Quick Starting the Raspberry Pi

First step is Raspi-Config setup.

At the command prompt, or in terminal (if you booted into a desktop) enter the following command:

code>sudo raspi-config

This will bring you into the raspi-configuration tool.

Here, you want to expand the file system (so you utilize all the room on your SD card), and change your User Password to something other then the default.

Next go into Interfacing Options.

Depending on my application I will turn on SSH, and possibly VNC.  This allows headless access (remote connections so you dont need to be plugged into a monitor or keyboard) both via SSH (command line) and via VNC (remote desktop access).

Go into Overclock (Raspberry Pi Model B)

Next head on into the Overclock option (Raspberry Pi B, the Raspberry Pi 3 doesn’t allow overclocking) and give it a little speed bump.  I typically set to Modest but you can set to where you please.  Just beware that the faster you run it, the less its lifespan.

Next on to Advanced Options

Here change my hostname based on what you doing with the Raspberry Pi.  For example in the image above, you can see I changed my hostname to AlexaPi as this was my Amazon Alexa project.

Set your resolution, this is handy to set to your monitor resolution if you plan to remote into the desktop environment via VNC.

That’s it for Raspi-Config.  Go to Finish, but do not reboot yet, just exit back to the command prompt.

Next Step, configure Wifi

If you know your Wifi SSID, you can skip this step, other wise you can enter the following to get a list of wifi networks around you.

sudo iwlist wlan0 scan

Check the list and note the SSID of the wireless network you want to connect to.  Then use the following command to set up your network information.

sudo nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

At the bottom of the file enter the following information (if the file is empty, press Ctrl+x and exit.  You likely made a typo)

network={
ssid="Your SSID"
psk="Your Password"
}

Press Ctrl+x, then Y and Enter to save your updated file.

If your raspberry pi isn’t recognizing your USB wifi adapter, you may possibly be able to find additional firmware using the following.

sudo apt-get install firmware-linux-nonfree wireless-tools wpasupplicant -y

If this works for you, you can now return to the Configure Wifi commands.

Reboot the Raspberry Pi.

sudo reboot

Or if I want to relocate the Raspberry Pi now that it is remotely accessable, shutdown.

sudo shutdown now

When it restarts, you should have wifi connectivity, and the ability to connect up via SSH or VNC.