farmbot_os/nerves/nerves_system_rpi0w

Raspberry Pi Model Zero

This is the base Nerves System configuration for the Raspberry Pi Zero and Raspberry Pi Zero W.

^{Image credit}

Feature	Description
CPU	1 GHz ARM1176JZF-S
Memory	512 MB
Storage	MicroSD
Linux kernel	4.4 w/ Raspberry Pi patches
IEx terminal	HDMI and USB keyboard (can be changed to UART or OTG USB serial via ttyGS0)
GPIO, I2C, SPI	Yes - Elixir ALE
ADC	No
PWM	Yes, but no Elixir support
UART	1 available - ttyAMA0
Camera	Yes - via rpi-userland
Ethernet	Yes - via OTG USB port
WiFi	Pi Zero W, IoT pHAT or USB WiFi dongle
Bluetooth	Not supported yet

Supported OTG USB modes

The base image activates the dwc2 overlay, which allows the Pi Zero to appear as a device (aka gadget mode). When plugged into a host computer via the OTG port, the Pi Zero will appear as a composite ethernet and serial device.

When a peripheral is plugged into the OTG port, the Pi Zero will act as USB host, with somewhat reduced performace vs the dwc_otg driver used in other base systems like the official nerves_system_rpi.

Supported HAT WiFi devices

The base image includes drivers for the Red Bear IoT pHAT.

Supported USB WiFi devices

The base image includes drivers and firmware for onboard Raspberry Pi Zero W wifi driver (brcmfmac driver), Ralink RT53xx (rt2800usb driver) and RealTek RTL8712U (r8712u driver) devices.

If you are unsure what driver your WiFi dongle requires, run Raspbian and configure WiFi for your device. At a shell prompt, run lsmod to see which drivers are loaded. Running dmesg may also give a clue. When using dmesg, reinsert the USB dongle to generate new log messages if you don't see them.

Installation

Coming soon. For now, a custom system build is required until a system image file is created.

Image credit: This image is from the Fritzing parts library.