How to setup Raspberry Pi for Beginners !

Challenges!!!

Setting up a Raspberry Pi can be a pain when you are new to it. All websites give different ways to set it up and network it. It leads to a lot of confusion. Even when I got my Raspberry Pi, i spent days trying to set it up correctly. After a lot of trial and error, I can say with confidence that I can troubleshoot any issues in setting up the Pi with ease.

I will try to cover all possible user scenarios ( in terms of availability of resources)

Requirements :

1. Raspberry Pi ( obviously :P )
2. SD Card ( at least 16GB )
3. Another Laptop/Desktop
4. Mouse and Keyboard and monitor [OPTIONAL]
5. Ethernet Cable [OPTIONAL]
6. WIFI Router [OPTIONAL]
7. HDMI Cable [OPTIONAL]

Note : You will need at least 1 from (5,6,7) of the [OPTIONAL] things

Softwares needed for installation (all download links):

1. Etcher

2. SD Formatter

Format size adjustment should be ON

3. Raspbian with Desktop

Step 1: Downloading and installing the operating system

There are a lot of options in terms of selecting an OS for raspberry pi, but since this is beginner tutorial, i will stick with Raspbian (Debian based OS) this is the simplest operating system with all the basic feature.

I would also like to clarify that NOOBS is not an operating system, its just an installer. Some people find NOOBS easy to begin with, but installing any OS through it takes more time and a much bigger download is required. I will not delve more into the details.

Steps to install Raspbian

1. Download Raspbian with Desktop
2. Extract the rar file
3. You will get a .iso file
4. Using SD Formatter, format your SD card.
5. Open Etcher
6. First select the .iso file you just extracted
7. Select your SD card on which you will install the OS

Note: The installation process may take a while, so sit back and enjoy some coffee

Networking Software needed

• Fing ( this is an app for Android and iOS, it can be used to see all devices on your local network)

This is what it might look like in Fing after scanning

• AngryIPScanner ( this software is for all operating systems on computer, does the same task for scanning all devices on your local network)

Note : Installing any one of the above softwares based on your preference for phone or computer will suffice, we will use these to scan the IP of Raspberry Pi for remote connection

Step 2: First boot and setting up

Insert the SD card in your Raspberry Pi, if you did all the steps correctly, it should boot up. An indication might be the blinking green light on the Pi

Now depending upon the resources available, i will list the different ways to setup/use the Pi

Case 1: Monitor along with keyboard or mouse :

Setting up is easiest for such users, just plug in the Raspberry to monitor using the HDMI cable, or use an adapter in case of VGA.

Just use keyboard and mouse to normally use it like a normal Desktop computer.

You can connect to the internet either via Ethernet or connect to WIFI from the pi’s interface using a mouse.

Case 2: Using a laptop and router [HEADLESS]

This is the headless form of using the Pi over SSH.

SSH gives you the command line access to Raspberry Pi, it is the most commonly used way of working with the Pi.

SSH is disabled by default on Raspbian, to enable it, just copy a blank file named “ssh.txt” to the SD card post installation.

Now use any of the above networking softwares to see the local IP of your Raspberry Pi.

• Now to SSH, linux/mac users can use the native Terminal, just type the command

ssh pi@IP        #Replace IP with the IP of your raspberry pi
example:
ssh pi@192.168.0.123

Now it will prompt for the password, the default password for Raspbian is “raspberry”

• For Windows users, you can either install Putty or Kitty

Just type in the IP and select SSH from the choices, it will later prompt for the username and password, which are “pi” and “raspberry” respectively

Note: I strongly recommend to change the default password after first login for security purposes, use the command “passwd” to change the password.

Connecting to WIFI from Terminal

Use the command

sudo raspi-config

to setup WIFI connections.

Conclusion :

I hope this guide helps you setup your new Raspberry Pi, for any queries regarding the procedure or any troubleshooting steps, just ask them in the comments sections, I’ll be more than happy to help…