Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
BECAUSE OF ITS
origins in embedded computing, the BCM2835 chip at the heart of the
Raspberry Pi doesn't have anything like a PC's BIOS menu where various low-level system
settings can be conigured. Instead, it relies on text iles containing coniguration strings that
are loaded by the chip when the power is switched on.
Before taking a look at the various options available in these iles—
config.txt
,
cmdline.
txt
and
start.elf
—a word of warning: changing some of these settings away from their
defaults can result in a Pi that, best case, doesn't boot until the iles are reverted and, worst
case, can physically damage the system. hese potentially dangerous settings will be high-
lighted with warnings in this chapter.
Hardware Settings—conig txt
he Pi's hardware is controlled by settings contained in a ile called
config.txt
, which is
located in the
/boot
directory (see Figure 6-1). his ile tells the Pi how to set up its various
inputs and outputs, and at what speed the BCM2835 chip and its connected memory mod-
ule should run.
Figure 6-1:
he contents of
the /boot
directory, with
config.txt
highlighted
