDMI to the TV via a Bluetooth controller...hmmmm

    1. Magani
      Coat

      Re: MAME on TV

      Why wouldn't Mame stream like any other musical?

  24. Simon 26

    They are in stock, at least in this obscure corner of Europe, as I bought one at lunchtime and have it sitting on my desk next to me. They were selling like hotcakes though.

  25. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. Stoneshop
      FAIL

      Why not learn how to program a real computer.

      So you consider the Pi not to be one of those?

      John von Neumann disagrees with you.

      1. werdsmith Silver badge

        Re: Why not learn how to program a real computer.

        I think the AC should define a "real computer" for us all.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

          1. James Hughes 1

            Re: Why not learn how to program a real computer.

            Hmm, I suspect you might be a bit of an arsehole. *

            Who doesn't know the definition of a computer, which has nothing to do with binary blobs.

            Or really doesn't get 'education' where anything that entices people to learn is a great thing.

            * Changed my mind. Complete arsehole.

            1. This post has been deleted by its author

  26. Wommit

    RasPi 1, 2, or 3

    Are brilliant for what they were designed for. EDUCATION! Try and use it for something else and it may work, but it may not. So you should do what you were (presumably) taught early in your careers, and choose the device to suit your needs. Not complain that your needs don't fit a perfectly good device. That is childish.

    The Raspberry Pi community has produced a huge volume of tutorials, and content for the older devices. I can only see this adding to the foundations success.

    Yes, I have just ordered a RasPi3. I also have a number of RasPi2s and a few RasPi B's. I also have a number of Arduinos, and Atmel chips, Which have been selected for various projects.

    And @AC above, The Raspberry Pi is actually a real computer. Just not one of the type you're thinking of.

  27. url

    Superb thin/thick clients

    Lubuntu + LTSP being served from a NAS to 10 raspberry pi and six re-purposed x86 desktops has saved a bunch of cash and opened up a bunch of opportunities for the school I help admin at.

    In simple bang:buck ratio, nothing comes close.

  28. Hugo CHAV

    Seems like it "has't got"s are down to 2+Gb of Ram and GB Ethernet, but I'm not sure thats really that important, for allot of applications other than desktop PC it's processor is overpowered.

    Whilst it seems reasonable that a version that will support faster bus USB3, GB Ethernet is in the pipeline, its now pulling 2+A at 5v now, so your likely looking at a 15 Watt device that is not going to last long on small batteries

    I think a more mature line up would include lower power, lower profile units (which seems to be the plan) for IOT and low power robotics and control, and likely sell a lot of units, vs a higher power unit which starts to compete, once you add a screen and peripherals with budget pc and similar commercial devices.

    To me the family aspect of it becomes more important, we know there are similar fruit inspired products that trump the RPi on features and performance, if Raspberry want to grow the commercial aspects low power, low cost, low footprint, customisable is the way to go, rather than (or as well) as micro PC.

    From what I understand from the Element 14 Launch that is pretty much what they are doing.

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like