Webmaker tools on Raspberry Pi

Last year in Bamako, Mali I watched the participants struggle with slow Internet connectivity during a web literacy WebMaker event. I thought it is very important to make Webmaker tools available offline on a local server. I started working on a custom Rasbian based SD-card image with Mozilla Webmaker tools on Raspberry Pi. The setup uses the most minimal setup without any connectivity to Internet. The Raspberry Pi Server will host Web maker tools like Thimble with some learning templates. The users could connect to the server with WiFi from their laptops or using school computers using local Ethernet connection.

The goal was to finish the project by MozFest East Africa in July, 2015 and release it for testing.

How to use Webmaker tools on Raspberry Pi?

Download the testing version of the image here. It is large 2.8GB file, it will take some time to download. In this setup I am using an older Raspberry Pi B model with 8GB SDCard with a TP-Link TL-WN322G+ USB WiFi dongle. The WiFi dongle is optional, you can connect the Raspberry Pi to your router or networking hub with an Ethernet patch cable.

1. Download and write the image to the SD-card (Tutorial)
2. Boot the raspberry Pi with the SD-card
3. Connect the Raspberry Pi to your local Ethernet network. (If you have USB Wifi dongle then you can connect to 'Webmaker' WiFi network with 'raspberry' password.)
4. On your computer, Open browser and type 'http://webmaker.local' You should see the Thimble App UI.

Please do report any problems and bug reports!

Build Retro Gaming Console with Raspberry Pi PiPlay Gaming OS

In this post I take a journey into the past and relive the days of arcade games. My colleagues at the Hackerspace Phnom Penh decided to make a game arcade using Raspberry Pi running PiPlay (formerly called PiMAME) and couple of old Xbox controllers.

What you need?

• Raspberry Pi
• 8GB or 16GB SDCard
• USB Wifi adapter
• Two Xbox Controllers
• Keyboard
• Powered USB Hub
• Female-to-Female USB cable
• HDMI Cable
• TV

Download the PiPlay 0.8.0 Beta 6 image. The Raspberry Pi can't power all peripherals. You'll need a compatible powered USB hub to power both Raspberry Pi and Xbox controllers. The additional USB slots on the hub could used to connect keyboard during configuration.

# Download the latest PiPlay SD Card.

$ unzip ~/Downloads/piplay-0.8-beta6.img.zip
Archive:  ~/Downloads/piplay-0.8-beta6.img.zip
  inflating: piplay-0.8-beta6.img

# Write to card using unetbootin or dd command. Be Patient, This process takes some time.
$ sudo dd if=./piplay-0.8-beta6.img of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=1M

# Boot the Raspberry Pi. The default username and password is 'pi' and 'raspberry'.
# Use 'raspi-config' to expand the file system.
# (Optional) While you are at it, You might want to configure timezone change keyboard layout as well.

$ sudo raspi-config

# Configure Wifi using command-line or visual tools http://raspberrypihq.com/how-to-add-wifi-to-the-raspberry-pi/

# If you don't get any sound over HDMI: Try adding the following line to /boot/config.txt

$ sudo nano /boot/config.txt
hdmi_drive=2

#Download some game ROMs and upload them to Raspberry Pi. 

More instructions about the setup are on my HackADay.io Gaming Console with Raspberry Pi PiPlay page.

Game on, Fight!