Is anyone taking a serious look at RaspberryPi?

[vahokie]

A new polycase for Pi

http://www.polycase.com/pi-series

[oddjob]

http://odroid.foros-phpbb.com/t1609-odroid-x2

Maybe this is better than raspberry pi?

[phareous]

So has anyone used this with the XBMC plugin....how does it work? Is it a viable alternative to a sage extender?

[RedR]

Well finally got my hands on a Raspberry Pi rev B board. Setup RaspBMC on a class 10 32GB SD via their installer. Few burps on the first boot and updating, but a few reboots later, its up and running. Pointed it at my video library for Sage, and BAMO, HD outta the hat. I did go through the settings and tweak a few things for the TV its connected to, otherwise, first shot I am impressed.

Still some config and linking to do, lots of learning curve, all a blast for me. Also need to shop a remote for it so I think its time order one of those iPassports and see if it'll work. Suppose I'll see if I can make a clean case for it once I get all the hardware sorted out.

Many have reported the XBMC menus are slow, I have not noticed this what so ever. Perhaps this problem is remote related? As well video playback so far is clean and clear w/o any issue. Again, I've only tested a few shows and movies in the last few hours. Much more testing to follow.

By default I can SSH to the Pi, as well its running a web server for XBMC. It basically has a web remote (which I am using via laptop atm).

Bottom line, I expect to have around 80 bucks tied up into it once finished out. If all goes well, this will be my new "extender" for the other TV's in the house replacing the age ol' and reliable MediaMVP's.

[eric3a]

Very interesting.
You end up at the same price or slightly more than a Pivos xios DS, which I am running under Linux XBMC.
I'd love to run a comparison between the 2.

I like the DS a lot, especially for the price, but it could do with slightly more interface speed. Supposedly the next XBMC firmware releases will help...

Still. Great to know we can have small cheap extender replacements (at least on the playback side of things).

Eric

[wayner]

Originally Posted by RedR

Well finally got my hands on a Raspberry Pi rev B board. Setup RaspBMC on a class 10 32GB SD via their installer. Few burps on the first boot and updating, but a few reboots later, its up and running.

What sort of burps? Any suggestions for those of us that will be following in your footsteps?

[bcjenkins]

I finally got all the parts in to do my case build. It required a custom mod to the case so that I could integrate a 3.5mm jack for IR receiver extension.



The IR receiver is wired to the gpio header with power going to pin 1, ground to 6, and communication to 12. On the 3.5mm side, power to pin 1 and communication to pin 2 with ground being the other.



I have tested IR communication using the command line app mode2. Next up, making it all boot automatically and use a remote (most likely MCE variety)

B

[RedR]

Originally Posted by wayner

What sort of burps? Any suggestions for those of us that will be following in your footsteps?

Seems the SD I was using is defective. Got a new one, so far seems 100% solid.
Another gotcha is cheap power supplies. To avoid any 'that might be your issue' I've tested mine and am well within range. Used the method here: Troubleshooting Power Problems

Now to find a remote solution. I was looking into using the old 45 button remote from Hauppauge with either the IR receiver that came with my PVR-250 or using a new IR receiver module (FYI I believe the remote uses 36kHZ freq). I'll be using the GPIO for connecting it just like bcjenkins did. Key here for me is keeping it on the CHEAP!! Which reminds me, so far with all the hardware for this setup (Pi, SD, Walwart, HDMI cable, powered USB hub), I've spent $65. I will likely build my own case for it once I get everything working. I an a very happy cheap boy ;P

Far as my setup on the Pi goes, I've watched a few shows and movies from my library, all without issue. I will say at first use after setting up my import library and letting it scan through it all the fanart section is slow. Haven't had time to find out why, or what I am doing wrong yet. Bottom line is, so far I am very happy with the Pi as a replacement extender to my MediaMVP.

More to come,
RedR

[wayner]

I think I read that all kinds of remotes work, including cheapo ones from ebay. I bought a remote like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Wireless...item2a26b339b7 a few years ago and it works fine under Windows. Hopefully it would work with the RPi as well.

At least for me the important thing is the receiver as I have lots of Harmony universal remotes and I can teach them the codes.

[RedR]

I had no luck getting the Hauppauge IR receiver module working with the Pi. So I gave up and got a 38 kHz IR receiver module, and it works like a champ! Had to setup my remote manually, but that too was very easy. Only thing to do now is finish setting up the SageTV addon for XBMC, find a good place the the IR receiver, finalize my case (all but done), and cut the wife lose on it. The final cost is just under 70 bucks.

The RaspBMC community is a bit small, tho well informed. The information out there is a bit hard to find but its there. Best suggestion I can make is go read up, find out whats tried and true, then buy the hardware so support your needs wtih the Pi. The software is still quite new, though is coming along at an incredible pace!!

[that_kid]

So the new IR receiver and the Hauppauge remote works or did you need a new remote as well. I have tons of Hauppauge remotes and my Pi just came yesterday. I have Raspbmc on it but I may try some of the other distros.

[RedR]

For a quick fix, I ended up getting a 38 kHz IR module from Radio Shack (276-640) in support generic universal remote I had just to get things working for now.
I've got two more MVP's to replace with this Pi setup. I'll be trying a 36 kHz IR receiver module for them in the hopes of getting the Hauppauge remotes supported (I believe they use 36 kHz). There are a few lircd.conf files out there already in support of the Hauppauge remotes.

UPDATE: No need for the 36 kHz IR receiver, the Hauppauge 45 button remote works with 38 kHz.

[emveepee]

Originally Posted by eric3a

Very interesting.
You end up at the same price or slightly more than a Pivos xios DS, which I am running under Linux XBMC.
I'd love to run a comparison between the 2.

I've been making some video comparisons using a mix of SD/ATSC HD and HDPVR LiveTV using the NextPVR XBMC PVR Addon. They are pretty close

(Skip ~2 minutes in too miss the load)

Here is the Pivos boot + XBMC PVR load + some channels changing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRVL...OhaP3MnoOFVZAQ

Pivos channel changing has improved since then here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QZO...OhaP3MnoOFVZAQ

Here is the RPi boot + XBMC PVR load + some channels changingwith RaspBMC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr6c...OhaP3MnoOFVZAQ

For comparison here is OpenElec on an ION (the boot + load is only 40 seconds but I couldn't capture it because of resolution changes crashing my HDPVR2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvv5...OhaP3MnoOFVZAQ

Overall OpenElec is a bit fastest but the Pivos is best at handling channel changes. I haven't felt the RPi love yet and over Christmas the Pivos XS was $80 at several places so I think it could end up being a better deal than the RPi too especially as they are talking HD Audio pass through now too.

It certainly is great having good choices under $100 and $200 though.

Martin

[wayner]

How do you use Next PVR with a Pi - do you have to have another machine acting as the server? Can you point me to some info on this?

One more question - why worry about boot times - won't system like these be left on 24x7 given their power consumption? The Pi uses about 2W or so. That's about 50Wh per day or 1.5 kWh per month, less that 20 kWh per year. In most parts of North America that will cost you about $4 per year.

[emveepee]

NextPVR is one of the supported PVR backend programs in the upcoming Frodo http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=PVR/Backend It started about mid-Sept.

I turn off my full blown backend except for recordings and use WOL for live TV, since XBMC and my low powered NAS work well together. The PVR client likes the server to be up so I personally turn it off except during live TV. There is no real need while watching recordings etc.

The RPi might shutdown when your TV does too thanks to CEC

Martin

[drewg]

Originally Posted by emveepee

NextPVR is one of the supported PVR backend programs in the upcoming Frodo http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=PVR/Backend It started about mid-Sept.

Thanks for those videos. They make a good basis for comparison between these low-end client platforms.

Something I'm still wondering about is recorded TV, scheduling recordings, etc. The XMBC wiki you linked to mentioned that there is very spotty support for "time shifting" with the various backends, which I find surprising. I'd think that time shifting would be easier & more useful that live TV...

At any rate, if you have a chance, can you show how NextPVR handles typical DVR duties when controlled via an XMBC Frodo client? Does it group recordings the same as other.. sources.. of TV, or are recordings a totally separate catagory? Can you setup one-time & "favorite" recordings? Is there a program guide? Stuff like that..

EDIT: Never mind... I found it in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUt4...OFVZAQ&index=5 Does XMBC standardize this interface? Or would using a MythTV backend result in a different look & feel?


Thanks,

Drew

[emveepee]

That second video isn't the XBMC interface that's my python plugin that provides a more NextPVR look and feel to all the recording and file management options that XBMC doesn't provide.

Here is a better video showing the mundane PVR interface to recording and the "real" XBMC TV Shows interface with XBMC scaping etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLOh...OhaP3MnoOFVZAQ

It is a unified look no matter what backend you use though, and you can even have multiple backends.

Martin

[that_kid]

Very interesting. I'm in the process of deciding on what backend service I want to use. I have mythtv setup but i've been having a hard time getting QAM mapping working correctly. I have tvheadend installed on a windows machine for testing but I will most likely switch it over to a linux server. Still doing my RPi tests which is looking good.

[drewg]

Originally Posted by that_kid

Very interesting. I'm in the process of deciding on what backend service I want to use. I have mythtv setup but i've been having a hard time getting QAM mapping working correctly. I have tvheadend installed on a windows machine for testing but I will most likely switch it over to a linux server. Still doing my RPi tests which is looking good.

Qam on mythtv is one of Dante's lower circles of hell. If you are on comcast (or if your cable operator supports it) you can try http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Scte65scan

How is tvheadend working for you? I've heard good things about it, but I saw on the xmbc chart that xmbc did not support "timeshifting" in conjunction with tvheadend. My guess is that means that you cannot schedule recordings from the xbmc gui, but I'm not really sure..

Drew

[emveepee]

Timeshifting is the oddly named description for pausing and navigating in live TV. It is not perform very well in general. XBMC user seem to care more about watching live tv and not recordings which I can't really understand.

Martin