]> Kevux Git Server - kevux.org-website/commitdiff
Update: News - 2025 / 08 / 09 - RP500 Lap Top.
authorKevin Day <Kevin@kevux.org>
Fri, 8 Aug 2025 23:24:22 +0000 (18:24 -0500)
committerKevin Day <Kevin@kevux.org>
Fri, 8 Aug 2025 23:30:47 +0000 (18:30 -0500)
css/kevux-print.css
css/kevux.css
images/news/2025/2025_08_09/pi500_lap_top-01.png [new file with mode: 0644]
images/news/2025/2025_08_09/pi500_lap_top-02.png [new file with mode: 0644]
images/news/2025/2025_08_09/pi500_lap_top-03.png [new file with mode: 0644]
images/news/2025/2025_08_09/pi500_lap_top-04.png [new file with mode: 0644]
images/news/2025/2025_08_09/pi500_lap_top-05.png [new file with mode: 0644]
news.html
news/2025.html
news/2025/2025_07_04-fll_0_6_14_and_0_7_2_releases.html
news/2025/2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top.html [new file with mode: 0644]

index 1ff64522e5250fef9f8e67811233a6066e4b4b7a..1e60e9b024ed345d036678331123dee5f092aea2 100644 (file)
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
   margin-right: auto;
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+.kevux > .content-block .p .code.terminal,
 .kevux > .content-block .tip .code.terminal {
   background-color: #ffffff;
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   border: 1px solid #357837;
 }
 
+.kevux > .content-block > .main-block .image.center {
+  margin-left: auto;
+  margin-right: auto;
+
+  width: max-content;
+}
+
 .kevux > .content-block .image.left {
   float: var(--float_left_by_width);
 }
   background-color: #e7f1ff;
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+.kevux > .content-block .p .code.terminal,
 .kevux > .content-block .tip .code.terminal {
   display: block;
   box-sizing: border-box;
   font-size: 55%;
   vertical-align: super;
 }
+
+.kevux > .content-block .clear {
+  clear: both;
+}
+
+.kevux > .content-block .clear_left {
+  clear: left;
+}
+
+.kevux > .content-block .clear_right {
+  clear: right;
+}
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index 0fb6e19572a9e31c2e945be8e1c07ee5ca4d30c9..c26bafde7b1c16d3975c792b9246f70f3fd66706 100644 (file)
--- a/news.html
+++ b/news.html
       <div id="nav-expanded" class="nav-block">
         <nav id="kevux-document-nav" class="nav-menu">
           <div class="nav-item block">
+            <div class="nav-text notice">2025 / 08 / 09</div>
+            <a href="news/2025/2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top.html" class="nav-text link">RP500 Lap Top</a>
+          </div>
+          <div class="nav-item block">
             <div class="nav-text notice">2025 / 07 / 04</div>
             <a href="news/2025/2025_07_04-fll_0_6_14_and_0_7_2_releases.html" class="nav-text link">FLL 0.6.14 and FLL 0.7.2 Releases</a>
           </div>
             <h1 class="section-title h h1">News</h1>
           </header>
 
+          <article id="2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top" class="article">
+            <header class="article-header header ">
+              <h2 id="2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top-title" class="article-title h h2">2025 / 08 / 09 - RP500 Lap Top</h2>
+            </header>
+
+            <div class="article-content">
+              <p class="p">
+                I have decided to make a <em class="em">Lap Top</em> computer.
+                I've really enjoyed laptops like the <strong class="strong">Purism</strong> laptops and the <strong class="strong">System76</strong> laptops.
+                A laptop eventually has some problem, such as a dead battery or a damaged case, and replacements become hard to find.
+                The <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> along with the <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi Monitor</strong> together provide a <em class="em">Lap Top</em> alternative to laptops that can better stand the test of time.
+              </p>
+              <p class="p">
+                The <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> computer is approximately $100 dollars.
+                The <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi Monitor</strong> is approximately $100 dollars.
+                With the selection of additional parts, this can make for a relatively inexpensive laptop alternative.
+                Add a decent power source.
+                Add a <abbr title="Universal Serial Bus">USB</abbr>.
+                And tada!
+                I have the basics for a laptop alternative, dubbed a <em class="em">Lap Top</em> (with an emphasis on the space between the two words).
+              </p>
+              <p class="p">
+                This is all well and good but to make it really useful and usable there needs to be additional tweaks and accessories to get the most portability out of this.
+                The <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> computer also needs some modifications to make it work correctly.
+              </p>
+              <p class="p">
+                There are also some problems with this project.
+                The more obvious being the cabling and extra parts.
+                Not having a good complete case or carrying bag is also another concern.
+              </p>
+              <p class="p">
+                This article presents my particular approach, design, modifications, success, and failures in the creation and usage of my very own <strong class="strong">RP 500 Lap Top</strong>.
+              </p>
+              <p class="p">
+                <a id="2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top-more" href="news/2025/2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top.html" class="content link" aria-labelledby="2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top-more 2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top-title">Continue reading…</a>
+              </p>
+            </div>
+          </article>
+
           <article id="2025_07_04-fll_0_6_14_and_0_7_2_releases" class="article">
-            <header class="article-header header">
+            <header class="article-header header separate">
               <h2 id="2025_07_04-fll_0_6_14_and_0_7_2_releases-title" class="article-title h h2">2025 / 07 / 04 - FLL 0.6.14 and FLL 0.7.2 Releases</h2>
             </header>
 
index 27c51c6c8a49c6d9372bcef74977bec69b8c5e71..598ed55946d7ca78cb78346e545e616554f8a601 100644 (file)
             <a href="news.html" class="nav-text link back">Back</a>
           </div>
           <div class="nav-item block">
+            <div class="nav-text notice">2025 / 08 / 09</div>
+            <a href="news/2025/2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top.html" class="nav-text link">RP500 Lap Top</a>
+          </div>
+          <div class="nav-item block">
             <div class="nav-text notice">2025 / 07 / 04</div>
             <a href="news/2025/2025_07_04-fll_0_6_14_and_0_7_2_releases.html" class="nav-text link">FLL 0.6.14 and FLL 0.7.2 Releases</a>
           </div>
             <h1 class="section-title h h1">Year 2025 News</h1>
           </header>
 
-          <article id="2025_07_04-fll_0_6_14_and_0_7_2_releases" class="article">
+          <article id="2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top" class="article">
             <header class="article-header header">
+              <h2 id="2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top-title" class="article-title h h2">2025 / 08 / 09 - RP500 Lap Top</h2>
+            </header>
+
+            <div class="article-content">
+              <p class="p">
+                I have decided to make a <em class="em">Lap Top</em> computer.
+                I've really enjoyed laptops like the <strong class="strong">Purism</strong> laptops and the <strong class="strong">System76</strong> laptops.
+                A laptop eventually has some problem, such as a dead battery or a damaged case, and replacements become hard to find.
+                The <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> along with the <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi Monitor</strong> together provide a <em class="em">Lap Top</em> alternative to laptops that can better stand the test of time.
+              </p>
+              <p class="p">
+                The <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> computer is approximately $100 dollars.
+                The <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi Monitor</strong> is approximately $100 dollars.
+                With the selection of additional parts, this can make for a relatively inexpensive laptop alternative.
+                Add a decent power source.
+                Add a <abbr title="Universal Serial Bus">USB</abbr>.
+                And tada!
+                I have the basics for a laptop alternative, dubbed a <em class="em">Lap Top</em> (with an emphasis on the space between the two words).
+              </p>
+              <p class="p">
+                This is all well and good but to make it really useful and usable there needs to be additional tweaks and accessories to get the most portability out of this.
+                The <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> computer also needs some modifications to make it work correctly.
+              </p>
+              <p class="p">
+                There are also some problems with this project.
+                The more obvious being the cabling and extra parts.
+                Not having a good complete case or carrying bag is also another concern.
+              </p>
+              <p class="p">
+                This article presents my particular approach, design, modifications, success, and failures in the creation and usage of my very own <strong class="strong">RP 500 Lap Top</strong>.
+              </p>
+              <p class="p">
+                <a id="2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top-more" href="news/2025/2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top.html" class="content link" aria-labelledby="2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top-more 2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top-title">Continue reading…</a>
+              </p>
+            </div>
+          </article>
+
+          <article id="2025_07_04-fll_0_6_14_and_0_7_2_releases" class="article">
+            <header class="article-header header separate">
               <h2 id="2025_07_04-fll_0_6_14_and_0_7_2_releases-title" class="article-title h h2">2025 / 07 / 04 - FLL 0.6.14 and FLL 0.7.2 Releases</h2>
             </header>
 
index aa88c45df2eb7b30d9499ff744a295b87ea35e56..e27b9d963285d76ff0a1d14743fa1beaa752f3ab 100644 (file)
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
     <link type="image/x-icon" rel="shortcut" href="images/kevux.ico">
     <link type="text/html" rel="license" href="licenses.html">
     <link type="text/html" rel="prev" href="news/2025/2025_06_26-the_lcg_ai.html">
+    <link type="text/html" rel="next" href="news/2025/2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top.html">
   </head>
 
   <body id="kevux" class="kevux no-js news">
diff --git a/news/2025/2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top.html b/news/2025/2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top.html
new file mode 100644 (file)
index 0000000..e55c6fc
--- /dev/null
@@ -0,0 +1,501 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <title>News - 2025/08/09 - RP500 Lap Top</title>
+
+    <base href="../../">
+
+    <meta charset="UTF-8">
+    <meta name="author" content="Kevin Day">
+    <meta name="description" content="News post on 2025/08/09.">
+    <meta name="keywords" content="Kevin Day, Kevux, FLL, Featureless, Linux, Library, Distribution, Open-Source, News, 2025">
+    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
+
+    <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" media="all" href="css/kevux.css">
+    <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" media="only screen" href="css/kevux-screen.css">
+    <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" media="only screen and (min-device-width:501px)" href="css/kevux-screen-desktop.css">
+    <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" media="only screen and (max-device-width:500px)" href="css/kevux-screen-mobile.css">
+    <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" media="only screen and (min-device-width:1201px)" href="css/kevux-screen-large.css">
+    <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" media="only screen and (min-device-width:501px) and (max-device-width:1200px)" href="css/kevux-screen-normal.css">
+    <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" media="only screen and (min-device-width:251px) and (max-device-width:500px)" href="css/kevux-screen-small.css">
+    <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" media="only screen and (max-device-width:250px)" href="css/kevux-screen-tiny.css">
+    <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" media="only print" href="css/kevux-print.css">
+    <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" media="only print and (orientation:landscape)" href="css/kevux-print-landscape.css">
+    <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" media="only print and (orientation:portrait)" href="css/kevux-print-portrait.css">
+
+    <link rel="canonical" href="news/2025/2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top.html">
+    <link type="image/x-icon" rel="icon" href="images/kevux.ico">
+    <link type="image/x-icon" rel="shortcut" href="images/kevux.ico">
+    <link type="text/html" rel="license" href="licenses.html">
+    <link type="text/html" rel="prev" href="news/2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top.html">
+  </head>
+
+  <body id="kevux" class="kevux no-js news">
+    <div role="banner" class="header-block">
+      <header class="header-section header">
+        <div class="header-site">Kevux Systems and Software</div>
+      </header>
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+      <div class="nav-block">
+        <nav id="kevux-site-nav" class="nav-menu">
+          <div class="nav-item active"><a href="news.html" class="nav-text link">News</a></div>
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+          <div class="nav-item block highlight unlink">
+            <div class="nav-text notice">2025 / 08 / 09</div>
+            <div class="nav-text unlink">RP500 Lap Top</div>
+          </div>
+          <div class="nav-item block ellipses">
+            <a href="news/2025/2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top.html#nav-expanded" class="nav-text link open" title="Expand Menu">…</a>
+            <a href="news/2025/2025_08_09-rp500_lap_top.html" class="nav-text link close">Collapse Menu</a>
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+      <div role="document" class="main-block">
+        <main class="main">
+          <header class="section-header header">
+            <h1 class="section-title h h1">2025 / 08 / 09 - RP500 Lap Top</h1>
+          </header>
+
+          <div class="main-content">
+            <img src="images/news/2025/2025_08_09/pi500_lap_top-01.png" alt="A side view from left of the RP500 Lap Top." title="RP500 Lap Top side view." class="image content left margin-1rem">
+            <p class="p">
+              I have decided to make a <em class="em">Lap Top</em> computer.
+              I've really enjoyed laptops like the <strong class="strong">Purism</strong> laptops and the <strong class="strong">System76</strong> laptops.
+              A laptop eventually has some problem, such as a dead battery or a damaged case, and replacements become hard to find.
+              The <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> along with the <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi Monitor</strong> together provide a <em class="em">Lap Top</em> alternative to laptops that can better stand the test of time.
+            </p>
+            <p class="p">
+              The <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> computer is approximately $100 dollars.
+              The <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi Monitor</strong> is approximately $100 dollars.
+              With the selection of additional parts, this can make for a relatively inexpensive laptop alternative.
+              Add a decent power source.
+              Add a <abbr title="Universal Serial Bus">USB</abbr>.
+              And tada!
+              I have the basics for a laptop alternative, dubbed a <em class="em">Lap Top</em> (with an emphasis on the space between the two words).
+            </p>
+            <p class="p">
+              This is all well and good but to make it really useful and usable there needs to be additional tweaks and accessories to get the most portability out of this.
+              The <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> computer also needs some modifications to make it work correctly.
+            </p>
+            <p class="p">
+              There are also some problems with this project.
+              The more obvious being the cabling and extra parts.
+              Not having a good complete case or carrying bag is also another concern.
+            </p>
+            <p class="p">
+              This article presents my particular approach, design, modifications, success, and failures in the creation and usage of my very own <strong class="strong">RP 500 Lap Top</strong>.
+            </p>
+
+            <section id="the_parts" class="section clear">
+              <header class="section-header header separate">
+                <h2 id="the_parts-title" class="section-title h h2">The Parts</h2>
+              </header>
+
+              <div class="section-content">
+                <p class="p">
+                  <img src="images/news/2025/2025_08_09/pi500_lap_top-03.png" alt="Different Velcro products." title="Different Velco products." class="image content right margin-1rem">
+                  <ul>
+                    <li>Raspberry Pi 500 (US) Keyboard</li>
+                    <li>Raspberry Pi Monitor</li>
+                    <li>2x Raspberry Pi 5 27W USB-C Power Supplies</li>
+                    <li>MicroSD Card</li>
+                    <li>USB M.2 NVMe Enclosure</li>
+                    <li>M.2 NVMe Drive</li>
+                    <li>Micro-HDMI to Standard HDMI 1m Cable</li>
+                    <li>Raspberry Pi USB 3 Hub</li>
+                    <li>Real Time Clock and Cabling</li>
+                    <li>Wireless USB Mouse</li>
+                    <li>5 Volt 3 Amp+ Power Bank</li>
+                    <li>USB-C to USB-C Power Cable</li>
+                    <li>Lap Top Bag</li>
+                    <li>Velcro and Similar</li>
+                  </ul>
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> should use at least the 27W power supply.
+                  The <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi Monitor</strong> should not need as much wattage but getting the same power supply for both makes this easier.
+                  The monitor does not come with a power source but it does come with a <abbr title="Universal Serial Bus">USB</abbr> cable.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The <strong class="strong">MicroSD Card</strong> can be 32GB or even smaller, but 64GB or greater provides sufficient room for adding a ton of packages and files.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The <strong class="strong">USB M.2 NVMe Enclosure</strong> should support at least <abbr title="Universal Serial Bus Version 3">USB 3</abbr> and come with its own cable.
+                  This along with the <strong class="strong">M.2 NVMe Drive</strong> are considered critical for performance reasons and longevity reasons.
+                  <strong class="strong">MicroSD Cards</strong> do not last very long and have a very limited number of writes.
+                  The are also particularly slow.
+                  The <strong class="strong">USB M.2 NVMe Enclosure</strong> does bring in the inconvenience of more cabling and power power requirements.
+                  This cost is well worth it.
+                  Especially if you get 2TB or greater storage capacity.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  I bought the standard 3 meter HDMI cables.
+                  As you might be able to see from the pictures, the cabling is a bit excessive so I recommend selecting only a 1M cable for use as a <em class="em">Lap Top</em>.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The official <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi USB 3 Hub</strong> is useful for extending the available cables and supports its own power source to reduce the power load from the keyboard.
+                  The biggest problem with this is that it is a few centimeters too short.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The <strong class="strong">Real Time Clock and Cabling</strong> and cabling is a bit trickier.
+                  The <em class="em">DS3231 Real Time Clock Module for Raspberry Pi</em> works and only needs to be plugged in.
+                  The case partially gets in a way and some extensions are needed.
+                  That clock is also not very accurate.
+                  There are some better real time clocks like the <em class="em">Adafruit DS1307 Real Time Clock</em> and the <em class="em">RV3028 Real-Time Clock</em>, but these require soldering.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  A wired mouse is perfectly fine.
+                  When it comes to the <em class="em">Lap Top</em>, any form of a <strong class="strong">Wireless USB Mouse</strong> be it WiFi, Bluetooth, or some other form is much more convenient and less troubling.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  A <strong class="strong">5 Volt 3 Amp+ Power Bank</strong> is very important here.
+                  The <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> is very sensitive on the correct voltage and amperage ranges.
+                  I am trying to avoid plugging any projects (beyond the Raspberry Pi open-source friendly hardware), but when it comes to power banks I must be pickier.
+                  I've looked around and I have found that the <em class="em">Anker 20k 30W Power Bank</em> works well with this project.
+                  It outputs the correct 5 Volts with 4.8 Amps total with a standard 5 Volts with 3 Amps.
+                  It has two <abbr title="Universal Serial Bus Type C">USB-C</abbr> connections to power both the keyboard and the monitor.
+                  The current power display is very useful given that the keyboard computer has no way to monitor the battery levels of the external power bank.
+                  The extra <strong class="strong">USB-C to USB-C Power Cable</strong> is needed to connect the keyboard to the power bank.
+                  One of those short 240W <abbr title="Universal Serial Bus">USB</abbr> cables is a very good option for this, if not over kill.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The <strong class="strong">Lap Top Bag</strong> can be any bag that fits all of the parts.
+                  It just so happens that the <em class="em">Lap Gear</em> has a special carry bag (currently sold exclusively at <em class="em">Sam's Club</em>) that fits perfectly in the lap, can stand up the keyboard, monitor, and mouse, and can fit all of the parts inside a zipped enclosure.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The <strong class="strong">Velcro and Similar</strong> are more important than one might imagine.
+                  They are also far cheaper and are very hacker friendly.
+                  I've tried some <strong class="strong">Velcro</strong> cord keepers and found they are nice and low profile but lack any reasonably stickiness.
+                  I had to combine them with the industrial strength low profile <strong class="strong">Velcro</strong>.
+                  I also tried the generic plastic cable clamps.
+                  The cable clamps work great when also combined with the industrial strength low profile <strong class="strong">Velcro</strong>.
+                  Their biggest downside is that they are bulkier and removing them when packing is a very good idea.
+                </p>
+              </div>
+            </section>
+
+            <section id="cable_management" class="section">
+              <header class="section-header header separate">
+                <h2 id="cable_management-title" class="section-title h h2">Cable Management</h2>
+              </header>
+
+              <div class="section-content">
+                <p class="p">
+                  <img src="images/news/2025/2025_08_09/pi500_lap_top-02.png" alt="Back view of the RP500 Lap Top showing cables." title="RP500 Lap Top back view." class="image content center margin-1rem">
+                  The M.2 <abbr title="Non-Volatile Memory Express">NVMe</abbr> drive is necessary for a long lasting and better performing <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> system.
+                  The problem is that it needs to go somewhere.
+                  This turns out to be easily solved.
+                  The <strong class="strong">USB M.2 NVMe Enclosures</strong> are lightweight and relatively compact.
+                  Add <strong class="strong">Velcro</strong> and stick it onto the back of the monitor and the problem is solved.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The additional cables that are needed to operate the <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> system as a <em class="em">Lap Top</em> can also be attached to the back of the monitor using <strong class="strong">Velcro</strong>.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  I originally attached <strong class="strong">Velcro</strong> to the monitor and some plastic cable clamps.
+                  This worked great for sitting at a desk.
+                  They, however, are bulkier than they need to be and are less portable.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  I switched to thin electric cord keepers.
+                  These keepers had no real stickiness worth using.
+                  However, they were made of <strong class="strong">Velcro</strong>, I was able to use separate industrial strength <strong class="strong">Velcro</strong> stickers to attach the cable keepers too.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The standard cables that I have are also pretty long.
+                  They might be on the shorter side for desktop use, but for <em class="em">Lap Top</em> use they are too long!
+                  I will switch to cables no longer that 1 meter in future modifications.
+                  This should help reduce all the cabling present on the back of the monitor.
+                </p>
+              </div>
+            </section>
+
+            <section id="configure_rp500" class="section">
+              <header class="section-header header separate">
+                <h2 id="configure_rp500-title" class="section-title h h2">Configuring the RP500</h2>
+              </header>
+
+              <div class="section-content">
+                <p class="p">
+                  The standard <strong class="strong">Raspbian</strong> image is used for this project with all of the extra packages.
+                  There are an enormous amount of packages added that are not going to be mentioned here.
+                  This section is describing only the most critical or most notable changes that directly related to using the <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> and associated parts as a <em class="em">Lap Top</em>.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  A <strong class="strong">MicroSD Card</strong> has a very limited number of writes and can be very slow.
+                  These problems can be avoided by reducing the number of reads, and especially writes, to the <strong class="strong">MicroSD Card</strong>.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The standard <strong class="strong">Raspbian</strong> image has a 4 MiB unallocated partition space followed by the 512 MiB <code class="code">fat32</code> boot partition followed by the root filesystem partition in <code class="code">ext4</code>.
+                  This is left unchanged.
+                  However, the <code class="code">/etc/fstab</code> for the root device should be updated to have `,noatime` added, such as: <code class="code">PARTUUID=01234567-89  / ext4 defaults,noatime 0 1</code>.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The M.2 <abbr title="Non-Volatile Memory Express">NVMe</abbr> drive should be formatted entirely in <code class="code">ext4</code> (using the GPT partition scheme).
+                  The <code class="code">/etc/fstab</code> for this device should be something like the following:
+                  <samp class="code terminal">UUID=01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef /home ext4 defaults,noatime 0 2</samp>
+                  The files for the <code class="code">/home</code> directory should be moved into the this drive so that it may be used as the home directory.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  Additional special filesystem directories should be changed to use the <code class="code">tmpfs</code> format:
+                  <samp class="code terminal">tmpfs /tmp tmpfs defaults,nosuid,nodev,noatime,size=2G 0 0
+tmpfs /var/tmp tmpfs defaults,nosuid,nodev,noatime,size=512M 0 0
+tmpfs /var/log tmpfs defaults,nosuid,nodev,noatime,mode=1775,size=512M 0 0
+                  </samp>
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The <code class="code">/boot/firmware/config.txt</code> should have the following set:
+                </p>
+                <ul>
+                  <li><code class="code">arm_boost=1</code></li>
+                  <li><code class="code">usb_max_current_enable=1</code></li>
+                </ul>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The eeprom configuration should have the following set:
+                </p>
+                <ul>
+                  <li><code class="code">SDRAM_BANKLOW=1</code></li>
+                  <li><code class="code">WAKE_ON_GPIO=0</code></li>
+                </ul>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The <code class="code">/etc/sysfs.conf</code> should have the following set:
+                </p>
+                <ul>
+                  <li><code class="code">devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor = performance</code></li>
+                </ul>
+              </div>
+            </section>
+
+            <section id="the_bad" class="section">
+              <header class="section-header header separate">
+                <h2 id="the_bad-title" class="section-title h h2">The Bad</h2>
+              </header>
+
+              <div class="section-content">
+                <img src="images/news/2025/2025_08_09/pi500_lap_top-04.png" alt="A side view from right of the RP500 Lap Top." title="RP500 Lap Top side view." class="image content right margin-1rem">
+                <p class="p">
+                  The most troublesome situations with using the <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> as a <em class="em">Lap Top</em> are:
+                </p>
+                <ol>
+                  <li>Lack of a Hardware Clock</li>
+                  <li>Power Management</li>
+                  <li>All of the Cables</li>
+                  <li>Needing Case Customization</li>
+                  <li>Not True Open-Hardware</li>
+                  <li>More Cumbersome than a Laptop</li>
+                  <li>Performance Could be Better</li>
+                </ol>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The very first thing that I noticed was the lack of a hardware clock.
+                  If I disconnect the computer from the power source, there goes the clock.
+                  Having to use the Internet to fix the clock is neither acceptable nor desirable.
+                  This design must be capable of operating correctly without any Internet connection.
+                  Fortunately, there are some solutions but these solutions are not pretty.
+                  A custom hardware clock can be added and connected to the pins.
+                  The first clock that I selected is super cheap and is not very accurate.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The power management is a huge problem.
+                  The default power settings prevent the device from operating properly.
+                  I've tried using some standard power supplies and the voltage dropped from 5 Volts to about 4.7 Volts, or worse 4.6 Volts, when under basic load.
+                  Using the official <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi</strong> power supplies showed the voltage staying at healthier levels while under basic load.
+                  The monitor does not have a particular problem with this and can use any sufficient power supply.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  After solving the power supply problem, the biggest problem is that the display would suddenly cut off and I would be forcibly logged out.
+                  The <abbr title="Universal Serial Bus">USB</abbr> connected M.2 <abbr title="Non-Volatile Memory Express">NVMe</abbr> drive would suddenly have read and write errors.
+                  This happened during any event that triggered heavy I/O on any <abbr title="Universal Serial Bus">USB</abbr> connected device.
+                  The voltage would just suddenly drop to 4.6 Volts or below and power would be lost.
+                </p>
+                <div class="tip">
+                  It turns out that the problem is the software used as their firmware is configured by default to not utilize all of the current.
+                  This results in the sudden power losses when under heavy load.
+                  The solution is to edit the <code class="code">/boot/firmware/config.txt</code> file and add the following:
+                  <samp class="code terminal"># Enable max current to prevent power problems.
+                    usb_max_current_enable=1
+                  </samp>
+                  I added mine before for the first bracketed item (specifically before the line with <code class="code">[cm4]</code>).
+                  With this change in place, the under voltage problems went away.
+                </div>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The cables can be annoying.
+                  They get everywhere and the standard ones are too long in this particular case.
+                  I intend to replace as many of the cables with shorter ones to  help make cable management easier.
+                  Modifying the back side of the monitor with <strong class="strong">Velcro</strong> has made this a lot less of a hassle.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  As for needing a case customization is not that bad of a problem.
+                  The best part of the <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> being mostly open-hardware is that the specifications are available.
+                  Most notable of this are the case specs.
+                  This downside is more of needing to figure out how to design the case to address additional customizations, like adding a hardware clock using the pins.
+                  The hardware clock needs a decent place to go.
+                  My current approach is to just stick it onto the outside of the case using <strong class="strong">Velcro</strong>.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  Most of the <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> is open-hardware.
+                  However, there is the firmware and the boot process.
+                  I tend to get annoyed with how they call software "firmware" and put their "firmware" under non-open licenses.
+                  Firmware should be on the hardware as goes the actual meaning of the word "firmware".
+                  Like many other systems these days, the firmware is actually software.
+                  This software must be on the <abbr title="Multi-Media Card">MMC</abbr> card with the appropriate filesystem structure.
+                  This limits the capabilities that would be possible with truly open-source hardware.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> is reasonably small.
+                  The <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi Monitor</strong> is pretty large for its price but is not too large.
+                  The particular carry bag that I am using is a Lapdesk with a zipper that fits the monitor, the keyboard, the power source, several of the other parts.
+                  This is fits on the lap nicely and has plenty of room for the mouse, monitor, keyboard, and power source all at the same time.
+                  Pretty big.
+                  Walking around with this is like walking around with a briefcase.
+                  This is a great setup for the lap and using it in seats or even in the bed.
+                  Walking around in public and using it at a bar in a restaurant, however, can be rather cumbersome.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> is the first Pi keyboard that is acceptable for regular use.
+                  I can feel the sluggishness from time to time and watching videos can result in a lot of skipped frames.
+                  I simply wish it has more specs than it does.
+                </p>
+                <div class="tip">
+                  I discovered that I could get more performance out of the <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> by tweaking the <abbr title="Non-Uniform Memory Access">NUMA</abbr> settings.
+                  I found a good article by <a href="//www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2024/raspberry-pi-boosts-pi-5-performance-sdram-tuning" class="content link external">Jeff Geerling describing the SDRAM tuning</a>.
+                  I performed the following steps:
+                  <samp class="code terminal"># sudo rpi-update
+                    sudo rpi-eeprom-config -e
+                  </samp>
+                  I added <code class="code">SDRAM_BANKLOW=1</code> and <code class="code">WAKE_ON_GPIO=0</code> to that eeprom configuration and mine looks like this:
+                  <samp class="code terminal">[all]
+                    BOOT_UART=1
+                    POWER_OFF_ON_HALT=1
+                    BOOT_ORDER=0xf461
+                    SDRAM_BANKLOW=1
+                    WAKE_ON_GPIO=0
+                  </samp>
+                  After saving the changes, then the firmware gets flashed and you should see something like this:
+                  <samp class="code terminal"># rpi-eeprom-config -e
+                    Updating bootloader EEPROM
+                     image: /usr/lib/firmware/raspberrypi/bootloader-2712/latest/pieeprom-2025-07-17.bin
+                    config_src: blconfig device
+                    config: /tmp/tmprg__h2p4/boot.conf
+                    ################################################################################
+                    [all]
+                    BOOT_UART=1
+                    POWER_OFF_ON_HALT=1
+                    BOOT_ORDER=0xf461
+                    SDRAM_BANKLOW=1
+                    WAKE_ON_GPIO=0
+
+                    ################################################################################
+                    *** CREATED UPDATE /tmp/tmprg__h2p4/pieeprom.upd  ***
+
+                       CURRENT: Thu Jul 17 04:25:12 PM UTC 2025 (1752769512)
+                        UPDATE: Thu Jul 17 04:25:12 PM UTC 2025 (1752769512)
+                        BOOTFS: /boot/firmware
+                    '/tmp/tmp.LYryTiEB7N' -> '/boot/firmware/pieeprom.upd'
+
+                    UPDATING bootloader. This could take up to a minute. Please wait
+
+                    *** Do not disconnect the power until the update is complete ***
+
+                    If a problem occurs then the Raspberry Pi Imager may be used to create
+                    a bootloader rescue SD card image which restores the default bootloader image.
+
+                    flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev10.0,spispeed=16000 -w /boot/firmware/pieeprom.upd
+                    Verifying update
+                    VERIFY: SUCCESS
+                    UPDATE SUCCESSFUL
+                  </samp>
+                </div>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The default setting of the system might be to use the power save mode.
+                  This really hurts performance.
+                  The command <code class="code">sudo cpupower frequency-set -g performance</code> can be used to fix that.
+                </p>
+                <div class="tip">
+                  To preserve the performance settings across reboots requires editing the system initializer.
+                  Install the <code class="code">sysfsutils</code>, which for Apt based systems would be something like <code class="code">apt install sysfsutils</code>.
+                  The <code class="code">/etc/sysfs.conf</code> file can be modified to have the following:
+                  <samp class="code terminal">devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor = performance</samp>
+                </div>
+              </div>
+            </section>
+
+            <section id="the_good" class="section">
+              <header class="section-header header separate">
+                <h2 id="the_good-title" class="section-title h h2">The Good</h2>
+              </header>
+
+              <div class="section-content">
+                <img src="images/news/2025/2025_08_09/pi500_lap_top-05.png" alt="A overhead view of RP500 Lap Top docked to dual monitors." title="RP500 Lap Top overhead docked view." class="image content center margin-1rem">
+                <p class="p">
+                  I am very pleased with the results of this project.
+                  Yes, there are problems.
+                  Yes, there are things that could be improved.
+                  Yes, it could have better performance and maybe 16 GB of <abbr title="Random Access Memory">RAM</abbr>.
+                  All of those problems aside, this computer makes me feel like a kid again.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  Speaking of kids.
+                  The computer is (relatively) cheap.
+                  The same for the monitor.
+                  In fact, every part is replaceable at a reasonable price.
+                  A kid can break it and you are not out too much.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  This cheap cost makes going remote much more ideal.
+                  A person is less likely to be out much if it gets stolen or broken.
+                  Both the <strong class="strong">MicroSD Card</strong> and the <strong class="strong">USB M.2 NVMe Enclosure</strong> can be taken out or disconnect and pocketed quite easily.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  Both the <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> and the <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi Monitor</strong> use very little wattage.
+                  This makes these devices ideal in emergency situations where power is a critical resource.
+                  I did a trial run of my setup using the <em class="em">Anker 20k 30W Power Bank</em> outside and did some compiling and unit tests of my <abbr title="Featureless Linux Library">FLL</abbr> projects.
+                  Going from 100% to 85% took about 1 hour and 25 minutes while under heavy load with the monitor set to 85% brightness and using performance mode.
+                </p>
+                <div class="tip">
+                  The M.2 <abbr title="Non-Volatile Memory Express">NVMe</abbr> drive connected over the <abbr title="Universal Serial Bus">USB</abbr> increases the amount of wattage being used.
+                  My testing involved compiling software.
+                  Compiling software involves a lot of input to and output from the connected M.2 <abbr title="Non-Volatile Memory Express">NVMe</abbr> drive
+                </div>
+                <p class="p">
+                  I cannot stress enough that one of the biggest advantages of this <em class="em">Lap Top</em> is that every part is independently replaceable.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Keyboard</strong> can also operate as a cheap mobile server.
+                  The especially low wattage when operating without a monitor is a boon for personal servers.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The hackability of the project is yet another advantage.
+                  The case specifications are open and custom designs could, in theory, be 3d-printed.
+                  There are numerous pre-created modifications available on the market due to the popularity of the <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi</strong>.
+                  The freedom to create your dream, in your own private domain, is possible with <em class="em">Lap Tops</em> such as this.
+                </p>
+                <p class="p">
+                  The <strong class="strong">Raspberry Pi 500 Monitor</strong> is <abbr title="Video Electronics Standards Association">VESA</abbr> display mount compliant.
+                  Combine this with the relative cheap price of the monitors and one can easily create a custom dual screen docking station for the <em class="em">Lap Top</em>.
+                </p>
+              </div>
+            </section>
+
+            <p class="p">
+              <strong class="strong">Kevin Day</strong>
+            </p>
+          </div>
+        </main>
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  </body>
+</html>