Using RISC OS on the Raspberry Pi

Introduction

This section of the wiki contains information to assist users who wish to run RISC OS on the Raspberry Pi.

If you are new to RISC OS you may wish to read the Introduction to RISC OS and the RISC OS Beginners FAQ.

Raspberry Pi models supported

RISC OS currently supports all models of Raspberry Pi except the Pi 4; work is underway to add support for the the Pi 4.

Known issues:

1. RISC OS can only run in a single core: the other cores in the four-core Raspberry models are currently unused.
2. The onboard WiFi chip (in the Pi Zero W, Pi 3 and Pi 4) is not currently supported. One of the open bounties should address this issue.

RISC OS builds available for the Raspberry Pi

Please note that most of these builds will not work on a Raspberry Pi 4.

• The most straightforward to use is RISC OS Pi. This archive contains an SD card image which needs to be written to a microSD card using a utility such as Win32DiskImager or Etcher. Once this has been done, you can plug the card into your Raspberry Pi and switch on.

• Alternatively, you can use NOOBS Lite from the Raspberry Pi website (be sure to use NOOBS Lite – the installation will fail if you use the full NOOBS). Copy the contents of the archive to a microSD card and install in your Raspberry Pi (make sure you have a network connection available). When this starts up it will offer you a selection of operating systems to download – choose “RISC OS”.¹

¹ You will only need to do this once. After RISC OS has been installed, the system will boot into RISC OS by default.

The remaining builds are for the more experienced user. Installation instructions (including an indication of other software you will need to download) are given on the linked pages.

• RPi ROM stable – The RISC OS 5.24 ROM, for people who prefer to “roll their own”.
• Beta RPi ROM – The latest development build, for the more adventurous user. This works on the Raspberry Pi 4.
• RISC OS Pi RC16 – A “release candidate” version of RISC OS Pi (see above) based on a recent 5.27 build. This will also work on a Pi 4.
• RISC OS Pico – A cut-down version of RISC OS (no GUI) that boots into BASIC for that genuine retro computing experience!

Setup and configuration information

• Hardware compatibility list – peripherals seen to work with the Raspberry Pi
• Installing RISC OS – How to create your own SD card image.
• Dual-format SD card – Why the SD card needs to be in a special format
• Raspberry Pi Firmware – The other files you need to get RISC OS to load on the Raspberry Pi
• config.txt (Raspberry Pi) – Settings needed for the Raspberry Pi bootloader
• cmdline.txt (Raspberry Pi) – Parameters passed to the RISC OS ROM on boot
• CMOS RAM on the Raspberry Pi
• Upgrading your Raspberry Pi to RISC OS 5.27 – How to upgrade from an older release of RISC OS

Hints and tips

• RISC OS Pi Welcome guide
• RISC OS bugs specific to the Raspberry Pi
• Raspberry Pi questions and answers – Topics include “Can I use RISC OS on the Pi 4?”, “Can I boot the Pi from USB?” and “What is all this talk of RC15 and RC16?”
• Community support forum – Help and advice from other RISC OS users

Technical information from other websites

• Temperature (etc.) warnings
• LED warning flash codes
• Raspberry Pi schematics and hardware
• BCM2835 datasheet and errata