Jeff GeerlingNov 8, 2024

If anyone asks why I prefer to work with Raspberry Pis when I want to tinker on a random project, consider:

I just spent the past hour with a brand new ArmSoM Sige7 board. This has been on the market for months, with some glowing reviews...

And it took about 30 minutes before I could get it to boot (20 to find an image that would flash properly and at least *start* booting). Then 20 to try getting logged in. And the last 10 trying to set up a forum account to ask for the default user/pass!

Show threadJeff Geerling

More: https://github.com/geerlingguy/sbc-reviews/issues/56

This is not an isolated incident. So many times I hop on board a new SBC board train, and end up spending more time just getting to the point I can start doing a project... than actually doing a project 🤦‍♂️

The hardware looks cool, though. Hopefully I can get logged in next week!

ArmSoM Sige7 / Banana Pi BPI-M7 · Issue #56 · geerlingguy/sbc-reviews

Basic information Board URL (official): https://www.armsom.org/sige7 (or https://banana-pi.org/en/banana-pi-sbcs/169.html) Board purchased from: Provided by ArmSoM/BPI Board purchase date: November...

GitHub
Nov 8, 2024 at 10:55pmWeb
Show threadBaa 🐑Nov 8, 2024
@geerlingguy I've had similar experiences with Pi alternatives. So much great hardware out there, at great prices, but none has the software support of the Pi.
Show threadScottNov 8, 2024
@geerlingguy that’s a bit like having a second computer to play games on, that runs Windows. You spend more time doing updates than playing the games :)
Show threadVíðir Valberg GuðmundssonNov 8, 2024
@scottearle @geerlingguy Ouch! I literally just started my windows gaming machine, updated a few games and realised to that it was time to go to bed! Not the first time that has happened 😅
Show threadScottNov 9, 2024
@valberg @geerlingguy The struggle is real
Show threadgunstickNov 9, 2024
@scottearle @geerlingguy oh, same for the laystation if you only play every couple of weeks: update the OS, update the controller, update the game. Last time with all the updates, when all was done it was time to go to bed
Show threadJeff GeerlingNov 9, 2024
@gunstick heh even steam sometimes... "game needs update. 122 GB downloading..."
Show threadScottNov 10, 2024
@geerlingguy @gunstick oh no! I just bought a Steam Deck yesterday :)
Show threadUrzlNov 8, 2024

@geerlingguy So many cases of "Remember to document it for the next guy..."

This might be reasonable for the first person to get one but you weren't the first person to get one.

Show threadOndrej MoravekNov 9, 2024
@geerlingguy This is tangential but when I see these disk images being shared like that I always wonder what software could be hidden inside. Having these Google Drive links in official docs doesn't look very trustworthy to me.