Initial Setup of a CanaKit Raspberry Pi 4 4GB Starter Kit

For Christmas, I received a CanaKit Raspberry Pi 4 4GB Starter Kit with Clear Case (4GB RAM).

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The kit contains everything you need minus an HDMI monitor and USB keyboard/mouse.

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It includes the Raspberry Pi 4b (I received the one with 4GB of RAM, but it's also available with 1GB or 2GB of RAM), heatsinks, a power supply with a removable inline switch, case (I ordered the one with a clear case), case fan, micro HDMI to HDMI cable, micro SD card with NOOBS preinstalled (I ordered the one with a 32GB card), and a USB micro SD card reader in case you need to reload NOOBS on the SD card.

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The Raspberry Pi 4 is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand which is amazing considering it has gigabit ethernet, wireless, bluetooth, and support for dual monitors.

The first task was to install the three heatsinks. The documentation wasn't clear on which chips to install them on, but based on my research, the heatsinks go on the processor, RAM, and USB controller.

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Now for the installation of the Raspberry Pi into its case. The case snaps apart into three pieces.

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Place the Pi onto the bottom which has numerous small holes in it and feet on the bottom of it.

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Snap the middle portion of the case back together with the bottom piece.

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I've gone ahead and placed the cover on the case, but will need to remove it again to install the case fan.

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I researched to determine which direction the fan should go for proper airflow, but based on the results I found it didn't seem to matter much so I installed the fan label down since that looked better.

Initially, I plugged the fan into ground and the 5v header but ended up moving it to the 3.3v header to make it run a little slower and quieter. I tied the fan wires together in a knot.

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This keeps the wires from being too long and gives it a cleaner look.

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The SD card plugs in face down.

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Upon booting the Raspberry Pi, you're prompted with two installation options. I chose the Raspbian Full installation option.

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If you connect the Pi to the Internet first, you're presented with more installation options.

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The remainder of the installation options from this point forward are self-explanatory but can be found on the "Finishing the Setup" page of the official Raspberry Pi documentation.

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