Raspberry Pi - 25 Dollar PC on a USB stick


@Gruso - If you're getting a Model B, it won't fit in a cassette case. It's too tall, unfortunately. :(
That's ok, I have a dremel ;) I would need to make side entries for cabling anyway, so an extra cutout on top for ethernet/usb to poke its head out of is no problem. The biggest issue will be how brittle these cases are; not sure how agreeable they will be to this kind of abuse.
 
Don't use a dremel, use a soldering iron: melt through the plastic instead of cutting it.


If melting the plastic sounds too dangerous, you could probably soften it up some in boiling water before digging into it, reduce the chances of catching and snapping.


edit: and this should go without saying, but melting plastic is carcinogenic so if you take my advice on the soldering iron, do it in a well ventilated room, have a fan blowing away from the project, and wear a mask.
 
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Would the clear polybox from this site work better for cutting, Stan? It seems to be made of the same stuff as the plastic business card cases that some folks are planning on using, and they've mentioned taking a Dremel to those...
 
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A raspberry pi ought to fit inside an 8-track casette right? *teehee*


I might be able to get one in a couple weeks; looks like the place I'd like to order a few from is backordered for like 4-5 months .. ugh!


jeff
 
Mine is being delivered in mid May apparently, as per the mail just now from Farnell


Enough time to make me a nice case.


Sourced a broken Gamegear that can be gutted, or seen on ebay one of those iconic old Sony Walkman Sports - you know the old yellow waterproof ones, which would also make a nice housing for this.


Theres a bloke in Spain who has skills and is making acrilic cases for Pi to order, they look alright to me, for plain see through casing:


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/I-Make-your-Raspberry-Pi-CASE-3mm-thick-acrylic-Custom-made-by-Laser-co2-CUTTING-/360441664724?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item53ebff54d4#ht_7310wt_1502
 
PS: The diagrams on that ebay sellers page, they look to scale to me, you think so?
 
I have a lot of ex-repair shop bits and bobs that I've been sizing up as potential housings - I have an empty Sinclair ZX81 PSU that if lowered in height about 3cm would make a classic Sinclair wedge shaped casing - the plastic is of an ideal texture too, quite soft, and tough.


Then I noticed a lot of Pico projectors have reached 800x480 res and have HDMI, and 10cm or thereabouts tall models of R2D2 are freely available. With the right one, you could house a Raspberry Pi, and a vertically oriented projector (mirror deflected) in R2D2 - possibly with a PSU. Coupled with a wireless controller this would be geek ecstasy. If George Lucas hadn't become a monumental idiot, that is.
 
one of those iconic old Sony Walkman Sports - you know the old yellow waterproof ones, which would also make a nice housing for this.

You see those dumped in skips sometimes. I saved a few! A regular walkman might be better though, because the 'sport' ones have a clamp that seals the cassette door closed - with a regular walkman you could fit a little USB hub inside the cassette door, or extend the output ports to there, so you would have access just by popping the door open, saving a lot of drilling! Keep it looking authentic by removing one side of a cassette, printing an appropriate label on it, and sticking that on top of the hub or to the inside of the door window.
 
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yeah, linux is linux, and raspberry pi is a bog standard linux machine; the reason its a bit of work to port to pandora is our need to use nand plus multiple SD cards, plus our custom controls; but a raspberry pi has no weird storage (just a single SD, no 3+ sources), and no controls at all .. so you jjust build 'as is' and generally 'works'. Like a pandora, with gamepad and keyboard plugge dinto usb .. you can do easy prots for that, its just awfully inconvenient :) Also, our ports sometimes are more optimized etc etc.


So porting mame to r-pi is trivial, no work at all, just compile :)


jeff
 
Looks like it's been delayed AGAIN. Just got this email -

Compliance Update


Dear MR


In recent days you may have heard various reports on the Web about Raspberry Pi, the need for compliance testing and possible further delivery delays.


We recognise the impact on our customers of the constantly changing delivery dates, and we apologise for the frustration and disappointment this is causing. We will supply you with accurate delivery dates just as soon as we can, as the Boards undergo compliance testing.


It is clear that many of our customers will be using the Raspberry Pi as a finished product, not just an engineering development board. As such, we see it as the most responsible approach to ensure that all Pis meet the required standards for finished products in all territories.


We are therefore going through a much accelerated compliance process, working closely with the Raspberry Pi Foundation and RS Components. We take our commitment and responsibility in this area very seriously and believe the short-term delays, whilst frustrating, will be worthwhile to ensure our customers receive a fully compliant product.


The exact situation at the present time is as follows:

  • 2000 Raspberry Pi’s are now in the UK.You can see pictures of them leaving the factory in China here; http://www.raspberrypi.org/
  • The compliance teams of element14, RS and Raspberry Pi are working round the clock with the testing houses to assess the product now. Any issues that are identified (hardware or software) will then need to be rectified and we will ensure this happens as quickly as is humanly possible.
  • There are different compliance standards around the globe. We are focused on meeting all of those as quickly as possible. Some may take longer than others.
  • As soon as these initial 2000 Boards are compliant to at least one set of required standards, we will receive our share of this first batch from Raspberry Pi and ship these to customers in the locations where the compliance standards have been met on a strictly first come, first served basis. Those who ordered first in those countries will receive the product first.
  • Regrettably we cannot give any firm delivery commitments on Raspberry Pis until this testing is complete. Please be assured we will provide this information as soon as we can.
  • Once the product is fully compliant our manufacturing partners have the necessary stocks of components to ramp up production very quickly. So, despite these frustrating, initial delays we are confident the picture will improve and lead times for new orders will reduce.
  • We will email you individually to confirm your personal delivery date as soon as we are able to. We will continue to share generic information, but recognise that it is the detailed specific information to your order that is most important to you.
  • We will continue to post news and updates on our element14 community. Next week, on April 4th, Raspberry Pi founder, Eben Upton will give a 40-minute webinar on programming the Raspberry Pi as part of our element14 Design Flow series.
    To join the 2000+ Pi fans who have already registered to attend and learn more Click here


Once again we apologise to all of our customers for this delay in providing the hotly awaited Raspberry Pi. Despite these initial teething troubles, we're certain you'll be delighted with the end result.


HOT OFF THE PRESS UPDATE FROM EBEN UPTON OF RASPBERRY PI:


“We have spoken with BIS this morning, and have been told that, given the volumes involved and the demographic mix of likely users, the development board exemption is not applicable to us; as a result, even the first uncased developer units of Raspberry Pi will require a CE mark prior to distribution in the EU...... ....we are working with RS Components and element14/Premier Farnell to bring Raspberry Pi into a compliant state as soon as is humanly possible.”


From Farnell element14
 
Anyone remember Chad from the gp32x boards? The dude who stuck up a cafepress site with Pandora related merchandise?


Well it seems the RasPi is dealing with the same sort of dick on their boards.


http://www.raspberry...trademark-rules


Delays, CE certification, manufacturing problems.


All they need is a volcano...
 
What?


They started Mass Production without doing compliance testings before?


If anything needs to be changed in the hardware, they need to manually modify all the already produced boards and apply the fix before they can continue the mass production...


Well, I personally doubt there is much that could lead to compliance issues... but still.
 
^ The initial, non-cased release was meant to be sold as a developer-board - in the style of the BeagleBoard and the like - which, I gather from what's been said about it, doesn't require the same certifications as a general consumer release. Farnell and RS decided that due to the high demand from the general public, that they couldn't proceed with that plan, and have pushed on with getting the certifications done now, rather than before the educational release later in the year.


That's my understanding of it, anyway. :p
 
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