There are several settings for the configuration file, which you should be familiar with. We want to explain to you what it means to make any changes here.
The purpose of learning about these settings is to enable you as a student to restore the user interface to its original state in case that any malfunction or system error should occur. Please do not make any changes here on your own. At least not without first confirming with the administrator who is in charge of the Raspberry Pi you are using.
Access Configuration Settings
First we want to know how to access these settings.
- In order to do so, open the main menu.
- Expand the second Settings menu.
- Open the Raspberry Pi configuration.
System Configuration tabs
In this tab you can change some basic settings for the Raspberry Pi OS.
- Here the password for the user can be changed.
- The hostname determines the name of your computer on your network.
Our boot method is the desktop method. One alternative assignment would be to boot the computer using only one console. This would result in the graphic interface not appearing when starting up the computer. If this setting was changed by accident, it helps to enter the command sudo startx.
- The Setting “Auto-Login as current user” means the computer will automatically login with this user’s account instead of showing a login screen at the start. If a login screen appears, this option must be turned off.
- The “Network at Boot” setting is disabled by default.
- The splash screen refers to the landing page or home screen that will appear on your desktop after startup. If this is switched off, then you will not see a start screen.
Configuration Tab Display
Below you can see the default display settings. We will not go into great detail here since we stick with the default settings.
- Default setting for Underscan
- Default setting for pixel doubling
- Default setting for screen blanking
Configuration Tab Interfaces
In this tab we will only address 3 settings. However, we may return to some of the other settings in a future lesson.
- This setting is used for any built-in Raspberry Pi camera, which is not included with this particular model of Raspberry Pi you are using. However, you do have the option to get an external camera and then set it up from here.
- The SSH setting is enabled here. However, this setting should usually be disabled if you are working directly on your Raspberry Pi. This setting is only important if you want to access your Raspberry Pi remotely from a different PC (such as a Windows laptop) using a SSH connection to access console commands.
- With the VNC settings, you can also set up remote control for the Raspberry Pi. To do this, you need to make sure that the VNC software is installed.
Link zum RASP-Artikel How to setup VNC
Configuration tab Performance
- The percentage of graphics card memory used for computing power
- Here you could enable or disable the fans that are cooling the computer.
- If properly connected, you can see which PIN the fan is using and its current temperature.
Depending on the type of hardware used, these parameters may vary. So you may only be able to obtain this information elsewhere. In the case of the Raspberry Pi from ABIOLA, a regulated fan is used, which can turn on automatically, once a certain temperature is reached. Otherwise it is set to be running on an ongoing basis.
Configuration tab Localisation
We already mentioned this menu as well. However, there is no harm in a quick refresher of the different settings contained therein.
- Local settings for language, country, and character encoding
- Time zone and city of the time zone
- Keyboard settings depending on the keyboard used
Done! You have now gone through an extensive chapter on configuration settings. If you ever get confused about this topic, feel free to come back here at a later point. It’s not important that you know everything in here by heart. Knowing where and how to find out something about this topic works just as well.