sudo apt-get Introduction
A Raspberry Pi is a $35 computer. Well, almost a computer. You still need a keyboard and mouse, a video-out source, an SD card or USB stick, probably a power source, plus all the cables. So what
do you get? This:
No operating system is included; that's where the SD card comes in. There's a specially-designed Linux distro called
Raspbian “wheezy”, although many other options exist.
For this project, I am going with
Raspbmc, which is designed for using your Raspberry Pi as a media center.
Equipment
- Raspberry Pi Model "B"
- Seagate 2TB Backup Plus external drive
- SanDisk 8GB SDHC card
- Samsung TV
- Lapdock For Motorola Atrix (for video and KBM)
- Eventually my Android phone for XBMC remote control
The intent is to create a headless media streaming center, and document the process in this thread. Got it on a whim after my father bought one, so will be a learning and amusing experience with pictures.
2012/12/05
Holding off on the lapdock for now, until all the various cables arrive. Plugged Pi into TV, and after a few restarts, Raspbmc launched. Interface is simialr to PS3's Cross Media Bar:
- Logitech MK520 KBM set from work was working intermittently; sometimes neither would work, sometimes both or just one.
- Seagate drive mounted and connected right out of the box. Has some promo videos on there played fine, though blown up quality was low. After inital trial, pulled drive, formatted as NTFS again, and loaded some vids and pitures. System struggled with a 400MB folder of images; seemed to be having trouble indexing.
- Network seemed to be OK, but all fields on the Network screen were blank; IP Address, DNS Server, etc., including MAC Address.
Probably need a case. Thinking about doing a LEGO one. For the drive is NTFS the way to go? Other option is exFAT.
2012/12/07
Got the HDMI micro to HDMI cable, so plugged it into the Lapdock offline to test. Wow. That is a fantastic display. Played
Sita Sings The Blues and was very impressed. Keyboard was fine, trackpad was slightly laggy.
2013/01/29
This is why I don't make threads, no good at keeping up with them. So I moved a bunch of media over to the Seagate, tested it out and worked great. Then the very next morning plugged my laptop power into the HD and fried it. Managed to take it apart to get to the disk, and tried to connect to my laptop via a SATA to USB setup. Got actual smoke that time! Trying to decide if it's worth it to buy the controller board. Got most of the media restored from past backups, so will probably just go with a USB stick or something non-mechanical for the Pi.
Posts
Right now it's setup as a headless torrent/VPN server, and does it's job beautifully.
Yeah, apparently that works pretty well with the Model B. I'm stuck right now without a micro HDMI to HDMI cable. Trying to keep the cabling as simple as possible, but seems like it's always the opposite of what I want. Really doesn't matter, since will be out of sight on the top of our TV cabinet.
What are you using for storage? A stick/card, or a separate drive?
Does Raspbian utilize the floating point hardware?
Mine is setup for streaming media wirelessly, but lately I've been having trouble setting up reliable smb shares so I haven't used it since the last update.
Satans..... hints.....
The Pi has gotten a good response I think because both of the quality of parts and especially the number of standard ports they crammed on to it. This makes it accessible to both "hard core" hackers and those who just want a hobbist PC to mess around with like myself.
1. Send it into near space and film the whole trip
2. Managing a home PBX phone system with Google Voice
3. Super customizable music jukebox
4. Webcam server
5. Minecraft
6. Linux playground for things.
7. Or any number of outrageous things people have done
Some Command Adhesives should do the trick.
Might throw it all in a metal box literally bolt it onto the table.
And they're always making better idiots.
edit: Update to OP.
NTFS for the 500? Not really sure on the floating point. The FAQ claims to use some sort of "hard float" which is supposed to be good.
Need to drive a 1080P display, but am concerned wifi is not sufficiently reliable to deliver good service to a thin client.
Raspberry pis also have HDMI out.
I'm currently rejiggering my pi (or actually, ordered a new item) so I'm not running over wifi due to MKVs are pretty much at the limit at what N class dongles can handle so I'm going to shift to lan over power (hopefully!).
This additionally will free up my USB port so I'll have the option of either running and IR receiver or running off a USB stick which would speed things up as well.
Satans..... hints.....
Satans..... hints.....
The full set of outs are hdmi, composite and a line out for audio.
I have it plugged into my tv to play mkvs. And bandwidth issues aside, it does that with aplomb.
Satans..... hints.....
I though the Mini looked the best out of those as well. Some were just bad copies of the Pi, and other seemed too limited.
Cool. Will play around to see what gives me the best rates, or if it matters at all.
Yeah, back-powering the bastard is so convenient. I will have to rework shutdown on xfce4 to halt, I still have to get the speakers to work, and while waiting for my wireless n adapter to come through the mail, I have a linksys wireless g adapter to fuss with. Also, a case for the pi would help.
The GERT Board is one option, though it seems Arduino is the more popular option.
Here's a sweet motorized project:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=68j8tu7rS3k
That's a pretty cool idea.
Can you make a case that has the Pi sealed inside? So with no user-accessible parts, you'd have made an Apple Pi.
CNET UK had an article about some random projects, including a print your own case PDF. I think that'd be nice, as it goes along with the Rasp Pi aesthetic.
Sweet. I'm thinking of making a 6 DoF simulator for flightsim.
It's worthwhile to buy one now before something corrupts or if you want o install a new os.
Satans..... hints.....
Sadly no.
For monitors, kind of depends on what you're looking to do with it. A lot of people just use their TVs since they plan to use the Pi headless.
The Moto Lap Dock is only $20 at Fry's right now if you happen to be near one. Go for a little more on-line, but still under $100 for a really nice device.
TV only has scart/composite connection at the moment though but I suppose I can get some connectors for that.
So the SD is for the OS and internal data store; as I'd preferably stream I suppose external USB won't be necessary yet. Does sbmc play nice with Windows shares? I'm reading that it's supported, but I'm interested in reading more experiences like Blake's
Nfs works fine though.
Satans..... hints.....