# NixOS image for Raspberry Pi 3B armv7?
**URL:** https://discourse.nixos.org/t/nixos-image-for-raspberry-pi-3b-armv7/18430
**Category:** Help
**Created:** [April 1, 2022, 8:05am UTC](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/nixos-image-for-raspberry-pi-3b-armv7/18430 "2022-04-01T08:05:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@stianlagstad](https://discourse.nixos.org/u/stianlagstad)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2022, 8:05am UTC](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/nixos-image-for-raspberry-pi-3b-armv7/18430/1 "2022-04-01T08:05:01Z")
I’d like to install nixos on my old raspberry pi 3b rev 1.2 which is armv7. I have some beginner questions:
- I do need an armv7 image, right? I can’t use the aarch64 images?
- From reading [this](https://nixos.wiki/wiki/NixOS_on_ARM/Raspberry_Pi) I understand that I can’t find an image for armv7 on hydra. Is that correct?
- Are there any guides that takes you from A-\>Z for armv7? I’m struggling to put pieces from [NixOS on ARM - NixOS Wiki](https://nixos.wiki/wiki/NixOS_on_ARM) together to build an image.
- I’m considering just getting a newer raspberry pi. Maybe that would make my life easier?
Thanks!
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### Author:  [@bartsch](https://discourse.nixos.org/u/bartsch)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2022, 9:14am UTC](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/nixos-image-for-raspberry-pi-3b-armv7/18430/2 "2022-04-01T09:14:44Z")
It should boot fine with an aarch64 image. Just give it a try: [https://nixos.wiki/wiki/NixOS\_on\_ARM#Installation](https://nixos.wiki/wiki/NixOS_on_ARM#Installation)
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### Author:  [@stianlagstad](https://discourse.nixos.org/u/stianlagstad)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2022, 8:44am UTC](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/nixos-image-for-raspberry-pi-3b-armv7/18430/3 "2022-04-04T08:44:19Z")
Thanks! I can confirm that it does indeed boot with such an image. Beginner question: Why is that?
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### Author:  [@bartsch](https://discourse.nixos.org/u/bartsch)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2022, 11:08am UTC](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/nixos-image-for-raspberry-pi-3b-armv7/18430/4 "2022-04-04T11:08:34Z")
The prozessor in your Raspberry Pi 3 is an ARMv8. With ARMv8 the 64-bit extension was introduced: AArch64. Though, you could run binaries for ARMv7 on it, as it has backward compatibility.
Quote from Wikipedia on [AArch64](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AArch64): “AArch64 provides user-space compatibility with the existing 32-bit architecture (“AArch32” / ARMv7-A), and instruction set (“A32”).”
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### Author:  [@leo60228](https://discourse.nixos.org/u/leo60228)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2022, 1:10pm UTC](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/nixos-image-for-raspberry-pi-3b-armv7/18430/5 "2022-04-07T13:10:17Z")
For a bit of clarification, the Pi 3B _is_ aarch64. Raspberry Pi OS recommends armv7, but that’s just so that they can use the same software for all Pi models.
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### Author:  [@stianlagstad](https://discourse.nixos.org/u/stianlagstad)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2022, 7:45am UTC](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/nixos-image-for-raspberry-pi-3b-armv7/18430/6 "2022-04-08T07:45:03Z")
Thank you for the clarification. This was why I was confused initially. I was under the wrong impression that my raspberry pi 3b was armv7, and not aarch64.