10th of April

Marks Rpi Cluster continues to run 24/7. All compute nodes are running Einstein@home BRP4 work.


Default user pi
After last weeks jump in kernel versions the Raspberry Pi foundation have this week changed their security policy so they no longer have the default user pi. They have issued updated SD card images. A link to the Rpi Foundation blog post is HERE

Instead when setting up a Pi it will ask for a user name and password. Most Linux distros, including Debian which the Raspberry Pi OS is based on, ask when installing so this is nothing new. I'm not sure how this will go with my headless installs (no screen and keyboard) so I will need to experiment. They do mention being able to create a file on the boot partition with a default user name and encrypted password in the blog post.


Out of stock
There are many complaints about the Rpi being out of stock everywhere. The foundation have said they are having difficulty making the 40nm models (Pi3 and older) and have prioritised business customers. They recommend people get the Pi400 or use rpilocator: https://rpilocator.com/ to check availability (it doesn't cover the Asia Pacific region).

A quick check on one of the supplier websites I use seems to have the Pi3 model B+ and the Pi4 model B 8GB out of stock. The 1GB, 2GB and 4GB models seem to be available in Australia. Personally I think they should drop the Pi3 and concentrate on the newer models but they committed to keep making the Pi3 B+ until January 2026.