Pi Zero with minibian

Question

I have worked with PI 2 and minibian. I have never tried minibian with PI 0 or PI 0 W. I simply want to ask whether i can use minibian on PI 0 or PI 0 W ?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

There is no substantial difference, operating system wise, between one model of Pi and another, if that operating system userland is compiled for ARMv6 (matching the processor in the original BCM2835 SoC). The Pi 2 and 3 require a different kernel, but that is usually shipped with the rest of the OS ("the rest of the OS" being the userland).

If the OS is compiled for ARMv7, it will only work on the Pi 2 or 3. If it is compiled for ARMv8, it will only work on the Pi 3. Note that Raspbian (and hence likely Minibian, since they probably do not compile themselves) has only ever been released in an ARMv6 version compatible with all Pis.

There are likely aspects of the various models that need specific drivers, but that should be covered by using a recent kernel (and you will need the kernel7.img in the boot partition for the Pi 2 and 3).

The Pi Zero uses the same SoC as the original Pis, with a higher max clock rating stamped on it. So any OS distro that's ever been released for the Pi (except those compiled for ARMv7/8) will work. The Pi Zero W has an added bluetooth/wifi component that will require a kernel with the right drivers. The Pi 3 was the first model to sport that component. I think the drivers were actually in the kernel before the Pi 3 was released, but just to be sure you should look for something from March 2016 or later.

Which was exactly when the last Minibian image was released, and their homepage indicates support for the Pi 3. But this implies it is no longer being maintained, making it a poor choice of OS.