Raspberry Pi 4

mottard

Is it possible to use the 2.7.0 image on a raspberry pi 4! if not, when will a new image?

Nicolas

No impossible. But I’m currently testing a updated image working with my brand new RPi 4B 🙂

Stay tuned and look for progress here: https://github.com/moodlebox/moodlebox/issues/129

Ratna

Nicolas Imagine, if the https://discuss.moodlebox.net/d/36-low-number-of-concurrent-connected-users issue is solved by then!

Nicolas

Ratna Yes, it would be so cool 😀

You may do some (soft) lobbying on the Github issue and/or the Raspberry forum to make it happen sooner.

Nicolas

RPi 4 support will come very shortly 😄 .

Nicolas

As promised: https://discuss.moodlebox.net/d/86-moodlebox-3-0-0-released-with-raspberry-pi-4b-support 😁 .

Ratna

Nicolas The makers seemingly pushing the limits of the board: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/19/07/17/2254204/the-raspberry-pi-4-needs-a-fan.

"magine if you're truly using the Pi 4 as a desktop replacement, with at least one external USB 3.0 hard drive attached, WiFi connected and transferring large amounts of data, a USB keyboard and mouse, a few browser windows open (the average website these days might as well be an AAA video game with how resource-intense it is), a text editor, and a music player," _With all that I sure do not seal the RPi in a plastic `box!

Nicolas

Ratna Well, I made some measurements with my MoodleBox, permanently running, in a closed cabinet, without a fan or heatsink (even during these pretty hot summer days). The RPi 4B is indeed a bit warmer than a 3B+, but I've never got any throttling, and the temperature didn't raise above 65°C.

You may notice that the original article (I don't trust second hand reports), even if it uses a punchy and somewhat misleading title, explicitly mentions the use of RPi as a normal PC, using screen connectors to watch videos, etc.

That's absolutely not the same use than a MoodleBox, where the RPi is used as a headless server (so not using at all e.g. any screen).

In a nutshell, in the standard use as a MoodleBox, I am very confident that it does not require any fan or heatsink.

Ratna

Nicolas This is to be expected - look at the number of peripheries that were connected (which I quoted). Yep, counter intuitively a desktop consumes more power steadily whereas the headless servers just float most of the time. Still relieved to know that as MoodleBox Pi 4 doesn't overheat. Right now my interest is on the low power side, since the boxes need to be very portable - higher power requirements are a burden.

Luizrosalba

So what about big and powerful routers ( not USB dongles ). Can I avoid the limitation using them or is It a Rpi ( processor, memory , etc. ) limitation ? I tryied moodlebox on a Rpi 3 (1gb version) and It went really slow even with 5 users. If i buy a Rpi 4 with 4gb ram will It run ok ? Anyone ever tryied that ?

Ratna

Luizrosalba If you access the MoodleBox (MB) through the ethernet cable, you won't have the current barrier of 15-25 users due to the limitations of the wireless interface. Where the next barrier is difficult to say whether the CPU or RAM or the disk access or the network max out. You need to test. But there is something wrong with your MB, I have first hand experience with 14 users. When you say RPi 3 (1 GB version), do you mean Pi 3B as opposed to Pi 3B+? Tell us exactly how you test. And generally, a subjective statement like "really slow" is not good enough, you need some measurement, in numbers, which the others could repeat with their MoodleBoxes. What does Moodle Benchmark https://moodle.org/plugins/report_benchmark say?