You Can't Buy a Raspberry Pi - Why?

It's easier to spot the Loch Ness Monster than to get your hands on a Raspberry Pi right now. Is the situation getting any better? Are there any other options?
In today's livestream I'll discuss what's going on, with some updates from Eben Upton himself, and talk about (and test!) some alternative boards, like the new CB1 from BigTreeTech. And we'll discuss why some people might consider another SBC.
Products mentioned in the video (some links are affiliate links):
- BigTreeTech CB1: amzn.to/3rnafBt
- (Alternate link: biqu.equipment/collections/ex...)
- BigTreeTech PI4B: amzn.to/3M78RNa
- Pine64 SOQuartz: wiki.pine64.org/wiki/SOQuartz
- Radxa CM3: wiki.radxa.com/Rock3/CM
Support me on Patreon: / geerlingguy
Sponsor me on GitHub: github.com/sponsors/geerlingguy
Merch: redshirtjeff.com
2nd Channel: / geerlingengineering
#RaspberryPi
Contents:
00:00:00 - Why can't you buy a Pi?
00:15:50 - No colon?
00:18:45 - Pi alternatives
00:27:58 - BigTreeTech CB1 and PI4B
00:33:52 - Getting started can be hard
00:42:17 - Flashing Debian to the CB1
00:51:05 - Will it boot?
00:58:51 - Getting familiar at 100 Mbps
01:04:32 - Australia!
01:07:28 - CM4 on PI4B?
01:12:00 - Alternatives aren't necessarily replacements

[@JeffGeerling]

One thing I forgot to mention: I've been told Raspberry Pi is also monitoring their OEM partners to make sure none are scalping Pis (just buying large batches then selling at a markup on eBay). The process is probably not perfect, but they are trying to slow down the scalping that's currently happening. Please check out rpilocator.com and sign up for notifications-many people have reported luck getting a Pi after a week or two using that route. I'll update this comment with any more details as they come in :)

[@x_jaydn]

I've seen a few available to me in Canada via Pishop Canada, but, tbh, it's not even worth it at this point because even those seller prices are marked-up way too high

[@DoDisturbedTv]

I've been using rpilocator and keep a close eye on it. Missed the latest Rasbery PI Model 4B. I was wondering is getting a Compute Module 4 and a Module 4 IO Board the same as getting the Model 4b.

[@squirtinernie8449]

Eh, they’ve had this problem since their first bump in popularity. Believing this will change in any real way is a tad naïve.

[@squirtinernie8449]

Btw, love your stuff, not meaning any offense.

[@theoneyoudontsee8315]

why does no one go after ebay for hosting scalpers?

[@jeo2222]

I thought the answer was going to "because someone named... Jeff Geerling had purchased them all". Thank you for the video, really enjoyed it!

[@mousqy]

pi hoarder !!!!

[@Savagetechie]

There is a guy on KZbin with a 1000 pi cluster..... Twice as many Pis as he has subscribers.

[@diginomad6016]

Exactly

[@r.fortal6322]

Can you list of alternatives for Raspberry Pi that are affordable

[@LewisCowles]

Whoever the dick that keeps working on pi-blade and others (including cm4 carrier board sellers like pi hut and adafruit)

[@Henchman1977]

I recently used my pi4 for a permanent installation project... I purchased it 3 years ago. Was like $50 with a metal case. Imagine my surprise when I went to buy a replacement for it last week! I thought I'd googled the wrong thing!

[@ThePretendgineer]

3 years into the 4 and I still don't have one. Every single time I check, they're out of stock. It sucks... I have a half dozen projects I really want to work on.

[@Darkk6969]

@hd01 Yep, that's what I ended up doing. Found a vendor that will let me pre-order and just wait for it which took months and finally got them.

[@jrichey98]

Libre Computer Le Potato, $45 on amazon. Usually available. I have one running klipper on raspbian, and it's an absolutely fantastic replacement.

[@lolish1234]

@@ThePretendgineeri mean, why not buy used?

[@ThePretendgineer]

@@lolish1234 have you even looked at eBay or any other used marketplaces? They're selling for 2-3x new

[@JonathanConstant74]

I woke up in the hospital after a motorcycle accident with a colostomy and I can tell you it was a shock! This fundraiser is so great. I just found your channel. Love your videos! Keep up the great work!

[@MarcusTheDorkus]

The Pi foundation really does need to stop prioritizing businesses. The whole point of the thing was to be an affordable option for educational and hobbyist work. If businesses decided to build their products on a hobby platform then that's their own problem.

[@GeekProdigyGuy]

I don't think they are deprioritizing education. Schools also need large batches of Pis.

[@GeekProdigyGuy]

Also the lines between "hobby" and "small business" and "medium business" are pretty blurry. Just look at the channel you're on. It's not that easy to just say "give up on business customers."

[@zadekeys2194]

If they don't make a profit, no one gets a pi... 20% of their clients bring in 80% of their profits most likely.

[@RaanDohmSchitt]

LOL, a business will always prioritise its business. would you give away a percentage of your income just so others can have an affordable Pi? no returns? the problem at this point is that there is a shortage of chips on the market. not just for Pis, for everything needing a chip. If they get their chips at 500% value, then you will get it form them at 500%+profit.

[@charlesh6519]

The main problem is that the companies that are being prioritiesed sometimes end up being gougers, scammers and scalpers!

[@chrisgardner4144]

No colon! Been there done that, but only for 4 months, after a colo-resection went way wrong with a ten day coma. Lot more to the story that would be TMI for some of your viewers. Folks that have been there know we could talk about it over breakfast and not even think about it. Makes you appreciate the amazing body’s were given. I have a friend that left over half of his in Iraq. It is good to see you hanging in there. God bless you and your family.

[@zyeborm]

sooo more like a semi colon? ; 😁 glad you came out the other side mate

[@spych102]

I have been watching your videos for months now and follow your projects. So much fun, so much warmth and so much useful information, thanks.

[@ronnierush9379]

Have they forgotten there mission statement, Quote: The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a UK-based charity with the mission to enable young people to realise their full potential through the power of computing and digital technologies. So why are they saying to us that they are supporting businesses before anyone else. ?

[@TheGunnarRoxen]

I agree. Their talk of doing an IPO is also really worrying. It's starting to feel like they wanted to use the community when it suited them, but now no longer care. Plus Upton's recent comments about getting more people to study computers so that universities can be more picky about intake was callous and pretty revealing...

[@sk.9857]

capitalism moment

[@ronkemperful]

While I still have most of my colon, I can emphasize with you very much. In 1961, when I was 5 years old, I had a ruptured colon with peritonitis from an inherited disease called Hirschsprung's. I was in intensive care for 14 days, and was in the hospital for another 3 months, with a return visit for Bright's disease (kidney failure) for another 2 weeks. I had a temporary ostomy that was reversed. Since that time I had chronic ill health during my childhood, but thankfully today, with minor precautions with my diet, my health has been good. The loss of part of my colon reversed some of the severe constipation that ruptured my bowel . Missing a foot of my colon myself, I thank you for being honest and open concerning your condition.

[@SeraphX2]

Don't need you to clarify. They have stated they care more about businesses than the consumers they were made for and it's bullshit.

[@dirtyd1398]

I had no idea about your illness, and you deal with it well, and I wish you all the wellness possible. You keep such a positive outlook, I could learn to be more positive myself. Thanks for sharing your life with us.

[@happybeans415]

love your channel, thanks for the update on PI, hope your health improves! side note, the sound on the stream was weak but was able to turn the volume all the way up and still hear enough.

[@raspberrypi]

Good luck with your fundraiser, Jeff. We'll share this on Twitter to try and bump your donations up!

[@redpillsatori3020]

Hey, if you guys make a Pi 5 can you please bring back the full-HDMI port? The micro-HDMI ports are just so terrible, and the connectors on the cables for these break easily.

[@amirpourghoureiyan1637]

@@redpillsatori3020 full size HDMI and DisplayPort capable USB-C would be a great compromise

[@JimMaz]

@@amirpourghoureiyan1637 and a blender module capable of crushing ice would be awesome!

[@ColdIronGaming]

I too have an ostomy due to removal of my colon(emergency surgery). I am happy to see Jeff is doing well(I wasn't aware before despite watching many of his videos) and that he is working to support the community.

[@xandersnyder7214]

I think the hobby community is getting close to abandoning Pi because of how they have decided that business money is better for them than hobbyist money.

[@haplopeart]

Just business constant revenue stream. If they do not prefer stock to corporations, the corporations will go elsewhere and they will ruin their business relationship forever.

[@lionelt.9124]

They had to make the choice between our hobby or some folks livelihood. Even though we're a bit frustrated they made the right choice. I've been waiting for a Pi 5 to drop but given that it won't be releasing till 2025...😞, I understand but wow! 🥺 I think I'll take a look at something like the Orange Pi 5 in the meantime.

[@goodchoice4410]

Hey man. I really enjoy your videos. I don't have Crohns but have had health problems my whole life. I can understand the struggle and wish you nothing but the best. I always watch your stuff when I see it live.

[@Biomancer81]

The feel like the huge shortages in many industries, including the silicon industry has a lot to do with the Just in Time paradigm where companies dont really keep any backstock of components, supplies, etc... So if one link in the supply chain fails, really everything collapses.

[@andrewakrause]

Nobody actually does JIT replenishment in the tech supply chain. They're pretty much all still using some variation on safety stock that's been in place since the 1950's. With average on-the-water shipping times of 3 months, that means they're maintaining a rolling 3 months of supply of raw and intermediate goods. The finished goods are made-to-stock or made-to-order depending on variation in orders, so that is usually about six weeks of supply. And for older product, they're doing end-of-life planning on components and assemblies, so for those products inventory briefly blooms to 4-5 years of supply. In all honesty, the only place you'll truly find JIT being is high volume non-seasonal product perishable goods. That's why when the pandemic hit, the first things you ran out of was coca cola and bread. It was 3 months into the pandemic when toilet paper started to stock out.

[@MaryamMaqdisi]

Agreed. JIT and trying to impress investors with short term savings every quarter rather than having at least some long term vision

[@6-Iron]

All by design (laughing in German).

[@lilman227]

I feel like the shortage is also self fulfilling. Like.. I have 3 4gb Rasberry Pi 4s that I’d normally just give away to buddies, but currently I’m thinking “what if I need them for something…”

[@iAmTheSquidThing]

Ah, so hoarding and panic-buying. Like toilet paper at the start of the pandemic.

[@unlokia]

@@iAmTheSquidThing Since he didn't say how, or more pertinently *WHEN* he procured them, I hardly think you can imply he is "hoarding" them!

[@RoySATX]

I obviously have chosen the wrong buddies, I considered myself lucky if one of them bought me a beer!

[@lilman227]

@@iAmTheSquidThing Well just the hoarding thing! I don’t wanna buy more since there’s a shortage. Also I don’t wipe myself with RPi4s

[@lilman227]

@@unlokia Just saw this one. Does keeping them count as hoarding, or do I have to be continuously buying them? That being said, I bought a few 4gb models when they came out, and a couple 8gb ones. After checking I have 1 8gb, and 2 4gb left.

[@rogerlai3197]

Take care Jeff. I was lucky Dec 2021 able to buy 1 Raspberry Pi 8GB in Hong Kong at around HK$ 830 ( roughly USD 105 ) and I had another 4GB RP4 back in Sep 2021, then it was hard to find another one in local market as well. I used my pi as a MAMP server automating my portfolio with APIs auto updating every day, and they are working great !!! Thanks for a lot of your videos about the pi :)

[@daomingjin]

don't HK markets source all their stuff from shenzhen (mainland china?) i'm in Mainland china and the funny thing is that everything has to be imported. So if you're buying in Hong Kong markets...you're probably dealing with 3 middlemen at least... crazy. LOL

[@NVRMTmotion]

Just yesterday I came across current used prices and realized I had >$500 of raspberry pi just hanging out on my desk .. Weird times

[@yourt00bz]

Quick burgle this guy!

[@jeo2222]

It is crazy to think that a board purchased +5 years ago has gone up in value, very wild.

[@alanb76]

Saw recently that Ford has tens of thousands of brand new trucks waiting for chips just sitting in parking lots. It's not an easy problem.

[@akfreed6949]

That's what FORD gets for sending OUR jobs to China .

[@ericconnor8419]

If they released trucks with minimal electronics I would definitely buy one. I only use 15+ year old vehicles because I want to be able to repair them without needing a laptop and microscope. I don't even want electric windows let alone electronic handbrakes and onboard computers. It is just more to go wrong and it always does. That is the other reason I only drive manual cars.

[@autohmae]

Their was a rumor (I couldn't find anything online to confirm it) that Porsche bought Siemens washingmachines and gets the chip out and stores them in a warehouse for later sales. So they can use the chips to ship their cars

[@mrtechie6810]

@@ericconnor8419 but then how would they force you to buy a new vehicle in a few years?

[@daomingjin]

that's because they've died the hands of engineers... for years. You can either use microcontrollers... OR.. have your engineers use a few TTL chips and have it use the same function. 74HCxx ICs are not in short supply, they're readily available. Of course, buying a microcontroller for say... controlling the speed of an electric window motor controller is incredibly easy to do. Write some code, connect a PWM output to a MOSFET or H-Bridge and you're done. Computers are nice, but not essential to make something work.

[@MrJoegotbored]

"Oh, I'm not doing that." *camera plops* Haha! love that Jeff just watched along with us as the camera tipped over on the stand. I'm glad it was at least connected properly so it didn't fall to the floor. Maybe Redshirt Jeff was playing pranks ;) Happy Anniversary, Jeff and Mrs. G. And many more to come.

[@mikecollins9869]

I have had Crohn's disease for something like 19 years now and After watching Shawn I started eating steak everyday. After a month of eating meat everyday my body just regulated itself and now i am regular everyday and minimal pain very few flair ups. I would probably have no pain and no flair ups if I only ate steak/ meat but I cant help myself I just love to eat😁 anyways THANK YOU VERY MUCH SHAWN BAKER !!! Bless you Brother!!

[@NewmanOnGaming]

It’s funny you mentioned this. I am this same boat with this issue where I needed a Pi 4 8GB and couldn’t get one without getting scammed so I had to move to a mini PC alternative that turned out much cheaper at twice the horse power and ram.

[@BeeRich33]

Orange Pi

[@thelight2843]

Which mini PC you got?

[@lordvalen8133]

What did you get?

[@NewmanOnGaming]

@@thelight2843 I ended up getting the Minis forum UM350 when it went on sale. That 2.5 gig Ethernet was the cherry on top.

[@cyberlord64]

@@NewmanOnGaming hey I never heard of it but checking out it's specs it seems like something that would work quite well for me. Thanks for the tip

[@Zzznorch]

I only realized the other day that Pi’s were basically unobtainium. I thought my workhorse Raspberry Pi 3 had a fried microSD slot and decided I would just get a 4 to replace it. Surprise 😮 No one has them in stock. As luck would have it, my 3 turned out to be okay so I can wait. But this is really crazy to see them not for sale. Maybe the 5 will be designed and ready to go by the time the chip shortage lifts. It might also help if a supplier to replace RS is found.

[@atlantic_love]

At this point it's very unlikely we'll se another RPi.

[@mascatrails661]

I managed to get my hands on 3 raspberry pis around the end of 2021 and I feel so lucky and grateful for it. I've had a blast getting to experiment with them and I currently have 2 actually running services I use daily at home and the 3rd is getting experimented on. I hope that other enthusiasts are able to get them soon but I also understand and respect their decision to support the businesses that have chosen to use rpi.

[@JimmytheCow2000]

Had to pause and thank you for the live stream camera tilt/drop. Keep it live, keep it real, I love it! Thank you!

[@JacobKasperek]

Thanks for all the info, we are just finishing a project based on RPi4 and we will need few dozens so everything you said will help us manage this situation. Thanks again!

[@theofficialgman]

It might be worth asking the pi foundation if they have pressured Broadcom to do a node shrink on the bcm2711. It is produced on the 28nm node, a legacy node in very short supply. Available supply is greater now at the smaller, newer nodes which is why we aren't seeing issues with the likes of Intel/amd/Nvidia production of their silicon on nodes like 5/7/10nm.

[@the_retag]

Older nodes are cheaper And i don't think much 28nm has been lost, its just in high demand

[@theofficialgman]

@@09f9 I failed to mention that Broadcom has already done a die shrink on the components that makeup the bcm2711. They currently manufacture the BCM72180 built on 16nm which is a quad core A72 @ 2.6Ghz based chip with an unknown gpu (I'm sure it's also a video core 6 though). The pi foundation only has to push Broadcom to develop a variant of the bcm2711 on this node as well. All the work that is done for the BCM72180 would be directly transferable. It probably would take them a matter of months if not weeks to do.

[@theofficialgman]

@@the_retag older nodes pricing are up upwards of 20% across the board due to the massive demand for them. New smaller nodes are not affected.

[@sandman0123]

Migrating an existing design to another node is not a trivial matter and I think the money, resources and effort would be better spent on producing a new generation chip.

[@theofficialgman]

@@sandman0123 see my previous replies. The migration has already been done

[@josholdes4342]

The rubber duck is a thing that most developers have on their desk. They talk to it when they are stuck. It helps them organize their thoughts especially when they are try to figure out a bug.

[@SenileOtaku]

Works good for writing fiction as well. Think about explaining the storyline/plot to a friend, especially when the threads get convoluted.

[@alwayscensored6871]

Astrobiscuit has a rabbit.

[@Theineluctable_SOME_CANT]

Yes, but NO PROFESSIONAL ONES. MAGICAL THINKING, like prayer, DOES NOT, I REPEAT, DOES NOT WORK. Rubber fucking DUCKS! What next?

[@olmosbananas]

perhaps. but the ducks from bigtreetech (biqu) are random little gifts from the company. sometimes you get lucky and receive one. most 3d printer users like to post their ducks when they receive their product.

[@johngeverett]

My wife lost her entire colon due to a bacterial infection almost 10 years ago. I can commiserate with you. Thanks for the great videos!

[@amocanu3000]

I gave up on the raspberry pi and switched to x86 thin clients and usb-to-gpio adapters. A single second-hand Atom thin client combined with four usb-to-gpio adapters is cheaper, has more computing power, uses less electricity than four pi's put together. Back in the day I would have used a separate PI for each project due to the limited computing power, but now I'm running the the equivalent of 4 PIs with a lot of computing power to spare in one box using about the same space. I haven't had any issues with any of the existing PI hats I tried so far and I might even expand to using arduino shields or extensions from other manufacturers since I'm no longer limited by the PI. I don't think I'll bother with PIs again, this setup is a lot more flexible.

[@DavidJones-pi8rl]

As an Australian, I was really excited when I saw the chapter labelled Australia and after watching the video, I was confused as to why it was named that, it was only on the 3rd time watching this chapter that I suddenly realized it was the camera falling over! Brain-fade!!!🙃

[@venjsystems]

ditto here man

[@SteveGoodenough]

I felt very lucky to live less than an hour drive from Cambridge (UK), so could visit the Raspberry Pi Shop and buy a Pi4 recently. They only allow you to buy a single one to fight the scalper scum but I was almost skipping as I left the store (also had a great chat with the chap working there). When I got home I realised I forgot to buy a Pico WH as I was so happy to get the Pi, d'oh

[@ChadDidNothingWrong]

dude scalpers cause the the third shifts to be added like a week earlier at factories producing the products than they otherwise would. you people trashing scalpers just cause the shortage to last longer. I've worked in manufacturing all my life and this is one of the most frustrating damn things I've ever encountered.

[@seriouscat2231]

I don't understand the word. What does hoarding electronics have to do with American Indians taking war trophies?

[@seriouscat2231]

This is like shader programs are called "shadower programs" in Finnish. Whoever came up with that should be punished severely.

[@01mememememe]

HI Jeff another rocking video, thank you. Great to have you back, take care

[@BrianLongoria]

Good stuff! Happy anniversary!

[@Rod_Knee]

I was lucky and got two RP4's and a 400 when they first became available, for experimentation. All have now been pressed into service at work. Those things are like hens teeth right now.

[@jamiegossett]

they shouldn't have ever deviated from their original vision and let some other organization make sbc for oems

[@billyhart3299]

My buddy has his colon removed from Chrones. Still able to even participate in things like hunting expeditions and combatives classes. So an active, outdoor, competitive, or even impact sport related life are all still there for you. My buddy even knows where to get bags specifically for his martial arts classes. I always appreciate your videos and thank you.

[@bastiat691]

Sending you positive vibes Jeff, I hope you feel better soon.

[@AJB2K3]

RPI was supposed to be for teaching and learning not OEM/ Industrial!

[@m97120]

Bigtreetech stuff always comes with a rubber duck. I don't know why though. At some point I had like 10 and then I just dropped them on someone's desk at work while they weren't looking because I didn't know what else to do the them.

[@phil2268]

My heart goes out to you. I'm living with 2 cancers but I'm 62. It's hard for me to see young people suffering from disease. I have a friend who had Crohnes in his 30s. He's good now but he went through he'll and I'm sure you know what I mean. Get well soon.

[@jasonpowell7704]

Thank you for all you do also. I'm glad your doing better

[@mercster]

Glad to see you're somewhat on the mend. I bought a Raspberry Pi 8G when they first came out, I guess its worth its weight in gold now? Also kudos working on DVR, many MANY years ago I had a linux box with a TV tuner running MythTV, it was fun. Thanks for the video.

[@mercster]

I find it so strange that everyone is anti-business these days. It's such a warped view of what businesses do. Just because a business doesn't "gIvE bAcK" with patches and whatnot... maybe development on Pi OS isn't their focus, maybe they are making some other product or service that people would want or need. Way too much socialist populism has seeped into kids heads these days... thanks to wacked out educational systems and the constant drumbeat of the media (not to mention way too many humanities graduates on KZbin spouting what they learned in school from radical professors.) There is a way to understand capitalism and private business that more fully represents what's going on besides "big guy vs small helpless people!" Like, maybe creating jobs, if nothing else? It's such a myopic view to look at a corporation and instantly hate it.

[@mercster]

Have any mass market RISC-V chips been produced? I'm intrigued by the idea (I've worked on RISC boxen as a UNIX admin), but it seems like it's kinda far away as far as end-user product.

[@mercster]

HAH dude... I feel your pain with "videos as documentation." It's such an Idiocracy-type way to explain how to do something. Wouldn't a text file be easier? People just wanna replicate clicking on buttons I guess, it's ridiculous.

[@mercster]

Who needs a GUI? Haha, bro you shoulda seen us running Linux in the 90s... there were no "recommended version", there was no GUI... you just got done to the nitty gritty. Hell, I had it good with a distribution that offered to install your bootloader for you! People are spoiled these days...

[@mercster]

"Oh my gosh I'm not gonna do that" Well, then, maybe that person isn't engineer material...

[@drifterdown62]

they have been scalping the crap out of Pi for over a year. I have been buying Pi 400's (which are sometimes, somewhat easier to find at a regular price). Different board and layout than Pi but can still be used based on your needs/project

[@JeffGeerling]

I completely forgot to mention that as an option. And some people making some cool cases that are 3D printable if you rip the board out of a Pi 400!

[@MaryamMaqdisi]

A few months ago I got a rpi400 and it was less than half the cost of a rpi 4 4gb (not even 8), and that’s comparing rpi400 with extras (charger, microsd, card reader…), the rpi4 came with nothing. I immediately jumped the gun and no regrets.

[@deadlymarsupial1236]

I am a VAR/MSP in Australia where we are experiencing supply shortages across the board (parden the pun). I have had system builds where we have had to source from the large box movers due to wholesalers being out of stock and even then available stock has moved faster than our orders could be placed. There are custom builds we cannot fulfill due to essential components being unavailable - such as xeon processors with integrated graphics.

[@matthewstott3493]

OEM NEC / Sharp = Commercial TV's used all over the place for retail marketing displays, screens at fast food restaurants for the menu displays, etc. They slot the Pi's into the back of these TV's and it works far better than using Windows. There's also some big OEM's buying CM4 Pi's for many different industrial purposes.

[@ericepperson8409]

I bought my Raspberry Pi Zero's for "pie day" specials at MicroCenter for $3.14. Now I'm afraid to do anything with them since it's impossible to replace them.

[@minigpracing3068]

I'd agree that the other SBE are not as easy to get running as a Pi. I leverage the forums heavily for my other devices. Best working OS images for my Devterm are from the community in the forums. Really cool little device, but not simple like any Pi I've used.

[@smartereveryday]

I love the eclipse photo.

[@hoxorious]

I’m really happy that you gained your health again. I love your videos and I hope you the best 🌹

[@aixguru42]

Are there any suggestions on replacements for CM3+ modules that might work with the turing pi? I jumped on getting the original turing pi board after seeing it on your channel and went through months of push backs on my module back orders until they simply cancelled it. Still love to find a working solution one day to use the turing pi.

[@vincentnonnenmacher9352]

Same here, we are going to receive Turing Pi and no modules for it ! Sound like we are needing to find other options ? And not counting in CM4 anymore.

[@Queekusme]

I managed to pick up a pi4 8GB from the pop-up shop that RPI did earlier this year in the UK but it was restricted to 1 pi per person… tho you could buy as many 400s or pico models as you liked

[@AJB2K3]

Thank you for the Update and glad you are looking better. BTW, Can you post more information on the Chrones and Colon issues along with charities in the descriptions boxes to help share and inform us who don't know about it please? Sorry, I'm guilty of post "I would if I could find one!" comments but we are all getting annoyed that people are buying massive batches of them!

[@reprinted3D]

The duck is something they include with all their boards; it's like a mascot.

[@edwinbuck1854]

The duck is a reference to "rubber duck" debugging / programming. Basically, that scenario when you need to work through a problem, and then you grab someone to go through it with you, and as you explain it to them, you arrive at the solution without much contribution from them. The concept is that you could have explained it to your rubber duck, reducing manpower to bug fixed.

[@danwic]

Since brexit and the crash of the £, raspberry pis are VERY expensive, comparable to the cost of a non-gaming laptop, because they're only selling the ones with more RAM, or the Pi 400, which kind-of defeats the object for most IoT creators.

[@cesar_otoniel]

9:55 I'm glad I actually had a couple as a reserve before my senior tesis. The MSRP only triples while my team Walter for the sto k to catch up last year.

[@IncendiarySolution]

Thank you for making this. I know i keep giving you crap about rpi availability. I know you get this from everyone but i do feel this is directed at me and me alone. I want to let you know i really do appreciate you addressing this

[@JeffGeerling]

Ha, no problem, and it's definitely not just you! I think it's an important topic that will probably need addressing again soon, 3-6 months later. We'll see!

[@IncendiarySolution]

@@JeffGeerling really, i think we need a good silicon recycling process to get us out of this hole. From what i can tell, we can either focus on reuse, or sourcing available but more difficult to process materials. We need more and better sources for these raw materials and a better refinement process.

[@aravindpallippara1577]

@@IncendiarySolution silicon isn't the bottleneck in the production chain It's the foundries which process the said silicon wafers into chips with lithography that's overloaded

[@TechExploresNYC]

6:30 is the core reason why. Raspi is so good that industrial customers are using them and raspi the business must support them first to keep the business going. For alternative boards, I find that full boards with raspi form factor tend to get better support, if it has armbian that's the best.

[@jonathanduchesne8437]

Glad to see you are feeling good. Take care

[@racecar_spelled_backwards868]

Noticed your shirt! Thanks for the shout out on World Ostomy Day. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one. It's good to know there are others. Cheers and all the best!

[@nymnicholas]

Hope you get better, and well Pi4B supply is always not enough. They make people wait too long, and they go with other brands. Pi's Software support is still the best. But, Supply is the issue here. Pi400 is still Ok in some places and the cooling on stock Pi400 is actually better. Anyway, Peace :-) And the "Duck" - They want you to take a hot tub, fill up with bubbles, go in, put that duck on your head and rest, like Neo in the trailer. Neo did not want to take it anymore.

[@igordasunddas3377]

I love the Pis. I only have a Raspberry Pi 4 with 8gb RAM (not a compute module sadly), but what I figured I am really after, is an ARM processor with a performance similar to a M1.

[@309electronics5]

If you want better perfomamce go with a different brand sbcs rpis are made for learning to code and they are made to be afordable more powerfull chips make the whole unit more expensive so go with a different brand

[@KhalidThwiny]

Good to see back mate!

[@paulwratt]

most of the time those image failures (lack of driver or device tree) comes down to how much generic (CPU/chip designer) support has been added to the Linux kernel. So BigTree using an AllWinner H16, which has been around for a while, is an excellent choice if _they_ want something that "works out-of-the-box" with a current (or newer) Linux kernel. That makes it easier to adapt an OS from say Armbian, which as long as they stick to devices that have been around for a while (and also have good kernel support), should only need tweaking for full functionality ..

[@elmariachi5133]

The CB1 for 40€ may seem feasible, but a computing board cannot replace an SBC for most usage cases. If you need to buy an additional expansion (I/O) board for having all the usually needed connectors at about 50€, it will become too expensive again for a sum of 90€ :( Even the cheapest Chinese alternative OrangePi is twice as much as it used to be .. (50€ instead of 25€).

[@adameichler]

Yeah, the OrangePi PC model is now 33 $ on Aliexpress, I bought it for 15 $ in 2015. The CB1 is good match for the Manta, but for other uses the pricing is questionable. Fortunately it can sometimes be bought in sale.

[@elmariachi5133]

@@adameichler Sadly the terrible Euro currency and current state of economics play a good role here, too :( The OrangePi PC would even cost 63€ including shipping, when I bought it from ali right now, opposed to the cheapest model I could find that had an HDMI port, some days, ago at about 50€.

[@makerbymistake]

André from rpilocator here. There Pi 4B's available for sale every week in the US for MSRP. There is a limit on how many you can buy and stock is very limited so, a notification system, like you mentioned, is needed.

[@sergeiepatov7683]

The most thoroughy thought out and high quality alternative to RPi I've ever seen is Hardkernel Odroid. Yeah it is not as cheap as Orange or Banana, but boards quality is excellent, and SoCs chosen are VERY ubiquitous, well-supported by newer Linux kernels and shortage-proof (Amlogic S9xx TV set-top-box chips). Also its Petitboot bootloader is the closest-to-PC-bios thing I've ever seen on SBCs. Even internet boot is present.

[@WilsonBradleyTheOfficial]

Thanks for the info.. It seems simple enough, never knew about business dependencies.. makes sense.

[@sandman0123]

Interesting, thanks Jeff! What wasn't fully explained is why the 8GB Pi 4B was the scarcest. They dried up, then people moved to the 4GB model if they could than that run out and it went on until the ones with the lowest amount of memory disappeared (well, practically speaking). Is this because for some reason it is hard to get the 64Gbit memory chips or the 8GB model disappeared because it happened to have the strongest demand? Which should tell RP something... My point is that when things get this tight, the logical thing from RP would be to produce the 8GB model only. It would give them a bit more profit and it would cover everybody's needs, except maybe for price but that's kinda out the window anyway, at the time of shortage. They could make Pi modules with less memory for specific orders from OEM/embedded customers of course, but for the makers and enthusiasts, it should be 8GB all the way!

[@monhi64]

I feel like it’s probably a safe bet that the 8gb is scarce because it has the most ram and 8gb isn’t like an ungodly high amount no one would ever need. Once something starts to get hard to find if you do get one you probably want the safest bet aka the 8gb so then the 8gb get even scarcer. The 8gb might just have the highest demand or maybe the issue is more on the production side, which every chip is struggling with now

[@ramosel]

I really hope Raspberry Pi (the company) takes a hard stance against their vendors who have been price gouging their customers in the last 12 months or so. Really goes against the concept of how RPi tries to deliver to their community.

[@chesshooligan1282]

No: price control has never worked and it never will, same as socialism or any other form of central planning.

[@M1GarandNut]

Thank you for your video, I actually just purchased one of those CB1 and Pi4B adapter the other day and seeing that you were able to get it up an running makes me feel good about my purchase. It hasn't shipped yet but am excited to get to it once it shows up. I am planning on using it for my first Klipper install. I have one question, I have a Raspberry Pi 3B V1.2 that I used for over a year as a Octoprint host. It worked fine but one day out of the blue I could not see it on the network. I have since tried loading Rasbian on it and all works but what I found is that the Network RJ45 jack and USB ports do not work. I do not see any LEDs on the jack when the network is plugged in. Is there something I could do to fix this? I don't know if it is no power going to them or if something burned up on the board. As I said, all else is working, it boots up and I have an image on my screen via HDMI, just no USB or Network. Thank you in advance for your help. I am praying for your recovery and health, my father-in-law suffers from Crone's disease for most of his life, so I can understand. Thanks Jeff.

[@jeffro.]

Thanks for this, Jeff. I've had issues off & on, the Rheumatologists and GI Specialists have thought that I had Crohn's Disease from time to time, but because it mostly isn't active (and for other reasons) they mostly think it's IBS or something un-named. When it does affect me, yes, it's completely debilitating! I have an acquaintance with Crohn's who also chose to get the total colostomy, and afterwards he said it was wonderful to feel better! So in those ways, I can relate.

[@atlantic_love]

I haven't watched the video (disgusted with the whole RPi licensing fiasco), but I'm wondering why you feel the need to mention your gastro issues?

[@gben82]

I have the Khadas VIM 4, and it's WAY better than the Pi4. It has 8GB of RAM, and is blazingly fast for a SBC. It doesn't cost much more than the currently hyped-up prices of the Pi 4

[@redpillsatori3020]

Not to mention the dual HDMI-micro ports in the RPI 4 are so terrible. IMO, it's better to just get a cheaper board with a "real" HDMI port anyways.

[@chuxxsss]

You would be asleep now. One of our friends went in to hospital for Crohns last week. My wife and I have offer to help him, but you know he keep not wanting the help. My wife talk to him about getting a pension to help him as he is very poor. He is an amazing person like my wife, but will not except help. Anyway hope you are well will watch this again soon.

[@RoadRage810]

I haven't done much with the pi platform in the past, just used one for a D-Star/DMR hotspot on a Pi Zero board. Decided to build a retro gaming system to consolidate my game systems because I was debating on building a second game room in the house due to running out of room for TV's and systems. Found the prices have gone completely stupid. Was able to get a 4b 4gb from a friend for what he paid for it before the shortage so I could use it to learn something new. Can't wait for things to normalize because now that I'm playing around with it, I'm hooked.

[@paulluce2557]

There is small scale scalping of pi 4s on UK Ebay. Second hand ones are in short supply and are going for big money. The exception is rhe pi 400 which are reasonably available secondhand and tend to go for sensible money.

[@gannas42]

It _feels_ like the organization's priorities have become kind of messed up. I thought these were for us creatives... not for industry. If a company decided to base their survival on one brand of external component that is their failure. Sounds harsh but the way us customers are being treated is also harsh. At least that is my opinion. Thanks for the great video!

[@zyeborm]

They are customers too. Those customers have staff who need to get paid to eat and keep their houses. should they sell to you so you can blink some lights? or them so their kids can eat? if they were to be ruthless capitalists they should be selling them on the open market for the same price as the scalpers are getting now and pocketing all the loot.

[@gannas42]

@@zyeborm if you are using rpis to just blink lights you are missing the point.

[@flowerpt]

It used to be to have a home computer for students like the Commodore 64.

[@seriouscat2231]

@@zyeborm, yeah. The "feed the families" and "you are so selfish" BS. I knew I was going to find it here.

[@TheFyend]

I bought a Pi 400 at MSRP last week. Had no idea there was a shortage.

[@catalystguitarguy]

I’ve been wanting to get 4 pi4 8gbs for a cluster. I got 1 when they first launched and I’m considering just getting 4 pi400s and dealing with the larger space used and half the ram. Sheerly for availability and costs.

[@grahamjoss4643]

Thanks for all you do !

[@Purple223tip]

Bruh 🤣

[@keithiebaby100]

Jeff. We are thinking of you and trust that you are on the mend. I appreciate your content.

[@oldarchillies163]

Hoping pi zero 2's come back someday. Would love to update my mini retro gaming system. Everything in it's time right? 👍

[@IncendiarySolution]

I ended up picking up a rpi400 because it was available

[@alwayscensored6871]

It's the only version I don't have any of.

[@minigpracing3068]

Your easiest streaming switcher is probably going to be a Blackmagic 8 input ISO switcher so you can record each input separate from the switched output. Not horribly expensive for what you are doing, and I think they have HDMI and SDI on them now.

[@rickgalbraith2752]

It's September 2023 and I am finally setting up my Pi4-8 which I bought from TT electronics in Winnipeg, and yes, I paid a pretty penny.

[@jrichey98]

I've been using the Libre Computer's Le Potato for Klipper on my 3D Printer. They run among other OS'es the latest version of Raspbian. It's a Raspberry Pi 3 w/o wifi but a faster CPU and double ram. You can use a usb wifi card however.

[@ivolol]

It's quite sad. The RPi foundation used to be a company that said they wanted to make computing available and accessible for kids around the world, for education, and for makers. Now they are just slaves to other businesses. The original vision has disappeared. What's even worse is even while they've slipped into that position no-one at all has come even close to doing better.

[@gbcardo4544]

I remember when these things first came out... who would of know they would of became so popular

[@chessoc7799]

I hoped to get a zx-hdmi for zx spectrum but that needs a PI 0 inside it so they are on stop for me. There are a number of similar things for retro computers that are affected too. So hoping things get back to normal soon :)

[@dh2032]

for such one job tasks, why the raspberry pi pico, not being used, it can nock out hdmi, and even if it no 4K output, it will be lot cleaner video, out and if programmed, right, it may give usb drive support, or something, using a lot less power, not making so much heat, and a lot cheaper too.?

[@ralph4370]

I 3d Printed a 2u rack. Had only 4 pi's installed and running server stuff. Then I couldnt buy anymore since xmas of last year. I purchased a 2u server case and threw in 64gb ECC DDR4 and AMD 5600 for docker and containers. Configured the dual channel NIC card and been solid. Running and using a bit more juice. But at least I am learning. Also repurposed the remained rpi for retropi, android tv and havent decided about the last 2 so far. Price for 10 pis for my pc server setup came about the same.

[@annihilatorg]

While not the correct form-factor, i've been using some $120 asus celeron laptops for my recent explorations. Low-ish power, 64gb storage, 4gb ram, screen, keyboard, mouse, and a pci-e 4x m.2 port. Absolute garbage with Windows, but not horrible with low-spec linux.

[@pamus6242]

I'm getting a thinkcentre NUC with i7 6700 with 8gb and 128 cheaper than a pi 4 8GB !! I live across the world.

[@ethanmerrick8348]

Got excited about the Australian timestamp... Thought you might be coming south of the equator :)

[@TylerFurrison]

People were complaining about the audio when I had it on 6% (I usually keep it that low because my laptop has a weirdly high output) and you were fine

[@afriedli]

I've had a RPI4 8G on order with one of the largest distributers in the UK since February of this year (when the quoted lead-time was two weeks). Every so often I get an email pushing back the delivery date. I think it's currently March of next year, so at least they are getting more realistic (I've had a dozen or more dates promised that have been and gone). The whole thing is beginning to resemble a bad joke. I know the Raspberry Pi foundation sells a lot of boards and supply lines for some electronic components are difficult at the moment, but they don't sell more than Apple or Samsung or Motorola or any one of dozens of manufacturers whose products are freely available. It's hard to avoid the conclusion that the foundation has a bunch of good engineers working for an inept bunch of business managers. It may be that the engineers are running the business, and are a bit out of their depth in the latter role.

[@Savagetechie]

I had some MOSFETs on back order at CPC since march... Finally got delivered yesterday..... Can't remember what they were for now.

[@jimsilver1317]

Atmel socs on order for 12+ months! it’s getting crazy out there

[@afriedli]

p.s. I just got an email with a revised estimated delivery date for my RPI4B of 6 June 2023. The only place with stock of Raspberry Pi boards of any kind in the world according to rpiLocator is BerryBase in Germany. Unfortunately, they don't ship to the UK. I understand the Pi Foundation prioritising integrators/value added resellers with whom they have a long term relationship. They should certainly look after them because they may be the last cohort of such people.

[@alwayscensored6871]

It is across the board, not just Pi's. I design stuff around what is in in stock.

[@afriedli]

@@alwayscensored6871 Do you know which components are the main cause of the product shortages? I thought one of the reasons to go with ARM architecture is because any number of fabs are able to manufacture the chips for you. I think RPF use two assemblers - both in the UK. If true, that doesn't seem like enough channels considering their volumes and markets. There is a concept that Nassim Taleb talks about as necessary for coping with a complex and uncertain world called 'anti-fragility.' I get the sense that the people at RPF haven't read the book and are more in the shrug shoulders school of business practice.

[@downundermaker]

Raspis are on shelf in decent numbers at MSRP in Australia, this is all about to become a non-issue.

[@Skyspace187]

There are also a lot of users and viewers that might have bought several Pis at their houses that aren't in use or under-used. So your video's are still helpful for those that might have them in hand. For me, I start small home services on an RPi and then at some point move it to a Docker on Unraid or on my HyperV Servers once I consider production for my usage. Just because you don't have a RPi, doesn't mean you can''t find clones or even used NUC/NUC-Like computers. A lot of work that Jeff does can be done on most linux distros and thus you can make it work, just maybe not in the small size as a RPi.

[@snax_4820]

The shortage is coming to an end by end of October ... In Switzerland we can order a Raspberry Pi 4 2GB for around 50 USD. (4G and 8G are still not in stock).

[@brandonedwards7166]

I thought the whole intention with raspi was the fact they were small and affordable computers for everyone. By signing contracts with big corporations they are completely bypassing the ideals the foundation was based on. They are losing credibility with makers.