#raspberry pi

Rasbian - the official OS of robogirls.

PiDP-8 update #4, assembly nearing completion, save some mounting of stuff in a more robust way.

OS/8 is running, lights are lighting and the stop switch halts the CPU, allowing you to single-step instruction by instruction. Don't try that on your Core i7!

I was running out of space to store books and I didn't want to buy a Kindle - that would put me in bed with Amazon and it would just need to be replaced in a few years anyway.  So I decided to build something cheaper and better that I could repair and upgrade myself.

This Raspberry Pi eReader is almost complete - it's functional but its case hasn't arrived yet.  In brief, this is a Raspberry Pi 4 B attached to the back of a Touch Display 2 (7") running Foliate ereader software.  It has no battery and must be plugged in to work. This post will cover parts and setup; usability notes will be in the next post.

For those who aren't familiar, a Raspberry Pi is a fully functional Linux computer that fits in the palm of your hand; you can attach a keyboard, mouse, and monitor to it and cruise the web if you like.  This project is basically a touchscreen tablet.

Parts:

Raspberry Pi 4 B (4GB). I chose this instead of the model 5 because fan cooling is suggested for that one. $55

Touch Display 2 (7"). $60

power supply and SD card, I think $20

Plastic case to cover the rear and edges.  This hasn't arrived yet.

Setup:

1.  Install the raspberry pi OS on the SD card.  To do that, you put the SD card into an adapter of some sort and plug it into to a Windows or Mac computer.  On that computer, install raspberry pi's imager software and run it.  Tell it what Pi you have and other options.  This includes telling it the name and password of your wifi so the Pi can get on the internet.  Tell the imager software to write the OS to the SD card, then physically insert the SD card into its slot on the Pi.  The Pi must be unplugged to do this.

2.  Physically assemble the parts.  There are two cables between the Pi and the display:  one for power and one for data.  The ribbon cable for data is a bit nonintuitive - it took me three youtube videos to finally find how the retaining clips work.  (It's a single-piece black plastic part that loosens by sliding outwards in the direction the cable is coming from.  You loosen it, insert the cable, then push it back in.)  You attach the cables to the display, screw the Pi to the back of the display, then connect the cables to the Pi.

3.  Plug it in, let it boot, and update the OS.  This is just like letting a new Windows PC do all its windows updates.  It's done by typing two commands into a command line.

4.  Install Foliate.  Foliate is 3rd party software distributed in the "snap store" so it's preconfigured to run on most varieties of linux. 

5.  Copy your ebook files to the Pi.  I did this by loading them onto a USB thumb drive on my windows machine, then plugging that thumb drive into the Pi.  The Pi's GUI lets you drag and drop files.

Fun old tech on display or for sale at the Winter 2026 Dallas/Fort Worth area Retrocomputing Meeup on the 17th of January, 2026.

"The next time I design something, I'll leave extra room for wiring.", I lied to myself the last time I designed something.

Just a few more components to jam into my new handheld computer before I can wire it!