Pi Processing Art
Last Modified: May 21, 2021
Summary
This page document the steps on getting a Raspberry Pi up from scratch and setting it up for screensharing to access from a laptop (in this case a Macbook Pro) using a VPN connection.
Steps:
Step 1: Get the equipment
I used these steps to create some visual art from a Raspberry Pi computer and software called Processing . Here’s the finished “product”:
What is A PI?
Raspberry Pis (aka “Pis”) are small and inexpensive computers that have a variety uses including teaching computing, IoT, and art. Because of there small size and low cost they Pis are perfect for creating and curating interative art.
Setting up the PI
Step 1: Get the equipment
Get a Pi (mini computer) and needed auxillary items to get started.
- 1: Get or have a Raspberry PI: For Example
- 2: MicoSD card (I use 32 or 64GB)
- 3: If you have a Raspberry Pi 4 you will need micro HDMI to regard HDMI to connect to monitor. Adapters may have come with your Pi but if no you can get them
- 4: A power adapter if not in your kit get power
- 5: A computer with an way to read/write from a SD or microSD card (with adapter). The micro to standard SD adapter usually come with purchase of microSD
Step 2: Get Etcher
- Go to: https://www.balena.io/etcher/
- Download Etcher for desired operating system.
Step 3: Download the raw image
- Go to: https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspberry-pi-os/
- (For Mac) download the .zip file
- I chose “Raspberry Pi OS (32-bit) with desktop and recommended software”
Step 4: Use Etcher to flash your microSD card
- Unzip downloaded file to an .img
- Insert card into computer
- Open Etcher it should see insert microSD
- Select image and flash card
- Flashing can take a few to many minutes, so be patient
- After flashing Etcher will validate the flash, this takes time to, so continue to be patient.
Step 5: Boot ya PI
- Get card from your Mac/PC
- Physically insert microSD into PI as designed
- Plug in physical keyboard and mouse
- Plug in monitor
- Plug in the Pi
Step 6: Walk through One Time Prompts
After the first boot there are some one-time prompt that guides some one time setups:
- Set Country
- Change password
- Setup Screen
- Select Wireless Network
- Update Software
- Restart once “Setup Complete”
Step 7: Config Pi to Allow For Screen Sharing
Continue
Get to Raspberry PI Config:
From top left PI menu: PI -> Preferences -> Raspberry PI Config
Turn VNC from GUI:
From new window go to Interfaces tab. Flip the VNC toggle to “enabled”.
Setup remote user
Open VNC Software from top right corner. Go to “User and Permissions”
Setup remote password
You have to setup a password to connect remotely - such as with Mac.
If you don’t set a password you won’t be able to connect. So, set a password (remember it):
Make sure to set a password for MAC “Go To Server”
Open the command line and run:
sudo raspi-config