I just tried booting a Pi 3 with the OSMC image I'd been using on a Pi 1 Model B. The green LED lit up once briefly, no other reaction. I ended up backing up the config and restoring it to a fresh install but I'd like to know if there's an easier way, as I might have other Pis to upgrade in the future. (The other Pis run Raspbian.)
I came across this post – a comment to the accepted answer states that the only difference between Pi models is the kernel – as long as the SD card has both kernels, it will boot fine in both models. Caveats apply if you use the GPIO pins, which I don't – hence nothing to worry about here.
In my case, apparently, the card had only the kernel for the Pi 1 Model B, but not for the Pi 3.
- How can I determine which Pi models the kernels on a given SD card are for?
- If the kernel for a particular model is missing, is there an easy way to add it?