Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
GPIO headers
At the edge of the board, we find the General Purpose Input/Output ( GPIO ) pins,
which, as the name implies, can be used for any kind of general tinkering and to
interface with other pieces of hardware.
The RCA video jack
The RCA video jack is for composite video output, which we can use to connect the
Pi to one of those old television sets using an RCA connector cable. On the Model B+,
this connector has been combined with the audio jack.
The Audio jack
We can get sound out of the Pi, either through the HDMI cable connected to a monitor,
or from this 3.5 mm analog audio jack using headphones or desktop speakers.
Status LEDs
Status LEDs are used to tell us what the Pi is up to at the moment. They have the
following meanings:
• The green light labelled ACT will blink whenever the Pi is accessing data
from the SD card
• The red light labelled PWR should stay solid as long as the Pi has power
• On Model B, the three remaining LEDs will light up when a network cable
is connected to the Ethernet port
USB
The USB 2.0 ports allow us to connect keyboards, mice, and most importantly for us,
Wi-Fi dongles, microphones, video cameras, and GPS receivers. We can also expand
the number of USB ports available with the help of a self-powered USB hub.
The Ethernet network
The Ethernet port allows us to connect the Pi to a network at a maximum speed of
100 Mbit/s. This will most commonly be a home router or a switch, but it can also be
connected directly to a PC or a laptop. A Category 5 twisted-pair cable is used for
wired network connections.
 
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