The wonderful world of SBC

Arduino and Raspberry Pi have brought Single-Board Computers (SBC) to mainstream hobbyists.  With a little time and effort you can build robots, TV recorders, Hi-Fi audio systems, video streamers, ad blockers, data backup systems, and more!  There are lots and lots and lots and lots of SBC choices, depending on your project needs and financial budget.  Ready to dive in?  Let's go!

First, you'll need to pick your SBC.  Some popular options are the Raspberry Pi 4 ($35), ODROID-C2 ($46), and NanoPi NEO-LTS ($10).

Next, you'll need a:

• power cable (make sure to use a high quality cable since a cheap one can cause connectivity problems)
• charger (if sold separately)
• ethernet cable (if not using Wi-Fi)
• micro-SD card (make sure to get one rated Class 10 or better)
• SD card reader (I recommend you get one with a spring load mechanism)
• heatsink
• case

In addition, an optional but recommended accessory is a USB to UART adapter.  This will allow you to communicate directly with the device if you can't get Wi-Fi or Ethernet to work.

Once you have your equipment, you'll need to decide on an operating system.  Most Raspberry Pi fans go with Raspbian or Raspbian Lite.  Another popular choice is Armbian.  Also, Diet Pi is another great option with one-click software installation capability.

Setup is fairly easy:

1. Attach the heatsink to your SBC
2. Download and install Etcher, a program that allows you to install the operating system onto your micro SD card.
3. Plug in your SD card reader and insert your micro SD card
4. Launch Etcher and make sure it detects your micro SD card and then click to browse for your desired operating system image and finally click "Flash!"
5. Once the flashing is complete, remove the micro SD card and insert it into your SBC.  Note: if using a Raspberry Pi, before removing the card create an empty text file called "ssh" (no file extension) in the boot folder.
6. Install your SBC into its case
7. Connect the ethernet cable (if not using Wi-Fi) to the SBC and your router/switch/modem
8. Plug in your SBC and wait 1-3 minutes for it to boot up

Next you'll need to figure out the SBC's IP address.  You can either check your router admin interface for a recent DHCP lease or run a network scanner like Angry IP scanner or nmap.  For simplicity, I use nmap by installing it with sudo apt install -y nmap and then running this command to find the SBC's IP address:

nmap -n -p 22 --open -oG - $(hostname -I | cut -f1-3 -d.).* | awk '/Up$/{print $2}'

Next, use a command prompt or PuTTY to ssh into the SBC:

Raspbian:

ssh pi@192.168.1.44  <-- replace with your actual IP address

Others:

ssh root@192.168.1.44  <-- replace with your actual IP address

Enter the default password:

• Raspbian: raspberry
• Armbian: 1234
• Diet Pi: dietpi

Follow the prompts to complete the setup.

Enjoy!