If you personal a Raspberry Pi, you can begin a number of working methods from a single boot medium. All you want is a micro SD card with enough room (32GB or extra) and a device known as PINN.
This stands for PINN just isn’t NOOBS and provides the Raspberry Pi multiboot performance.
Multi-booting working methods might be helpful in lots of circumstances. For instance, when you sometimes want a specialised working system resembling Libre Elec or Kali, or when you’re merely curious and wish to check out completely different working methods.
PINN gives an installer that you simply combine into your Raspberry Pi. This means that you can set up as many methods as you need on the SD card, so long as there may be sufficient house.
Each time the Raspberry Pi boots up, PINN greets you with the checklist of put in working methods. You choose one or wait till PINN mechanically begins the final working system used.
Installing PINN
There are a number of methods to get PINN onto the SD card. This article recommends the Raspberry Pi Imager program. It’s included within the repositories of many distributions and might be put in with the next:
sudo apt set up rpi-imager
After beginning this system, step one is to pick out the mannequin. From Raspberry Pi 1 and Zero to the present Raspberry Pi 5 mannequin, all the vary is represented.
The choice ensures that the imager solely shows pictures which are appropriate together with your Raspberry mannequin.
The subsequent step is to put in the pin picture. To do that, click on on Select OS. In the checklist, seek for the entry Misc Utility Images and click on on PINN.
In the subsequent window, choose PINN once more. To choose the storage medium, click on on the Select SD Card button.
You can then set up the specified working methods for the Raspberry Pi utilizing PINN.
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If you wish to set up a number of working methods, the SD card ought to have a storage capability of not less than 32GB.
Please observe that the imager fully deletes the chosen drive in the course of the set up course of.
Optionally, you may format the SD card beforehand utilizing a device resembling SD Memory Card Formatter for Linux. In most circumstances, the right drive is already chosen within the imager. Even so, it nonetheless is smart to activate the Exclude System Drives choice.
Make certain all of the settings are appropriate earlier than click on on the Next button.
The Raspberry Pi Imager will then write PINN to the SD card. Before this occurs, a warning seems once more to remind you that the storage medium can be erased.
The writing course of for PINN doesn’t take lengthy as a result of the picture may be very small.
The work on the Linux desktop is now full. Insert the SD card into the cardboard reader on the Raspberry board and begin it.
Installing working methods
When the Raspberry Pi begins with PINN for the primary time, you’ll be taken to the working system choice display. If you might be connecting through Wi-Fi fairly than Ethernet, first enter the entry knowledge. Next, tick the checkboxes subsequent to every working system you wish to set up.
You can select from Raspberry Pi OS, Ubuntu, MX-Linux, and Kali. Other tabs comprise video games, minimalist working methods, and multimedia methods.
At the underside of the window, PINN reveals you the way a lot reminiscence house is accessible and the way a lot house the chosen working methods require. Please observe that this data refers back to the primary configuration (see beneath).
Once you will have chosen the specified working methods, set up them by clicking on the Install button within the prime left-hand nook.
You will once more obtain a warning that every one knowledge can be misplaced in the course of the set up of the chosen working methods. Before PINN really begins putting in the working methods, it’s going to ask you the way a lot space for storing you wish to allocate to every one.
The Nominal column reveals how a lot space for storing the bottom working system requires. The Extra column reveals the extra quantity that you simply allocate to every working system. To divide the overall space for storing evenly between the working methods, click on on Balance.

When you begin the board, a boot menu seems and asks for the working system you wish to begin.
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Another click on on OK begins the set up of the working methods you wish to use in multiboot mode.
How lengthy the set up takes is determined by the velocity of your web connection, the write velocity of your storage medium, and naturally the scale of the pictures.
When every part is full, you’ll obtain successful message and be taken to the PINN multiboot display. From now on, this display will seem each time you begin the Raspberry Pi.
Select the working system you wish to boot and click on on Start. After a number of seconds, the working system that you simply final began will mechanically boot up on future begins, except you make a guide choice.
It’s greatest in addition every working system as soon as to set it up. Establish an web connection, deliver the system updated, activate required companies resembling SSH or VNC, and set up extra applications.
PINN additionally provides a restoration mode to reinstall the working system if it crashes or when you merely wish to begin from scratch. To do that, maintain down the Shift key throughout startup.
Interesting working methods
Beyond the usual choices, the Raspberry Pi provides a number of intriguing, much less widespread working methods for a multiboot setup.
Libre Elec is a media server working system. It’s light-weight and designed particularly to run the Kodi media middle on the Raspberry Pi. Booting takes only a few seconds, and quite a few add-ons can be found to increase its performance.
Lineage-OS by Konstakang is an Android-based system tailored to run on the Raspberry Pi. It makes use of a latest Android model and means that you can set up and run Android apps on the gadget.
Retro Pie makes it doable to play video games from the outdated days. The theme and emulator might be flexibly custom-made by a contemporary consumer interface. The working system doesn’t embrace any copyrighted video games, which is why you could set up them individually.
Raspberry Pi OS Lite is a minimal system with out a graphical consumer interface. It requires solely round 400 MB of storage and might be managed through SSH. You even have the choice of putting in a desktop of your alternative, resembling KDE or MATE, supplying you with entry to applications and capabilities that commonplace Raspberry Pi OS doesn’t supply.
