Re: ARM architectures
Hello, hope this works, am not normally subscribed to debian-devel
> If you'd have took time to explain the real reason behind why choosing a
> RPi4 maybe a good idea versus simply saying they are better than other
> choices. Then I would have considered much more knowledgeable your
> opinions and fact based.
May I chime in with another vote for the RPi4?
I've been using the RPi family of boards since the first revision
years ago continuously, and before that I had used the sheevaplug
family of ARM systems, all running 24/7. My sheevaplugs died from
the typical power supply failures, the first incarnations of the
RPi were really a pain, especially when it came to flaky USB support.
But with all justified criticism oft the RPi foundation, there
has been one theme in all these years: The Raspberry Pi foundation
really does the work of improving their products. They do not deny
problems. If they mess up (producing boards that can be crashed with
camera flashes or incorrectly wired USB-C ports) they do not hide this
fact, but are very open about it. And -- unlike many manufacturers
of cheap chinese boards -- they improve their stuff by working on
firmware, hardware improvements etc. They do not just "forget" their
"old" boards after two years or so, but improve their stuff
continuously. Yes, they should still be more open and have less blobs
in their firmware, but their track record IHMO is one that shows in
the right direction.
Since about the RPi2 or RPi3 generation the Raspberry Pi has become
incredibly stable. It is really in no way less reliable than amd64
stuff. With the RPi4 there has been another development: While before
you had to use the Raspbian/PiOS flavoured binaries, since a while
booting vanilla Debian on RPi4 not only works just fine, but gives
you an excellent, clean, stable and fast 64 bit ARM system.
I am running the RPi 4 in various server duties for months now as
Vanilla Debian 64bit bullseye systems, without having any problems, and
without them being any different from amd64, really.
Everything is stable, and while I cannot speak for GUI stuff (I use the
systems headlessly as servers) the only thing really missing from my setup
are WiFi drivers of the embedded WiFi components. Not that I miss them.
My setup for continuously running low power servers is currently:
Raspberry Pi 8GB (or 4GB) (€75?)
Akasa Gem Pro Aluminium Case (about €30), yes, this is expensive
but it gives incedibly good cooling for a board that needs some
cooling under load. And it looks attractive, to me this is important
in some home settings. No fans to make noises or break.
Official RPi4 Power Supply (€6-10) in white. This is stable and
cheap. It has 0.1V or so higher output voltage than typical
chargers, this helps. White is better to me, because about
every other power brick is black, makes them easier to find
in a dark rack.
Western Digital WD My Passport SSD Mobile 512GB (the black/silver
one): First bought this because I read about people using this on
their RPis, and have not regretted it. No problems at all in
years of usage. It is expensive at about 95€ or so currently. It
is powered from the USB-port of the RPi without any trouble.
No USB errors, no power problems, no overheating in countinuous
use in a warm server rack, etc.
Yes, I could buy a cheap Nuc-Box for all that money, but it would
use quite a bit more power in the long run. I do realize, that
above components are quite the "luxury setup" when it comes to
buying RPi accessories. Above setup has been running for 3? Years
now (first with a RPi3, then RPi4 4GB Raspbian, then RPi4 8GB
Vanilla Debian 64 bit) without any problems or instabilities.
Before the SSD i had used various HDs. I never had luck with
SD cards, they always gave me trouble. The RPi4 does no longer
need a card to boot, and I am very happy about that. Before I
had them mounted read only. Ah, and the Akasa case is a new
addition, before I had open boards with aluminium coolers on
them. The RPi4 does need a bit of cooling/spreading out heat.
> I'd prefer a 64 bit solution.
> I cited those ARM Cortex A7 because you seem to say all of them we're
> limited to 1 GB and dual core.
Then go this way: RPi4 8GB, Debian Vanilla arm64:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=282839
This is really the best way IMHO to install Debian on these
boards. The install matches very closely other architectures,
there are almost no differences or specific things to the RPi
architecture in this setup. Just follow all the steps, it works
perfectly.
This setup is really much closer to a pure Debian system than
anything else I have found till now. You get a machine with
UEFi, that looks and acts like a "normal" PC. I do understand
that this might be not to everybodys liking, but it makes
installing Debian so easy, without any exotic workarounds.
/ralph
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