CoCo-Pi Project Update (2024-11-27)
Once again, it’s been a while since my last update. It was a busy summer but ready to get back to some retro computer hobby time as winter is rapidly approaching. The latest CoCo-Pi distribution is being released using the latest Raspberry Pi OS with Desktop (which is based on Debian 12 “Bookworm”). It’s 64bit and continues to be compatible with the RPi3 B+, RPi4, RPi400 and RPi5 platforms. Performance is relative based on the age and capabilities of the RPi platform you are using. This latest CoCo-Pi image was done using a 32GB SD card so that is the minimum size needed (64GB recommended).
As you may have read from my previous development posts, my intent was to move to an “installer” based version of CoCo-Pi. This would allow you to download/use the latest Debian 12 based OS (for the Raspberry Pi or even other platforms altogether) and use automated scripts to install the CoCo-Pi components (i.e. lauch menus, emulators, compilers, development utilities, etc.) on top of the OS. While there is some manual steps required to do this, it allowed for a great deal of flexibility. Windows 10 or 11 users could install CoCo-Pi under WSL (which works fantastic) or other SBC’s that can run Linux. Same for home PC’s, laptops, whatever. As long as you can get a Debian 12 OS for it, chances are it can be used as a CoCo-Pi platform.
The installer scripts download, build (if necessary) and install all components that make up CoCo-Pi. These same scripts can be used to keep these components updated yourself (many will retain the previous versions until you purge them) so you can always roll-back if you find a compatibility (or other issue) with it. It’s these same installer scripts that I built to help automate the building of CoCo-Pi and can be a real time saver for me.
While there are many who thought this installer version was a good idea, there were more who did not. They simply wanted an SD card image to download with most things already pre-installed. I understand this from both sides and it goes without saying you “can’t please everyone” though I try to accomodate the best I can (as time allows).
So, what does all of this mean for CoCo-Pi?
The work I put into automating the build process is still very valuable to me and anything I can do to save time is important. I will continue to make the “installer” version available on github but will also use it to build the almost “ready to run” SD card image version that everyone has been used to. Even with CoCo-Pi SD image verison, there are still manual steps that need to be performed (which I need to review and update) but the existing CoCo-Pi installation/configuration video series/tutorials that Steve Strowbridge created are still a very good place start.
As always, you can find the latest CoCo-Pi SD card image here:
https://coco-pi.com/downloads/
… and more about the CoCo-Pi Installer project from here:
https://github.com/mrgw454/CoCo-Pi-Installer
