Comments on: Chapter 1: Raspberry Pi Hardware

By: PE3ES

PE3ES — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 15:11:14 +0000

There is now a Pi Zero W with included wireless capabilities. Would be nice to include as addition to this chapter.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-zero-w/

By: fdeming

fdeming — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 03:25:31 +0000

I am finding this part difficult too but found the answer

1) Note that pin our description on page 15 does not have the order shown in the picture. Black, brown, red, orange, yellow and green. That color matches the coding for the FTDI chip document for the TTL-232R-3V3 , I had bought that cable, successfully set the device manager for it(COM3) in my instance. PUTTY setup and I would get a terminal but no response. I have been using putty for years at work.
2) I bought a ADAFruit USB-TTL https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DJUHGHI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and used instructions at https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruits-raspberry-pi-lesson-5-using-a-console-cable/connect-the-lead. Order for that Black, White, Green on 4,6 and 8 pins . Worked correctly.

So I do have a question, with a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B and NOOBS installed about month ago is there a conflict of having pins 10, 12 and 14 occupied? Perhaps later in your fine book the answer will be there or will find out elsewhere.

It has been an interesting exercise. I learned more by the extra work than if the solution as written had just worked.

Looking forward in forging ahead with your book!!

Frank

By: David Buchanan

David Buchanan — Wed, 19 Apr 2017 03:35:10 +0000

Yes, I found the same issue and checked the pins on the rpi3 and saw (fortunately) that 6 pin cable would not work. I also found the 3 Pin cable and bought that one. It is confusing, hope these posts help others.

By: D.Warden

D.Warden — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 04:40:35 +0000

I believe his question was about the cable picture in chapter 1, figure 1-7a, which has a fixed 6 pin header with the order you mentioned above. That cable can not work on the RPI. I purchase such a cable from Amazon along with a breakout USB-TTL. It would be great to include more material covering the setup of the USB-TTL. Amazon also sales a USB-TTL 3 wire (loose) cable for the RPI. Found this out afterward spending $20 on a cable I can’t use.

By: D.Warden

D.Warden — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 04:35:33 +0000

I believe his question was the cable head has 6 wires tied to one header with six holes. They do not match up in order with the suggested pin outs. The picture in chapter 1, Figure 1-7a shows such a cable. I know, because I purchased one just like it on Amazon. I also purchased a breakout USB-TTL item as well and I didn’t find much information on it. As the author, please look at this from the perspective of someone starting out as there is a ton of terminology to learn let alone procedures to get up and running. After the fact, I found a loose 3 wire USB-TTL cable on Amazon just for the RPI.

By: admin

admin — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 14:37:15 +0000

Hi. No problem. The 6-cable version of the cable has a GND (ground), CTS (clear to send), VCC (supply voltage), TXD (transmit), RXD (receive), and RTS (request to send) lines. The RPi doesn’t need the CTS and RTS lines in order to connect to the UART. In addition, your RPi is likely powered using the micro-USB cable so it doesn’t need the VCC. Therefore the only pins required are the GND, TXD, and RXD pins. Check the datasheet for your cable but you typically use black (GND), yellow (RXD), and orange (TXD) only. Hope that helps, Derek.

By: Nishand D'silva

Nishand D'silva — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 13:37:19 +0000

Hi,
I have a query as to how to connect the USB-to-TTL serial cable to the Raspberry Pi3. The cable has six pins at the end, but the book showing how it is connected to the RPI3, I can see only 3 pins, and the text says connect to Pin 6, Pin 8 and Pin 10 of the GPIO header. How is it possible, with the 6 pins on the cable?
Please explain.
Thanks,