Installing Ubuntu 20.04 on Raspberry Pi for ROS Noetic

Installing Ubuntu 20.04 on Raspberry Pi for ROS Noetic

I needed a reliable OS for a Raspberry Pi project involving ROS Noetic, which only runs on Ubuntu 20.04. The issue? Raspberry Pi Imager doesn’t offer Ubuntu 20.04 anymore. Here's how I solved it by flashing the official preinstalled image manually.

✅ Why Ubuntu 20.04?

ROS Noetic is the final and most stable version of ROS 1, and it's officially supported only on Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa). Using any other version could cause dependency headaches or compatibility issues with packages.

📥 Downloading the Correct Image

Ubuntu provides a preinstalled server image built specifically for Raspberry Pi. I used the following:

➡️ Image: ubuntu-20.04.5-preinstalled-server-arm64+raspi.img.xz

This image is perfect for Raspberry Pi 3 and 4 (not 5).

🖥️ Flashing with Raspberry Pi Imager

Once you have the .img.xz file downloaded:

1. Open Raspberry Pi Imager
2. Click “Choose OS” → “Use custom”
3. Select the .img.xz file
4. Choose your SD card under “Storage”
5. Click “Write”

Optional: Before first boot, you can enable SSH by placing an empty file named ssh in the boot partition of the SD card.

🧠 Optional: Install a GUI

By default, the image is command-line only. You can install a desktop if needed:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install xubuntu-desktop

I personally prefer XFCE via xubuntu-desktop for its lightweight footprint.

🚀 Next Steps: Install ROS Noetic

Once Ubuntu 20.04 is running, you're ready to install ROS Noetic and start building your robot.

Let me know if you want a follow-up post on the ROS Noetic install process!

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