How to install Raspbian or other system on a Raspberry Pi 4 and enjoy a multimedia center and much more

Raspberry Pi 4 with its operating systems

La Raspberry Pi 4 is available from this summer. It is an important update of the famous motherboard that includes, among other things, support for 4K video and 4GB of RAM (all are four), so it is more than ever a good option if we want to use it as set-top box. In part it is because of its price, since we can acquire it for less than € 50 if we choose the 2GB model, to which we would have to add the price of the Micro HDMI cable and the power supply.

The Raspberry Pi is compatible with many specially designed single board (SBC) operating systems, but I think one of the best options for the fourth version is Rasppan. It is the company's own system, it is based on Debian and allows us to do practically the same thing that we can do with Ubuntu, while other systems such as OSMC They are very limited Kodi-based distributions. There are other options such as RaspEX or Ubuntu MATE, but the first is based on Eoan Ermine (they have version 18.04) and the second has not yet released the version that includes support for the new version of the board.

Requirements

As you know, the Raspberry Pi is just a board, so we won't be able to do anything with it alone. The minimum package for it to work is as follows:

  • Raspberry Pi 4 board on which we are going to focus. This tutorial is also valid for the rest of the company's boards.
  • USB-C cable for power. More specifically, one that at one end has the USB-C connector and at the other the plug to connect it to the electrical network.
  • Micro HDMI to HDMI cable to connect to TV.
  • 8GB Micro SD card minimum.
  • Mouse and keyboard.
  • Another computer from which to copy the NOOBS files.

Raspbian installation process on the Raspberry Pi

The installation process is simple, but we have to do it from another computer:

  1. Let's go to the NOOBS website and download the installer (the ZIP). There are two versions. The Lite is only for the Network installation, which is less recommended.

Download the NOOBS installer

  1. We format the Micro SD card. Raspberry recommends using the tool SD Formatter for Windows or Mac, so I recommend it too:
    1. We install SD Formatter.
    2. We put the card in the computer.
    3. We open the software.
    4. In the "Select card" section, we choose our card.
    5. We click on «Format».
    6. Then we have to format the card in FAT32 as we would any other drive.

Format card

  1. We extract the files from the ZIP that we downloaded in step 1.
  2. We select all the files from the ZIP already unzipped and copy them to the root of our Micro SD.

Copying the NOOBS files to the card that we will use in the Raspberry Pi

  1. We connect the Raspberry Pi:
    1. We put the card.
    2. We connect the mouse and keyboard (I will use a wireless combo).
    3. We connect the Micro HDMI to HDMI cable to the screen.
    4. Finally, we connect the power cable. We will see a red light and the famous fruits will appear on the screen. If it does not appear, or we have a problem with the HDMI cable or the operating system has not been copied well to the card, so we must start over.
  2. The first time we start the device, the NOOBS interface will open. In it we can choose the operating system that we want from a group of recommended systems for the Raspberry. We choose Raspbian.
  1. We click on "Install" and confirm by clicking "Yes".
  2. Once the process is finished, we accept the message and it will restart with Raspbian on the Raspberry.
  3. The last steps are all the steps required to install Raspbian. That is, from step 1 to 8, what we have done has been like creating an installation USB. From the 9th, we have to do the rest, which is to install the system by following the steps that we see on the screen.
  4. When the process is finished, we will restart and we will have Raspbian installed on our small board.

How to install Ubuntu MATE, RaspEX or any other compatible system

As I have explained above, we must be careful what we choose because it might not support the Raspberry Pi 4 or any previous version. Martin Wimpress is working to include support, but has not released the new version yet (maybe after the release of Eoan Ermine). On the other hand, RaspEX and most Arne Exton systems are based on systems that have not yet been released, so we would be installing beta software.

Once an option has been chosen, what we have to do is the following:

  1. We format the card. It is recommended to do it in ext4.
  2. We download and execute Etcher.
  3. We insert our MicroSD card in the slot of our PC.
  4. We select the image of the operating system that we want to install.
  5. We select the unit of our card.
  6. We click on "Flash" and wait. It usually takes a long time, about an hour.
  7. Once the process is finished, if we see the message that said it has finished successfully, we take out the card and put it in the Raspberry Pi.
  8. We connect it, which includes putting the mouse, keyboard and monitor, and we start. The installation menu will appear and we will only have to follow the usual steps.

And what do I do next with my Raspberry Pi?

This already depends on each one. As always, the first thing is to look for possible updates and eliminate the packages that we do not need. Then what we can do is add support for Flatpak packages and install Kodi, somewhat easier on Ubuntu-based versions. We can also install Chrome to be able to see Movistar +, MAME to play arcade machines from the 80-90s ... everything we would do on a desktop / laptop, but thinking that we are using a less powerful equipment and that we have it connected to our television. It is also important to know that there are applications that are not prepared for the Raspberry Pi architecture.

I'll let you know that I'm going to play the Tehkan Cup at MAME for a while.


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