Booting up a headless Raspberry Pi using Mac OS X

Question

I bought the Raspberry Pi Model B (Raspberry Pi Ultimate Starter Kit off Amazon) thinking this would be my first and final purchase for a while, but have been unsuccessful in getting the computer running without a keyboard. I followed the endless tutorials online about a "headless setup" and want to avoid buying more if I don't have to, especially just starting out.

Here is what I did.

1. I downloaded the zip file for Raspbian.

2. I formatted my SD card using tutorial on elinux.org titled "On Mac OSX--Using system tools mostly graphical interface". There are some nice videos that I watched in tandem (Keith's Pi Tutorial).

3. ATTEMPT 1 - Use the console cable (as suggested by the YouTube video cited above) and written down in the Adafruit tutorial (Lesson 5 on their site). Unfortunately, I got an error elaborated in this post, Using a Console Cable, Error "Could not find PTY", MAC.

Question for Attempt 1: Where is the /etc/inittab file elaborated in the post above and numerous online forums? Does this directory exist even if I haven't booted up and configured my Raspberry Pi? If it does exist, how do I access it?

3. ATTEMPT 2 - I tried plugging in my Raspberry Pi to a router, but did not find its IP address. On the terminal, I used:

   arp -a

I got a list of IP addresses as shown in the picture of my terminal.

I then tried to SSH into the Pi using the command:

ssh pi@IPADDRESS

and each time got connection refused. Then I accessed my router by navigating to http://192.168.0.1/. However, still no new IP addresses was listed there. I then tried downloading the application "Pi Finder". But again, no luck. I then thought maybe the Wi-Fi USB accessory included in the kit might improve my chances. But it did not.

Question for Attempt 2: Where is the IP Address for my Pi? Again, am I experiencing difficulties since I haven't configured my Pi yet? Why is the IP address not showing up?

Answer 1

I've used an Ethernet cable connected directly to my PC. Just follow these steps:

1. Burn/copy your std RPi img to SD card
2. Connect your RPi to your PC using a ethernet cable.
3. Start your RPi.
4. When started, open a Terminal in your PC and issue: $ ssh [email protected] (password: raspberry). If raspberrypi.local doesn't work, try raspberrypi.
5. Done.

Answer 2

I just wrote a blog post on how I managed to do it: Install Raspberry Pi headless on OS X. But your problem sounds to me like the system hasn't installed and or booted up correctly. For copying Raspbian on the SD card I used Pi Filler that formatted the card and copied the Raspbian img file onto the card.

I also had problems getting the right IP address as my DHCP was being contrary but Pi Finder did a good job of finding it.