RaspEX (Edition 150508) for Raspberry Pi 2 based on Debian 8, Ubuntu 15.04 and Linaro :: Free download

raspberry-logoNEWS 150508 ABOUT RaspEX
My first version of RaspEX is from 150318. I have now upgraded the whole system. RaspEX is a Linux ARM system for Raspberry Pi 2. It is based on Debian Jessie (Debian 8), Ubuntu Vivid Vervet (Ubuntu 15.04) and Linaro (Open Source software for ARM SoCs).

Softpedia review
RaspEX version 150508 was reviewed by Softpedia 150509.

What is Raspberry Pi?
The Raspberry Pi is a low cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV, and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It is a capable little device that enables people of all ages to explore computing, and to learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python. It’s capable of doing everything you’d expect a desktop computer to do, from browsing the internet and playing high-definition video, to making spreadsheets, word-processing, and playing games.
Read more about Raspberry Pi…

model-b-plus-300x225
Raspberry Pi model B made in February 2015. It has a 900MHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 CPU and 1GB RAM. Read more…

About RaspEX
RaspEX is a full Linux Desktop system with LXDE (an extremely fast-performing and energy-saving desktop environment) and many other useful programs pre-installed. Chromium is used as Web Browser and Synaptic as Package Manager. You can use Synaptic to install any extra packages you may need. For example LibreOffice. RaspEX uses Ubuntu’s software repositories so you can install thousands of extra packages if you want.

Kernel
Kernel 3.18.7-v7+ is used

Why shall I use RaspEX?
Eight Operating Systems are recommended by Raspberry.org. Among them Noobs, Raspbian (Debian Wheezy) and Snappy Ubuntu Core. RaspEX is faster (“fast as lightning”), more useful and more fun to use. (In my opinion).

How do I install RaspEX?
Just like any other Raspberry system. I.e.: Unpack the downloaded ZIP file (raspex-ubuntu-15.04-armhf-674mb-150508.zip) and transfer the IMAGE file (raspex-ubuntu-15.04-armhf-3050mb-150508.img) to your Micro SD card of at least 8GB. For that you shall use Win32DiskImager in Windows.
raspex-win32img

How do I use RaspEX?
When you start up your Raspberry Mini computer with RaspEX you will (after a few seconds) end up at SLiM‘s login page.

login-raspex

Log in as root with password root. You can of course create an ordinary user if you want. Command: /usr/sbin/adduser MyNewUser

Edit /root/.bashrc
Add the following line in the end of /root/.bashrc

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games

Then log out from LXDE and back in again.

When logged in as root your Desktop will look like this.

raspex-desktop-screenshot-linaro
Click to view a larger picture

Upgrade the system
If you want to upgrade the system you shall/must run the following three commands as root. Be sure to edit /root/.bashrc first – see above.
apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
apt-get install xinit init
If you miss to run any of the above commands the system will be unusable.

Wireless connections
If you have a Wireless USB Adapter – the only one which works for Raspberry is Edimax EW-7811Un – you should install Wicd Network Manager (apt-get install wicd) while you have a wired connection. Then reboot and change Wicd’s preferences to suit your wireless connection.

Flash support in Chromium
Read about how to install flash (PepperFlash) in Chromium. After that you can check out Top 10 flash sites 2015.

View all installed packages in RaspEX

DOWNLOAD
This build has been replaced by version 160307 especially built for Raspberry Pi 3.

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16 Responses to RaspEX (Edition 150508) for Raspberry Pi 2 based on Debian 8, Ubuntu 15.04 and Linaro :: Free download

  1. Ian says:

    Thanks Exton for providing the new RaspEX image 150508 and the instructions to make the system stable. Have just installed and updated, all working very well and fast. Cheers. Ian.

  2. Stefan says:

    Hi,

    really like your fast system =)
    however I struggle to get several stuff to work;

    There is no adduser optional (in the terminal)- although synaptic tells so…
    same for apt-get – I always got the following error:
    “dpkg: warning: ‘ldconfig’ not found in PATH or not executable
    dpkg: warning: ‘start-stop-daemon’ not found in PATH or not executable
    dpkg: error: 2 expected programs not found in PATH or not executable
    Note: root’s PATH should usually contain /usr/local/sbin, /usr/sbin and /sbin
    E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (2)

    that makes it quite hard using your system….

    BTW: how can I add the logitech z305 – on ubuntu mate (ARM7) its working…

    Thanks

    • exton says:

      Hi Stefan,

      What you say sounds alarming. I’ll have to check it myself.

      About Logitech: I don’t know.

      • Stefan says:

        Hi exton,

        great – I did a fresh install twice – same problem =(

        Would be great if you can post a solution for that =)
        Btw: to get wicd installed, you have to use synaptics – would be great if you can include it in the next build (so no ethernet cable is required).

        For the logitech z305 speakers – it seams like the corresponding kernel module is missing… Just wondering: did you compile your own kernel?

        Thanks

        • exton says:

          Stefan,

          To add a new user you’ll have to run the command /usr/sbin/adduser myNEWuser

          I don’t know why because /usr/sbin is in the PATH. Check /etc/environment

          apt-get: I could not reproduce your errors. apt-get update and apt-get upgrade runs without problems.

          But maybe you should add this line to /root/.bashrc and log out and log in again.

          export PATH=$PATH:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin/:/bin:/sbin

          Wicd: Yes, I shall install it next time.

          Kernel: No, it’s not “mine”. If it was the name would have been something with “exton”.

  3. Chuck says:

    This is the fastest system I have tried on my Raspberry PI 2 and Chromium with pepperflash hack rocks. Excellent Job on your system. Thanks a million.

  4. Mike says:

    Would RaspEx work on a Banana Pi?

  5. SandPox says:

    How about a minimal, server-like install version?

  6. Nicholas says:

    Arne– I don’t want to seem ungrateful, but why not build in the necessary wireless tools? Maybe in a future version? A lot of us on public wifi don’t have access to Ethernet, and so getting Internet up and running on RaspEX is pretty much impossible. I wouldn’t be so frustrated if I didn’t like your distro in every other way.

    • exton says:

      Wireless-tools are installed. You probably miss Wicd. The simple explanation is that i simply forgot to include it. Just install it yourself when when you have access to the Internet. (At a friend’s house or so).

      • Nicholas says:

        Ah, I see. It’s been a while since my commandline days with Gentoo in the early days of wireless. So then I would use ifconfig or something like that to get wireless up and running initially?

  7. Carl says:

    Hi, I’ve spent sometime trying to install wicd to no success. Am following the install file:
    python setup.py configure
    python setup.py install *fails here saying Errno 2 no file or such directory: ‘gnome shell’

  8. Carl says:

    Hi, I still have no fix for the problem. How do i get the edimax adapter to work?

  9. ayoe says:

    Still lagging on youtube videos. Hope to fix this problem soon

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