PINN (PINN is not NOOBS)

An enhanced Operating System installer for the Raspberry Pi

PINN is a version of the NOOBS Operating System Installer for the Raspberry Pi with the following additional features:

Change History

V3.8.8

• Translations - Fixed translation of initial messages.
• Self-Update - upgraded implementation in preparation for Pi5
• **Partition size ** - Updated to 128MB
• mkswap - Added support for an additional swap partition

V3.8.7f

• Usability - Updated info message when updating PINN'
• Translation - Fixed selection of CZ keyboard'

V3.8.7e

• Translation - Updated Italian translation'

V3.8.7d

• Translation - Added Czech translation thanks to Jan

V3.8.7

• Hyperpixel - Reinstated Hyperpixel3 drivers and updated pinn_init
• Default Repos - Changed the default Repos.

V3.8.6

• Updates - Improved the update process to prevent overwriting of config files etc.
• WifiDialog - Resized the wifi dialog to fit on 800x480 sized displays.
• Hyperpixel4 - Updated Hyperpixel4 drivers and config files for Pi4

V3.8.5.3

• Backups - Fix ACL permissions when restoring backups

V3.8.5

• Network - Fixed Network time setting'

V3.8.4

• Security - Fixed Secure remote SSH and VNC access
• Images - Added support for mkswap in OS images

V3.8.3

• NVMe - Support for booting on NVMe drives on CM4
• Security - Secure remote SSH and VNC access
• Delete WiFi - Remove the WIFI SSID
• Kernel/FW - Update Kernel to 5.10.103 & Firmware

V3.8.1

• Override - Allow supported_models to be overridden
• Downloads - Allow markeitng.tar and partition_setup.sh to be optional files.
• Backup - Minor fix to parsing of supports_backup
• tarball - Allow tarballs in partitions.json
• tarballs - Allow missing tarballs for emptyfs

V3.8

• Translation - Update italian Translation
• wifi - New wifi firmware packaging
• Kernel/FW - Update kernel, firmware and userland to match NOOBS 3.8
• Pigz - Update pigz from 2.4 to 2.7
• zh_TW - Fix translation_zh_TW.ts commit
• Labels - Fix finding partition name format
• Lineage - Fix lineage backup of images
• Bootmenu - BOOTMENUTIMEOUT=0 means no countdown to boot

V3.7.5

• LineageOS - better FS support for latest Android

V3.7.4

• Install - Improve installation dialog for better security to prevent overwrites
• Arora - Add useful PINN bookmarks to web browser

V3.7.3

• Tooltips - Add tooltips showing OS version and release date (if known)

V3.7.2

• SSL Errors - Fix for Let's Encrypt SSL errors.
• Backup - Backup now stores additional final ACL attributes
• upgrade - fix self-update

V3.7

• Firmware - Updated firmware to match NOOBS 3.7
• DevEnv - The development environment used to build PINN is now Ubuntu 20.04

V3.6.2

• SSL errors - Workaround for Let's Encrypt SSL certificate expiry

V3.6.1.2

• Language - minor Italian translation fix
• Update - Try to avoid PINN overwriting user modified files when updating
• runinstaller - Detect existing installations to avoid wiping them out
• backup - Backup files even when slides_vga is missing
• install - Allow use of marketing.tar for local files too

V3.6

• Firmware - Updated firmware and wifi to match NOOBS 3.6
• Language - Updated Italian translation
• pinn_init - Fixed pinn_init.sh for USB boots
• Provision - Added option for manual SSD provisioning
• runinstaller - Maintain network settings during runinstaller
• self-check - Manual check for PINN upgrade removes ignore flag. #497

V3.5.5

• Joysticks - New joystick drivers including triggers and deadzones. Support for 2 joysticks.
• Firmware - Removed firmware upgrades for very old OSes.
• Install - Install icon changed to warn against deletion {#380}
• CM4 - Added dwc2 USB driver for CM4
• Backup - Better backups by deleting socket files (#442) and setting attributes (#447).
• ssh - Uses permanent storage
• progress - prevent progressdialog from closing

V3.5.4

• buildroot - improve some build scripts
• dualhdmi - fix license
• Installation - Refactor close dialogs for better error handling
• Memory - Display amount of Pi memory fitted
• partuuid - Allow installation to USB without partuuid
• Filesystems - Added ext3 & exfat
• Wifi - Updated wifi firmware

V3.5.2

• KERNEL - Fix issue with PI4 8GB models
• Translations - Update it translations
• HDMI - Automatic switching between HDMI0 and HDMI1

V3.5

• KERNEL - Bump firmware & kernel as NOOBS 3.5 for CM4
• Certificates - Fix arora certificate errors
• Translations - Update it and zh_TW translations
• Prompt - Update shell prompt
• Clarify - Clarify text between replace & reinstall
• Logs - Add Show Log in Fix up menu

V3.3.4.4

• Labels - Fix partition labels when replacing OS

V3.3.4.3

• Backup - Fix backup of Raspberry Pi OS
• Install - Use multithreaded xz
• Flavours - Fix use of .txt files
• bugfix - fix crash if no source (#414)

V3.3.4.2

• Firmware - Update firmware 5.4.45 for usb-boot (beta)
• Name Change - Update recommended OS name
• KeybdTrigger - Fix keyboard trigger option
• Translations - Update Italian language

V3.3.4.1

• CloneSD - Remove drive restrictions on Clone SD
• Set Time - Added indication that time is in UTC
• Replace - Fixed shortcut for Replace OS
• Buildversions - Made buildversions more intuitive (for me!)
• Legacy - Accounted for Pi4 when identifying legacy hardware

V3.3.3

• MBR fix - Better detection of non-MBR formatted SD cards.
• Joysticks - Better detection of joysticks that are slow to connect.
• Reload Repos - New button to reload the distribution list from internet.
• fontsize - Added rudimentary font size adjustment using +/- keys.

V3.3.2

• Joystick - Added support for USB Joysticks/Gamepads (Xbox-style)
• Silentinstall - Fixed a bug when silent-installing from the network
• VirtualKeyboard - Added a Virtual Keyboard for wifi and option dialogs

V3.3c

• Translations - Updated a few translations (it, zh_TW, ko, de)
• HDMI Pi4 - Removed hdmi_force_hotplug
• Downloads - Fixed download progressbar
• Replace - Changed accelerator key from L to C

V3.3a

• Tidy up - Development moved to Ubuntu 18.04 prompting a tidy up

V3.3

• PI4 support - Added support for the new RPi4. Includes Raspbian Buster in full version.

V3.2.4c

• Hyperpixel - Fixed hyperpixel 4 overlay file

V3.2.4b

• Wifi Drivers - Re-added Realtek rtl8188eu and rtl8192cu modular wifi drivers.

V3.2.4a

• Build - Modified to build on Ubuntu 18.10 'cosmic'
• Progress - Experimental modification to measure installation progress more accurately
• Wifi dialog - Removed focus for better use by keyboard
• Zipfles - Use bsdtar to unzip inline for checksums
• Esc - Esc key exits all menus
• Firmware - Don't automatically downgrade firmware
• Options - Added shortcuts for better keyboard use
• GPIO - Allows gpiochannel and gpiochannelValue to be specified to trigger the recovery menu

V3.2.3

• Customisations - Fix bug introduced by backup preventing customisations.

V3.2.2

• Backup hotfix - Fix for OSnames with spaces.
• Translations - Updated IT & zh_TW
• Iconsizes - fixed to 40x40
• Download - ignore partials

V3.2.1

• Bootselectiondialog - update for CEC and keyboard

V3.2

• Added Ts & C's dialog - for Future OSes
• Resumable download - in case of download errors
• More robust file transfer - in case of download errors
• Change boot selection order - Just for aesthetics
• Added file checksums - for download verification
• Added partition_setup.sh checksum - for download verification
• Added options dialog - To make option setting easier.

V3.1.1

• alias - Fix underscores
• backup - Much faster backups on multicore processors
• silentreinstallnewer - exits to boot menu & stops remotetimeout
• menu - Removed PageDown->nextmenu function because it conflicts
• Translations - Updated IT & zh_TW translations

V3.1

• Nano - Added nano text editor
• Rename - Allows giving an OS an Alias name & change its description
• Hyperpixel - Added full kernel drivers to support Pimoroni Hyperpixel 3.5" and 4" touchscreens
• ScreenSwitch - Performs automatic screen switching at bootup
• dhcpcd - Now configurable

V3.0.4

• forceupdatepinn - Add forceupdatepinn option
• OS Replace - Fixed problem replacing an OS when PINN is booted from USB

V3.0.3

• Backup USB - Fix for multiple USB sticks.
• Translation - Ko & zh_tw.ts updated.

V3.0.2

• Backup USB - Improved backup size calculation for USB installed OSes.

V3.0.1

• Backup/Download - Removed the need to reboot after a download or backup.
• Wallpapers - removed wallpapers folder & Allowed JPEGs
• **Default wallpaper - Changed default to wallpaper.jpg

V3.0

• Backup - Backup an OS in PINN format
• Time - Added button to set date & time
• Download - Fixed foldername of some OSes when downloaded
• Iconcache - Cache icons when connected to internet to speedup startup

V2.8.5.8

• RPi 3A+ - Supports RPi 3A+

V2.8.5.7

• Firmware - Disabled firmware downgrade on 3B+
• Clear - Added Clear button to clear all selections
• Kernel Bump - Linux kernel 4.14.74, firmware and userland bumped to match NOOBS 2.9
• Replace - Removed RiscOS & Windows_10 from OS replacement
• SilentInstall - Fixed waiting for USB images
• networktimeout - 0 means wait indefinitely for network before silentinstall

V2.8.5.5

• Boot menu - Sticky default now uses bootmenutimeout
• rebootp - Added rebootp command to recovery shell

V2.8.5.4

• Boot menu - Fixed focus and sticky default partuuid issues.
• wallpaper_resize - Customised wallpaper can now be resized to fill the screen

V2.8.5.3

• Partuuid - Fixed an issue from v2.8 where partuuids were introduced to installed_os.json
• Wallpaper - Customised wallpaper is now available by writing your own wallpaper.png file to PINN's recovery partition

V2.8.5.2

• VNCnotice - Displays a notice on the main screen when vncinstall is in use
• PINN update - Prevents crash on manual update when there is no network
• ae-ts - tidy up of translations

V2.8.5.1

• Reinstall - BUGFIX for Re-install.
• translations - Updated it and zh_TW translations.
• silentreinstallnewer - USE WITH CAUTION. With select= it will silently re-install any selected OSes that are newer than the installed version.

V2.8.5

• Boot Cancel - Added a new cancel button to the bootselection dialog which will reboot back into PINN
• Swedish keyboard - Swedish keyboard fixed when language selected
• Bootable selection - The bootselection dialog is only available if a bootable OS is installed.
• Select Option - Auto select/check OSes to be installed. "allsd,allusb,allnetwork,waitsd,waitusb,waitnetwork,waitall,allinstalled,<osname>"
• SilentInstall - with Select will auto-install selected OSes
• Added Disablesdimages - Disablesdimages in recovery.cmdline will prevent OSes on SD card from being shown
• Network start - The network is always started, even with silentinstall.
• Flavour download - Flavours can now be downloaded from remote repos. Only need to download 1
• Added flavours.tar.xz - Remote flavours need to include flavours.tar.xz
• RPi Model Name - Added name of RPi model to MainMenu screen

V2.8.4

• Replace OSes - Allows the replacement of one OS with another
• Project Spaces - Added Project Spaces
• Reserve disk space - Reserve some space on PINN's partition before formatting
• mkimage - Added mkimage from uboot
• xz - Allow XZ Compression
• Update Dialog - This now cancels any timeout setting

V2.8.3

• Programmable CEC - Fixed bugs
• networktimeout - Added timeout to detect network presence

V2.8.2

• Reinstall - bugfix to Reinstall option following partuuid change on USBs

V2.8.1

• Programmable CEC - Program your TV remote for use with PINN

V2.8

• Fix menu - Replaced Fsck with Fix menu option to include a wider range of tools
• Store meta - Additional meta files stored on installation for fix up tools
• Partuuid - Store partuuid references for better USB support
• Tab fix - Fixed synchronisation of OS tab display

V2.6.2

• pinn_init.sh - Improve calling of script to run before PINN
• config.txt - deleted

V2.6.1

• Kernel - Bump kernel to suppress missing mailbox commands in old firmware
• pinn_init.sh - Add initialisation script to run before PINN

V2.6

• Firmware - Update firmware
• Kernel - Update kernel to 4.14

V2.5.5

• Self-Update - A small fix to the self-update ignore feature

V2.5.4

• Countdown - Re-enabled the boot selection dialog countdown timer.

V2.5.3

• Switch firmware - Enable switching of firmware for 3B+ and other models.

V2.5.2a

Fixes the incorrect recovery.cmdline bug in v2.5.2. (There's a reason why I didn't make this v2.7 just yet!)

V2.5.2

• OS Firmware - Includes a better method of slipstreaming new Firmware
• BUG: Cmdline - Note that the recovery.cmdline is incorrect in this version

V2.5.1

• firmware - New firmware for Rpi 3B+
• Kernel - Update to kernel 4.9.80
• OS firmware - Latest firmware is slip streamed onto old OSes
• wifi drivers - Some wifi drivers temporarily removed until they can be upgraded
• Arora - Prevented multiple instances of Arora browser running

V2.4.5f

• rtl8812 wifi - added wifi driver for rtl8812 5GHz dongles

V2.4.5e

• remotetimeout - Enable network for remote boot alteration.

This new option allows PINN to be used more easily in a remote headless environment.

V2.4.5

This is a small maintenance release for some cosmetic changes and bugfixes mainly.

• background - Specify the background colour as background=r,g,b
• style - Change the style with style=motif/windows/platinum
• configpath - (partially) allow remote flavours to customise an OS
• dsi - Allows the HDMI/DSI switching option to work with OSes installed to USB

V2.4.4c

Finally, PINN can now re-install any installed OS WITHOUT affecting the other OSes, eliminating one of my NOOBS bugbears.

• Re-install - Re-install an OS without affecting others
• no_update - disable PINN self-update (manual refesh of PINN available)
• update PINN - A manual PINN update check can now be done (for when no_update is used)
• Edit PINN - The recovery.cmdline and config.txt fiels of PINN can now be edited.
• no_cursor - The no_cursor option now only affects the bootselection dialog
• Wipe - The Wipe Disk command has been temporarily removed
• Max OSes - The number of OSes has been restricted so that boot partitions numbers are <63
• self-update - Fixes broken self-update since v2.4.2h

V2.4.3

A major change to the User Interface in preparation for some new features.

• 3 Toolbars - Main Menu, Archival and Maintenance.
• OS Groups - OS lists are grouped into General, Minimal, Educational, Media and Gaming.
• Download OS - Download an OS to USB for local installation.
• Fsck - Check and fix your filesystems in case of error.
• Wipe Disk - delete all OSes and restore drive to full capacity.
• Info button - Go directly to the webpage of each OS.

V2.4.2h

• Translations - udpate to Portugese + other translations
• Password - A new password will not expire
• Slideshow - Slides during installation are now scaled to be the same size.
• >1TB MSDs - Installing OSes to a USB Mass Storage Device > 1TB would fail. 2TB is the maximum size.

V2.4.2

• repo_list - Added repo_list cmdline argument

Bugfixes

• Win10IoT - Fixed annoying warning messages on installation
• RTAndrod - re-included missing cpio to allow installation

V2.4.1

• btrfs - Included support for btrfs file systems

V2.4

• Update - Rebase onto NOOBS 2.4
• repo - Support "repo=" from NOOBS
• USB support - Supports USB BOOT and USB ROOTFS

V2.3

• PiZeroW - Further update to match NOOBS 2.3. Add wifi RegDB for channel 13. Add missing DTBs

V2.2

• PiZeroW - Update firmware/kernel for PiZero Wifi version

V2.1.4

• IP address - Shown in window title
• CEC key mapping - Replaced 0 button with PLAY button for greater applicability
• BOOT - Added BOOT button to boot selection dialog for use with limited TV remotes
• **Tarball names - Allow local tarballs to have a different name to the partition labell
• SD Card - Recommend 8GB card minimum
• SD Card - Update SD card requirements
• Network - Do not continue polling for connectivity during installation
• Update - Bump kernel and firmware versions

V2.1.3

• Translations - Added many translations from the community

V2.1.2

• Default Boot - A default OS can be set in a multi-boot setup for quicker boots.
• Bootmenutimout - The timeout of the boot selection dialog can be changed.
• SHIFT key - The PINN interface can be reached using the Left mouse button or a CEC enabled TV remote key as well as the SHIFT key.

Bugfixes

• The build dependencies introduced in v2.1.1 have been fixed.

V2.1.1

• CEC Support - Added CEC support for controlling PINN with a TV remote

V2.1

• IoTpHAT support - Updated to match NOOBS v2.1 to include IoTpHAT wifi

V2.0

• Network Drivers - Added the popular RTL8188eu wifi driver (for HubPiWi and others)
• New Firmware - Updated Firmware and Kernel to match NOOBS 2.0

V1.9.5

• Self-Update - Notification and download of new releases

Bugfixes

• Network Drivers - Fixed the popular RTL8188cus wifi driver.
• RPI3 ACT_LED - Now displays correctly on SD card access

V1.9.4

• Network Drivers - A number of additional wifi and ethernet drivers have been added.

Bugfixes

• Dialog Box - The initialisation dialog box is removed under network errors

V1.9.3

• Clone SD Card - Copy the SD card to another card in a USB reader (BETA)
• Rescue shell - Exiting the rescue shell now enters the PINN recovery program instead of another shell.
• VNCSHARE - Sets up PINN to use VNC at the same time as an attached screen

Bugfixes

• https - Fixed the ability to use https protocol (which was preventing Arch from installing sometimes).
• wifi config - A user supplied wpa_supplicant.conf file is now ALWAYS copied to /settings and then renamed to wpa_supplicant.conf.bak so that it does not continually overwrite any manual changes made through the GUI.

V1.9.2

• Password - Change or reset your password for each OS.
• DSI/HDMI - Auto-switching of DSI/HDMI screen with HDMI taking priority

BugFixes

• NoobsConfig - Config filenames now now have all spaces converted to underscores
• Multiple Os - Multiple installed OSes can now be selected again.
• DHCP - ClientID is now used instead of DUID to request an IP address

V1.9.1 (based on NOOBS v1.9)

• USB support - store your OS installations on USB stick to avoid wasting SD card space and avoid downloading each time.
• Alternative Src - Install OSes from an alternative website, or local webserver
• ARCH support - Install the Arch Linux OS directly from the Arch website
• VGA666 support - Alow PINN to be used with Gert's VGA666 adaptor
• NOOBSCONFIG support - Allow customisation of an OS installation as it installs
• SSH support - SSH remotely into you PINN installation.
• Progress - View your installation progress via alternative means

see github for full information