I’m Dutch, so this writing is not my native, may be you say things differently, sorry for that. But better this story then nothing at all.
I have a Raspberry Pi 400, bought as personal computer kit. I checked the OS, I think it is Buster and not what I thought Bullseye. The kit was delivered with a 32bit OS, a thing I didn't know, you read the specs of the computer and it says 64bit. But it worked, so no complaints. Last time I noticed that the updates where very minim, not what I was used to, so time to move on. I'm a private person and make reasonably use of the computer, so I had a backup and update schedule of about one month. After a month I did copy backup I to backup II, that is you start up the computer with backup I and you copy it with SD Card Copier to backup II. After that testing. Then you backup the working SD to backup I with same procedure. Again testing. After that backup is complete, next update. After update a reboot and then we go playing for another month or so. Don't update first and then backup in case the update is not okay or does have bugs. Sometimes I read about this kind of trouble.
I have a different approach when it comes to installing software. That is I have a lot of Java programs and I made a map for it in the home directory. In this map new maps with the program names and of course the programs. The setup sees to it that everything stays in that map or if the program has data then it will use a data directory. I have manuals, pdf documents, music and other really big things on a USB disk, not on the working SD.
You have to note down what programs you have installed via the program "Add / Remove Software" and what software you want again and what software can go because you don't like it or you don't use it etc.
Next, when I use a mouse then I will get RSI in about two months. I'm now free of that problem because I use a Wacom tablet as a mouse. That works very good and you can hold the pen in the way you hold a fountain pen for writing a letter or so. But the Wacom tablet is not supported strait out of the box, that is, I didn’t see a setup program in which you can setup the tablet in the way you work. The software sees it as a mouse, but the buttons are on the wrong place and you get strange behaviour with the tip. Changing mouse buttons has no effect. There is a solution for it and I had written some notes about it in this forum.
So, now we know the starting point, how to proceed.
There are some articles and notes on this subject, and all say more or less don't update the SD, start all over again. There is a second reason for that and that is that if everything fails you can fallback on an OS system, the 32bit working SD, which is already setup with all the programs up to the moment of your last backup. And the third reason is that you have to copy your data, and in my case the Java programs, to the new system.
So the first thing I did was ordering 2 64Gb microSD cards with the Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm on it. Next also 2 64Gb microSD cards for backup. In total 4 microSD cards, believe me, this won't break your bank and you have an excellent starting point. Why 64Gb, in the last 30 years or so I never had really more data or programs. If you like statistics, working disk 64Gb with Bookworm and my setup and still 26Gb available, on the 32Gb USB data disk is 16Gb available.
One microSD card with the Raspberry Pi OS is setup for use with the Raspberry Pi 400. The other sits in the sealed bag and won't come out of it. In case of very severe problems that the working SD will fail and the backups will fail, you have in house a solution for recovering. The working SD and the backups can be compromised by some virus or malware. You get the trouble always in a very early stage and you don’t know. In such a case I just start all over again and will delete and overwrite the SD completely. You will probably loose some data, but if you do it wisely you can recover in most of the times all of it because its data. The OS is for me another matter, I have that fresh copy, so just start all over again. Yes, I will say some bad words about it, but its the best way.
Setup the Raspberry Pi OS and follow the program when its setup for you. I want to warn you that it can take some time. At a point you think that nothing happens, but that is not true. May be they can do something about it in a way that you can see that the installation program is still running and not halted. At present its a black screen. After a while you get a ready to go environment with a desktop, menu and so on. Skip the part about the Wacom tablet if you don’t use that device.
Wacom tablet
If you have like me a Wacom tablet which you use as a mouse, then you have to use another setup and you have to download a package.
To switch from setup you have to do the following;
- sudo raspi-config
- select "6 advanced options"
- select "A6 wayland" and switch to X11
- reboot
ref:viewtopic.php?p=2189473&hilit=wacom#p2189473
May be you have to attach a mouse for a short period, because the pen of the Wacom tablet does not act right.
Now you are on X11, start the program “Add / Remove Software”. Enter “wacom” in the search field. The program comes up with a list, browse to the last line with “xserver-xorg-input-wacom-1.1.0-1 (64bit)”. Install the package. We are not done yet.
- start filemanager with "sudo pcmanfm"
- go to "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
- open the file "70-wacom.conf" with Mousepad
- find the right section for your Wacom tablet, for model Bamboo its the first
section.
- add at the end of the section, but above “EndSection” the two lines;
Option "Button2" "3"
Option "Button3" "2"
If you have done that you will have;
Section "InputClass"
Identifier "Wacom USB tablet class"
MatchUSBID "056a:*"
MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
MatchIsTablet "true"
Driver "wacom"
Option "Button2" "3"
Option "Button3" "2"
EndSection
- save the file and close Mousepad and the filemanager.
- reboot, in case of attached mouse shutdown, swap devices and with Fn+F10
start up.
Test the new setup in Mousepad, the buttons 2 and 3 are now swapped.
This will work much better for most users.
End of Wacom tablet instructions.
You have now a working Pi on 64bit with a desktop, menu etc, this is the standard without your stuff. To copy your stuff you will need a card reader with preferable a microSD slot. Put the 32bit working SD or a backup SD in the slot. Connect the card reader with a short USB cable to one of the USB-3 ports. I take the one with the sound card and swap the sound card for the card reader. You can “hot” plug it. After a short moment you will be notified by the OS if you want to open the card with file manager. Yes. After that you get a second notification, again yes. Now you have in the file manager a window with “boot” and a window with “rootfs”. Don’t touch “boot”. You need the window with “rootfs”. Go to the directory ”home”, click on “pi”. Now you see a familiar structure with directories “Downloads”, “Documents”, “Mail”, “Music” and so on. In these directories you find your personal stuff. It is tempting to copy the complete “home” directory, don’t do it, besides that you already have a “home” directory, only not with your stuff. In the “home” directory on your 32bit SD are also hidden files belonging to 32bit programs, so we can’t use them. If they are needed, then the software will at first run make them on the right spot.
So you have to figure out what you want to copy. The directory “Mail” for sure. I had made a directory “Apps” with Java programs. Some I want to use and some do work, but I never used them. Also there are some programs which I want to use, but at test didn’t work with the new Java which is a higher version. Update not possible because that package is still Java, but now with dll’s for the main languages, but not for ARM. So for that package its end of the road. You can copy complete directories or separated files, decide what you need with each action. As it is very personal, I can’t say on this place what you have to do.
When you are ready with the copying process you have to exit the file manager, you have to do this twice. Next you have to eject the card reader with the SD disk. On top of the screen in the menu bar you have a grey arrow pointing upwards with a small line under it. Klick on it. You will see all attached drives. You have to click on “Generic STORAGE DEVICE(rootfs,boot). You get a popup with the message that the card is ejected and that you can safely remove it. Remove the card reader, remove the SD card. I have a small box for it and you can keep it on a safe place for in case of.
Don’t forget to re-connect the sound card or something else.
Now you have a “home” directory with your stuff. If its all data then your almost done. You have to go to the programs and then to preferences or setup for checking if the directory with the data can be found. If not you have to enter the path. Then do a test with the new setup of that program. And so you go on to the next program until your done.
I did change also the name and therefore you have to check preferences and sometimes also the bash file for starting the program. You have to change “pi” into the new “name”. Not difficult, but your busy for a while. And every time you have to test if all is going as it should be. Had to find new icons for the program, they can be found in “/usr/share/icons/PiXflat/48x48/apps”. With the program “Main Menu Editor” you can edit the menu and add your program to it.
With the program “Add / Remove Software” you can add missing programs like BlueJ, GreenFoot, Jeex, FileZilla, PDFsam Basic, Pytrainer, GIMP, ImageMagick, FontForge, Scribus, Audacity, Fritzing to name a view.
Are we ready? No.
Next before playing you have to make your first initial backup. This backup can be made with the program “SD Card Copier”. When this is ready you have to keep this initial backup on a safe place for in case that. If anything happens that you have to go back due to a mishap or virus or malware, then shutdown the Pi, eject the card. Disconnect UTP. Insert THIS backup. Take a new SD card same size. Connect the card reader to one of the USB-3 ports. Boot the Pi. Start the program “SD Card Copier” and copy the initial backup to the new card. If that is done, shutdown the Pi, eject your initial backup and keep it on the safe place. The new SD card with the fresh backup is now inserted in the slot. Reconnect UTP and switch on the Pi with Fn+F10. Now you can play again. This is one step better than starting from scratch with the still sealed bag with the installer SD. So you have now two options for severe trouble. Make every month (greatly depends how often you do something with the Pi and special how often you put something genius in that thing) or sooner a backup, see above.
I hope this will help you to switch from 32bit to 64bit. This was written in LibreOffice Writer and Bookworm 64bit.
I have a Raspberry Pi 400, bought as personal computer kit. I checked the OS, I think it is Buster and not what I thought Bullseye. The kit was delivered with a 32bit OS, a thing I didn't know, you read the specs of the computer and it says 64bit. But it worked, so no complaints. Last time I noticed that the updates where very minim, not what I was used to, so time to move on. I'm a private person and make reasonably use of the computer, so I had a backup and update schedule of about one month. After a month I did copy backup I to backup II, that is you start up the computer with backup I and you copy it with SD Card Copier to backup II. After that testing. Then you backup the working SD to backup I with same procedure. Again testing. After that backup is complete, next update. After update a reboot and then we go playing for another month or so. Don't update first and then backup in case the update is not okay or does have bugs. Sometimes I read about this kind of trouble.
I have a different approach when it comes to installing software. That is I have a lot of Java programs and I made a map for it in the home directory. In this map new maps with the program names and of course the programs. The setup sees to it that everything stays in that map or if the program has data then it will use a data directory. I have manuals, pdf documents, music and other really big things on a USB disk, not on the working SD.
You have to note down what programs you have installed via the program "Add / Remove Software" and what software you want again and what software can go because you don't like it or you don't use it etc.
Next, when I use a mouse then I will get RSI in about two months. I'm now free of that problem because I use a Wacom tablet as a mouse. That works very good and you can hold the pen in the way you hold a fountain pen for writing a letter or so. But the Wacom tablet is not supported strait out of the box, that is, I didn’t see a setup program in which you can setup the tablet in the way you work. The software sees it as a mouse, but the buttons are on the wrong place and you get strange behaviour with the tip. Changing mouse buttons has no effect. There is a solution for it and I had written some notes about it in this forum.
So, now we know the starting point, how to proceed.
There are some articles and notes on this subject, and all say more or less don't update the SD, start all over again. There is a second reason for that and that is that if everything fails you can fallback on an OS system, the 32bit working SD, which is already setup with all the programs up to the moment of your last backup. And the third reason is that you have to copy your data, and in my case the Java programs, to the new system.
So the first thing I did was ordering 2 64Gb microSD cards with the Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm on it. Next also 2 64Gb microSD cards for backup. In total 4 microSD cards, believe me, this won't break your bank and you have an excellent starting point. Why 64Gb, in the last 30 years or so I never had really more data or programs. If you like statistics, working disk 64Gb with Bookworm and my setup and still 26Gb available, on the 32Gb USB data disk is 16Gb available.
One microSD card with the Raspberry Pi OS is setup for use with the Raspberry Pi 400. The other sits in the sealed bag and won't come out of it. In case of very severe problems that the working SD will fail and the backups will fail, you have in house a solution for recovering. The working SD and the backups can be compromised by some virus or malware. You get the trouble always in a very early stage and you don’t know. In such a case I just start all over again and will delete and overwrite the SD completely. You will probably loose some data, but if you do it wisely you can recover in most of the times all of it because its data. The OS is for me another matter, I have that fresh copy, so just start all over again. Yes, I will say some bad words about it, but its the best way.
Setup the Raspberry Pi OS and follow the program when its setup for you. I want to warn you that it can take some time. At a point you think that nothing happens, but that is not true. May be they can do something about it in a way that you can see that the installation program is still running and not halted. At present its a black screen. After a while you get a ready to go environment with a desktop, menu and so on. Skip the part about the Wacom tablet if you don’t use that device.
Wacom tablet
If you have like me a Wacom tablet which you use as a mouse, then you have to use another setup and you have to download a package.
To switch from setup you have to do the following;
- sudo raspi-config
- select "6 advanced options"
- select "A6 wayland" and switch to X11
- reboot
ref:viewtopic.php?p=2189473&hilit=wacom#p2189473
May be you have to attach a mouse for a short period, because the pen of the Wacom tablet does not act right.
Now you are on X11, start the program “Add / Remove Software”. Enter “wacom” in the search field. The program comes up with a list, browse to the last line with “xserver-xorg-input-wacom-1.1.0-1 (64bit)”. Install the package. We are not done yet.
- start filemanager with "sudo pcmanfm"
- go to "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
- open the file "70-wacom.conf" with Mousepad
- find the right section for your Wacom tablet, for model Bamboo its the first
section.
- add at the end of the section, but above “EndSection” the two lines;
Option "Button2" "3"
Option "Button3" "2"
If you have done that you will have;
Section "InputClass"
Identifier "Wacom USB tablet class"
MatchUSBID "056a:*"
MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
MatchIsTablet "true"
Driver "wacom"
Option "Button2" "3"
Option "Button3" "2"
EndSection
- save the file and close Mousepad and the filemanager.
- reboot, in case of attached mouse shutdown, swap devices and with Fn+F10
start up.
Test the new setup in Mousepad, the buttons 2 and 3 are now swapped.
This will work much better for most users.
End of Wacom tablet instructions.
You have now a working Pi on 64bit with a desktop, menu etc, this is the standard without your stuff. To copy your stuff you will need a card reader with preferable a microSD slot. Put the 32bit working SD or a backup SD in the slot. Connect the card reader with a short USB cable to one of the USB-3 ports. I take the one with the sound card and swap the sound card for the card reader. You can “hot” plug it. After a short moment you will be notified by the OS if you want to open the card with file manager. Yes. After that you get a second notification, again yes. Now you have in the file manager a window with “boot” and a window with “rootfs”. Don’t touch “boot”. You need the window with “rootfs”. Go to the directory ”home”, click on “pi”. Now you see a familiar structure with directories “Downloads”, “Documents”, “Mail”, “Music” and so on. In these directories you find your personal stuff. It is tempting to copy the complete “home” directory, don’t do it, besides that you already have a “home” directory, only not with your stuff. In the “home” directory on your 32bit SD are also hidden files belonging to 32bit programs, so we can’t use them. If they are needed, then the software will at first run make them on the right spot.
So you have to figure out what you want to copy. The directory “Mail” for sure. I had made a directory “Apps” with Java programs. Some I want to use and some do work, but I never used them. Also there are some programs which I want to use, but at test didn’t work with the new Java which is a higher version. Update not possible because that package is still Java, but now with dll’s for the main languages, but not for ARM. So for that package its end of the road. You can copy complete directories or separated files, decide what you need with each action. As it is very personal, I can’t say on this place what you have to do.
When you are ready with the copying process you have to exit the file manager, you have to do this twice. Next you have to eject the card reader with the SD disk. On top of the screen in the menu bar you have a grey arrow pointing upwards with a small line under it. Klick on it. You will see all attached drives. You have to click on “Generic STORAGE DEVICE(rootfs,boot). You get a popup with the message that the card is ejected and that you can safely remove it. Remove the card reader, remove the SD card. I have a small box for it and you can keep it on a safe place for in case of.
Don’t forget to re-connect the sound card or something else.
Now you have a “home” directory with your stuff. If its all data then your almost done. You have to go to the programs and then to preferences or setup for checking if the directory with the data can be found. If not you have to enter the path. Then do a test with the new setup of that program. And so you go on to the next program until your done.
I did change also the name and therefore you have to check preferences and sometimes also the bash file for starting the program. You have to change “pi” into the new “name”. Not difficult, but your busy for a while. And every time you have to test if all is going as it should be. Had to find new icons for the program, they can be found in “/usr/share/icons/PiXflat/48x48/apps”. With the program “Main Menu Editor” you can edit the menu and add your program to it.
With the program “Add / Remove Software” you can add missing programs like BlueJ, GreenFoot, Jeex, FileZilla, PDFsam Basic, Pytrainer, GIMP, ImageMagick, FontForge, Scribus, Audacity, Fritzing to name a view.
Are we ready? No.
Next before playing you have to make your first initial backup. This backup can be made with the program “SD Card Copier”. When this is ready you have to keep this initial backup on a safe place for in case that. If anything happens that you have to go back due to a mishap or virus or malware, then shutdown the Pi, eject the card. Disconnect UTP. Insert THIS backup. Take a new SD card same size. Connect the card reader to one of the USB-3 ports. Boot the Pi. Start the program “SD Card Copier” and copy the initial backup to the new card. If that is done, shutdown the Pi, eject your initial backup and keep it on the safe place. The new SD card with the fresh backup is now inserted in the slot. Reconnect UTP and switch on the Pi with Fn+F10. Now you can play again. This is one step better than starting from scratch with the still sealed bag with the installer SD. So you have now two options for severe trouble. Make every month (greatly depends how often you do something with the Pi and special how often you put something genius in that thing) or sooner a backup, see above.
I hope this will help you to switch from 32bit to 64bit. This was written in LibreOffice Writer and Bookworm 64bit.
Statistics: Posted by Joop99 — Tue Jul 23, 2024 10:32 am