February 2022: pi-topOS Bullseye has arrived!

pi-top Software
#1

February 2022: pi-topOS Bullseye has arrived! :racehorse:

After months of hard work we’re transitioning pi-topOS to bullseye! You can download the new OS image here.

:gear: What changed?

A major focus of this release has been to improve the onboarding experience: we always look for ways to make the onboarding smoother for our users. This is why you can now complete the onboarding of your pi-top[4] without any cables thanks to a feature we released last year that allows the pi-top[4] to broadcast its own Wi-Fi network that you can connect to using your laptop, and complete the onboarding using a web-browser! We have also created a miniscreen onboarding application that will guide you through the process of connecting your computer to the pi-top and onboarding your device.

On completion, you’ll be welcomed by a new landing application that will let you know about important links and activity suggestions, including Robot Remote Control (more to come on this in future).

Another noticeable change is the miniscreen menu app, which will now provide fast access to important information and a new navigation system to make it easier for new users to move through the different menus. This application is under active development, so expect updates in the next few weeks!

miniscreen

The old OS updater tool was replaced to use the same LXDE updater plugin from Raspberry Pi OS. This means that you’ll be notified and will see an icon appear in the start panel whenever updates are available. We have also included a web-based updater tool which will allow Further users to update their pi-top using the new API without the need of leaving their browser!

up
up2876×1744 2.03 MB

We are also working to improve support for WPA2 Enterprise Wi-Fi networks, with a new comprehensive pi-top connectivity guide supported by the addition of packages such as wpagui to the OS.

And of course, since it’s based on the bullseye release of Raspberry Pi OS, it comes with the latest software, functionalities and improved security & stability.

:rocket: What about the future?

As I’ve mentioned, a lot of packages are in active development. We intend to keep improving the miniscreen application with new pages and improved layouts.

Also, you might have noticed that most of the applications described in the previous section are web-based; we intend to keep adding extensions to our web-portal that will allow users to easily interact with and configure their pi-top headlessly through a web browser.

Also, we are now in a strong position to produce 64-bit versions of our packages that will allow users to use their pi-top with the 64-bit version of Raspberry Pi OS.

:microscope: Nerdier stuff

  • We renamed several systemd services (e.g.: pt-sys-oled is now pt-miniscreen, pt-device-manager is now pi-topd, among others) and packages.
  • 99% of the OS codebase is open source; you can check it out in GitHub
  • All of the packages are now built in Github and pushed directly to our APT repositories.
  • The OS is now also built in Github Actions too!

Final comments

So, please go ahead and download the image and use the latest OS! We’ve been working hard on it for some time now and it’d be great to hear your impressions!

4 Likes
#2

@pi-topJorge First of all, thank you to you and the team for the hard work and amazing improvements.

I’ve got the new OS downloaded and on a couple of my pi-top[4]s and look forward to future possibilities.

Excellent and thank you again.

2 Likes
#3

@pi-topJorge

For clarification & FYI.

In /etc/dhcpcd.conf :

interface ptusb0
static ip_address=192.168.64.1/24

Appears as active entry for that setting twice.
Not that it causes issues, but may be confusing.

1 Like
#4

Just reloaded my 500GB SSD with Pi-Top OS Bullseye on one of my Pi-Tops. Used a Laptop for Getting Started on the Pi-Top[4] (1st time). Installation went well. Using a web browser connecting to the Pi-Top I have 2 questions:

  1. Anyway to view the Pi’s Desktop so I can access the menu to use Pi Configuration?
  2. How to access a terminal window?

It wasn’t apparent on the web Browser.
Will update my second Pi-Top[4] tomorrow.

#5

I think you still need to use VNC Viewer to access the desktop remotely.

You would also need to use the OLED menu and set SSH to active to allow you to access the pi-top via Terminal window. By default, the SSH setting is disabled. But the menu allows you to activate that… which is AMAZING! The new OS and OLED menu is slick!!! :smiley:

Edit: I may have read the “terminal” access question wrong?
VNC Access will allow you to start a Terminal windows in the pi-top.

1 Like
#6

Thanks Tom,
That’s what I did.
Working on my other Pi-Top[4], it’s my 8GB model.
Using the FHD Display & BT Keyboard, I find using this or 3rd party monitor and keyboard a lot easier to use if you have either of them, then the laptop route.

1 Like
#7

That’s right, you can still access the desktop through VNC and SSH to the device after you enable the it using the miniscreen menu.

#8

I don’t use SSH unless I have no other choice or VNC is not working. I just finished installing OpenMedia Vault on my Raspberry Pi NAS (Argon EON) and was forced to use SSH as it can’t be installed with a GUI. Painful process, my mind just doesn’t seem to communicate well with my fingers to type what I am reading.

#9

Is in-place upgrading supported? Did anyone try to upgrade from buster directly instead of re-imaging?

Pi-Top OS doesn't allow program to go pass the first network setup page
#10

Hey @despots , we don’t recommend in-place upgrading since a lot of things changed in the backend and your system would probably be left in an unusable state where it’s not working as it expected.

1 Like