Project Banana Pie April 1st


Happy April Fools

I know today is not April Fools yet, but I am posting this for tomorrow!
Internet if of course another good place to show April fools enthusiasm!
If you haven't noticed the flappy bird flash game on top, then you should take a look, and let's also take a look at other fools around the web.

<update: the game was removed 2/4/15 after April fools.>

No this is not about Banana Pi.

Pac Man on Google Maps

google pac man


Google Product Videos

and how can we forget about




BPI Banana Pi Products 101 All You Need to Know

BPI Banana Pi Products All You Need to Know

Banana Pi has several product lines and two companies making a wide selection of opensource single board computer boards for DIY computer projects. This guide aims to clear up what every product does and what they are good for.

Banana Pi M1 Classic

The classic Banana Pi with modest powers and amazingly great connectivity. Whats amazing connectivity? SATA port and Gigabit Ethernet! This little computer offers many great things in its little profile and it is perfect for server application and medium uses. When it comes to graphics and sheer computing power, this board can not be compared with full blown 64bit processors, but it is great for a VPS or a NAS.
  • CPU: Allwinner A20 SoC
  • RAM: 1GB
  • Main Ports: 2 USB2.0, 1 GbE, 1 HDMI, 1 SATA


Banana Pi M1+

As the name suggests, this is an upgraded version of Banana Pi M1 now with embedded WiFi n chip. The good thing about this is that it keeps the awesome connectivity and now it ads wifi and 40pin GPIO for different projects involving gadgets and other boards. The M1+ also allows you to make it a powerful mini router.
  • CPU: Allwinner A20 SoC
  • RAM: 1GB
  • Main Ports: 2 USB2.0, 1 GbE, 1 HDMI, 1 SATA
  • On board WiFi n

Banana Pi R1 Router

This is basically a mix between a computer and a router. It has wireless n capabilities and two slots for external high gain antennas. It also features 4 Gigabit LAN ports with 1 Gigabit WAN port. The best part is the SATA port again, you can attach a laptop hard drive and make a personal files sharing hub. Personally I think this router is a brilliant idea in that it is basically a power house open source router. For starters, it is way more powerful than a router in processing powers and RAM allowing it to do some heavy encryption tasks. This can make the perfect TOR router for example. 

  • CPU: Allwinner A20 SoC
  • RAM: 1GB
  • Main Ports: USB2.0, 5 GbE, 1 HDMI, 1 SATA
  • On board WiFi n with antenna

Banana Pi M2 Quad core

Going off on a different tangent, instead of connectivity, this boards focuses on computing power. The M2 is powered by A31S quad-core SoC at 1 GHz backed by 1 GB of RAM. The specifications makes it a perfect android computer as the M1 is not powerful enough to run graphics intense operating systems. The M2 will definitely do a better job providing drivers are all properly configured. This board is more for mini computing options as it does not have SATA ports. I would get this to bring a TV or a monitor to live, or to host a web server, but for general projects, the M1 is a better choice.  (This also has WiFi)
  • CPU: Allwinner A31s SoC quad-core
  • RAM: 1GB
  • Main Ports: 4 USB2.0, 1 GbE, 1 HDMI, 
  • On board WiFi n with antenna

Banana Pi D1 Camera

This a a 720p camera module for Banana Pi and it can also record to SD card or stream through internet connection. Can be cool for a project involving home security or video capturing.
  • Video Resolution: 720p

Banana Pi G1 Smart Home

The opensource take on home automation. This smart hub is compatible with WiFi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee to offer integration across many smart home appliances so you can control it with across multiple devices with a mobile app. This board is yet to be released and personally I want to know what it can offer.
  • TI MCU for WiFi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee


Banana Pro

Though Banana Pi came before Banana Pro, this board is just like Banana Pi M1+. It has basic components of Banana Pi including A20 SoC, 1 GB RAM, but this one comes with embedded WiFi.  
  • CPU: Allwinner A20 SoC
  • RAM: 1GB
  • Main Ports: 2 USB2.0, 1 GbE, 1 HDMI, 1 SATA
  • On board WiFi n

Banana Pie

Banana pie is not a computer, but it is still delicious! Yum!


Meta-Pi Calculating Pi with Banana Pi

HAPPY PI DAY!


I hope you ate a lot of pie on the century Pi day yesterday. <3/14/15 9:27>  Now lets give our micro computers a taste of  "pie" :)

Today we are going to calculate pi on Banana Pi

First we have to install a command line calculator 

apt-get install bc
Now we have to calculate Pi
time echo "scale=2015; 4*a(1)" | bc -l
The scale is how many digits of pi you want and you can replace it with larger numbers if you want.

Enjoy!!!



Banana Jelly Pi : Android on Banana Pi Review and First Look Video

Banana Jelly Pi


This blog never experimented with another OS other than Debian on the Banana Pi. Well that is about to change with the Banana Jelly Pi! An awesome name for sure, but is it delicious? Might very well be.


Pros

  • Android = more apps
  • Great for movies, games, and YouTube
  • Even better on a small screen 

Cons

  • Does not look all that great
  • Plenty of bugs and crashes
  • Old version of Android

Verdict

No matter how shabby the picture might look, give it a try and it might surprise you. It is Android after all and some functions from apps might be surprising. It is much more intuitive than a command line interface and I think the best part is getting Android apps that allows you to watch movies:)

Gallery







Map Banana Pi as a Network Drive with Samba

Network Drive

Network drives are mapped to your computer as a letter path, for example P:, but it is not actually on your computer; hence, the term "Network Drive". We will be using Samba to setup drive sharing on the Banana Pi.It also works with Android and you can stream movies form your banana pi.


Initializing


Install Samba
apt-get install samba samba-common-bin

Configure Samba
nano /etc/samba/smb.conf
Navigate to Authentication and uncomment the line "security = user"


Navigate to the end of the configuration (a long way) and insert below lines to set up user authentication
[Drive]
path = /
valid users = @users
force group = users
create mask = 0660
directory mask = 0771
read only = no
"[Drive]" is the name of the network drive in file explorer

Restart Samba
service samba restart

Creating User



we have to create a user for accessing the drive through Samba
useradd drive -m -G users
"drive" is the user name of the new user, you can replace it with anything you want
passwd drive
again, if you replaced your user, then replace "drive" with your new user name.
You will be prompted to enter a password, the password will be the one you log in with later on.

Add user to Samba directory
smbpasswd -a drive
You will be prompted to enter a password again. Enter the same password you used for the new user.
Restart Samba
service samba restart

Connecting


In windows explorer, navigate to "network" from the left hand side bar
Click on the thing that resembles your Banana Pi
Click on the folder inside and enter the username and password you created

To map the drive, right click on the folder and click "map network drive..."
Assign a letter path and press next


Now you have your banana pi's storage conveniently inside windows explorer:)

Android

Get ESFile explorer for free form the play store


swipe under network and scan for computers
hold the computer that resembles Banan Pi and edit server settings (bottom bar)
Uncheck anonymous, and insert username and password for your drive.
touch and BOOM!

For those Linux aficionados, I am sure you can figure it out without this :p
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