Raspberry Pi User Guide, 4th Edition

Chapter 7

Advanced Raspberry Pi Configuration

OWING TO ITS origins in embedded computing, the BCM2835 chip at the heart of the Raspberry Pi doesn’t have anything like a PC’s Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) menu where various low-level system settings can be configured. Instead, it relies on text files containing configuration strings that are loaded by the chip when the power is switched on.

Before taking a look at the various options available in these files—config.txt and cmdline.txt—a word of warning: changing some of these settings from their defaults can result in a Pi that doesn’t boot until the files are reverted, in the best case, and that can physically damage the system, in the worst case. These potentially dangerous settings are highlighted with warnings in this chapter.

TIP

If you're using the Raspbian distribution, the easiest way to change the majority of settings is to use the raspi-config utility (refer to Chapter 6, “The Raspberry Pi Configuration Tool”). These instructions are provided for those on other distributions or those who would prefer to do things manually.

Editing Configuration Files via NOOBS

If you edited your configuration files in such a way that your operating system no longer boots, the easiest way to restore them is to use the NOOBS software (refer to Chapter 2, “Getting Started with the Raspberry Pi”). If you installed your operating system via NOOBS, you can use the tool to edit the configuration files; if you installed your operating system ...