7/1/2019Setting up your Raspberry Pi | Raspberry Pi Projects
Raspberry Pi 4 comes with either 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB of RAM. For most educational purposes and many
hobbyist projects, 1GB is enough; for use as a desktop computer, we recommend 2GB.
Raspberry Pi Zero and Zero W are smaller and require less power, so they’re useful for portable projects
such as robots. It’s generally easier to start a project with Raspberry Pi 4, and to move to Pi Zero when you
have a working prototype that a smaller Pi would be useful for.
If you want to buy a Raspberry Pi, head to rpf.io/products
(https://rpf.io/products).
A power supply
To connect to a power socket, all Raspberry Pi models have a USB port (the same found on many mobile
phones): either USB-C for Raspberry Pi 4, or micro USB for Raspberry Pi 3, 2 and 1.
7/1/2019Setting up your Raspberry Pi | Raspberry Pi Projects
To view the Raspbian desktop environment, you need a screen, and a cable to link the screen and the Pi.
The screen can be a TV or a computer monitor. If the screen has built-in speakers, the Pi is able to use
these to play sound.
HDMI
The Raspberry Pi has a HDMI output port that is compatible with the HDMI port of most modern TVs and
computer monitors. Many computer monitors may also have DVI or VGA ports.
Raspberry Pi 4 has two micro HDMI ports, allowing you to connect two separate monitors.
You need either a micro HDMI-to-HDMI cable, or a standard HDMI-to-HDMI cable plus a micro HDMI-toHDMI adapter, to connect Raspberry Pi 4 to a screen.
7/1/2019Setting up your Raspberry Pi | Raspberry Pi Projects
Optional extras
A case
You may want to put your Raspberry Pi in a case. This is not essential, but it will provide protection for your
Raspberry Pi. If you’d like, you can use the ocial case for Raspberry Pi 4
(https://www.raspberrypi.org/
products/raspberry-pi-4-case/) or Pi Zero or Zero W (https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspb
erry-pi-zero-case/).
Headphones or speakers
The large Raspberry Pi models (but not Pi Zero/Zero W) have a standard audio port like the one on your
smart phone or MP3 player. If you want to, you can connect your headphones or speakers so that your
Raspberry Pi can play sound. If the screen you’re connecting your Raspberry Pi to has built-in speakers,
Raspberry Pi can play sound through these.
An Ethernet cable
The large Raspberry Pi models (but not Pi Zero/Zero W) have a standard Ethernet port to connect them to
the internet; to connect Pi Zero to the internet, you need a USB-to-Ethernet adaptor.
7/1/2019Setting up your Raspberry Pi | Raspberry Pi Projects
Raspberry Pi 4, 3, and Pi Zero W can also be wirelessly connected to the internet.
Step 3
Set up your SD card
If you have an SD card that doesn’t have the Raspbian operating system on it yet, or if you want to reset
your Raspberry Pi, you can easily install Raspbian yourself. To do so, you need a computer that has an SD
card port — most laptop and desktop computers have one.
The Raspbian operating system via NOOBS
Using the NOOBS software is the easiest way to install Raspbian on your SD card.
Note: more advanced users looking to install a particular operating system should use this guide to
installing operating system images (https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/installation/insta
lling-images/README.md).
Download NOOBS
Visit the Raspberry Pi downloads page (https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads).
7/1/2019Setting up your Raspberry Pi | Raspberry Pi Projects
The simplest option is to download the zip archive of the les. Make sure to pay attention to where you
save the archive, so that you can nd it again quickly.
Format the SD card
Anything that’s stored on the SD card will be overwritten during formatting. So if the SD card on which you
want to install Raspbian currently has any les on it, e.g. from an older version of Raspbian, you may wish
to back these les up rst to not lose them permanently.
Visit the SD Association’s website and download SD Formatter (https://www.sdcard.org/download
s/formatter_4/index.html) for Windows or Mac.
Follow the instructions to install the software.
Insert your SD card into the computer or laptop’s SD card slot.
In SD Formatter, select your SD card, and the format the card.
7/1/2019Setting up your Raspberry Pi | Raspberry Pi Projects
Note: nothing will display on the screen, because your Raspberry Pi is not running yet.
If you want to connect your Raspberry Pi to the internet via Ethernet, use an Ethernet cable to connect
the Ethernet port on Raspberry Pi to an Ethernet socket on the wall or on your internet router. You don’t
need to do this if you want to use wireless connectivity, or if you don’t want to connect to the internet.
7/1/2019Setting up your Raspberry Pi | Raspberry Pi Projects
Step 5
Start up your Raspberry Pi
Your Raspberry Pi doesn’t have a power switch: as soon as you connect it to a power outlet, it will turn on.
Plug the USB power supply into a socket and connect it to your Raspberry Pi’s power port.
You should see a red LED light up on the Raspberry Pi, which indicates that Raspberry Pi is connected to
power. As it starts up (this is also called booting), you will see raspberries appear in the top left-hand
corner of your screen.
7/1/2019Setting up your Raspberry Pi | Raspberry Pi Projects
First-time startup with NOOBS
If this is the rst time you’re starting your Raspberry Pi with an SD card containing NOOBS, you will see
the NOOBS installer. This software will walk you through installing the Raspbian operating system (OS).
When the installer has loaded, it will oer you a choice of which OS to install. Check the box for
Raspbian, and then click Install.
7/1/2019Setting up your Raspberry Pi | Raspberry Pi Projects
Call out on Twitter (https://twitter.com) using the hashtag #rpilearn, or submit a question on the
Raspberry Pi Stack Exchange
(https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/)
You could also attend a free Raspberry Jam (https://rpf.io/jam) community event to talk to people
about their experiences and get some rst-hand help from fellow Raspberry Pi users
Step 8
What next?
Take a look at our Using your Raspberry Pi (https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en/projects/raspberr
y-pi-using) guide.
Explore what you can do with your Raspberry Pi by creating some of our digital making projects (http
s://projects.raspberrypi.org), for example:
Robot antenna (https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en/projects/robot-antenna) — control a
robot’s antenna light with Raspberry Pi and code blocks
Rock band (https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en/projects/rock-band) — learn how to code your
own musical instruments
Turtle race (https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en/projects/turtle-race) — race digital turtles