Raspberry Pi HTPC

killanena

Has anyone on here bought a Raspberry Pi? I have been following them a little while now and want to get my hands on one now and maybe turn it into a HTPC?

Where do you buy them here in Ireland? and it be powerful enough to actually play 1080p movies?

kepler_johan

I got one a while back (Model from element14.com, I ended up waiting a good while for it to arrive. Looking at the element14 site, it redirected me to here

http://cpcireland.farnell.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?sku=SC12590

who appear to be the suppliers for Ireland. I haven't used the Pi for playing movies, so I couldn't say for certain if it'll work well with anything that's 1080p.

mordeith

killanena wrote: »

Has anyone on here bought a Raspberry Pi? I have been following them a little while now and want to get my hands on one now and maybe turn it into a HTPC?

Where do you buy them here in Ireland? and it be powerful enough to actually play 1080p movies?

The model B suppots 1080p. I got mine from CPCFarnell. Had to wait about thre weeks for delivery. Whacked Rasbmc on it and controlled via the Yatse app for android.

killanena

Really? Thats great. I already have an external hard drive and a wireless usb adapter so for 30-40 euro for a HTPC isn't bad at all

Edit: I heard a lot of people use linux with it, Does it come pre-installed on model B?

one man clappin

The operating system for Raspberry Pi is based on linux. It does not come pre installed with any software. For the linked Pi above from Farnell you just get a Raspberry Pi. You have to purchase an SD card, at least 8GB and at least Class 6 or better. You also need a keyboard, hdmi lead, mouse, monitor or TV, and either Cat 5 cable to access your router or a wireless usb dongle. The Pi only has 2 usb ports so you probably would need a multi usb port.
Have a read here for the various downloads for the Pi.
As another poster said, Raspbmc is software written specially for the Pi to work as XBMC. You could also use openelec.
It really is a great little machine. I done my final year project on the Pi, had it running Raspbmc and steaming movies from an external hard drive to a tablet.
If you have no experience of using Linux, have a read of this book. It will help you a lot.
Also a free magazine where you can download copies to help you.

DamoKen

killanena wrote: »

Really? Thats great. I already have an external hard drive and a wireless usb adapter so for 30-40 euro for a HTPC isn't bad at all

Edit: I heard a lot of people use linux with it, Does it come pre-installed on model B?

Bought mine from here https://www.modmypi.com/ start of last week, arrived the Friday and had it configured with addons such as Icefilms within an hour Sunday.

Bought a few of the extras such as rainbow case which is cool, wireless adapter which openelec picked up straight away and connected to with no issue. Also got a hub for connecting keyboard & external drive, not essential but handy and cheap. /edit actually depending on the power requirements of your usb devices it might be essential, didn't try connecting my hard drive directly to the pi?

Oh yeah, bought an 8GB sd from them as which came preinstalled with NOOBS which is as the name suggests an installer package. Contains the following :

Archlinux - A Lightweight and Flexible Linux Distribution

OpecELEC (Open Embedded Linux Entertainment Center) - XBMC Media Centre OS.

Pidora - A Fedora Remix optimized for the Raspberry Pi

RaspBMC - A Linux Distribution Based on Debian that brings XBMC to your Raspberry Pi

Raspian - The recommended OS, which contains LXDE, Midori and Development Tools

RiscOS - Designed in Cambridge, England by Acorn. Released in 1987, it's a little bit of history!

Plugged in a usb keyboard for the first and last time and choose OpenElec which installed with no issues and automatically updated once I plugged in the wireless adapter. Nice feature of NOOBS is that by pressing Shift powering up you are presented with the installer menu again if you would like to change OS.

If you have limited experience with distro's or just like an easy life I recommend the NOOBS sd, foolproof.

As it's a gift for the missus this weekend on her birthday to date I only set it up last Sunday and did some prelimary testing. Tried mkv though off an external drive and played with no issues. Also connected and played a clip off Icefilms. Only thing I haven't yet done is stream over my network but don't hopefully foresee any problems. Controlled via Yatse once it was set up. Basically all I needed to do there was turn on the pi & open Yatse. Choose the xbmc listed and enter password details. No issues at all.

Plan is to use it as a HTPC box in the bedroom and for travel if we want. So far fits the bill perfectly.

Enjoy!

Dempsey

I'm going ordering a Raspberry PI over the weekend. At the moment, I'm buying a Raspberry Pi - Model B & 8GB SD card, Plastic Case & Wifi Dongle. Is there anything else that users would recommend getting whilst I'm at it?

Also looking buying through modmypi or radionics. Radionics is ~£5 cheaper than modmypi for the 3 items & delivery but Radionics are only supplying the Raspian OS. So could anyone tell me if NOOBs is worth paying extra for or is it available online?

Ghost Train

Used one with xbmc for a while, was playing videos over network. Think it was okay with 720p stuff, not sure if I tried higher. Found on wifi it wasn't as reliable at streaming

killanena

Thank you all guys for the feed back and the links. I'm definitely going to get one this week and I never even though bought how great it would be while travelling and staying in hotels.
And a special thanks to you DamoKen! Very informative

DamoKen

killanena wrote: »

Thank you all guys for the feed back and the links. I'm definitely going to get one this week and I never even though bought how great it would be while travelling and staying in hotels.
And a special thanks to you DamoKen! Very informative

No worries killanena

Slight update, missus loved it (after I convinced her that no, it was not just a new toy for me ).

Verified that you definitely need a hub for an external drive, PI alone isn't sufficient to power an external drive plus a wireless adapter for using your phone as a remote.

One more thing. Also discovered the hub that I got from modmypi along with the rest was unreliable at best. Refused to power mouse, hard drive etc despite numerous retries when I was initially demo'ing her pressie and despite the fact it had worked fine last Sunday. Tried it again an hour later on the off chance and lo & behold, worked without a problem. Following night seemed be be cycling on and off intermittently, that is message appeared on xbmc saying drive unmounted/mounted a few times. Only happened a couple of times but meant restarting whatever we were watching each time.

Anyway long story short. I'd recommend a usb hub as essential. I would not however recommend the cheap as chips one from modmypi.

I'm going to shop around during the week and pick up a decent one. The other one is not worth the frustration.

Dempsey wrote:

So could anyone tell me if NOOBs is worth paying extra for or is it available online?

Dempsey NOOBS is part of the raspberry PI project so yes it's available to download. Check out the link below if you want to do it this way.

http://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads

syklops

Word of advice for anyone considering doing the same. The recommended wireless dongle is called a wi-pi. However for some unknown reason it is not natively supported by most kernels, which means when you plug it in, it wont be detected automatically. Instead id recommend an Alfa AWUS360. Works with any kernel, long distance. Can be got for about 25 euro. They are power hungry so definitely get a decent powered USB hub.

dohboy

Noob here. Considering buying this: http://hometheatre.ie/htshop/raspberry-pi-8gb-xbmc-media-centre-openelec.html/

Prolly a rip off fir what it is...

syklops

dohboy wrote: »

Noob here. Considering buying this: http://hometheatre.ie/htshop/raspberry-pi-8gb-xbmc-media-centre-openelec.html/

Prolly a rip off fir what it is...

The starter kit in Maplins is 82 and gives you about the same.

mordeith

dohboy wrote: »

Noob here. Considering buying this: http://hometheatre.ie/htshop/raspberry-pi-8gb-xbmc-media-centre-openelec.html/

Prolly a rip off fir what it is...

Ridiculous price. If it came with a wireless mouse / keyboard I'd say something

dohboy

mordeith wrote: »

Ridiculous price. If it came with a wireless mouse / keyboard I'd say something

What would you recommend then? I really only want it to stream movies and sports. No desire to fanny about too much with it...

mordeith

dohboy wrote: »

What would you recommend then? I really only want it to stream movies and sports. No desire to fanny about too much with it...

Just buy yhe base unit. You can get case if necessary afterwards for less than €20. It's fairly easy to install XBMC onto the Pi and you can get the Yatse app for free to control it from your phone/tablet. The only thing you'd need intially is a usb keyboard to complete the setup. You may already have one if you own a desktop. If not you should be able to borrow one for a night if needs be.

dohboy

mordeith wrote: »

Just buy yhe base unit. You can get case if necessary afterwards for less than €20. It's fairly easy to install XBMC onto the Pi and you can get the Yatse app for free to control it from your phone/tablet. The only thing you'd need intially is a usb keyboard to complete the setup. You may already have one if you own a desktop. If not you should be able to borrow one for a night if needs be.

Nah, not arsed doing any of that. Rather pay a bit more and have something I can use straight way than any of that hassle.

DamoKen

dohboy wrote: »

Nah, not arsed doing any of that. Rather pay a bit more and have something I can use straight way than any of that hassle.

It's f'all hassling setting it up. One of the best things about XBMC is the customisation, ability to add new addon's as they are developed, add numerous different sources for a centralised entertainment hub etc etc. It's also a damn sight easier to do all this then it was when I first started using XBMC 8 years back. The XBMC builds for windows can now do a lot of stuff automatically for you (XBMC Wizard) and the raspberry builds are not far behind.

If you just want something that plays movies and are not interested in anything else maybe this isn't for you. There's plenty of external drives you can plug into your tv that will play movies for you but if you can't be arsed doing anything other than plugging it in the raspberry pi and xbmc are a complete waste.

If however you don't mind spending half and hour getting to know it's capabilities check out the site I linked to in my first post, even going for a preinstalled NOOBs sd card, the most expensive case they have, wifi dongle and postage I still got mine for cheaper than what you've been quoted.

If you invest just a little time getting to know it you'll never view tv the same again.

dohboy

Grand, I've been convinced. Gonna get the basics off modmypi give it a whirl.

killanena

Ordered my Model B last night, Going to make my own case for it though
Which of the operating systems would be best from a HTPC? Its all ill be using it for really.
I already have all the peripherals I need as I used to use my laptop as my HTPC but it is getting old and I don't feel like forking out another €400 + for a new one when I can get one of these for €40

DamoKen

dohboy wrote: »

Grand, I've been convinced. Gonna get the basics off modmypi give it a whirl.

good man

DamoKen

killanena wrote: »

Ordered my Model B last night, Going to make my own case for it though
Which of the operating systems would be best from a HTPC? Its all ill be using it for really.
I already have all the peripherals I need as I used to use my laptop as my HTPC but it is getting old and I don't feel like forking out another €400 + for a new one when I can get one of these for €40

If like me you are going to use it purely as a media centre either OpenElec, Raspbmc or Xbian will be perfect. First two you'll find on a NOOBS distro, not sure about the third.

Of the 3 I decided on OpenElec. From forums and reviews I read looked to be the fastest. However haven't tried the other two so could not say from first hand experience. So far though have to say very impressed with it. Updates seem fairly regular and to date it's pretty much a hands off experience. When I did need to configure wireless & Icefilms was very easy and painless.

Here's a decent comparision between the 3 mentioned http://lifehacker.com/raspberry-pi-xbmc-solutions-compared-raspbmc-vs-openel-1394239600

Not sure how relevant rebuilding OpenElec for new file types is, haven't experienced the need yet anyway and don't expect to as seems to support all the standard media types.

killanena

DamoKen wrote: »

If like me you are going to use it purely as a media centre either OpenElec, Raspbmc or Xbian will be perfect. First two you'll find on a NOOBS distro, not sure about the third.

Of the 3 I decided on OpenElec. From forums and reviews I read looked to be the fastest. However haven't tried the other two so could not say from first hand experience. So far though have to say very impressed with it. Updates seem fairly regular and to date it's pretty much a hands off experience. When I did need to configure wireless & Icefilms was very easy and painless.

Here's a decent comparision between the 3 mentioned http://lifehacker.com/raspberry-pi-xbmc-solutions-compared-raspbmc-vs-openel-1394239600

Not sure how relevant rebuilding OpenElec for new file types is, haven't experienced the need yet anyway and don't expect to as seems to support all the standard media types.

Thanks again man!

DamoKen

No worries mate, enjoy!

dohboy

Modmypi just told me they don't send to Parcel Motel 'due to recent fraudulent cases'. Pfft, jokers.

syklops

dohboy wrote: »

Modmypi just told me they don't send to Parcel Motel 'due to recent fraudulent cases'. Pfft, jokers.

What do you mean they told you?

dohboy

syklops wrote: »

What do you mean they told you?

Sent me an email...?

unkel

Got a model B Raspberry Pi from Amazon a few days ago. £28 including shipping

Wanted one just to mess with, for educational / coding purposes (my eldest is 9 years old) and to see for myself that it really does play 1080p flawlessly (I found it hard to believe it could)

Had trouble powering it off the TV USB socket, with just a micro keyboard / mouse in the USB slot. Didn't get much better when using a 500mA charger (from my Nokia phone ), but everything is fine using an old HTC phone charger (1A). I guess it does use up to about 5W in power!

Once I got the powah, I installed OpenELEC through NOOBS (see DamoKen's great post for more background info on this) and used XBMC to stream Inception in 1080p across my wired windows home network. And yes, it was flawless

Some yoke for a €30 yoke!

wheresmybeaver

unkel wrote: »

Got a model B Raspberry Pi from Amazon a few days ago. £28 including shipping

Wanted one just to mess with, for educational / coding purposes (my eldest is 9 years old) and to see for myself that it really does play 1080p flawlessly (I found it hard to believe it could)

Had trouble powering it off the TV USB socket, with just a micro keyboard / mouse in the USB slot. Didn't get much better when using a 500mA charger (from my Nokia phone ), but everything is fine using an old HTC phone charger (1A). I guess it does use up to about 5W in power!

Once I got the powah, I installed OpenELEC through NOOBS (see DamoKen's great post for more background info on this) and used XBMC to stream Inception in 1080p across my wired windows home network. And yes, it was flawless

Some yoke for a €30 yoke!

and if your tv is hdmi-cec compatible then you can use your telly remote to control xbmc. I'm running raspbmc's version of xbmc and it is remarkably good. Plays hd mkvs with dts and everything. I've since moved my media library to Plex, so plexbmc on raspbmc works perfectly and very efficiently with the centralized plex library. Using amber skin and its very quick - perfect for the second telly. And i made a case using some old Lego!

Zascar

I have one but I have not really used it - the learning curve is pretty steep - I reveryed back to my WEDTV instead. I bought a kit of ebay, came with an 8gb memory card with 5 different OS's on it, a case and some other bits. I'm not using it so let me know if anyone wants to buy it

unkel

Zascar wrote: »

the learning curve is pretty steep

I know what you mean, but if you use NOOBS it really couldn't be much easier. And if that's still too hard, just buy a ready to go SD card with an OS on it (from about €15 iirc)

The Pi is well worth playing with