Build a Raspberry Pi media center

RE: Build a Raspberry Pi media center

Former Member — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 00:21:37 GMT

Hey Eric,

I just got my first Pi. The intention is to use it as a media client to play movies and music from my NAS to my big screen. I'm concerned that it may not be powerful enough to keep up with 6GB 1080p videos. So, I bought two, hoping I can combine the two in a HPC cluster. Any clue how to do that or if it's even possible. I've heard good things about the performance of the streaming videos, but the best I've seen is a 1.6GB 720p file. Have you or anyone played a large file of that resolution on a single of these? Does it work well?

RE: Build a Raspberry Pi media center

Kuya.Marc — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 09:02:29 GMT

Greetings from The Philippines!

I've written some articles on running XBMC in the Philippines using Raspberry Pi:

Have a nice day, everybody!

RE: Build a Raspberry Pi media center

Former Member — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 02:22:38 GMT

Hi! New to the community and really just starting out so I have a lot to learn. I think the Raspberry Pi can be used to create a fantastic High Definition Audio Player. Does the XBMC allow playback of lossless audio formats like WAV and AIFF or to a lesser extent, since they do contain some compression, Apple Lossless or FLAC?

RE: Build a Raspberry Pi media center

Former Member — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 17:32:07 GMT

I just started playing around with Airplay from my iPhone. It's working out pretty seemlessly. I'm enjoying it a little more than accessing the scanned music library through the xbmc remote app.

-Eric

RE: Build a Raspberry Pi media center

Montirosso — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 17:25:44 GMT

With my LG television it is even possible to control the PI with XMCB with the television's remote

RE: Build a Raspberry Pi media center

Former Member — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 15:35:52 GMT

Hello Eric,

This is an interesting contribution from where I am sitting. I am looking into finding a solution for an autonomous device that can get internet radio to my hifi via wireless without paying trough the nose. There are several solutions off-the-shells out there but I do not need most of the functionality I am paying for...

I am familiar with XBMC as I build a dedicated machine powered by openelec to handle the very large movie collection I have. XBMC could do the netradio bit, however, I cannot mute my screen (I am still using a CRT television) and consequently, this is not an optimal solution. Unfortunately, on a different note, the system does not stabilise despite the latest updates, so I am on a new quest to find a better solution.

What I really wish for is a tiny device that can live in my stereo amp for that matter (where it gets the power and connects to the aux), that is connected to wifi and can be managed with android / ios devices. Can raspberry pi do this? Please consider the fact that I am not a developer or programmer and not very keen to fiddle with code too much...

Thanks for your feedback!

Ernest

RE: Build a Raspberry Pi media center

Former Member — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 14:55:36 GMT

Hi Patrick,

The Android remote will only work if you are running a version of XBMC on the Raspberry Pi. There may be ways to do this with other Linux distros, but I am not familiar with them.

If you are running XBMC, there are several apps in the Android market to choose from. I use the official XBMC remote, although some people prefer others. Search for "xbmc" in the market. The phone and Raspberry Pi need to be connected to the same router for the remote functionality to work.

There is a qwerty keyboard within the remote control app that works well. In regards to skype, it's not possible with XBMC. I believe others have been successful running it on the Pi, but I am not well versed in that topic.

RE: Build a Raspberry Pi media center

Former Member — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 01:45:22 GMT

Eric,

How did you get the android to be a remote? Can you use it for a keyboard also?

I use a wireless keyboard setup at present, but I type much faster with an android. If I had skype on there that's even better. Any ideas?

-Patrick