So... After I posted Tuesday's update, I got a phonecall. One of those phonecalls that you get after 9pm. From your Dad. Who knows everything there is to know about coding. Oh god. He left a voicemail. "Let's talk -- tonight or tomorrow. Whichever's easier". Of course it was blog-post related as I'd just sent him a link, but I had a horrible sinking feeling that there was some dangerous error in my plan. Oh god.
So I called back. That night. Dad is wonderfully supportive, and he's been that way since I can remember, but there is something about having put something out into the world that your dad happens to be a massive, genius-expert in, when you've hashed together an idea from no experience at all, that is a little...disquieting.
The first thing he said was this:
I think you're absolutely on the right track.
That was like hearing that last bit of the 1812 Symphony where everyone starts bounding about and the cannons kick off. But with beginner's hackery. Whatever he said next could not deflate the Alex balloon of joy.
Then he said:
I think we can simplify things.
From a man who appears to make code and hardware do WHATEVER HE WANTS, this is a very exciting suggestion. But as well as explaining this, he also explained how I'd made an easy-to-make assumption that was going to scupper me wildly. I'm going to try and explain what that was in a bit.
BUT FIRST...
My original plan was this:
Connect my Raspberry Pi B to my laptop and get it up and running and online. So I'd need a wifi dongle.
Format my microSD card using the Raspberry Pi B (I'd need another SD card as the memory for my Pi B if I was to use my microSD for my Zero. I'd also need an SD card reader to attach to my Pi B - problem: would at this point be short of a USB drive as I'd forgotten that I'd need a laptop connected to actually do the coding - giant error here, but keep reading. I promise I'll explain later).
Insert the newly formatted, internet-ready SD card into the Zero.
Get the Zero up-and-running and onto the internet, connecting via my laptop and via PuTTY to control it headlessly. Ta daaah!
So yes. The error. To connect to the Pi B, I needed a laptop. But to program the Pi B, I needed my laptop.. I was planning on networking my laptop...to itself essentially. I had TOTALLY forgotten that I was going to need a monitor, mouse and keyboard. Fortunately I can use the tv as the monitor and have the other two, so woo :)
The fix:
After all that, and explaining that I was going to need more peripherals, Dad made this suggestion: cut out the middleman. Ditch the Pi B - I had missed a trick - My microSD comes joyfully pre-loaded with NOOBS (RaspberryPi's own 'new out of the box software) thanks to the lovely people at Pimoroni from where I purchased my starter kit -- NO FORMATTING NECESSARY. Get a multi-port USB hub and use it to connect the peripherals and the dongle. Get the Zero onto the net that way, then proceed to locate it and control it via PuTTY as before.
SO. MUCH. EASIER.
I've bought a 3-way hub with ethernet access from Pimoroni. It's their recommended hub for the Zero and it's white like the other bits that are going to be hanging off my little Zero, which for a sense of continuity, I quite like.
Hoping to take delivery of all the new kit today. If not then it'll be tomorrow. So excited - I can actually see how it's all going to happen now.
Thanks, Dad - to you and the rest of the lovely people reading I ask, as always:
Wish me luck!
Good luck :)
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