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Raspberry Pi update

I have been using a Raspberry Pi but have been experiencing these issues: https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/issues/29

In short, the USB controller used in the Broadcom BCM2835 (which is the SoC the Pi uses) has terrible drivers which don't look like they're going to be fixed any time soon, if ever. This issue combined with the very low amount of current the Pi can supply to USB peripherals, which is only approximately 140 mA, is causing havoc for many users. Using a powered hub to sidestep that limit exacerbates the issues caused by the USB drivers. It's a nightmare situation basically.
 
Also the performance, even with LDXE, is absolutely awful. I hope that Android will run a bit better.
 
I am curious to know how a Linux without a GUI would run, as no GUI is needed for a linux server. USB drives are relatively cheap, a couple of those and a Raspberry Pi running a terminal-mode Linux would be a very low-power server.

The problem I have is the low cost isn't really that low cost to me. The only video output on these is HDMI, and being as I have an analog TV tuner in my computer and our TV in the living room is a late 90s one, I would be forced to either get a new TV (far out of the question, far too high price) or a HDMI to DVI adapter to use with my computer monitor, converting that DVI to VGA or anything else would be useless as HDMI doesn't have the required analog signals to drive a VGA display.
 
No display would be needed for such - just connect using telnet or SSH. I've been meaning to try mediawiki on it actually, maybe it could be useful for that.
 
Over on the Parallax forum some people are working on combining the Pi with a small Propeller add-on, then you get VGA etc.
-Tor
 
cthulhu said:
It's hard to get excited about this when USB on the Raspberry Pi is still so broken.
Click to expand...

Must be very specific problems. I've had no problems with various combinations of USB devices on the 3 I have (wireless, storage, mice, keyboards, networking, etc). Others go on for pages about the problems they have with USB stuff. Not worried about performance so efficiency/lags don't affect what I'm using them for (at least not yet).
 
cthulhu said:
I don't know why you find Raspberry Pi running Quake 3 hard to believe. Quake 3 came out in 1999 with a requirement of a Intel Pentium MMX 233 MHz/Pentium II 266 MHz CPU and a OpenGL 1.1 compliant graphics card. The Raspberry Pi has a CPU which is approximately comparable to a 300 MHz Pentium II and a OpenGL ES 2.0 compliant GPU which has comparable performance to the original Xbox GPU. It is quite capable of rendering Quake 3 at a playable framerate, and at full HD resolution too.
Click to expand...

Just tested Quake 3 on my Raspberry Pi. Runs at around 17 to 60 FPS @ 16 bit 1920 x 1200 depending on what options are used. Looks good too. Turning sound on slows it down noticeably, particularly so if OpenAL is used.
 
Stone said:
[h=2]Raspberry Pi patch adds warranty-safe overclocking[/h]
http://www.reghardware.com/2012/09/19/raspberry_pi_gains_1ghz_overclocking_turbo_mode/
Click to expand...

As a result of recent software updates you now get a range of overclocking options with the Raspberry Pi. For me with the lowest overclocked setting (called "modest") the screen freezes after a second or two in Quake 3 once a game or demo is started. Not locked up though as I can still SSH in and kill Quake 3, so the CPU part of the Pi's SoC is still working. Unfortunately trying to restart Quake 3 at that point won't even get to the title screen with the GPU appearing to be unusable until a reboot.

Subsequent experimentation with manual overclocking has locked my Pi up completely, which requires a power cycle to rectify. However after some trial and error I did manage to find a overclocked setting that works for me: 825 MHz CPU, 275 MHz GPU and 475 MHz RAM. That's an overclock of 125 MHz for the CPU, a pitiful 25 MHz extra for the GPU and 75 MHz extra for the RAM.

I had been running continuous timedemos in Quake 3 at 850 MHz CPU but got a lockup after an hour or so, dropping down to 825 MHz appears to have fixed that. I get a solid 30-31 FPS in Quake 3 at 1920 x 1200 x 16 bit now, roughly double what I was getting before. Vsync seems to be permanently on with no apparent way to disable though, which is annoying for benchmarking purposes.
 
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