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I'd like to use VirtualBox at first and instead of Raspbian, Ubuntu Mate.

Should I expect some differences while setting up a 3G connection?

Chetan Bhargava
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Stanislav Jirák
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2 Answers2

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For the command line, not the GUI:

Major differences? No.

Differences? Not really.

Here is a Raspbian wifi tutorial and an Ubuntu Mate wifi tutorial.

Both OSs use the files /etc/network/interfaces and /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf. Which both use the same formatting/syntax.

I wouldn't expect anything major to change. I'm sure looking at the Raspbian tutorial and figuring out what exactly what is different as you go wouldn't be too hard. But I doubt there are any differences.

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Patrick Cook
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  • Thanks for reply. I'm new to Linux and Pi and if I understand that right, the OSs differ one from each other especially in UI and software, which they run (with some minor differences in file management and so on)? – Stanislav Jirák Feb 25 '16 at 06:55
  • @StanislavJirák Yes, but the way that Internet is handled is nearly identical. – Patrick Cook Feb 25 '16 at 06:57
  • In fact the networking setup is one of the significant differences between the distributions. I am not sure how that relates to a 3G dongle. – Milliways Feb 25 '16 at 07:00
  • @Milliways both distros use the exact same files/formatting/commands for wifi and network, at least from what I've seen and the two links in my answer. – Patrick Cook Feb 25 '16 at 07:02
  • @PatrickCook It is possible to set both up the same way, BUT this is not what most users actually do. Most use the GUI, indeed there seems no reason to use Ubuntu unless you are planning to use the GUI. Ubuntu has problems if setup using one WiFi dongle then swap to another. – Milliways Feb 25 '16 at 07:10
  • Ubuntu's GUI is what I was attending to use for setting up Pi as 3G router. I'm looking for the most convenient way. – Stanislav Jirák Feb 25 '16 at 07:15
  • Wondering if keep Raspbian on my Pi or switch to Ubuntu Mate. – Stanislav Jirák Feb 25 '16 at 07:17
  • @StanislavJirák Buy another $8 SD Card and try both. – Milliways Feb 25 '16 at 08:57
  • Good point. I'll try. – Stanislav Jirák Feb 25 '16 at 09:08
  • @StanislavJirák Beware the most convenient way is not always the most effective; I believe the problem is that the higher level tools such as GUI interfaces may make the wrong assumptions about the way the system is configured (linux allows for a lot of *heterogeneity*), and are not very good at problem solving. But try the simplest way first, then if it doesn't work you have to start asking questions about more manual methods. In any case, at least on a A+/B+/2B model, a 3G dongle will work (older ones may have an insufficient power problem with the USB). – goldilocks Feb 25 '16 at 11:48
  • So if you are learning via VB and the easy way works there, you could try to figure out what it is actually doing and try it manually. The most foolproof way to get networking working is [to turn off all the automation](http://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/37594/how-can-i-disable-autoconfigured-networking-on-raspbian) and work from there. Connecting an interface to a router/AP is simpler than most people imagine looking at all the conf files. 3G is more complicated since it must roam seemlessly, but I would presume the kernel covers all that. – goldilocks Feb 25 '16 at 11:57
  • Thanks for your advise. I tried to connect my Pi to the Internet via 3G dongle following your points and it already works. Now, I am looking forward to establish AP on the Pi. – Stanislav Jirák Feb 26 '16 at 09:27
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VirtualBox is operating system level (aka. paravirtualization) software designed exclusively for x86(-64) systems and as such cannot run on any model of Raspberry Pi.

Since Pi operating systems all target ARM, VirtualBox cannot be used to run Raspbian directly. I think you are aware of this.

WRT setting up a 3G connection the fundamentals are the same since this is kernel driven. How you configure and interface with this depends upon the software you use, but it should be possible to do in a more-or-less identical way.

goldilocks
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  • @PatrickCook It's not clear to me at all reading that that this really involves emulating ARM on VirtualBox, esp. since VirtualBox plain and simple does not emulate hardware. It's a OS sandbox. It *may* involve running some hardware emulation inside virtualbox, which seems borderline daft -- if you really really want to do that, use QEMU. But someone else may know more details about it. – goldilocks Feb 25 '16 at 06:55