WRITING SD CARDS WITH ETCHER
WITH MORE THAN 34 million units sold, the Raspberry Pi is not only one of the world’s most popular computers, it’s also one of the most important. Designed to help kids learn about technology, this inexpensive, single-board system is the leading choice for makers, developers, and hobbyists who want to do everything from building industrial robots to setting up retro arcade machines. Whether you’re aged eight or 80, if you love technology, the Raspberry Pi is for you. And with models costing from £5 to £65, it will suit any budget.
Whatever you do with your Raspberry Pi, you will need an SD card with an operating system on it. The official Raspberry Pi OS (formerly Raspbian) is a popular choice and a great start for many projects. It’s available in Desktop and Lite flavors at www. raspberrypi.org/software/operating-systems. There’s an official Raspberry Pi Imager utility that you can use to write this (or a selection of other OSes) to an SD card, or you can use the NOOBS tool. We favor Balena Etcher, which has the advantage of being able to handle compressed images.