0

I have a new Raspberry Pi v2 unit and I'm trying to use an SD card image from one of my other Raspberry Pi B+ units. When I insert the Pi B+ card into the Pi v2 I get a multicolored image on my monitor, but then nothing.

I have read several posts about converting from B+ to v2, but none seem to address in any detail what I should do when the B+ SD card does not boot up. One post (indented below) indicated that I should look at the kernel. Sorry but I'm too much of a beginner to full understand what that meant and what I should be doing :-(

Can you use a micro SD card from raspberry pi B+ on the raspberry pi 2 model B?

However, be sure to make it clear that you have checked for the correct kernel and include the kernel= line from /boot/config.txt, if any.

Repeating myself, when I put in the old Pi B+ SD card into the Pi v2 I get the multicolored screen and then nothing, the red LED in on solid and the other one is off.

edit: 19 July Additional info: The SD card I'm working with was built up from a NOOBS when I bought my first two Raspberry Pi B+ units in July 2014. When I look at that SD card on my Windows PC I do not see a config.txt, nor a kernel.img file. Should I create a config.txt file? Where can I get a copy of the kernel17.img specified in the above reference?

If I insert a NOOBS SD it boots up ok, but I would really like to not have to totally reconfigure this new unit.

Thanks for any help....RDK

Improve this question
1

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

I thought this wasn't possible because the CPU is completely different; notice armv6l vs armv7l in the output below.

However, I found this other post that states otherwise; haven't tried myself, but worth a shot!

RPi B+:

pi@tribecapi ~ $ uname -a
Linux tribecapi 3.18.11+ #781 PREEMPT Tue Apr 21 18:02:18 BST 2015 armv6l GNU/Linux

RPi 2:

pi@mediapi ~ $ uname -a
Linux mediapi 3.18.11-v7+ #781 SMP PREEMPT Tue Apr 21 18:07:59 BST 2015 armv7l GNU/Linux
Improve this answer
1
  • 2
    That other post is correct ;) All of the A/B/+ userland stuff will work on Pi 2 since ARMv7 is backward compatible with ARMv6, and I think the firmware is the same as well, but there are differences in the kernel (which is compiled for ARMv7); if you don't indicate a kernel in config.txt and there's a kernel7.img, the bootloader should deal with it.
    – goldilocks ♦
    Commented Jul 17, 2015 at 14:24
-1

You should run sudo sh -c "apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade" on your B+. That worked for me. Then put the SD card into your Pi 2.

Improve this answer
1
  • I'm sorry, but this is wrong. update will upgrade the package listing, and upgrade will update the packages. You aren't updating distribution packages with this set of commands.
    – Jacobm001
    Commented Jul 20, 2015 at 14:57

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.