# I was wrong


Well it wasn't the first time and certainly wouldn't be the last.  I've been using a tiny 8" IPS monitor with a Raspberry Pi Zero for more than two years straight, but recently the desire to write some Go code returned.  Sitting on the desk is the Udoo Bolt v8 which had been collecting dust this entire time, so I thought I'd connect the tiny monitor to the Bolt and get to work.

The Bolt fired up for the first time in well over a year and I was greeted with a console font that was almost unreadably small.  This particular monitor doesn't allow switching the resolution in the menu, nor did I know how to change it from the Linux console.  Rather than do the sensible thing and learn, I chose instead to just SSH into the Bolt from the Pi, which I should have done from the start.  Except the monitor wasn't working...  I checked the connections, tried the power button, even tried unplugging the power cable to no avail.  Thinking the monitor was dead, I went and dug out the 15" FHD display that sat unused for probably three years.  

I plug in the Pi to this large display to find that my keyboard is no longer working!  WTF?  So of course I switch to using the Bolt plugged in to the 15" monitor with a wireless keyboard that also had been unused for three years.  This was the original "GUI" setup just prior to going full-time in the console, but the higher resolution required having an X session running so I could set it to something more usable.  I was unhappy with this configuration since I'd gotten used to the 80x30 output of the smaller unit.  It was then decided to buy a new monitor that could replicate this resolution without wasting pixels.  I found a 12" unit with all the same input ports for $100 on Amazon and promptly bought it.

Not even two days later, patience was running low and I grew curious.  Was the 8" monitor really dead?  Only one way to find out...  I plug in the power cord and wait a few seconds.  Imagine my surprise when the screen lit up!  Immediately, the 15" unit was packed up and set aside as the little 8" unit replaced it.  I set the output resolution to 640x480 and set the terminal window to fullscreen.  Weiredly it's only 80x28 now, but at least I could live with that.  By now I'd realize the new 12" unit is due in the mail later today, which is just as well.  Nothing beats having a backup.

Long live the shell!


=> ../index.gmi Home
=> ../core.gmi Core Dump Index