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  • Author Author: oneleggedredcow
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Raspberry Pi 2 and Windows 10: Hello World

oneleggedredcow

A technical preview for Windows 10 is available and can be used to run custom Windows Universal Applications on a Raspberry Pi! If you are anything like me (and I know I am), this is a very exciting time. So, here I'll step through how to get a “Hello, World” Windows Universal App up and running on the Raspberry Pi 2.

 

Prerequisites:

 

Installing Windows 10 on the Raspberry Pi:

 

First we need to install Windows 10 on the Raspberry Pi. Fortunately, there is already a detailed set of instructions here:

 

https://ms-iot.github.io/content/win10/SetupRPI.htm

 

Once that is installed and you fire up the Raspberry Pi 2, you should see an image like this:

image

Admittedly, this isn't the most exciting thing in the world. However, it is about to get a lot more exciting when we run our own Windows Universal Application on it.

 

Creating a Windows Universal Application:

 

Fire up Visual Studio 2015 and create a New Project. On the New Project screen, choose “Blank App (Windows Universal)”.

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(If it prompts you about source control, you can just hit Cancel.)

 

Then, once the new project opens, double click on the MainPage.xaml file in the Solution Explorer:

image

That will open up the MainPage.xaml file for editing. By default, the file will open with the design view on top and the XAML view on the bottom:

image

In the XAML view, put the following code within the <Grid> element:

Once it is done, it should look like this:

image

(You might need to scroll down a bit in the design view in order to see the “Hello, World!” text.)

 

Awesome, once you have that, it is time to deploy it to the Raspberry Pi 2. First, to do this, set the architecture drop down to “ARM”. (It says “x86” by default.) To the right of that will be a green play button with the words “Local Machine” and a small arrow pointing downwards. Click that arrow and set it to “Remote Machine”:

image

That will pop up a menu asking you where you would like to debug the application. In my case, the IP Address of my Raspberry Pi 2 is 192.168.1.8. Enter that and be sure to select an Authentication Mode of None:

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Even though there is a Raspberry Pi 2 running on your network, Visual Studio 2015 might not be able to find it.  (Mine at least could not detect it.)  Don't despair, it does exist.

 

If you need help finding the IP Address of the Raspberry Pi 2, there are a couple of ways to figure that out.  The easiest is the screen that comes up on the Raspberry Pi 2 contains the IP Address.  Another way is to use the Windows IoT Core Watcher that comes within the Windows_IoT_Core_RPI2_BUILD.zip file that you downloaded while installing Windows 10 on your Raspberry Pi 2.

 

Once that is all configured, you can click on the green play button and watch your application get deployed and run on the Raspberry Pi 2!

  • in reply to oneleggedredcow

    Hello Shaun,

     

    I think I am in the middle, worked a lot as desktop developer and not desktop too. My attention has moved during last years over the mobile and embedded devices but remain anyway desktop development knowledge somewhere. What you say is correct, and I was just assuming that this will be the real effective target of developers that can appreciate the W10 embedded development environment. Just like the other do the same in the opposite direction. What I am almost sure is that as linux has not won over MS and vice-versa the Internet challenge with this new "world" of IoT will occur the same. That is far away than the idea of astonishing innovation represented by W10 and the embedded platforms the MS is speaking about (and probably believe too).

     

    Looks like there is going to be a community (free) version of VS 2015 that supports the RPi.  So, assuming that you already have Win10, it would be a priceless alternative for developing on the RPi.


    To be honest i don't trust too much to the idea of free that MS has, but as I have time to put the hands on this development environment - and it is more stable - I will do a try for sure. At least because I am curious. If there is a version really free for the RPI, sure it is a great step ahead for the Redmond company.


    Enrico

  • in reply to balearicdynamics

    I come from a different perspective.  I'm mostly a desktop developer who dabbles a little in the embedded world.  So, I'm really excited to see MS enter into the game because now I can use all of the same tools and environments.  It significantly lowers the bar for entry.  Additionally, the idea of writing the majority (or all) of the code once and being able to deploy it to multiple platforms is incredible.  We'll have to see how that pans out in reality, but you have to admit that the idea is really intriguing.

     

    I also don't think that the goal is moving existing embedded developers to Win10.  I really think they are targeting more desktop developers and trying to bring them over into the IoT world.

     

    Looks like there is going to be a community (free) version of VS 2015 that supports the RPi.  So, assuming that you already have Win10, it would be a priceless alternative for developing on the RPi.

  • in reply to mcb1

    & it is my opinion that for a different reason MS is late also for the IoT image I don't see a simple scenario to involve a serious number of engineers moving from their used and well organised development environments to the new world of the W10 embedded if they don't offer a really great priceless alternative. And the things seems are not going in this direction. I have the sensation that the golden time of MS, when it was the worth to make right things has passed...

     

    And about the IoT i think, as I have already discussed in past, the it is not a real new tech or some kind of evolution. It is just a new label, as it was the Internet 3.0 to expand a market. Sure trying to force the customers to acquire a lot of new hardware at least to start to understand it is not so attractive for many, especially the less experts that - I think - will continue orienting their choices to the low-cost open source market.

     

    Enrico

  • in reply to shabaz

    Funnily Microsoft were late to the party for Internet ...

    you would have thought they might have been quicker off the blocks for IoT ....image

  • in reply to balearicdynamics

    Hi Enrico,

     

    Oh, I see what you mean. I must admit, I've not looked up the features of Windows IoT in any detail yet, but I suspect the reason for it is that Microsoft want (the same as others) to have some control of as many elements of IoT solutions as possible, from sensors to devices to firmware to cloud platform to XaaS. They want it all : ) as do Google, Samsung, Apple, etc.

    Linux for embedded apps is still Linux, it may be hardened, it may have unnecessary drivers removed. The secret sauce for IoT will be all the other software running on-board for security, remote device management/provisioning,  wireless updates, deep sleep and advanced wake-up strategies, etc. All this is possible with Linux in conjunction with a lot of open source out there, but it still needs to glue together with the rest of solutions that Microsoft or others are cooking up, and has to be scalable for millions or billions of devices.

    Personally, I have no intention to spend time learning Windows IoT _yet_. That may change though, depends on what features it gets, and how easy it is to work with, licensing requirements and so on. For now I'm happy with working with Linux on embedded devices containing application processors, but I'm open to Android too although I have little experience in this area.