Hardware

Photos: Five OSes you can run on your Raspberry Pi 2

By // February 13, 2015, 6:00 AM PST // nickjheath

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  • The Raspberry Pi 2 Model B opens up the Pi to being used as a general-purpose PC and to performing a swathe of tasks not previously possible.

    The new $35 Linux board has double the memory of first generation Pis, a quad-core 900MHz processor and the ARMv7 architecture used by many mid-range smartphones.

    This new architecture and additional power makes it feasible to run a number of operating systems that previously wouldn't work on the Pi.

    But because it is still less than two weeks since the Pi 2 launched many of the operating systems aren't available through the Pi's easy to use NOOBs installer.

    Here are five operating systems that you can run on your Pi 2 and how to install them.

    If this selection leaves you wanting more, then check out Five more operating systems for the Raspberry Pi 2.

    OSMC

    OSMC or Open Source Media Center is picking up where the Raspberry Pi media centre operating system Raspbmc left off.

    As the successor to Raspbmc, the OS should allow you to play videos and music stored locally or online, watch TV using a tuner, work with a remote control and even play video from premium services such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon using the PlayOn Media Server.

    OSMC is currently in Alpha and as development progresses will aim to improve on both the performance and stability of Raspbmc.

    Installing the operating system is done via an installer that can be downloaded for Windows, Linux and MacOS.

    The installation process is straightforward for the most part, requiring you to select a language, the version of the Raspberry Pi and version of OSMC and the media you want to install it on - which in most cases will likely be an SD card.

    The machine should then boot from the microSD card and finish the installation of OSMC, before restarting and loading the operating system proper.

    I found navigating the menu to be smooth using the keyboard but a bit jerky using the mouse, and there have been some complaints about the operating system's stability and performance on the Pi 2 at this early stage of the OS. Media stored on USB played perfectly, with a smooth and clear playback of the 720p video sample wildlife.wmv that comes with Windows and of a .wav audio file. One caveat is that it took a long time for the controls for the audio playback to appear on screen, leading me to think I had no way to skip back and forward through the track, however as mentioned this is still an Alpha product. Photos were also displayed clearly.

    Hundreds of user-built add-ons are available to download to enhance its ability to play video, music and display photos.

    The intention is to implement a way of migrating settings and library data from a Raspbmc installation to OSMC, but at present it requires a fresh install of the Alpha from the OSMC website. As OSMC already runs on the Raspberry Pi 2, Raspbmc will not be updated to run on the new board.

  • OpenELEC

    OpenELEC is another well-regarded and capable media centre for the Raspberry Pi.

    Like OSMC, OpenElec is also based on Kodi, an open source media player, so is similar in terms of its capabilities to play music, video and TV.

    Installing OpenElec requires a little bit more manual work than OSMC. Start by browsing to the the Get OpenELEC page and finding the latest ARMv7 build, at present OpenELEC 5.0.3, and downloading the file labelled Diskimage.

    Windows users should next follow the process for creating an operating system image outlined here, Linux users can follow the instructions here and MacOS X users should look here. Note if you're following the instructions for Linux then you'll want to download the tar file from the GetOpenELEC page, which is the one above the file labelled Diskimage.

    OpenELEC seemed to work as well as OSMC at the core tasks expected of a media centre, playing the same video and audio files I tested on OSMC equally smoothly. However, navigating the menus in OpenELEC felt less jerky when using a mouse. Unlike for Raspbmc, I couldn't find any guides for how to play video from premium services such as Amazon Instant Video, but that doesn't mean it would necessarily be impossible.

  • Ubuntu 14.10 with LXDE

    A version of an Ubuntu desktop is already up and running on the Raspberry Pi 2.

    The Pi 2 can run an Ubuntu 14.10 / Linaro 15.01 "developer" image with the LXDE desktop pre-installed.

    This Ubuntu OS has been compiled to exploit the Pi 2's new hardware, specifically its ARMv7 architecture, and my first impressions on using the web browser is that it's at least equally responsive as the popular Raspbian operating system.

    Instructions on how to install the image from Windows can be found here and from Linux you could use the Rasperry Pi Foundation general guide here.

  • Fedora 21

    Whereas first generation Raspberry Pi models had to use a custom remix of the Linux Fedora OS the Pi 2 is able to run the official release.

    The OS, which favours integrating new technologies over a long support cycle, can be installed providing you're comfortable working with Terminal commands in Linux.

    The rather long and slightly involved list of instructions to get the latest version of Fedora, release 21, working can be found here. It requires you start by installing a version of the Raspbian OS released on 31 January 2015 or afterwards, which can be found here and as a torrent here.

    Image: J A Watson / ZDNet

  • Arch Linux

    Another operating system that has been available for the Pi for some time is Arch Linux.

    The OS isn't as immediately accessible as some of the other systems listed here, booting the user into a command line so they can configure their OS to their liking but reportedly is a great system for those with the necessary expertise.

    The instructions for installing the system on a Pi 2 can be found here (Linux only).

The Raspberry Pi 2 Model B opens up the Pi to being used as a general-purpose PC and to performing a swathe of tasks not previously possible.

The new $35 Linux board has double the memory of first generation Pis, a quad-core 900MHz processor and the ARMv7 architecture used by many mid-range smartphones.

This new architecture and additional power makes it feasible to run a number of operating systems that previously wouldn't work on the Pi.

But because it is still less than two weeks since the Pi 2 launched many of the operating systems aren't available through the Pi's easy to use NOOBs installer.

Here are five operating systems that you can run on your Pi 2 and how to install them.

If this selection leaves you wanting more, then check out Five more operating systems for the Raspberry Pi 2.

OSMC

OSMC or Open Source Media Center is picking up where the Raspberry Pi media centre operating system Raspbmc left off.

As the successor to Raspbmc, the OS should allow you to play videos and music stored locally or online, watch TV using a tuner, work with a remote control and even play video from premium services such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon using the PlayOn Media Server.

OSMC is currently in Alpha and as development progresses will aim to improve on both the performance and stability of Raspbmc.

Installing the operating system is done via an installer that can be downloaded for Windows, Linux and MacOS.

The installation process is straightforward for the most part, requiring you to select a language, the version of the Raspberry Pi and version of OSMC and the media you want to install it on - which in most cases will likely be an SD card.

The machine should then boot from the microSD card and finish the installation of OSMC, before restarting and loading the operating system proper.

I found navigating the menu to be smooth using the keyboard but a bit jerky using the mouse, and there have been some complaints about the operating system's stability and performance on the Pi 2 at this early stage of the OS. Media stored on USB played perfectly, with a smooth and clear playback of the 720p video sample wildlife.wmv that comes with Windows and of a .wav audio file. One caveat is that it took a long time for the controls for the audio playback to appear on screen, leading me to think I had no way to skip back and forward through the track, however as mentioned this is still an Alpha product. Photos were also displayed clearly.

Hundreds of user-built add-ons are available to download to enhance its ability to play video, music and display photos.

The intention is to implement a way of migrating settings and library data from a Raspbmc installation to OSMC, but at present it requires a fresh install of the Alpha from the OSMC website. As OSMC already runs on the Raspberry Pi 2, Raspbmc will not be updated to run on the new board.

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By Nick Heath

Nick Heath is chief reporter for TechRepublic. He writes about the technology that IT decision makers need to know about, and the latest happenings in the European tech scene.