#599 Raspberry Pi B+

Getting Started with the original Raspberry Pi 1 Model B+. Notes on the device, an LED blinky test, running and old NOOBS distro and also the latest Raspberry Pi OS.

Build

Notes

The Raspberry Pi Model B+ is the final revision of the original Raspberry Pi. It replaced the Model B in July 2014 and was superseded by Raspberry Pi 2 Model B. Raspberry Pi 1 Model B+ will remain in production until at least January 2030.

I bought this back in 2014 for SGD$45.00.

Specifications

Chip: Broadcom BCM2835 SoC
Core architecture: ARM11
CPU: 700 MHz Low Power ARM1176JZFS Applications Processor
GPU:
- Dual Core VideoCore IV® Multimedia Co-Processor
- Provides Open GL ES 2.0, hardware-accelerated OpenVG, and 1080p30 H.264 high-profile decode
- Capable of 1Gpixel/s, 1.5Gtexel/s or 24GFLOPs with texture filtering and DMA infrastructure
Memory: 512MB SDRAM
Operating System:
- Boots from Micro SD card, running a version of the Linux operating system
- Raspberry Pi OS is the recommended operating system for normal use
Dimensions: 85 x 56 x 17mm
Power: Micro USB socket 5V, 2A

Connectors

Ethernet 10/100 BaseT Ethernet socket
Video Output
- HDMI (rev 1.3 & 1.4)
- Composite RCA (PAL and NTSC)
Audio Output: 3.5mm jack, HDMI
USB: 4 x USB 2.0 Connector
GPIO Connector:
- 40-pin 2.54 mm (100 mil) expansion header: 2x20 strip
- Providing 27 GPIO pins as well as +3.3 V, +5 V and GND supply lines
Camera Connector: 15-pin MIPI Camera Serial Interface (CSI-2)
JTAG: Not populated
Display Connector: Display Serial Interface (DSI) 15 way flat flex cable connector with two data lanes and a clock lane
Memory Card Slot: Micro SDIO

GPIO

See the GPIO documentation

rpi-gpio-pinout-diagram-1

NOOBS

I have a microSD card with a version of NOOBS that I made when I originally got the B+

It still boots (default credentials pi/raspberry)!

$ uname -a
Linux raspberrypi 3.12.22+ #691 PREEMPT Wed Jun 18 18:29:58 BST 2014 armv61 GNU/Linux

It’s been a while since I booted this version, so run some updates:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

Some basic commands:

sudo raspi-config - configure the RPi with raspi-config (include boot to desktop etc)
startx - start the desktop manually
sudo shutdown -h now - shutdown & halt

NOOBS LED Blinky Test

NOOBS still has an old 2.7 version installed:

$ python --version
Python 2.7.3

Let’s check things with a simple LED blinky that toggles an LED on pin 16/GPIO 23 at 0.5Hz. It uses the RPi.GPIO library. It seems I need to use sudo to get the required privileges to control the GPIO pins:

sudo python blinky.py

See blinky.py for the script:

import time
import RPi.GPIO as GPIO

GPIO.setwarnings(False)
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BOARD)
led1 = 16

try:
    GPIO.setup(led1, GPIO.OUT)
    while True:
        GPIO.output(led1, True)
        time.sleep(0.5)
        GPIO.output(led1, False)
        time.sleep(0.5)
except KeyboardInterrupt:
    pass
finally:
    GPIO.cleanup(led1)

BPlusGettingStarted_bb

BPlusGettingStarted_schematic

Build

Raspberry Pi OS

NOOBS is pretty ancient now. Let’s try the latest Raspberry Pi OS.

I used the Raspberry Pi Imager to put a copy of the Raspberry Pi OS on a 64Gb microSD card.

Raspberry Pi OS LED Blinky Test

Raspberry Pi OS has python 3 installed:

$ python --version
Python 3.11.2

Then update and make sure the GPIO support is installed:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python3-rpi.gpio

After that, can successfully use the same blinky.py script to toggle an LED on pin 16/GPIO 23 at 0.5Hz. Note: does not require sudo to run.

So while Raspberry Pi OS works, the Desktop and app launching is quite sluggish. It seems “headless apps” would be much better suited to the old B+ now, and Desktop reserved for beefier, newer models!

3D Printed Case

I’m thinking of printing a case. Found a couple of options.. see LEAP#764 Raspberry Pi B+ Case for more.

Project Notes