Any Raspbery Pi or XBMC fans here?

[Michael Stora]

I just ordered my Pi and I am planning on using it as a set top box with XBMC (as well as for other things).



Mike

[RedJoker]

That's the project I'm thinking of, too. While I like the idea of the RPi, it seems to not fit any of my current projects. Too much for my microcontroller projects, yet too little for the heavy computation projects. I'm keeping an eye on the community, though, to see what everyone else is doing. This stuff is just too cool.

[sharkx]

I can't help with the raspberry pi. But for the last year I've been using a mini-itx board running MythTV as a backend with a couple of Hauppage tuners for capturing TV broadcasts to disk and to form the basis of my PVR.

I've been using XBMC as a front end to stream video captured by MythTV. If you're just going to use XBMC to stream video or ripped DVD's you don't need MythTV.

I've been a Linux freak for years and run both MythTV and XBMC on Gentoo Linux. If your going to be running linux, be prepared for some fooling around to get everything working in XBMC. I still have occasional issue with XBMC crashing. Since XBMC was orginally developed for the Xbox, I suspect that it runs best on that platform.

Here is an excellent article that helped me:
Comparing MythTV and XBMC | Linux Journal

Bruce

[Michael Stora]

Ironically XBMC (once called X-Box Media Center) development has been centered on Linux for years and recent versions will not run on an X-Box. There was an XBMC4Xbox fork that died in 2009.

Mike

PS. The Pi is overkill for most micro controller products (the processor is equivalent to a 300 MHz Pentium II) about 175 MFlops. The Graphics co-processor is 26 GFlops and could be leveraged as a math coprocessor (no software platform currently exists for this). However, it is $25-$35 overkill which is less is pretty competitive with even the low cost Arduino knockoffs by the time you add an interface "shield" of some kind.

[RedJoker]

Originally Posted by Michael Stora

Ironically XBMC (once called X-Box Media Center) development has been centered on Linux for years and recent versions will not run on an X-Box. There was an XBMC4Xbox fork that died in 2009.

Mike

PS. The Pi is overkill for most micro controller products (the processor is equivalent to a 300 MHz Pentium II) about 175 MFlops. The Graphics co-processor is 26 GFlops and could be leveraged as a math coprocessor (no software platform currently exists for this). However, it is $25-$35 overkill which is less is pretty competitive with even the low cost Arduino knockoffs by the time you add an interface "shield" of some kind.

Keep us all updated on your progress.

[RyanH]

Ive been looking into one of these but havent pulled the trigger yet.

The only thing I really want to build at the moment is a silent full featured router. Planning on using one of those intel atom boards. Not sure if a pi would work for that...

I would like to build a home brew dvr some day...maybe then.

[Michael Stora]

The Atom boards would be great for a router. I've been thinking about building a set top box with one for some time but most don't come with good enough video.

An older Lynksys Router with HyperWRT + Thibor will give you enterprise-class router featutres. I'm running a name server, VPN, etc at home had have previously used dynamic dns and DMZ.

Mike

[RyanH]

Ive messed around with running DD-WRT on a linksys router. Its mostly for the gee-whiz factor more and that I built it than anything else. Also, I like having more control than typical off the shelf firmware provides.

Im running a smoothwall router on an old dell my friend was going to toss and it works great, but makes too much noise and sucks too much power.

Originally Posted by Michael Stora

The Atom boards would be great for a router. I've been thinking about building a set top box with one for some time but most don't come with good enough video.

An older Lynksys Router with HyperWRT + Thibor will give you enterprise-class router featutres. I'm running a name server, VPN, etc at home had have previously used dynamic dns and DMZ.

Mike

[dukegrad98]

I'm running the OpenELEC variant of XBMC on a small net-top type system. I have no TV interface; I just use it for playing stored media -- music, movies, etc. It's just a couple-week-old experiment, but so far I have to say it's pretty great to watch at night.

I'm running it on one of these that I picked up super-cheap on a Newegg blowout. Including a 1TB 2.5" drive and a 2GB stick of RAM, plus an eBay generic XBMC remote control and USB infrared receiver, I think I'm about $225 into the entire machine. (Sorry, Mike -- this is the only AMD piece of hardware I own!)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856119050

With just a little bit of text-file configuration, I had it up and working pretty quickly. Getting all your media files moved over to it takes longer than installation and config by an order of magnitude. I know there's been talk about porting OpenELEC to RPi, but I don't know much more than that.

I'll be very interested to follow your progress. What are you using for a project box/case?

Cheers, John

[Michael Stora]

Originally Posted by dukegrad98

I'm running the OpenELEC variant of XBMC on a small net-top type system. I have no TV interface; I just use it for playing stored media -- music, movies, etc. It's just a couple-week-old experiment, but so far I have to say it's pretty great to watch at night.

I'm running it on one of these that I picked up super-cheap on a Newegg blowout. Including a 1TB 2.5" drive and a 2GB stick of RAM, plus an eBay generic XBMC remote control and USB infrared receiver, I think I'm about $225 into the entire machine. (Sorry, Mike -- this is the only AMD piece of hardware I own!)
Newegg.com - Foxconn NTA350-0H0W-B-A-NA AMD Hudson D1 1 x 204Pin AMD Radeon HD 6310 Black Mini / Booksize Barebone System

With just a little bit of text-file configuration, I had it up and working pretty quickly. Getting all your media files moved over to it takes longer than installation and config by an order of magnitude. I know there's been talk about porting OpenELEC to RPi, but I don't know much more than that.

I'll be very interested to follow your progress. What are you using for a project box/case?

Cheers, John

OpenELEC does work on the Pi but it is just a minimal Linux system for running XMBC. I will probably install Raspbian a Raspberry optimized Debian build so I can play with the device more (web surfing in the living room, etc). I'll probably do remote control over wifi using the XMBC cell phone ap rather than get an IR receiver.

Raspbian has native hardware floating point support:


Mike

[dukegrad98]

Originally Posted by Michael Stora

OpenELEC does work on the Pi but it is just a minimal Linux system for running XMBC. I will probably install Raspbian a Raspberry optimized Debian build so I can play with the device more (web surfing in the living room, etc). I'll probably do remote control over wifi using the XMBC cell phone ap rather than get an IR receiver.

I hear you. As a random side note, I have LinuxMint installed on a USB stick so that I can boot into a more full-functioning Linux system on the same box should I wish. I have found that I use it very little, but I admit that's partly because this gadget was designed specifically for living-room media use and not general computing. Interesting about the WiFi/cellphone remote app, and it sounds pretty neat, but I run with a Blackberry. We have the best e-mail and basically no other useful apps!

Cheers, John

[Michael Stora]

Originally Posted by dukegrad98

We have the best e-mail

Keep telling yourself that

Mike

[Michael Stora]

In the three weeks since I posted this, someone has released PaspBMC, XBMC optimized for the Pi.

I just called Allied Electronics today to see if it has shipped since the web site said 3 weeks when I ordered exactly 3 weeks ago. Then are estimating another 13 weeks!

Mike

[dukegrad98]

Bummer. What should one of these things cost? I see they are all over eBay for $50-80, supposedly in stock. Still just following along out of curiosity -- thanks for updating us. We'll check back in a few months.

Cheers, John

[Michael Stora]

Originally Posted by dukegrad98

Bummer. What should one of these things cost? I see they are all over eBay for $50-80, supposedly in stock. Still just following along out of curiosity -- thanks for updating us. We'll check back in a few months.

Cheers, John

The charitable foundation has set the Price at $25 for the A model and $35 for the B model. I'm not surprised to see scalpers.

Mike

[MPTech]

I heard somebody talk about this before (and I'm kinda geekie anyway), so I read the wiki and Raspberry PI Pi site.
so this is kind of a simple/inexpensive computer, running Linux, intended (for school kids) to promote computer knowledge / programming?

Can anyone elaborate? (very interesting project)

[Arachnyd]

Mike, might want to try Newark. I ordered one on July 22, received Aug. 7. So far only installed Raspbian wheezy distribution. Haven't had much time to play.

[Michael Stora]

I ordered from Newark yesterday. Expected ship date is Sept 5, exactly two months ahead of the expected ship date for Allied. I'll use one as a dedicated set top box and the other for tinkering.

Mike

[sharkx]

Those of you with Raspberry Pi's have you experienced any problems similar to these?
Raspberry Pi • View topic - USB - the Elephant in our Room

I haven't taken the plunge yet but I'm thinking about it.

Bruce

[Michael Stora]

Originally Posted by sharkx

Those of you with Raspberry Pi's have you experienced any problems similar to these?
Raspberry Pi • View topic - USB - the Elephant in our Room

I haven't taken the plunge yet but I'm thinking about it.

Bruce

This Bruce guy sounds like some of the posters here on ffcars.

1. Fixed before he mentioned it--was a software issue.
2. Fixed before he mentioned it--was a software issue.
3. There are so many more front ends for MPlayer. MPlayer was still my favorite media player even on Windows before the fancy smancy SMPlayer graphical interface came out and all we had was MPUI. Why is his dislike of this particular software concern a mark against the Pi?
4. Provide the device 700mA at 4.75-5.25V and it will run stable. A shitty phone charger is a shitty phone charger. Period. This 5.25v 1000mA power supply costs $6 "The Pi is weak here". This guy wants a switching voltage to voltage converter that would more than double the price of the Pi and not even solve the issue. Drawing more current from the inadequate supply in order to step up the voltage would result in even more voltage droop. You'd still need to buy a turnip with more blood in it.
5. Linux has supported hot swapping for ages without needing a "Service Pack 2" . No idea why this would suddenly be an issue.

Mike

PS. I also heard that the shocks break and the windshield cracks on the Raspberry Pi . . . just sayin'.

[Michael Stora]

The current firmware upgrade will include H.264 encode support and there are now CEC drivers (your TV will pass media commands from your regular remote to your Pi, Pi can turn on and off your other media devices, etc.)

Plus you can buy a MPEG-2 license for $3.79 and a VC-1 license for $1.90: http://www.raspberrypi.com/

I had the foresight to encode my video collection starting almost a decade ago into MPEG-4 Part 2 (popularized by Divx, Xvid, and Nero Digital). Initially it frustrated my relatives but I picked the next standard, Now nearly everything my dad sends me is MPEG-4 Part 2. Anything recent, I rip to h.264 (MPEG-4 Part 10).

Mike

[Michael Stora]

My Raspberry Pi arrives next Tuesday (the second one I ordered). Just in time for me to leave for a week and a half business trip

This video shows the Pi with the updated codec support:



This is a Synth someone is working on. He claims the hardware is better than anything he's used in the £500 range

[Thanatopsis]

Originally Posted by Michael Stora

My Raspberry Pi arrives next Tuesday (the second one I ordered). Just in time for me to leave for a week and a half business trip

I'm still waiting on mine.

But while I'm waiting I'm working on an expansion board, 16 analog inputs and 16 digital, all opto-isolated.

[tim-in-oakton]

what is the interface from the pi to the interface adapter Thanatopsis?

[Thanatopsis]

Originally Posted by tim-in-oakton

what is the interface from the pi to the interface adapter Thanatopsis?

Initially I planed on using some of the GPIO pins. I'm leaning away from that at the moment. I'm looking into having an Arduino do the grunt work and sending the data to the pi over the serial port. At 115K it should be fast enough for my application. Plus it will be more flexible should I decide to replace / upgrade the pi with a different device like the Beagle Board.

[Michael Stora]

I was planning on doing the same (24 in 24 out) by bit banging some shift registers. You will have to write the deamon in C to be fast enough, however.

Check out this little $0.75 FET that will drive 60V 600mA inductive loads from a logic level signal. You don't even need protection diodes!
http://www.diodes.com/_files/product...zetex/an10.pdf

I won't be opto-isolating. I'm going to use some cheap Schmidt triggers for input. I'll keep them socketed in case I have to replace any. I'll probably Zener protect the inputs as well.

Mike

[Michael Stora]

Originally Posted by tim-in-oakton

what is the interface from the pi to the interface adapter Thanatopsis?

FYI, there is a 26-pin ribbon connector header on the PI for IO:



Mike

[Thanatopsis]

Originally Posted by Michael Stora

I was planning on doing the same (24 in 24 out) by bit banging some shift registers. You will have to write the deamon in C to be fast enough, however.

C and C++ are the only real languages. Everything else is just a toy[1]

Check out this little $0.75 FET that will drive 60V 600mA inductive loads from a logic level signal. You don't even need protection diodes!

Have a link for that?

I won't be opto-isolating. I'm going to use some cheap Schmidt triggers for input. I'll keep them socketed in case I have to replace any. I'll probably Zener protect the inputs as well.

The opto-isolators are prolly over kill. I'm a software engineer IRL and my hardware skills are barley adequate so I think I tend to err on the side of caution.

[1] That should start a war.

[Michael Stora]

Sorry. Link added above. 75 cents is the digikey price.

Mike

[Michael Stora]

Unit arrived 90 min ago and I am already watching my home movie collection on my 50" plasma. I never had to attach a mouse or keyboard as it is reading my TV remote.

Youtube plugin is crashing so I will have a little work to do.

Mike