Development
Recently I picked up one of new Raspberry Pi 2 Model B microcontrollers. Most people who play with these seem to use Python or Java for coding… but me, I’d much rather use JavaScript. For that, the solution is to run Node.js on the Pi. These are the steps I used to get it working.
The Raspberry Pi can have a keyboard & mouse connected via USB, a hardwired ethernet cable & HDMI cable to a monitor for everything to work… well and power. However I’d much rather work with it in a “headless” mode where all I plug in is a WiFi USB adapter & power. Then once it boots up (which is quite fast) and connected to the network (which is automatic if it sees your network from a previous configuration), you connect via SSH on the command line to do all work… so I’ll show that here.
I used the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B for this.
Run Through Initial Config of Raspberry Pi
No need to repeat this… see this to get going. I specifically used the Raspbian OS, specifically Debian Wheezy that you can get form Raspberry Pi Downloads.
Run through the setup… it’s quick once you have the OS on the memory card. I did all this with a computer setup (USB mouse, keyboard, HDMI cable to external monitor).
Setup WiFi
I used the Edimax EW-7811Un 150Mbps 11n WiFi USB Adapter. Once you plug it in, within the Raspbian GUI (get to it from a command line by running startx) open the WiFi settings. You have to manually find your network SSID, select it and enter the password. Then reboot the Pi… (from the terminal: sudo reboot)… when it reboots you should be online.
To be safe, grab the IP of the Pi. Now you can go headless.
Setup Host Computer
First, make sure your host (laptop) is setup.
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Each Friday is PiDay here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts, tutorials and new Raspberry Pi related products. Adafruit has the largest and best selection of Raspberry Pi accessories and all the code & tutorials to get you up and running in no time!