raspberry pi + openelec XBMC = fun media centre

[16k_zx81]

Some people may remember about 12 months ago I was having a go at this without much luck but thought I might update the story with some success and fun been had with pi and openelec.

Basically have been toying with a dedicated 'box' setup for playing movies and tv shows from a NAS at home. The idea being devices for the kids and for me and wifey to watch shared media in different rooms of the house.

I have been using XBMC for a long time on various machines, and most recently on a re-purposed dual core laptop with hdmi out. It was pretty good, but I was still a bit annoyed with some "windows" issues and so started looking around for a more 'dedicated' ("no OS") solution.

Anyhoo. Long story short. Got onto openelec which is a radically slimmed down linux distro that basically has just enough OS to boot straight to XBMC.

This tiny, free, software runs straight from a USB stick.

Having had some luck with it on an ION box I built for the kids, I thought I might fire up the PI, as there is also a build for that.

Turns out its actually not at all bad as a media centre basis using a class10 SD card as its OS disk and putting its storage partition onto a separate USB stick.

I whacked a small, 4-port, powered USB hub against it with a cable tie, and plugged wifi and remote IR sensor into that.

The whole setup cost me about $80, and its pretty damn good. Though not as quick as a 'proper' pc, it boots fast, goes straight to the UI for XBMC, and handles the skin pretty smoothly. Have been using for about a month. Just built one for my Sister and about to do another one for the Kids.

Anyhoo, just wanted to share, for anyone out there that has a XBMC or HTPC interest.

Jim

 

[OneClick]

Yep...
Been running that exact same setup for the last 6 months. Couldn't believe for the price and specs how well it runs.
Openelec 3.2 has increased the boot speed quite a bit. I do find mashup and some of the other apps sometimes a little slow.
But like you I mainly use it to stream movies of my NAS and it does 1080 fine.

 

[16k_zx81]

Yep...
Been running that exact same setup for the last 6 months. Couldn't believe for the price and specs how well it runs.
Openelec 3.2 has increased the boot speed quite a bit. I do find mashup and some of the other apps sometimes a little slow.
But like you I mainly use it to stream movies of my NAS and it does 1080 fine.

yeah... for sure

I had tried raspmc about a year back and it was buggy as hell. not a good experience.

Have been so impressed with openelec, though. amazing what it can do on such humble/low cost hardware

 

[SpaceSquad]

I used RasBMC for some time...Now I use RasPLEX which has awesome integration with my Plex server. And my second Pi acts as DNS cache and DHCP server among a couple other things.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[joydivision]

What is it like for TV on demand? I have been thinking about getting on old C64 to house a Pi in. A German company sells a device which allows you to convert the C64 into a USB one too. My use the C64 MK11 would be 8-bit emulators (Chameleon Pi) and also TV on demand. I could easily install different OSes on different SD cards and just change the disk as I need to, just like the old 8-bit days.

My concnern was if the low spec of the Pi could handle things like youtube and Iplayer etc (BBC on demand).

 

[OneClick]

What is it like for TV on demand?

My concnern was if the low spec of the Pi could handle things like youtube and Iplayer etc (BBC on demand).

Works fine. I watch some sport on it via skysports UK and a couple of other channels. No problems.
Iplayer works well on it.

I'm currently setting it up as a PVR as well. I had to buy the mpeg2 codec. Other than that it streams live TV fine.

 

[joydivision]

Thanks, will get one, just need to buy a C64 too to house it in, and the C64 keyboard to USB conversion kit. The kit also comes with two Atari joy stick ports

 

[pceinc]

I started using XBMC when it was only available on the original xbox. Talk about fun. Been using it for a few years on my main Windows box in the home with a dedicated HTPC on the main TV. I also had Plex installed and would switch back and forth from time to time depending on my mood. I like Plex's simplicity and interface more than XBMC. The problem with the HTPC is it's noisy, takes too long to boot, and is overkill for my needs apart from streaming soccer when I can't get a game on regular TV. Thanks NBC for getting the rights to the Premier League. Now that almost every match is available on regular TV I decided to ditch the HTPC and I bought a Raspberry Pi and installed Rasplex.

Are there any channels available for me to watch UK TV on Plex? I noticed the Box is gone, so my UK TV source is skint.

 

[16k_zx81]

Are there any channels available for me to watch UK TV on Plex? I noticed the Box is gone, so my UK TV source is skint.

I dont know about addons for Plex as I dont use it.

XBMC has plenty of addons that allow for a wide range of free, streaming viewing from all over the world. Hulu and Netflix, also.

The current hot items for 'boxes' is NUC and BRIX, also REVO has some popularity. I just bought one of these from China which was only $150 delivered (barebones), set it up with a usb and 2gb ram, so probably $180 all up, and run openelec on it. It has no fan so completely silent.

The kids are using the Pi in the lounge

Just updated the server from WHS to Unraid, which was surprisingly hassle-free to do, and I am liking very much.