Kali-ARM 

• Overall:  Maybe a little bit better than last time but really didn't work well on RPI3B+ or RPI4

• Motivation:   Working on a network security probe-thingy for our house.  Interested in seeing a Vulnerability scan of our IoT world.  Kali should be a good base.

• Tagline:  "The most advanced Penetration Testing Distribution"
  More:  "Kali Linux is an open-source, Debian-based Linux distribution geared towards various information security tasks, such as Penetration Testing, Security Research, Computer Forensics and Reverse Engineering."

• See also:  https://www.kali.org/docs/arm/

• Retry with RPI4 (2g).  3B+ had limited hardware and was also slogging down at times ... RPI4 variances in Blue
  
  

• Install Notes

  • Downloaded kali-linux-2023.2-raspberry-pi-armhf.img.xz via kal

  • Booted right up (uc/pw=kali/kali).  No post install chatter or action

  • Install -  https://www.kali.org/docs/arm/ provided minimal help

    • Stumbled into some things that needed post install tweaking 

      • Time and Date (settings):  Had to manually adjust timezone.  NTP was not installed

      • Minimally change password of default (kali)

      • Update Stuff
        sudo apt update
        sudo apt list --upgradable
        sudo apt full-upgrade -y
        // upgrade took a long time but seemed to do quite a bit of setup ... keyboard language, etc // 

Whoops!  That was bad idea.  Kali now boots into cli. 
I have to "startx" to get to the GUI.  It's OK, this install is probably short-lived - I'm exploring aimlessly 

• • • • I CAN install stuff after update/upgrade ... e.g. joe editor, openvas (gvm)

  • RPI Hardware (see Test Table) - Pretty good overall

    • Audio - works fine, after a little fiddling.  Both default devices were labeled "Built-in Audio Stereo"

      • 3.5mm Jack worked but I had to select device.  

      • HDMI audio is probably default

      • BT Speaker connected but had to fiddle (possibly reboot) to get it working

    • Bluetooth - seemed fine, pretty sure it enabled upon first use

      • BT Mouse connected right up

      • Seemed to see/pair variety of devices

    • Network/Networking - possibly a tweak here and there

      • RPI Ethernet came right up

      • Built-in WiFi worked fine

      • Little struggle switching to/from different interfaces and networks (e.g. eth to wlan).  Booted a number of times

      • Network clients seemed fine (smb, ftp)

    • Usage/Usability - Nice presentation but you will need to know what you are doing

      • Software:  Had to go thru apt update/upgrade routine to install some of my favorites (e.g. joe editor)

      • No GUI package manager that I could see

      • Significant list of pre-installed tools available via GUI menu.   

      • Tools are well organized.  Most seem to fire up a terminal window with 'help' screen to get you started

      • https://www.kali.org/tools/ is VERY helpful!

      • Great way to learn/play with security tools

    • Performance/stability ... so so

      • pretty sluggish on RPI3B+ ... also some freezing

      •  RPI4 marginally better, seemed more usable but still some jerky youtubes, and delays when moving around in GUI

        • Dual Monitors didn't seem to be supported

        • My attempt to install OpenVAS under kali did not go well either ...

EndeavourOS

• Overall:   I punted.  A little disappointed.  Nice and lite and appears to be secure.  Probably good for a techie IF he/she can settle it down 

• Motivation:   Simply Curious.  Appears to be popular + Arch-based.  Possible next-gen MiPi?

• Tagline:  "Big possibilities on a small footprint, the future is now"
  ... But, There's More! ...

  • "A friendly community - A vibrant and friendly community, our beating heart of the distro, to guide you through your journey."

  • "A small and lightweight base - A small and lightweight base with eight flavours to choose from"

  • "Discovery - The EndeavourOS knowledge base, the place where you can find our wiki articles and video tutorials, is here as your guideline during your discovery in building your unique and personal system."

• Install Notes

  • Downloaded via Method 2 on Download Page which takes you to https://github.com/endeavouros-arm/images/releases.  Many to choose from, be careful.

  • Created SD using RPI Imager ... 32g micro sd using enosLinuxARM-rpi-latest.img.xz (1.2g, )

  • Booted on RPI4 2g w/ Ethernet

    • Initial boot looks like Live Boot .... singing-along with Installer Dialog

      • Chose Install Official Edition

      • Welcome:  Set Language, Timezone, Keyboard, and Desktop (MANY to choose from!) ... Plasma for now

      • Packages:  KDE & Printing to start with

      • User Account

      • Set up:  Sort of a yawner ... ~10 mins 

  • First Boot, nice Welcome 

    • Post-install suggestions:  I did them all.   Notes to self:  Pacman cache cleaner was interesting

    • No sshd or apparent GUI "Enable" - did a good old "systemctl start sshd".  Worked find

  • RPI Hardware

    • Looks to be locked down (secure)

      • Options for KDE wallet (passwords and such) - classic vs GPG

      • Bluetooth disabled by default

      • Firewall access via task bar

      • Default security is set pretty high 

    •  HDMI:  Didn't test dual monitors, I suspect it would work

    • Audio:  Seemed fine via 3.5mm jack, I suspect HDMI sound works

      • Bluetooth speaker worked fine too once I got BT working

    • Networking 

      • Ethernet worked fine

      • WiFi works out of the box, but pay attention to security - WPA3 is default

    • Bluetooth - Disabled by default for security and power savings

      • Turned on via sudo systemctl enable bluetooth

      • Logitech Mouse (Triathlon) connected right up!  But disconnected when it autologged me off

      • Bluetooth Speaker connected fine but watch for additional step of 'authorizing' device

      • Bluetooth is probably fine, just more secure than usual

  • Software

    • Not a lot of preinstalled software, nice

    • App add via Welcome (install) ... had to hunt for that, no gui packman like thingy

  • Stability and Performance iffy (for me at least)

    • A number of lockups, didnt research but had to off/on the RPI4

    • Slow at times, also to the point where I booted to push on with this

• Enough for now.  

Endless OS

• Overall:  It's different, worth a look.  Would take some tweaking to get it all working, Good luck!   

• Motivation:   Curious:  Future replacement for next gen SmartiePi for grandkids?  Tested an early version of EndlessOS Arm a few years ago, time to take a second look.

• Tagline:  "Unlock safe access to education and technology with expansive offline-capable autonomous learning materials, powerful creativity tools, games, and more"

• See also:   hack-computer.com.  

• Install Notes

  • Downloaded via http via www.endlessos.org/os-arm-sbc endlessos.com/download.  5.0.4 Basic (3.5g), the Full version is HUGE (13.75g)

  • Created SD using RPI Imager ... 32g micro sd

  • Booted on RPI4 2g 

    • Little Struggle during install:  Couldn't set up user with Logitech K400 Keyboard/Trackpad. 
      Strange, keyboard worked for WiFi PW but would not work for setting up "About You" information (name/username/password, etc)

    • Simple install 

  • UI is little different ... but simple

  • Stability ... some stumbles.  

    • Seems to like to suspend/logoff while I'm using it ... (even while I was ssh'ed in) ... and impossible to wake from Suspend
      Broadcast message from tped@endless (Tue 2023-06-20 15:48:58 MDT):
      The system is going down for suspend NOW!

      • Turned off "Automatic Screen Lock" for time being - it does not seem to properly track inactivity

      • Also Turned off "Suspend & Power Button" - There is now power button on RPI and the thing would not wake from sleep via activity

  • RPI Hardware

    • Lots of Keyboard/Trackpad issues with Logitech k400 keyboard/trackpad ... keyboard itself failed to type at times (install, in term window)

    •  HDMI:  Didn't test dual monitors, I suspect it would work

    • Audio:  No Sound.  No Select-able Output or Input Device in Settings.  aplay -l shows HDMI Audio, but no apparent RPI 3.5mm audio jack.  Didn't both to tweak

    • Networking 

      • Ethernet worked fine

      • WiFi works ... but ... some struggles selecting/connecting to various SSIDs during install.  I suspect it was keyboard/trackpad issue

    • Bluetooth was flaky

      • Logitech Mouse (Triathlon) connected right up!  But disconnected when it autologged me off

      • Apple Magic Keyboard would not pair

  • Lots of preinstalled apps.  Arranged on desktop like a smartphone

• Enough for now.  Will revisit when time for next gen Kid-Komputer

OpenVoiceOS

Overall:  Aborted.  Just curious about what may be next for Mycroft AI ... Sounds like OpenVoiceOS may pickup on the project 

Observations:  Low expectations  This is very early (pre-stable) .... 

Tagline:  "OpenVoiceOS is a community-driven, open-source voice AI platform for creating custom voice-controlled ​interfaces across devices with NLP, a customizable UI, and a focus on privacy and security"   

See Also:  https://github.com/OpenVoiceOS/raspbian-ovos

Install Notes:  

• Will try to sing-a-long with https://openvoiceos.github.io/community-docs/install_raspbian/

• Downloaded via Download Link on OpenVoiceOS.com ... burned 32g SD using Pi Imager and booted

  • image_2023-03-23-raspbian-ovos-dev.zip (1.2g) - NOPE, shouldn't have done that!   Seemed to boot, but unresponsive and inaccessible 

  • Image raspbian-ovos-headless.zip worked MUCH better.  Still a bit dark during boot ... boot messages initially, then a blank screen - really IS headless, I guess!

• Booted w/ RPI4 (2g)  w/ keyboard/trackpad & monitor.   

  • Looks like it comes to life but no screen and no wifi-hotspot exposed

  • Rebooted with Ethernet, still no screen but accessible via ssh (uc/pw=ovos/ovos)

• Looks like Picroft to me ... not as stable

          / _ \ _ __   ___ _ _\ \   / /__ (_) ___ ___ / _ \/ ___|  

         | | | | '_ \ / _ \ '_ \ \ / / _ \| |/ __/ _ \ | | \___ \  

         | |_| | |_) |  __/ | | \ V / (_) | | (_|  __/ |_| |___) |

          \___/| .__/ \___|_| |_|\_/ \___/|_|\___\___|\___/|____/  

               |_|                                                 

                    --- Welcome to OpenVoiceOS ---               

                     RASBPIAN-OVOS Edition v0.0.1                   

OVOS Tool COMMANDs:

 ovos-cli-client        Command line client, useful for debugging

 ovos-config             Manage your local OVOS configuration files

 ovos-listen            Activate the microphone to listen for a command

 ovos-speak  <phrase>   Have OVOS speak a phrase to the user

 ovos-say-to <phrase>   Send an utterance to OVOS as if spoken by a user

OVOS Skill Manager COMMANDs:

 osm install <skill|url>   Install mycroft skills

 osm remove  <skill|url>   Uninstall mycroft skills

 osm update                Update installed skills

• Decided to abort .. my Picroft is working for now .

  • Revisiting many of the tweaks I used to get Mycroft rolling before Picroft

  • Could not get much working ... will give it a little more time

HOOBS

Overall:  Evolving but Looks REALLY Good!  Turnkey Homebridge?  I forgot abut this one too!   Have been meaning to try for a long time

Observations:  Nice implementation, evolving doc.   I'll revisit this in the fall when I have more time ...
Our HomePi is running fine for now but HOOBS may be the Dashboard I've been looking for, will keep checking in on HOOBS Client Apps

Tagline:  "User Friendly Home Automation for Everyone"  
More: "HOOBS™ makes your smart accessories compatible with your favorite ecosystem. Whether you prefer Apple Homekit™, Google Home™, or Amazon Alexa™,
you’re unlikely to find compatible accessories and services that all work together nicely under one roof."

Motivation:  Stumbled upon this while searching for Homekit/homebridge Dashboard/Control Panel.  May be nice replacement for our HomePi

See Also:  https://9to5mac.com/2021/08/27/hoobs-4-levels-up-homebridge/
https://www.imore.com/hoobs-starter-kit-review
https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/smart-home/best-smart-home-bridge/

Install Notes:  

• Downloaded via https://support.hoobs.org/downloads ... BUT ... I probably should have used https://hoobs.com/shop

• Burned 32g sd using Raspberry Pi Imager .... took the zip file:  hoobs-v4.3.0-rpi-sdcard.xz

• Booted w/ RPI3B+  w/ keyboard/trackpad & monitor.  Looks to be based on RaspOS/Bullseye, w/ SSH!

• Singing along with:  https://support.hoobs.org/docs/setup-hoobs-microsd 

  • Started via HOOBS WiFi SSID,  - couple of stumbles connecting, probably just me

    • Connecting to HOOBS SSID on macbook offered up a blank screen

    • iPhone SSID selection seemed to work fine

    • <end of setup doc!>

• Initial set up via http://<hoobs-ipaddr> and walked thru screens (chrome browser)

  • Welcome Screen:  Set up Admin Account - that is that with install guide.   I'm on my own!

  • Main Screen - quite different than Homebridge ... looks nice!

    • Built-in terminal

    • Nice!   Widgets!   I may be able to create wallpanel/dashboard!

  • Center panel:  "Location not set.  Open the settings to configure" ... got me!  Clinked on Hub Settings button

    • Set location and temp units ... not much else here

  • Update offered in right panel ... Node 16.19.1 to 16.20.0 ... took it.  

    • Looked like a pretty healthy rpios update  

    •  Hmmm?!   I just updated nodejs to 18 on our HomePi because some plugins were complaining about 16

• Configuration - now stumbling around in https://support.hoobs.org/docs

  • Documentation is evolving (doc is being updated daily, as I go through this! ).  

  • Some config/interface confusion in https://support.hoobs.org/docs/interface
    
    WARNING: The Legacy Webinterface will no longer be maintained and is obsolete due to the new HOOBS Client Apps
    We strongly recommend to use the HOOBS Client Apps only

BUT ... there are no client apps quite yet (24 May 2023)!  

Download the HOOBS™ Client App for your preferred Platform

HOOBS™ Client App for Desktop Computer
comming very soon…

HOOBS™ Client App for Tablets
comming very soon…

HOOBS™ Client App for Mobile
comming very soon…

• • Conceptually appears to be a little different than hombridge-UX 

    • Plugins appear to be a combination of homebridge plugins and HOOBS plugins

      •  "Certified" = "Verified" in homebridge-ux?

      • More plugins in Hoobs world??? ... possibly offering plugins from HB library *and* hoobs library?) 

      • All of the plugins used in our HomePi appear to be available, except for Homebridge UI (of course)

    • Bridges.  New concept, makes sense

      • "Bridges allow you to isolate plugins from each other. By default installing a plugin will create a new bridge. You can view those bridges here."
        more from doc:  "A HOOBS™ bridge is a complete Homebridge instance, with isolated plugins and configuration."

  • Overall Looks VERY interesting, will revisit this 

MotionEyeOS

Overall:   Works Great!   Webcam/Video Surveillance distro - comes as a bootable RPi image .... I forgot abut this thing!   It's nice!

Observations:  OS development stalled, I'll run it under DietPi, they incorporated the latest MotionEye project (Python)

Tagline:  "motionEyeOS is a Linux distribution that turns a single-board computer into a video surveillance system"

Motivation:  Started building a wecbam gizmo to watch for Deer in our backyard ... this is MUCH easier!

Install Notes:  

• Amazingly simple (Download/write image/boot) installation @ https://github.com/motioneye-project/motioneyeos/wiki/Installation

• Booted w/ RPI Model B (Very old RPI 1) w/ keyboard/trackpad & monitor.  Monitor and Keyboard really not necessary.

• Connect via http://<RPiIP> ... pretty darn simple.  All config done via web interface

• Added a couple of web cams - one via RTSP, the other http://<IP>/video.cgi - VERY easy

• ssh uc/pw is same as Admin set up in web gui.   Really no reason to ssh into this thing other than to explore Buildroot (embedded OS)

• Nice - Samba and FTP pre-installed and working

• Works very well, but I'll stop here and install on an existing Dietpi Server - makes more sense in my world

Picroft

Overall:   AI/Smart Speaker sort of a thing!   it works, it's easy ... and ... It's fun!   I'll keep playing and probably dissect this thing ...

Tagline:  "Picroft is a ready-made way to run Mycroft on a Raspberry Pi 3, 3B+ or 4 and is provided as a disk image that you can burn to a Micro SD card."

Motivation:  Mycroft AI is an interesting project.  Simply curious and may be interested in some of the underpinnings

See Also:  https://github.com/MycroftAI

Install Notes:  

• Everything, including install instructions @ https://mycroft-ai.gitbook.io/docs/using-mycroft-ai/get-mycroft/picroft

• Booted w/ RPI3B+, keyboard/trackpad, monitor (with hdmi sound) and usb logitech webcam (for usb mic)

• ssh'ed in using pi/mycroft credentials and simply followed prompts

Welcome to Picroft.  This image is designed to make getting started with

Mycroft quick and easy.  Would you like help setting up your system?

 Y)es, I'd like the guided setup.

 N)ope, just get me a command line and get out of my way!

Choice [Y/N]: Y

• Installed a bunch of stuff ... before hardware setup dialog:

=========================================================================

HARDWARE SETUP

How do you want Mycroft to output audio:

 1) Speakers via 3.5mm output (aka 'audio jack' or 'headphone jack')

 2) HDMI audio (e.g. a TV or monitor with built-in speakers)

 3) USB audio (e.g. a USB soundcard or USB mic/speaker combo)

 4) Google AIY Voice HAT and microphone board (Voice Kit v1)

 5) ReSpeaker Mic Array v2.0 (speaker plugged in to Mic board)

Choice [1-5]:2

Let's test and adjust the volume:

 1-9) Set volume level (1-quietest, 9=loudest)

 T)est

 R)eboot (needed if you just plugged in a USB speaker)

 D)one!

Level [1-9/T/D/R]: 9  

The final step is Microphone configuration:

As a voice assistant, Mycroft needs to access a microphone to operate.

Please ensure your microphone is connected and select from the following

list of microphones:

 1) PlayStation Eye (USB)

 2) Blue Snoball ICE (USB)

 3) Matrix Voice HAT.

 4) Other USB microphone (unsupported -- good luck!)

Choice [1-4]: 4

• I did an alsamixer here to set the default sound card to Logitech cam/mic (c525)

• Rebooooot-a-roooooo!

• Came right up, tested speaker volume and mic

• Went thru pairing per instructions @ https://mycroft-ai.gitbook.io/docs/using-mycroft-ai/pairing-your-device
  // I've been here before!  These are the Plasma BigScreen guys?    or Plasma BigScreen uses Mycroft? //

• sudo raspi-config to setup Wifi but you also may be able to talk Mycroft into doing it!

Underware

• Looks to be built on Raspbian Buster circa 2020.  Had to update InRelease stuff to get apt working:
  sudo apt-get update --allow-releaseinfo-change

• Also appears to update itself, downloaded zip was marked v20.08 but Mycroft tells me I am on latest, v21.2.2
  Release notes for 21.2.1 are @ https://mycroft.ai/blog/mycroft-core-v21-2-1-released/

Hardware

• Scattered/limited testing here, not really a typical OS Alternative for the RPI ...

• Monitor, USB keyboard, network (eth and wlan) all seem fine right out of the box

• Audio-in:  Doc mentioned Logitech c525 (camera) for mic - I had one of these, seems to work fine

• Audio-out seemed fine via HDMI monitor with speakers.  I didn't mess with other audio output options, but would expect some tweaking

• RPI3B+ appears to handle the load fine, 16-20% CPU when idling & responsive - snappy comebacks!

Software

• Lots to learn/play with here!  I am particularly interested in the underpinnings (opensource speech, AI, et al). 
  See also  https://mycroft.ai/initiatives/

• List of skills @ https://market.mycroft.ai/skills.  Easiest to have Mycroft install these via "Hey Mycroft install skill <skill name>"
  More?  @ https://github.com/MycroftAI/mycroft-skills

• Lots of how-to-run clues displayed when you ssh into this guy ...

Linux picroft 5.4.51-v7+ #1333 SMP Mon Aug 10 16:45:19 BST 2020 armv7l

The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;

the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the

individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent

permitted by applicable law.

Last login: Mon Nov 28 00:25:28 2022 from 192.168.11.102

███╗   ███╗██╗   ██╗ ██████╗██████╗  ██████╗ ███████╗████████╗

████╗ ████║╚██╗ ██╔╝██╔════╝██╔══██╗██╔═══██╗██╔════╝╚══██╔══╝

██╔████╔██║ ╚████╔╝ ██║     ██████╔╝██║   ██║█████╗     ██║    

██║╚██╔╝██║  ╚██╔╝  ██║     ██╔══██╗██║   ██║██╔══╝     ██║    

██║ ╚═╝ ██║   ██║   ╚██████╗██║  ██║╚██████╔╝██║        ██║    

╚═╝     ╚═╝   ╚═╝    ╚═════╝╚═╝  ╚═╝ ╚═════╝ ╚═╝        ╚═╝    

       _____    _                          __   _    

      |  __ \  (_)                        / _| | |   

      | |__) |  _    ___   _ __    ___   | |_  | |_  

      |  ___/  | |  / __| | '__|  / _ \  |  _| | __|

      | |      | | | (__  | |    | (_) | | |   | |_  

      |_|      |_|  \___| |_|     \___/  |_|    \__|

***********************************************************************

** Picroft enclosure platform version: Buster Keaton - Pork Pi

**                      
2022-11-28 13:51:07.749 | WARNING  | 32690 | mycroft.configuration.config:_log_old_location_deprecation:186 |  

===============================================

==             DEPRECATION WARNING           ==

===============================================

You still have a config file at /home/pi/.mycroft/mycroft.conf

Note that this location is deprecated and will not be used in the future

Please move it to /home/pi/.config/mycroft

mycroft-core: 21.2.2 ( master )

***********************************************************************

Mycroft is your open source voice assistant.  Full source

can be found at: /home/pi/mycroft-core

Mycroft-specific commands you can use from the Linux command prompt:

 mycroft-cli-client       Command line client, useful for debugging

 mycroft-msm              Mycroft Skills Manager, to manage your Skills

 mycroft-start            Launch/restart Mycroft services

 mycroft-stop             Stop Mycroft services

Scripting Utilities:

 mycroft-listen           Activate the microphone to listen for a command

 mycroft-speak <phr>      Have Mycroft speak a phrase to the user

 mycroft-say-to <utt>     Send an utterance to Mycroft as if spoken by a user

Mycroft's Python Virtual Environment (venv) control:

 mycroft-pip              Install a Python package within the venv

 mycroft-venv-activate    Enter the venv

 mycroft-venv-deactivate  Exit the venv

Skill Development:

 mycroft-msk              Mycroft Skills Kit, create and share Skills

 mycroft-skill-testrunner Run integration tests on Mycroft Skills

Other:

 mycroft-config           Manage your local Mycroft configuration files

 mycroft-mic-test         Record and playback to directly test microphone

 mycroft-help             Display this message

For more information, see https://mycroft.ai/documentation

***********************************************************************

In a few moments you will see the Mycroft CLI (command line interface).

Hit Ctrl+C to return to the Linux command line.  You can launch the CLI

again by entering:  mycroft-cli-client

Initializing...

Starting cli

• Lots of whining about configuration files in the wrong place during boot up, so I moved a couple per instructions:
  $ sudo mv /home/pi/.mycroft_cli.conf /home/pi/.config/mycroft/mycroft_cli.conf
  $ sudo mv /home/pi/.mycroft/mycroft.conf /home/pi/.config/mycroft/mycroft.conf
  
  

• Random links and commands (just to keep them around - I'm fumbling around for doc)

  • MyCroft configuration tool @ https://mycroft-ai.gitbook.io/docs/using-mycroft-ai/customizations/config-manager

    • Config appears to be stacked - Default, which may be overridden @ Remote, which may be overridden @ User 

    • See current config via:   mycroft-config show

  • Mimic is interesting for TTS (potentially useful for one of my projects).  Lots to learn here

    • Mimic 1 

      • Overview @ https://mycroft-ai.gitbook.io/docs/mycroft-technologies/mimic-tts/mimic-overview

      • located @ /home/pi/mycroft-core/mimic

      • List voices via ./mimic -lv

    • Mimic 2 (may be default in Picroft image).  Announcement @ https://mycroft.ai/blog/mimic-2-is-live/

    • Mimic 3 appears to take more horsepower (RPI4). 
      Info @ https://mycroft-ai.gitbook.io/docs/mycroft-technologies/mimic-tts/mimic-3

• Enough ... I'll play with MANY pieces of this thing!   Will also move to RPI4  to see how advanced stuff works (e.g mimic3)
  
  

MX-Linux

Overall:  VERY Impressed, I'll be back ... Just a quick peek @ beta release, testing here/there as I stumbled around
Popular Linux OS.  Will  test on AAO *and* RPi for the heck of it.  

MX Linux Tagline:  "Midweight Simple Stable Desktop OS"

RPI Version:  This one was listed as an "Unofficial Respin of MX Linux" ... Looks to be active project

• Mar 2022 Beta Release info @ https://mxlinux.org/blog/mx-linux-raspberry-pi-respin-ragout2-beta/

Motivation:  Seems to be up-and-coming distro, also interested in Fluxbox.  

Install Notes:  

• Testing with Downloaded Initial microsd burn using Raspberry Pi Imager 

  • Working with Beta Version RPi Unofficial Respin - MX-Fluxbox Ragout

• Booted right up

• Setup Icon on desktop:  Raspberry Pi Configurator popped up!

  • My usual mods:  Change Password, Set Hostname, SSH, Localisation 

  • Update notification after reboot ... took a couple of minutes

• Software - VERY well equipped right out of the box:  

  • Fluxbox is NICE!  Very clean/simple.  Tested with March 2022 Beta

  • RaspOS underneath the sheets ... 32-bit, but  apparently sluggish on RPI3.  I tested on 2g RPI4, it was fine

  • MANY preinstalled programs VERY well organized!  I'll be checking some of these!

    • I forgot about Conky!  Check out Conky Manager

    • GKrellM - simple/nice Monitor

  • Many handy looking "MX" utilities 

  • Looking forward to Pale Moon browser (must have saw it listed somewhere) ... but not here
    Just Chromium again

• Hardware 

  • Didn't take time to test everything, but should be as good as RaspOS, I'd think

  • Bluetooth didn't work, I could see devices and some appeared to pair but nothing worked
    Probably fiddle-able into working but I didn't mess with it.  Odd messages logged ... like:
    bluetoothd[896]: input-hog profile accept failed for xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx

Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit)

Overall:  Works OK but still lags behind Manjaro (my favorite) as a day-to-day 64-bit GUI/Desktop.

Tagline:  "Your Raspberry Pi needs an operating system to work. This is it. Raspberry Pi OS (previously called Raspbian) is our official supported operating system."

Motivation:  Haven't spent much time on latest RaspOS desktop, decided to give it a try again.   Secondly, something bad happened to my 32-bit RaspOS (upgraded to Bullseye, I think).  When booted on RPi 4 Ethernet would NOT come up!   Decided to start fresh *and* try 64-bit. 

Install Notes:  

• Initial microsd burn using Raspberry Pi Imager (it is nice!) 

• Official documentation seems to have received an update/facelift @ www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/.  Looks better
  I think this is the quickstart:  www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/getting-started.html

• Initial Boot:  Forgot to take note, but I'm pretty sure install forced a password change, setting Local (Country/Language) and forced software update

• Still had to walk through GUI Raspberry Pi Configurator:

  • System Tab:  Set Hostname (I may have changed password here too)

  • Display Tab:  Hey!  Screen Blanking!!   It also seems to work!   Turns off backlight when idle (see notes below)
    Also a "Headless Resolution" setting here ... 
    (I'll have to think that one through ... and visit www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/configuration.html#setting-up-a-headless-raspberry-pi)

  • Interfaces Tab:   Looks about the same.  Enabled SSH & VNC (for me)

  • Performance Tab:  Fan/Fan GPIO and Fan Temp look new!   Luckily the new documentation is searchable!
    I found this helpful hint in the doc:     "Fan:  Set the behaviour of a GPIO connected fan" (reminds me of zork!). 
    I'll keep running my fan via 3.3V for now, it runs constantly but is quiet and seems to idle around 35c ... no sign of throttling.   At somepoint I'll look into a fancier setup like:  https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2020/raspberry-pi-4-has-fan-now-case-fan 

Hardware Tests

• Bluetooth:  Seems MUCH better (more stable).  Only took 2 tries to connected some of these things! 
  Decided to re-test some of the desktop stuff I use:  

  • BT Speaker was MUCH easier than last time - rt-click speaker in menubar.  Speaker fell asleep and RPi switched back to Audio Jack

  • Logitech Triathlon mouse!    Paired on the second try - that is pretty good for Raspos!

  • RPi 4 seems to have very good BT.  It sees distant devices that others nearby gizmos don't even list  

• Power Management:  Installed xfce4-power-manager, but seems to monitor BT & wireless device batteries!  Nice!

  • hdmi_blanking (powering off display backlight) appears to be fixed!  A long-time personal annoyance.  VERY interesting, tho ... 

    • Doc  explicitly states that it is NOT fixed on raspberry pi 4 ...  per note @ www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/config_txt.html#hdmi_blanking
      "NOTE On the Raspberry Pi 4, setting hdmi_blanking=1 will not cause the HDMI output to be switched off, since this feature has not yet been implemented. This feature may cause issues when using applications which don’t use the framebuffer, such as omxplayer."

    • Appears to be set exclusively via raspi-config (or gui Raspberry Pi Configuration) using Display->Screen Blanking option. 
      There was no sign of "hdmi_blanking" option in /boot/config.txt

• Networking:

  • Network Participation (samba et al) ... MUCH better than Manjaro!  
    Go->Network in file manager seems to find them all!

  • Ethernet came up fine of fresh install

  • Wifi seems to work fine

  • VNC was weird - It looked like I was getting constant connections (127.0.0.1).  Took a look at VNC release notes and noticed that 64-bit  server was JUST released for rpi4.   Updated manually (via vnc download, not apt) and things seem to have settled down.  Went from vncserver v6.7 to 6.9

• Will keep it running for RPi development

Comitup 

Overall:  THIS Looks REALLY Good!  Interesting RPi image designed to help with headless RPi installations (no keyboard or Monitor).  Offers up a web-based WiFi Access Point at a known location (e.g. http://comitup-xxx.local) that can be accessed to connect the image to available WiFi Networks!

Tagline:  "Wifi Network Bootstrap for the Raspberry Pi"

Motivation:  I have a number of Raspberry Pi projects that are used by friends and relatives.  I either have to carefully pre-configure these for other's WiFi networks or sit down with a keyboard and monitor and physically install the contraptions.  My plan was to find code to include in my projects to help with this initial connection conundrum.  Comitup offered a preconfigured Raspberry Pi image - PERFECT for initial investigation!

Install/Testing:

• Download image from https://davesteele.github.io/comitup/.  SHA/PGP sigs and package info thoughtfully provided.  I went with Lite version for initial playtime

• Burned to an age-old 8g Micro SD using my new fav - Raspberry Pi Imager

• Booted up on RPI3B+ w/no Networking (Ethernet) 

  • Boots up WITH comitup running ... Connected to SSID=comitup-xxx from my laptop and selected local WiFi

  • After initial connect, WiFi is set (but not via wpa_supplicant) and subsequent reboots will continue to connect to specified SSID

  • RPIOS default user:  pi/raspberry

  • SSH enabled at boot!

  • Looks to be a plain old RaspOS other than above!

• "man comitup" to find my way around  - Nice!

  • Interesting 'Locate' option that blinks LED ... I see the need!

• BOTTOM LINE:  This thing looks Good!   More work to do, but will keep the image around to learn/play. 
  I THINK I will need to incorporate Comitup into some of my projects rather than starting with this image (DietPi or Q4OS based).  This looks doable too 

RetroPie

Overall:  Probably my 2021 Favorite - finally sitting down to note experiences here.he best find of 2021.   

Tagline:  "Retro-gaming on the Raspberry Pi"   

Motivation:  Working on an off-grid entertainment option for our new Camper.   RetroPie ended up as foundation for our CamperPi entertainment gizmo.  Retro video, arcade and dos games plus a Kodi 'Port' (plug-in) that will be used to serve up movies and music when needed while camping.  

Install/Testing:

• • Used/Supported by video/arcade/computer game enthusiasts.  See also:  emulationstation.org and www.retroarch.com - worth the visit

  • Installed using official Raspberry Pi Imager.  RetroPie is Listed under "Emulation and Game OS" 

  • My recipe is @ tech.tpedersen.net/raspberry-pi/pi-recipes/camperpi-offgrid-play 

  • Downloads are RPi hardware specific, I used RetroPie 4.7 for RPi1 and Zero. 
    Buster underpinnings, there is a new version 4.8 based on Bullseye, but I'll stick with what I have for now.  It works GREAT! 

  • The gizmo takes some getting used to, there is no traditional GUI/Desktop, seems easier to configure/use via  gamepad as opposed to Mouse/Keyboard. 
    // I bought a small rechargeable Keyboard/Track/gamepad thingy - details in CamperPi Recipe // 

  • Linux under the sheets - Raspberry Pi OS w/ SSH enabled

  • Very well documented.  Start @ https://retropie.org.uk/docs/#what-is-retropie

  • Amazing number of emulators and gaming options.  Many run original ROM code, others appear to be built as RetroPie (EmulationStation or RetroArch) Plug-In's called "Ports"

  • Amazing performance on Raspberry Pi Zero W.  Gaming + 1080p movies w no studders (or Pi Throttling) even using a 550mA USB power source
    // THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR - Something that would run on 12v camper power and NOT burn batteries //

  • Enough of this, I'm knee deep in the Zork Trilogy (Free from infocom-if.org/downloads/downloads.html).   Game/ROM options are almost overwhelming

LibreELEC

• Overall:  So Far, So Good!  MUCH better than OSMC for our Media Systems and old devices ...  

• Tagline:  "Just enough OS for Kodi"

• Motivation:  We have a few "MoviePi" systems kicking around the family,  All dedicated Media Servers at this point in time.  OSMC has been a headache to maintain, LibreELEC seems to JUST WORK!

• Install/Testing

  • Linux behind the scenes, very minimal but recognizable if you SSH in (default uc/pw=root/libreelec) to look around.  I changed root password but didn't mess with any linux underpinnings.  Looks like there are facilities to further tweak or secure @ OS level - e.g. README in iptables directory

  • My recipe is @ hmyttps://tech.tpedersen.net/raspberry-pi/pi-recipes/moviepi-smarttv

  • Booted right up 

  • Devices I've been struggling with just worked - e.g. Old MCE Remotes

  • Add-on's that started failing on OSMC worked right out of the gate via LibreELEC
    Crackle, YouTube and Google Drive

  • Kodi Config is not any easier, but install was MUCH better

  • Can't seem to turn Monitor (backlight off) when system not in use
    Others seem to struggle here - https://forum.libreelec.tv/thread/21780-rpi-3-libreelec-8-and-9-samsung-tv-can-t-get-kodi-screensaver-to-turn-off-backli/

  • Initial test using Rpi2 Model B - Impressive performance.  Movies seem to play fine!  No stutter or pausing
    Movie playing off of flash drive (1080p mkv) - 15%-20% CPU
    Youtube Video - 15%-25% CPU
    Google Drive (mp4) - 15%-20%

  • <Still Testing>

Plasma Bigscreen

• Overall:  Just a quick peek ... Looks VERY interesting, will revisit once in a while to watch progression

• Tagline:  "This project is using various open-source components like Plasma Bigscreen, Mycroft AI and libcec with a modified KDE Neon img for the Raspberry Pi 4 to allow easy accessing content-related services on your TV."

• Motivation:  Stumbled upon this while I was working on a Big Screen Linux project of my own HAD to look!

• It looks to be an early Beta.  3-4 months old

• Install/Testing

  • Created SD using Etcher

  • Booted right up

  • Started looking around ... but THEN IT STARTED TALKING!  Luckily monitor had hdmi audio!

    • Needed to register device @ home.mycroft.ai AND create an account

  • Dual Monitors worked, but probably not intended to use duals

    • seemed to move Big Screen to other monitor when I started an app

    • Lost primary monitor at some point 

    • Click on second monitor when lost in UI to get back to main desktop 

  • SSH mycroft@<ip>, pw mycroft

  • FYI:  Exit an app using <alt><f4> on keyboard

Arch Linux

• Overall:  Not for me.  I bricked it playing around.  Has promise but will take some work.  Pretty lean OS, quite a bit of installing and tweaking to make it yours!
  Limited GUI help, be prepared to setup via terminal.  Not for the novice or faint of heart

• Motivation:  Need a faster LXDE based desktop for a project I'm working on.  RaspOS was a pig!

• Looks a bit more geeky/techie ... working thru archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv8/broadcom/raspberry-pi-3

  • RPi was not in website pulldown under platforms, but is listed here - https://archlinuxarm.org/platforms

• Install/Testing

  • Decided to use image from https://sourceforge.net/projects/rasparch/.  Had all apps I needed for test

  • Came up great

  • Still a quite a bit of terminal tweaking - even with Rasparch preinstalled applications

  • Pacman familiarity would be helpful!

  • Samba installed, but didn't see my network ... didn't spend much time in smb.conf to fix, tho

  • Most RPi hardware appeared to work, didnt finish all tests, tho

  • I buried the thing with activity - youtube, terminal sessions, many open windows.  

  • Basically bricked it - failed to boot

NEMS Linux

• Overall:  VERY Nice!.  A great way to play with Nagios!  Probably an overkill for my needs.  
  Accidentally overwrote the SD card, didn't record some info.  But its definitely worth a look.  

• Motivation:  Stumbled upon NEMS by accident, always curious about Nagios, looked like easy way to explore 

• nemslinux.com said:  "Monitor Everything"
  "NEMS is the Nagios Enterprise Monitoring Server for Single Board Computers"

• Started by working thru Nagios Enterprise Monitoring Server for Raspberry Pi.

• Install/Testing

  • Install was painless - Etcher'd an SD card and booted

  • Headless server after initial install, access via SSH but mainly via browser.  MANY Browser-based tools

  • Skipping a few hardware tests due to nature of this gizmo - e.g. audio, hdmi, etc

  • <more to come here>

• Stumbled upon How to Set Up a Raspberry Pi Network Monitor after a few days of rummaging around on NEMS.  Start there!  Includes details on NEMS Install/Setup too

  • In a Nutshell

    • I did this via ssh was easiest for me, I cut/paste from tutorial to avoid type-o'ing

    • Watch for html replacement chars used in bash example:   &lt change to < to get command working

    • Lots of Passwords in here - assign/watch carefully.  I got myself all turned around on passwords

    • Once Cacti Installer came up (in browser) I had to fix a bunch of stuff to push on with tutorial.
      Actually a very nice installer, you fix things and refresh page until all is well

      • Had a timezone error.  Found this one to fix it
        https://www.seanmancini.com/2019/02/fixing-cacti-timezone-installation-error/

      • Some missing PHP modules ... I guessed at apt-get's here, but these did the trick for me.

        • sudo apt-get install php-gmp

        • sudo apt-get install php-ldap

        • sudo service apache2 restart (to get rid of 'web' errors after package installs)

    • MySQL system variable errors ... ended up being warnings, I THINK
      I had what looked like errors in system variable section ... like collation_server.  Fumbled around attempting to fix the all, but noticed that I could push the NEXT button on install page ... and simply 'pushed' on following tutorial ... in the end they were warnings!   Installing!!!

  • Install takes a while.  While I was waiting I checked out  https://www.cacti.net/ because I HAD NO IDEA what I was doing or what was happening ... Interesting project!

RPi-QEMU-x86-wine

• Overall:  Lost interest.  There was some potential on RPI4, but not for my project.  RPI4 is too Hot!

• Motivation:  Learning experience:  QEMU+Wine.  IF it works, I'll add x86 emulation to Pi 4 GramPi!  

• QEMU info @ https://www.qemu.org/

  • RPI 4 thread to watch @ https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1507593

• Readme on github, Downloads on Sourceforge

• Install Notes:

  • win98-pi.zip = "Raspbian Lite based image which boots straight into Windows 98 (qEmu)"

    • Started with win98-pi.zip image, flashed 8g SD using Etcher 

    • Whoa!  It IS win 98!  My mouse (or trackpad) didnt work, but I looked around with win keyboard!

    • No network, Win 98 Second Edition 4.10.2222A, actually RUNS PRETTY WELL on Pi 3B+!

    • SSH server is running - pi/raspberry login

    • Impressive, but not what I was looking for ... will retry with other image!

FreeBSD 12.0

• Overall:  it runs, takes a lot of work.  Not for the faint of heart .... 

• Motivation:  Haven't played with FreeBSD for decades!  RPI is a simple way to check it out.

• Started w/ this doc - https://wiki.freebsd.org/FreeBSD/arm/Raspberry%20Pi

• Install Notes:

  • Started with RPI2 image, Etcher seemed to work fine to create SD

  • Boots very sloowwly

  • Came up fine - default users were root/root or freebsd/freebsd

  • Ethernet and SSH came up after install ... that was nice

  • Quite plain-jane (CLI), but may play with installing GUI

    • VERY little pre-installed - even had to install package management ... Sloooow

  • Didn't bother to test audio

  • wifi - some futzing.  See handbook config-network-setup & network-wireless.
    EDIMAX usb was detected, but I had to do some tweaking/configuring to get it rolling 

    • Installed wpa_supplicant
      pkg install wpa_supplicant

    • created minimal /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
      # cat /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
      network={
                    ssid="<ssid>"
                    psk="<passkey>"
                    key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
      }

    • dmesg to see device info and find adapter
      rtwn0 on uhub1
      rtwn0: <Realtek 802.11n WLAN Adapter, class 0/0, rev 2.00/2.00, addr 4> on usbus0
      rtwn0: MAC/BB RTL8188CUS, RF 6052 1T1R

    • Added interface using ifconfig
      ifconfig wlan0 create wlandev rtwn0

    • bring it up:  Ifconfig wlan0 up

    • and a boot or two during the process

  • x/gui ... reserve some time, it's like the good old days:  /handbook/x11.html

    • Got x11 installed and working, but never found a display mgr to try.
      gnome3, kde5, xfce4 in handbook, but not found in repository

    • Gave up

NetPi Plus

• Overall:  May require a tweak or two - but nice!    Came up nicely ... nice suite of pre-installed net tools.
  Prob not for me - pretty small screen, but I'll dig into design and tools, lots to learn here.  

• Motivation:  Stumbled upon this - looking for a probe like gizmo to keep an eye on our internet connection

• Looks like site is being recovered from a hit - rebuild in process, not all images downloadable at this point - will test w/ stuff that's there initially, may need to revist ...

• Nice/Simple - designed for small touchscreen ... too bad it wasn't not MY Touchscreen.  Hardware dependent

• Install Notes:

  • Hardware is a tad specific - I'll need to tweak to get my TFT display working, but that's OK
    SSH & VNC seems to work in meantime - VNC seems to be good representation 

  • Raspbian Stretch under the hood 

  • 'Stealth' mode hangs my Pi - may dig in later

  • 'Active' Mode - Ping, Trace Route, Speed Test,  ETH0/WLAN details, Note pad with popup keyboard & network diagramer/eye test

  • 'Pen Test' Mode - Port Scan, Wireshark, Wardrive (no worky)

  • <still playing>

• To replace Kuman 3.5in LCD by my Adafruit PiTFT Plus 3.5 (P2411B) ...I stumbled thru the following with this sing-a-long from adafruit - https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-pitft-3-dot-5-touch-screen-for-raspberry-pi/overview

  • First:  Switch back to HDMI
    cd ./LCD-show/

./LCD-hdmi

• • Then ... sing-a-long @ https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-pitft-3-dot-5-touch-screen-for-raspberry-pi/overview
    wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adafruit/Raspberry-Pi-Installer-Scripts/master/adafruit-pitft.sh
    chmod +x adafruit-pitft.sh
    sudo ./adafruit-pitft.sh (installs PiTFT)

  • Finally, reboot and calibrate as needed.  

Kali 2019.1

• Overall:  Aborted - I accidentally overwrote the Kali sd card, never finished testing.  Will retry in future...
  It came up nicely, a little light in terms of available tools - significant subset of Kali from what I saw

• Motivation:  Interested in a RPI-based network security probe, simply to watch over 'things' on our network

• Install Notes:

  • Whoops!  Shot one of my toes off right out of the gate!  

    • Download RPI images from www.offensive-security.com/kali-linux-arm-images instead of main download page.  First image (kali-linux-light-2019.1-armhf.img) did NOTHING!

    • Started with image marked Kali Linux RaspberryPi 2 and 3.  Will play with on RPI 3 & RPI2

  • Created 8g sd boot using my new favorite - Etcher.io - and image=kali-linux-2019.1-rpi3-nexmon.img.xz

  • Came right up on RPI3 - some prompt to create windows or something - I clicked on 'default'

    • Oh!  I See!  Initial dialog was probably for setting up xfce panel and such!  Pretty much a blank desktop w/ app menu via right mouse click ... I should read those messages!  There is a Panel icon is setting to put things right - remember to save setting when you logoff

  • SSH was live right out of the box

  • No Audio, first glance thru /boot/config.txt looked like much/all commented out

  • Software?  Attempted to apt-get a few familiar tools - nothing found yet.  It is what it is?  Vim?

  • MetaSploit came right up - I've been interested in this for a long time.  Much to learn

  • Abort - I'll redo this one in the future

Fedora 29

• Overall:  Didn't go well ... Quite unstable/wobbly.  Odd hangs & periods where it was painfully slow.  

  • I even backtracked, started over w/ aarch64 image ... I must have done something wrong!

• Motivation:  Working on a separate Redhat project, need to bring myself back up to speed, Pi will be handy.  
  Also my first/fav flavor of Linux a looong time ago, well deserving of a RPI boot!

• Reads:

  • StackExchange PiDora vs Fedora ARM thread (circa 2015, updated in 2017)

  • Fedora Workstation vs Server Editions (2018)

  • Settled on Fedora Arm over PiDora, which seemed a tad stale

• Install notes - https://arm.fedoraproject.org/

  • Yikes!  MANY flavors - KDE, Xfce, LXDE, Mate, Sugar ... Chose default:  Fedora Workstation 

  • Arm Doc is here -> https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures/ARM

    • Tried both armv7 and aarch64 images on RPI3 B+

    • Used etcher.io to create SD's 

  • This thing was VERY slow/nonresponsive at times.  Updates  Hard to tell what was going on? 
    It settled down over time and was quite usable, but VERY strange/slow episodes.  

  • Ghastly slow/buried Pi with first run of firefox.  Couldn't even get monitor up to see what was going on

    • Killed FireFox, fired-up monitor and relaunched FF - ran fine, of course!  Watched pot!  Updates?

    • Still a tad slow (jerky mouse pointer) after clean boot. nothing obvious, settled down after a few 

  • Odd hang in middle of the night - on signon screen clock display was alternating between two times approx an hour apart.  

  • Stability & Performance skitzy - I ran monitor and log viewer most of the time.  Hard to tell what was going on

  • Hardware

    • Ethernet: worked out of the box, but some odd messages during boot - link not ready BS

    • Bluetooth:  Flakey

      • Fumbled getting BT Apple Keyboard working, had to connect USB kb initially

      • BT Speaker seemed to make BT struggle for its life before dying - system log "Hardware error"

    • Power Management:  Good!  Even showed battery levels for BT keyboard *and* put monitor to sleep
      BUT ...  Auto Screen Lock screwed me, could not get login screen up had to boot

    • Audio:  HDMI sound worked out of the get-go, no obvious access to 3.5mm jack.
      BT speaker was a fail - recognized as audio (headphones), seemed to try hard to pair, but no worky