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After successfully running XBMC on my PC for a while now, I thought I’ll try and explore the idea of running it on a Raspberry Pi device…
After looking on the internet, ive found a number of sites selling a pre-built xbmc-raspberry pi devices… Just wondering what is the cost effective way of getting a set up
Secondly should I be getting a model B device?
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Milhouse
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You definitely want the Model B device - this has an Ethernet port that is missing from the Model A, plus a second USB port, and an extra 256MB RAM. Make sure you buy the 512MB version of the Model B, although there shouldn't be any brand new 256MB Model B's in circulation, unless it's an unscrupulous seller.
To be honest, I wouldn't buy a "bundle" or pre-built kit - just source the components you need and you may find you have other components lying around at home. Your minimum requirements will be a Model B Pi (my online retailer of choice is CPC Farnell), an SD card (2GB+) and a power supply/mobile phone charger (minimum 1A output). Pop OpenELEC or Raspbmc on the SD card and you're pretty much done.
Once you're a bit more comfortable with how the Pi works, you might want to consider using a USB memory stick for storage and "booting" from that instead (although the reality is the Pi always boots from the SD card, but can change boot device early on in the boot sequence).
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2013-09-22, 19:38
(This post was last modified: 2013-09-22, 19:39 by apeg.)
a Rpi from the ground up ends up costing about $100.
- 5v 2000ma power supply
- cord
- case
- class 10 card
- remote
....
Keep in mind a lot of the parts you probably have lying around your house... just make sure you don't skimp on power supply & SD card speed, i find that a high speed SD is almost as good as loading an external USB stick as MilhouseVH suggested.
ohh and for sure go with the model B... i wish they had a 1gb version lol
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Milhouse
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A case and remote are not strictly necessary items either.
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Mine (uk):
Pi £30
case £2.50 from ebay
sd card - 256MB from the back of the sofa.
psu - an old ipaq charger
8GB Transcend usb3 stick - £5.99 from amazon
remote - free (CEC)
HDMI cable - already had
wifi - not needed
Total approx £38 / $60.
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I note that nobody, so far, has mentioned using a powered USB hub.
My experiences suggest that this is almost essential - makes it possible to live-plug and unplug devices without the system crashing, and allows for rather more devices to be connected.
I also note that my RPi model A with 256MB has been much more successful than I had expected with RaspBMC.
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2013-09-23, 09:06
(This post was last modified: 2013-09-23, 09:07 by trogggy.)
I use a powered enclosure with 3TB of storage on one of my pi's; it can be switched on and off repeatedlywith no problems. One usb port for that, one for a stick running openelec / raspbmc. Remote via cec so nothing else is needed. Yes, if you want to add keyboard / mouse, but it's not often I use them; yes if you want bluetooth as well. Remote can run via cec, or use a smartphone, or connect an IR receiver to the GPIO. Obviously yes if you want to run a usb-powered hard drive; using wifi means another port is needed too.
But for my setup, with an ethernet connection, 99% of the time a hub is irrelevant, very occasionally it's more convenient.
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Mine (two systems running like this):
RPi: $40 + tax locally (Microcenter)
SD Card: used a spare one from one of our cameras
Charger: old iPhone charger
Micro SD cable: already had extra one from some gadget
HDMI cable: had a few extras
Wifi: mine runs on ethernet
Case: none (it's tucked out of the way)
Remote: Android app (Yatse is amazing)
Total: $40 plus tax
If you have a smartphone and haven't already purchased a remote, then I would strongly recommend trying some of the various smartphone XBMC remote apps before spending any money on a remote. They are amazing and many of them are free. Once you see what it's capable of, you may not ever go back to a physical remote! That is, unless you have other family members using the system. My favorite is Yatse (Android).
By the way, regarding distros, I have one running Raspbmc and one running Openelec. I've found that Openelec wins on performance (especially their recent builds), but Raspbmc wins on functionality. Raspbmc runs on a reasonably full-featured Linux underpinnning, including a package manager, so you can easily install other apps/etc. Openelec is trim and fast, but harder to extend. Both are excellent, and it's quite amazing how far they've come in making this little $40 device a powerful entertainment system.
A couple of days ago we hosted about 40 people for a kids' outdoor movie night (they watched Rio and Madagascar), with a projector and a large movie screen. The Raspberry Pi was handling the whole thing and received a ton of questions and compliments. Amazing little device.
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nickr
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LOL amazing how a set of blinkenlights will make people think you are dealing in some inner geek magic!
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