Set up Plasma Mobile on a Raspberry Pi

1 DECIDE ON PLASMA MOBILE

If the idea of installing a new operating system on your Raspberry Pi for a tablet project doesn’t appeal, consider Plasma Mobile. Developed as a means to introduce KDE Linux to smartphones, Plasma Mobile is basically a desktop environment that is compatible with Raspbian. So while the Raspberry Pi tablet runs Raspbian Lite, it has Plasma Mobile set as the UI.

2 INSTALL RASPBIAN LITE AND ENABLE SSH

Start off with a fresh install of Raspbian Lite (http://bit. ly/LXF261-rasplite), written to an SD card with Etcher. Once done, with the microSD still in your computer, browse the / boot/ directory and create a new file called ssh without a file extension. This file acts as a flag to enable SSH and enable remote connections. Use this to set up Raspbian Lite with Plasma Mobile.

3 CONFIGURE RASPBIAN AND INSTALL PLASMA MOBILE

The steps (see previous page) for installing Plasma Mobile are required to configure Raspbian Lite, switch repo sources, run a full update, and create a new user. Once this is done, a new user can be created and Plasma Mobile installed. This will launch automatically each time Raspbian boots. Your Raspberry Pi tablet is ready to use – so what can you do with it?

4 GET TO GRIPS WITH THE UI

Plasma Mobile has a simple, intuitive user interface. When it loads up, you will see the lock screen. As you might with an iOS or Android device, swipe up to reveal the password field. You will later see all the default apps listed, with the opportunity to swipe up again to access the settings. Things are a little functional in places – use KSysGuard to check processes, for example.

5 ACCESS NOTIFICATIONS AND SHORTCUTS

Following the Android design language, Plasma Mobile features settings shortcuts at the top of the screen, accessed by dragging them down from the edge. This includes things like Wi-Fi, sound, and location settings. You’ll spot things that might seem odd, such as mobile data. Display brightness can also be set, and there is a Shutdown button. Meanwhile, recent notifications can be reviewed and dismissed here.

6 INSTALL APPS, BROWSE THE WEB

Minimal apps are installed with Plasma Mobile. To change this, you’ll need to install apps manually, so why not start with a browser? Use SSH to get started, and install the Chromium browser remotely with: sudo apt install chromium-browser Check the Plasma Mobile repos for more apps or use your Raspberry Pi tablet as a handy internet slate.