Amiko Alien2 to Raspberry Pi discussion thread

zefer

Figured out my issue, had put in wrong IP address of box in pvr client settings! (I'm an idiot)!

FlexMcMurphy

FlexMcMurphy wrote: »

Gents, sometime when one of you have OpenElec xbmc running could you load the Webinterface to it and try pressing 'm' and 'i' on your computer keyboard? Does it make any menu appear on screen?

To answer my own question above (again)... With the OpenELEC webinterface running you can control some of the XBMC menus using your computer keyboard. I thought you could configure what keyboard presses execute what XBMC menus by changing Keymap xml files in OpenELEC. I wanted to open the 'On screen Display' for instance by pressing 'i'. It turns out you can't. The Webinterface only supports certain key-presses and you can't change or add to them. In the end I finally bought a decent LED Tv which supports HDMI-CEC and now I can control all the menus from the TV remote.

Flex

FlexMcMurphy

Just to update an earlier post I left for anyone interested or browsing this thread in the future...

To mount a Samba share on my Alien2 running PKT Hyperion to a folder on the Pi... from the Terminal screen to the Pi I ran the command:

mount -t cifs -o username=root,password=pkteam,rw //192.168.1.102/movie /storage/alien2

I must have been running Gotham at the time. For anyone still running OpenELEC Frodo and want to do this it won't work unless 'sec=ntlm' is added to the command:

mount -t cifs -o username=root,password=pkteam,rw,sec=ntlm //192.168.1.102/movie /storage/alien2

I added that command to the /storage/.config/autostart.sh file:

#!/bin/sh
 (sleep 30; \
 mount -t cifs -o username=root,password=pkteam,rw,sec=ntlm //192.168.1.102/movie /storage/alien2; \
 )&

... and the share is mounted at boot up.

Flex

Johnboy1951

FlexMcMurphy wrote: »

Just to update an earlier post I left for anyone interested or browsing this thread in the future...

To mount a Samba share on my Alien2 running PKT Hyperion to a folder on the Pi... from the Terminal screen to the Pi I ran the command:

mount -t cifs -o username=root,password=pkteam,rw //192.168.1.102/movie /storage/alien2

I must have been running Gotham at the time. For anyone still running OpenELEC Frodo and want to do this it won't work unless 'sec=ntlm' is added to the command:

mount -t cifs -o username=root,password=pkteam,rw,sec=ntlm //192.168.1.102/movie /storage/alien2

I added that command to the /storage/.config/autostart.sh file:

#!/bin/sh
 (sleep 30; \
 mount -t cifs -o username=root,password=pkteam,rw,sec=ntlm //192.168.1.102/movie /storage/alien2; \
 )&

... and the share is mounted at boot up.

Flex

I have never used anything but the XBMC GUI for setting mount points .... in my case NFS shares as the LAN devices run Linux.
So I am wondering if for some reason this manual set up is necessary?

Scoobydoo 2

I know this is not a pi but I have been mucking around with the cubieboard 2 ( similar to pi )
I have this mini pc streaming HD from the amiko alien 2 to a tv in the kitchen
After some issues with the default android Tvdplayer ( would stop streaming after about 15 mins )
I have downgraded the default android image to
Android 4.2_v1.06


Installed on the nand memory of the cubie

using Dreamdroid to stream from the Alien over a hardwired network Its been streaming in HD now from AA2 for about 90 mins without any issues

hughes_bn

my AA2 is running championc's open arp image which I go from Linux sat support last Christmas.
I created a bouquet on the AA2 called rpi

the pi is running gotham 13.1 on openelec 4.0.5
I've installed vu+/enigma client on the pi and set up with the AA2 IP address, selected fetch only 1 bouquet and put in the correct name. username and password are root & pass - this is what I use on DCC when I want to FTP files to the AA2.

the mpg2 and vc1 licences have been installed on the pi. I remembered to remove the # tag and using putty and comand "vcgencmd codec_enabled......" I confirmed the licences have been enabled

the pi has been over clocked to
arm_freq=950
core_freq=450
sdram_freq=450
over_voltage=6

only other addons are mashup, sports devil, ustv now

when I go to live tv the 20 or so channels I have added to the rpi bouquet are there and I can see whats on. but when I click on a channel I hear the sound effect that's its been selected but the stream doesn't start

anyone know where i'm going wrong??
I had it working before but reset the rpi so its not a problem with the enigma image

thanks

illdoit2morrow

hughes_bn wrote: »

my AA2 is running championc's open arp image which I go from Linux sat support last Christmas.
I created a bouquet on the AA2 called rpi

the pi is running gotham 13.1 on openelec 4.0.5
I've installed vu+/enigma client on the pi and set up with the AA2 IP address, selected fetch only 1 bouquet and put in the correct name. username and password are root & pass - this is what I use on DCC when I want to FTP files to the AA2.

the mpg2 and vc1 licences have been installed on the pi. I remembered to remove the # tag and using putty and comand "vcgencmd codec_enabled......" I confirmed the licences have been enabled

the pi has been over clocked to
arm_freq=950
core_freq=450
sdram_freq=450
over_voltage=6

only other addons are mashup, sports devil, ustv now

when I go to live tv the 20 or so channels I have added to the rpi bouquet are there and I can see whats on. but when I click on a channel I hear the sound effect that's its been selected but the stream doesn't start

anyone know where i'm going wrong??
I had it working before but reset the rpi so its not a problem with the enigma image

thanks

I had the same issue albeit running openelec 3.2.4 although you appear to have ruled out my error. I left in the # at the start of the line in config.txt for the codec.

It might be a pain, but try going with an older version openelec to see if this works.

hughes_bn

yeah, i'd seen your comments on the #tag earlier in the thread
someone else had suggested updating championc's open arp image on the alien2 box so will have a look at that.
I think the older version of openelec may be a good idea as I had it working before but did a hard reset on the pi and now cant get the pvr addon to work
thanks for the suggestion

hughes_bn

I updated the AA 2 image to freshpots PKT Hyperion and the stream is working

Only problem is now sometimes the audio and video don't sync up and can be out by several seconds. If I switch channels they sync up again but after a bit the audio and video don't tie up.

Has anyone else encountered this or any suggestions on how to fix it?

mossym

hi all. thanks for putting the thread together. i've been trying to get my pi up and running with my amiko, i get it connected, it downloads the channels, so happy days

not quite. my issue is more fundamental. when i boot the bi, the keyboard works fine. but if it is left for any length of time inactive the keyboard then refuses to work, as does the remote on my phone(which works after a boot as well). i've turned off all the sleep modes i can see, and the supply is from an ipad so should be well capable of providing enough juice. any thoughts?

illdoit2morrow

mossym wrote: »

hi all. thanks for putting the thread together. i've been trying to get my pi up and running with my amiko, i get it connected, it downloads the channels, so happy days

not quite. my issue is more fundamental. when i boot the bi, the keyboard works fine. but if it is left for any length of time inactive the keyboard then refuses to work, as does the remote on my phone(which works after a boot as well). i've turned off all the sleep modes i can see, and the supply is from an ipad so should be well capable of providing enough juice. any thoughts?

This kind of reminds me of an issue i had but it may be a different issue altogether.

If i was watching a channel via the vu+ addon and then pressed the exit button to stop watching the pi would hang. If you want to stop watching a stream on the pi, you need to bring up the menu that allows to stop/pause/play. The addon its great but it is a bit flaky in certain areas.

Outside that i don't know.

mossym

my issue occurs no matter what i am doing, even on the main menu. if i power up and use keybaord straight away, it's all fine. if i thn leave it for a while, or if i power on and don't press a key for a while, nothing works anymore.

Lpfsox

hi folks, took the plunge and bought an AA2. Loaded up OpenATV (enigma) on it and it's working fine. Tried streaming from there and got stuck - using Vu+ plugin in XBMC on both PC and RPi, loads channels up and shows the EPG but won't actually play a stream. Log shows XFILE::CFileCache::Open - failed to open source <http://192.168.0.12:80/web/deviceinfo> - so it seems that port 80 isn't available on the AA2. This is the default port on the AA2 and nothing set to block it... am I missing something or can anyone point me in the right direction?

Technofobe

I can confirm that the odroid c1 is also good for streaming from AA2
picked one up couple weekss ago after champonic highlighted the quad core board for $35 +9 for posting from the hardkernel site in korea
The us site wanted $25

I picked up the board a case power supply and remote I opted for the android os on micro sd and it runs great
http://www.hardkernel.com/main/products/prdt_info.php?g_code=G141578608433

FlexMcMurphy

I doubt there's a whole lot of difference in performance between this Odroid with the AA2 and the new Raspberry Pi 2 which now also has a quad core processor and 1GB memory.

Flex

Technofobe

FlexMcMurphy wrote: »

I doubt there's a whole lot of difference in performance between this Odroid with the AA2 and the new Raspberry Pi 2 which now also has a quad core processor and 1GB memory.

Flex

Not so much a comparison but just a heads up that the odoid will work straight out of the box with an android app like dreamdroid

But on the face of it looks like the pi is outgunned
+ the buying a licence for the video codec and installing it and setting up the pi

Where any technofobe will have no trouble using the android os on the odroid :-)
Amlogic S805 quad core Cortex A5 @ 1.5 GHz (Overclockable to 1.7 GHz or more)Vs
Broadcom BCM2836 quad core Cortex A7 @ 900 MHz
(Overclockable to 1.1GHz or more) on pi 2

eMMC module socket for 8GB/64GB Toshiba eMMC, or 16GB/32GB Sandisk iNAND Extreme, and micro SD slot (UHS-1 SD models supported)
Vs
micro SD card slot on pi 2
Gigabit Ethernet

Vs Pi 2
10/100M (USB to Ethernet chipset)


Android 4.4.2
ODROID-C1 supports more codecs, and codec licenses are included free of charge
vs pi
Extra license required for video codecs $ [/COLOR]

As champ put it a pi on steroids

championc

I need Help please

I've had to re-install my Odroid but I cannot for the life of me find the PVR Client in Kodi to link it to my Amiko Alien2.

I have an Odroid running Kodi v15.0 Alpha2. I go to System > Settings > Add-ons. Enabled Add-ons has NO PVR Clients. In System > TV > General, I tried to click on Enable but it says I need a tuner, backend software or Add-on for the backend.

Can't remember how the hell I did it before or where I got it from

Johnboy1951

I go to System > Settings > Add-ons. Enabled Add-ons has NO PVR Clients.

Did you check Disabled Add-ons?

championc

There is no option for Disabled Add-ons, as far as I can see

I remember I had this problem. Can't think off the top of my head, but it was an option in one of the menu's. Sorry, very helpful I know !

I'll see if I can remember the menu and option and post it later.

championc

FIXED

"sudo apt-get install xbmc-pvr-addons"

Then remember to go back into System > Settings > TV > General - Enabled

BobbyT28

Hi,

I have Amiko Alien 2 . I want to enable PVR on RPi 2 up stairs. I setup raspberry pi. When I enable to PVR i can see all the channels loading (Quickly) then the epg guide (1 day) loads and takes for ever to finish (4 hours +).

also,

I can view mu recordings from the aa2 even HD without any issues. The problem I have is, I can not view any of the TV channels. I select say BBC one, the loading icon appears on bottom right and then just clears.

Any ideas what could be causing this?

Don't think its the wifi on Rpi as I can view 1080p recordings from the box! Very fustrating.

Thanks in advance,
BobbyT28

FlexMcMurphy

FlexMcMurphy wrote: »

Hello

I want to get a raspberry pi to hook up to my Alien2. I just joined the thread and there's loads of useful info here.. good stuff.

Where should I buy one and how much hardware do people have? Here is a link to an eBay auction which seems to have all I would need... But there's another thread where McGixxer talks about how he over-clocked his Pi and put a fan and switch on it. Would it be worth going down that road? Can the xbmc menus be a bit laggy?

Is it necessary to have an external power supply and some people get a keyboard, mouse and remote too. But I thought you could power from USB and use something like putty to telnet in.

Cheers,

Flex

Get the Pie 2 or Odroid C1 with EMMC flash which will still be miles faster than the Pie 2. With the Odroid you can still use it with a Micro SD card and upgrade to EMMC later if you wish, the difference is very noticeable.

I got the Odroid C1 for my Mothers room with EMMC and the difference compared to the Raspberry Pie B+ is amazing.

The Odroid C1 is way faster than even the Pie 2 and can run Ubuntu and Android with ease especially with the EMMC flash.

I use the Odroid Xu3 Lite with EMMC and it's wicked fast, I use it for browsing the web and using Netflix, Kodi, and a lot of other stuff , it's pricey but an excellent device and the C1 is a lot faster than the Pie 2 for around the same money with the option to upgrade to the much faster emmc.

The C1 has a remote control, you have to buy separate, and the Xu3 Lite can use CEC commands from your TV remote.

I use Droidmote Client on my phone to control Android on the Odroid and it's brilliant, can use it as mouse and keyboard. You install the Droidmote server on the device you want to control.

The Link below will link you to the Odroid forums where you can get find the latest images for ubuntu and android but I think Android is better because Netflix does't work on Ubuntu.

http://forum.odroid.com/

You can get the Odroids on lilliput, I noticed that the Xu3 not available to buy, it has been replaced by the cheaper Xu4 but better specs.

http://lilliputdirect.com/odroid-c1-quad-core-computer

Johnboy1951

The Link below will link you to the Odroid forums where you can get find the latest images for ubuntu and android but I think Android is better because Netflix does't work on Ubuntu.

Is the problem that this version of Ubuntu does not allow Netflix for some reason?
As I understand it Netflix works on Linux.

Johnboy1951

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Is the problem that this version of Ubuntu does not allow Netflix for some reason?
As I understand it Netflix works on Linux.

Sorry, I should have said there is no support for Netflix on Arm 7 Linux devices at this time only X86 and X64. All to do with the digital rights encryption. But it works on Android.

Johnboy1951

Deleted User wrote: »

Sorry, I should have said there is no support for Netflix on Arm 7 Linux devices at this time only X86 and X64. All to do with the digital rights encryption. But it works on Android.

Ah, thanks for clarifying.

I just saw there's a new version of the C1 now, C1+ it's actually a bit more expensive probably due to the difference in Euro V Pound, Pie 2 is probably more expensive now too.

The Odroid will work out more expensive with the emmc but it's well worth it for the speed upgrade, even without the emmc its a lot faster than the Pi 2. you can always run it off a Micro SD for the time being and upgrade to emmc if you find it a tad sluggish.

It will work with your TV remote now too, they have CEC support in the C1+

Now that the Odroid community is growing fast and there is a lot more support it's , imo, a far better device than the Pi.

I got a spare Xu3 Lite without emmc if anyone wants it, cost about 200 inc postage and power supply, if someone wants to make me an offer + 12 quid for postage pm me.

The only issue i had with the Xu3 Lite is that it won't recognise 3 tB partitions at this time due to the GPT partitioning , it won;t work with MBR, or it will only show 2TB max.

But my workaround was to get a QNAP TS-231 NAS and it's brilliant, should have had a NAS years ago, can log in remotely and set torrents downloading. Can stream movies, mp3 etc. Picked it up when I was in Germany, only thing it can;t do is transcode on the fly so you'd need to re-encode your movies to whatever bitrate your upload on your internet supports.

You can install ubuntu on your Odroid and log in remotely also via VNC and there are guides on the web how to do this and then you can also set downloads going and you can also use it to stream movies, music Via Plex but it will be complicated and painful to get going on Arm 7 devices .NAS is much, much easier to use for this.

BobbyT28

BobbyT28 wrote: »

Hi,

I have Amiko Alien 2 . I want to enable PVR on RPi 2 up stairs. I setup raspberry pi. When I enable to PVR i can see all the channels loading (Quickly) then the epg guide (1 day) loads and takes for ever to finish (4 hours +).

also,

I can view mu recordings from the aa2 even HD without any issues. The problem I have is, I can not view any of the TV channels. I select say BBC one, the loading icon appears on bottom right and then just clears.

Any ideas what could be causing this?

Don't think its the wifi on Rpi as I can view 1080p recordings from the box! Very fustrating.

Thanks in advance,
BobbyT28

Anyone got any ideas? Using VU+ enigma 2 PVR. Can populate programs watch Recordings on HDD but just can't watch live tv!

Am I doing something wrong? Any other suggestions?

Thanks
BobbyT28

illdoit2morrow

BobbyT28 wrote: »

Anyone got any ideas? Using VU+ enigma 2 PVR. Can populate programs watch Recordings on HDD but just can't watch live tv!

Am I doing something wrong? Any other suggestions?

Thanks
BobbyT28

Are you getting sound but no picture? I know on RPI 1 I had to purchase a codec to get picture (it just had sound and that graphic equaliser animation thingy otherwise) but I don't know if that's applicable to RPI 2.

Johnboy1951

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

Are you getting sound but no picture? I know on RPI 1 I had to purchase a codec to get picture (it just had sound and that graphic equaliser animation thingy otherwise) but I don't know if that's applicable to RPI 2.

It is, but also only applicable to MPEG2 streams IIRC ..... so Saorview and HD Satellite should work?

FlexMcMurphy

Deleted User wrote: »

...But my workaround was to get a QNAP TS-231 NAS and it's brilliant, should have had a NAS years ago, can log in remotely and set torrents downloading. Can stream movies, mp3 etc. Picked it up when I was in Germany, only thing it can;t do is transcode on the fly so you'd need to re-encode your movies to whatever bitrate your upload on your internet supports.

You certainly know your stuff Mad_Lad. But that post of mine you responded to goes back nearly a year and a half ago. I ended up getting not one but two Raspberry Pis with a 5V, 2A power supply. Once connected to my router the Pi was fully controllable over Wifi using Putty from my laptop.

I enjoyed playing around with Unix commands and installing a LAMP server. I was kind of hoping the new Pi could do hardware transcoding so I could stream content from my USB harddrive and channels from my Alien2 to where-ever I happened to be. Stumbling block is the new Pi is still not fast enough to transcode on the fly, I'm not in an efibre area and my lousy eircom bband only gives me about 0.2Mb/sec upload.

Is a NAS any better than just a USB harddrive attached to your network.. I guess they connect over ethernet so their faster?

Flex

FlexMcMurphy

FlexMcMurphy wrote: »

You certainly know your stuff Mad_Lad. But that post of mine you responded to goes back nearly a year and a half ago. I ended up getting not one but two Raspberry Pis with a 5V, 2A power supply. Once connected to my router the Pi was fully controllable over Wifi using Putty from my laptop.

I enjoyed playing around with Unix commands and installing a LAMP server. I was kind of hoping the new Pi could do hardware transcoding so I could stream content from my USB harddrive and channels from my Alien2 to where-ever I happened to be. Stumbling block is the new Pi is still not fast enough to transcode on the fly, I'm not in an efibre area and my lousy eircom bband only gives me about 0.2Mb/sec upload.

Is a NAS any better than just a USB harddrive attached to your network.. I guess they connect over ethernet so their faster?

Flex

Really a year old post ? that's weird lol.

You can also use some remote apps for Android for Kodi that you can download from the Google Play store.

No The pie 2 won't transcode on the fly nor will my NAS which is also an Arm 7 device also You need a NAS intel based CPU for proper transcoding but my objective was power efficiency on something that will be on 24x7.

I am due to get EFibre soon ( supposed to be connected in May) so I won't really have to transcode but in places where I have 1-2 mb internet it would still be a challenge . I can remote boot the laptop and use plex media centre to pull the movie from the NAS and transcode on the fly that way if I really needed to but in reality I'd rather bring a 64 GB USB 3 memory stick with a few movies.

My Odroid Xu3 Lite could perhaps have the poke but there is no support for transcoding at this time.

Streaming the sat box over the internet though would be really cool.

On the NAS I could have a few movies encoded at a lower resolution and bitrate should I need them.

The AA2 certainly doesn't have any poke for transcoding so unless you got decent upload, forget it , even if you could transcode , at 200 Kbs up it would only be viewable on a tiny screen

Johnboy1951

I have never felt the need to transcode anything so I genuinely do not know the reasons it is necessary.

Would some kind soul please let me know why this is needed?

Thank you.

FYI, I play liveTV, videos etc from any storage device on the LAN regardless the format .... in such devices as R-Pi, NUC, Tablet, PCs.

Johnboy1951

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I have never felt the need to transcode anything so I genuinely do not know the reasons it is necessary.

Would some kind soul please let me know why this is needed?

Thank you.

FYI, I play liveTV, videos etc from any storage device on the LAN regardless the format .... in such devices as R-Pi, NUC, Tablet, PCs.

You need to transcode if you want to stream over the internet when your internet upload is rubbish like on most DSL connections. Or if your on wireless LAN isn't up to the job.

BobbyT28

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

Are you getting sound but no picture? I know on RPI 1 I had to purchase a codec to get picture (it just had sound and that graphic equaliser animation thingy otherwise) but I don't know if that's applicable to RPI 2.

No NOt getting any sound or picture. The loading icon pops up on bottom right then just goes off screen. Nothing hsppens. I can watch Recording s from HDD.

Would it be issue with Wifi? I don't think it is because I can watch 1080p with buffering eternally so I should be able to watch tream from AA2.

Download Kodi plugin for AA2 but it keeps freexing AA2. Do I need to setup something on AA2? I can see that webif is streaming on port 8001 and access to it is on 0080. When stting it up n boards, do I use 8001 streaming port or 0080?

Thanks again,
BobbyT28

illdoit2morrow

BobbyT28 wrote: »

No NOt getting any sound or picture. The loading icon pops up on bottom right then just goes off screen. Nothing hsppens. I can watch Recording s from HDD.

Would it be issue with Wifi? I don't think it is because I can watch 1080p with buffering eternally so I should be able to watch tream from AA2.

Download Kodi plugin for AA2 but it keeps freexing AA2. Do I need to setup something on AA2? I can see that webif is streaming on port 8001 and access to it is on 0080. When stting it up n boards, do I use 8001 streaming port or 0080?

Thanks again,
BobbyT28

I've not tried it in a long time but I did find this guide useful.

I do remember creating a bouquet of just a few channels to reduce the loading time on the pi to see if it worked and IIRC I just had to add the IP address of the AA2. Having to reset the database (Setting>>XBMC>>Live TV>>Reset the PVR Database) was required but I can't really remember why.

Take a look at that link and hopefully it'll help you.

Best of luck

Try stream to the likes of the Ipad or tablet with the apps you can download if it works then do a full reset or reinstall of your XBMC.

BobbyT28

Still unable to get this amiko to stream to pi!!! Have port 8001 for streaming 0080 for webinterface.

Channels and epg load. Can play recordings!

I have MPEG2 & WVC1 enabled. It just won't play. Is there anything else I need to do on pi or amiko to get it to play?

Can srram/play channels from pc using vlc so it.is working! Just not on the pi

BobbyT28

BobbyT28 wrote: »

Still unable to get this amiko to stream to pi!!! Have port 8001 for streaming 0080 for webinterface.

Channels and epg load. Can play recordings!

I have MPEG2 & WVC1 enabled. It just won't play. Is there anything else I need to do on pi or amiko to get it to play?

Can srram/play channels from pc using vlc so it.is working! Just not on the pi

Did another database reset. And it started to work all of a sudden! WTF!!

Happy days. Finally!! Thanks everyone.