Solved Windows 11 on Raspberry device anyone

jimbo45 · Nov 11, 2021

Hi folks
was wondering if I could get any version of Windows running on a Raspberry (ARM device essentially) system, attach an external SSD to it then run W11systems from a Physical Virtual Disk file (vhdx).

I like the idea also of a very small raspberry device that I could use as a decent NAS server too -- attach a multibay RAID disk enclosure. Device would be tiny, hidden away no wires etc --- wifi these days can be perfectly fast enough even for streaming propper HDR / 4K UHD movies etc.

Anybody had a go with this type of thing.

Cheers
jimbo

LeLibran · Nov 11, 2021

This might be useful as a start point: Windows on Raspberry - recommends the UUPDump images

yousaf465 · Nov 11, 2021

why could anyone want windows on raspberry pi? it is not worth the effort at the movment

jimbo45 · Nov 11, 2021

yousaf465 said:
why could anyone want windows on raspberry pi? it is not worth the effort at the movment

Hi there
some of these devices can be very powerful - who needs big boxes, towers , cables all over the place if you can get the processing done inside a device the size of a standard tobacco tin - just look at the capabilities of some smart phones these days. Raspberry (and ARM chips) in general have come a long long way from "Old Professors tinkering around in a shed with loads of wires and a soldering iron". Remember these aren't going to be gaming machines that need powerful GPU's, massive heat sinks, sometimes water cooled things too.

Wireless display units also help de-clutter desktops etc. I see some ISP's are even offering "Smart Wifi" which guarantees a really good proper wifi signal througout your property via a tiny (approx mouse sized) gadget which obviates the need for a separate router as this is connected by some means to the ISP's direct WAN fibre cable box.

I'm all in favour of less wires and boxes -- the only HUGE pieces of equipment I want to see are Large TV's and Monitors - and preferably without loads of cables everywhere .

Cheers
jimbo

pparks1 · Nov 11, 2021

For very small Windows implementations, I typically will either use the Intel Nuc, or recently I purchased a BeeLink SEI8. The Beelink is 4.5 inches square (approx). The BeeLink I bought is a Core i5-8279u, with 16Gb of RAM, 512GB NVMe drive, 4 USB 3 ports, 1 USB-C port, 2 HDMI outputs, gigabit ethernet, WiFI6, Bluetooth 5.0, Intel Iris Plus 655 graphics, and it came with Windows 10 Professional. I got this for $475 from Amazon. It fully supports WIndows 11, the CPU is compatible, it has TPM support and has UEFI BIOS with Secure Boot. The case has enough space inside of it to add a second 2.5" drive (either an HDD if storage is important, or an SSD if speed is more important).

Power draw is very low. During the boot process, the device pulls between 11 and 65 watts of power. Once it's booted and basically at idle, the box fluctuates between 8w and 26w of power consumption. For comparision, my 27" Asus ProArt display takes about 23w of power when it's active. And comparing to my primary desktop (AMD Ryzen 9-5900X, with EVGA 3080), that idles around 90W and peaks around 300w during boot time. Granted my desktop has a ton more power, which i need for gaming, but for playing and experimenting with Windows 11, the Beelink is plenty fast enough for everything I throw at it.

Boot time from power off, button press and logon screen for Windows 11, is 11 seconds.

jimbo45 · Nov 11, 2021

pparks1 said:
For very small Windows implementations, I typically will either use the Intel Nuc, or recently I purchased a BeeLink SEI8. The Beelink is 4.5 inches square (approx). The BeeLink I bought is a Core i5-8279u, with 16Gb of RAM, 512GB NVMe drive, 4 USB 3 ports, 1 USB-C port, 2 HDMI outputs, gigabit ethernet, WiFI6, Bluetooth 5.0, Intel Iris Plus 655 graphics, and it came with Windows 10 Professional. I got this for $475 from Amazon. It fully supports WIndows 11, the CPU is compatible, it has TPM support and has UEFI BIOS with Secure Boot. The case has enough space inside of it to add a second 2.5" drive (either an HDD if storage is important, or an SSD if speed is more important).

Power draw is very low. During the boot process, the device pulls between 11 and 65 watts of power. Once it's booted and basically at idle, the box fluctuates between 8w and 26w of power consumption. For comparision, my 27" Asus ProArt display takes about 23w of power when it's active. And comparing to my primary desktop (AMD Ryzen 9-5900X, with EVGA 3080), that idles around 90W and peaks around 300w during boot time. Granted my desktop has a ton more power, which i need for gaming, but for playing and experimenting with Windows 11, the Beelink is plenty fast enough for everything I throw at it.

Boot time from power off, button press and logon screen for Windows 11, is 11 seconds.

Thanks
Both those devices look absolutely ideal
Will look further.

Cheers
jimbo

pparks1 · Nov 11, 2021

jimbo45 said:
Thanks
Both those devices look absolutely ideal
Will look further.

Cheers
jimbo

Yep, and they run Linux very well as well. I've got 2 NUC's (Nuc 5i5RYK) and the 1 BeeLink SEI8 8279u.

jimbo45 · Nov 11, 2021

Hi there
@pparks1
Just put an order in for that Beelink SE18 model -- with discount and no VAT (importing from Germany) cost 395 EUR -- with the VAT (European sales tax) taken off -- last 1 of 2 in stock. !! Will arrive on Tuesday -- have to pick it up at the airport to sign the "VAT / (in German MwT) tax declaration but saves over 20% !!!!!

This looks "Exactly what the doctor ordered" -- looking to replace aging HP proliant GEN 8 Microservers -- they've done sterling service but time to move on !!!! Obviously popular boxes as they run out stock quite quickly. I'm obviously not the only one wanting to "tidy up" computer space.

Thanks for the link. I got "Ex VAT" on grounds of "Educational Material" -- seems in Germany "Alles in Ordnung" as ever !!!!

I'll mark this as solved now.

Cheers
jimbo

yousaf465 · Nov 11, 2021

jimbo45 said:
Hi there
some of these devices can be very powerful - who needs big boxes, towers , cables all over the place if you can get the processing done inside a device the size of a standard tobacco tin - just look at the capabilities of some smart phones these days. Raspberry (and ARM chips) in general have come a long long way from "Old Professors tinkering around in a shed with loads of wires and a soldering iron". Remember these aren't going to be gaming machines that need powerful GPU's, massive heat sinks, sometimes water cooled things too.

Wireless display units also help de-clutter desktops etc. I see some ISP's are even offering "Smart Wifi" which guarantees a really good proper wifi signal througout your property via a tiny (approx mouse sized) gadget which obviates the need for a separate router as this is connected by some means to the ISP's direct WAN fibre cable box.

I'm all in favour of less wires and boxes -- the only HUGE pieces of equipment I want to see are Large TV's and Monitors - and preferably without loads of cables everywhere .

Cheers
jimbo

Instead of Windows, I am using Homeassistant on my RPi 4. For Raspberry Pi NAS there are other raspberry specific NAS OS OWN cloud and next cloud for example. For the Heat sink, I use an ICe tower cooler.

pparks1 · Nov 11, 2021

Hey @jimbo45,

I hope your Beelink device works out as well for you as mine did for me. I did have a problem with the first unit that I bought. I got it, immediately backed it up, formatted it and installed Windows 11 and had tons of bluescreens. (Well, technically green screens on the insider preview dev release). Eventually, went back to the image of Windows 10 from the factory and it too bluescreened. So, something was wrong with the device.

Got it exchanged and the replacement model has been trouble free.

Their website isn't awesome, and finding the right sound driver can be tricky. It's an Intel SST sound driver, which I had to get through them. Other than that, just did Intel chipset and Intel video drivers right from Intel, and all has been well. if you have trouble finding that sound driver, just hit me up.

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