MicroSD correct partition to edit config file, problems in Windows

Question

I'm very familiar with the UNIX command line (on Linux, Mac OS X, etc.) and have been messing with my pi here and there. Current project is to set it up so I can ssh from any computer into the world and access the pi. Anyways, randomly my monitor isn't working when I hook it to my pi, so I looked at the troubleshooting guide and here are the instructions:

How to edit from a Windows PC

This method is most useful if you cannot see anything on the display of the Raspberry Pi.

NOTE: Depending on the partitioning scheme of your SD card, you may not be able to edit the configuration file using Windows.

1. Shut down your Raspberry Pi, remove the power and remove the SD card.
2. Put the SD card in your PC's card reader and wait for the folder to open automatically.
3. If the folder does not open automatically, open "My Computer" and then open the drive marked "SD".

4. Look to see if there is a file called config (or possibly config.txt).

5. If this file exists, open it with Notepad. If not, create the file with Notepad (One way to do this, in Windows XP or Windows 7, is to right-click where you see the other files, select New and then Text document. Then change "New Text Document" to "config"). Note: Do not use the Wordpad editor or Microsoft Word to edit the file.

6. If you are creating the file, make sure you create it in the /boot partition (approximate size 56 MB). If you create the file in a partition other than the /boot one, it will not be taken into account by Raspberry Pi.

7. Change the necessary configuration parameters.

8. Save the file (menu item File, Save)

9. Exit Notepad

10. In Windows Explorer, go to "My Computer". Right-click on the SD card and select "Safely Remove".

11. Remove the SD card from the PC and insert it in the Raspberry Pi.

However, I have a problem. When I plug it into my drive reader in my Windows computer, there is a drive called RECOVERY (F:) and it has the following structure: /defaults/ /os/ bootcode.bin BUILD-DATA INSTRUCTIONS-README recovery.cmdline recovery.elf recovery.img recovery.rfs RECOVERY_FILES_DO_NOT_EDIT riscos-boot.bin

I have a Linux partition on another computer and I'm familiar with the normal directory layout of an OS (/usr/, /bin/, /lib/, /src/, etc...) and there is no /boot/ directory which should have the config.txt file in it.

Why is my directory structure of this microSD card so weird compared to what I feel it should be? There is like no os visible here. The Pi definitely works, I used it just a few days ago.

Answer 1

Because you have installed NOOBS.

See http://github.com/raspberrypi/noobs/wiki/NOOBS-partitioning-explained. What you get depends on what you install.

When I first got a Pi I used NOOBS, but had lots of trouble (including the fact that they misnamed a partition "RECOVERY" - which prevents OS X mounting it).

If you are just going to use Raspbian NOOBS just wastes space and makes maintenance more complex.

PS The /boot directory will only be seen in Raspbian. It mounts the 1st Primary partition in /boot. On Windows it is the 1st Primary partition.