johnnyt Posted September 19, 2014 Posted September 19, 2014 (edited) Am looking at buying a RPi for a couple of reasons, mostly ISY related but not exclusively, and I have a few questions for folks with more experience. ISY-wise it would be for a bunch of io_guy's stuff and perhaps other things (I forget right now what others are using an RPi for). As of today for me, though, it's DSCLink and ISYlogger. Tomorrow possibly Venlink, OWLink and maybe a few others (which reminds me I have to get off my e-duff and send him a paypal me$$age soon for all his good work) My other immediate planned use is as an XBMC media server. My questions are: 1) what are other things people use an RPi for? 2) what OS are people using and why? 3) I found info on three RPi distros for XMBC: Raspbmc, OpenELEC and XBian. Anyone know if one or more of these would allow me to do the ISY related stuff on the same RPi? 4) Will using XBMC hamper or be hampered by the ISY stuff running on it? (Not the end of the world if I have to buy more than one but if I didn't have to I'd sooner not) 5) Anyone stick a USB tuner on one? If so, repeat question 4... Edited September 19, 2014 by johnnyt
Teken Posted September 19, 2014 Posted September 19, 2014 +1 This will be a RPi master reference thread! Encrypted By: Phoenix Security Solutions
larryllix Posted September 20, 2014 Posted September 20, 2014 With Noobs, you can load several different O/Ses and select which ever one you want to boot into. You get a few seconds to change from the last one you booted to. Otherwise the last one will boot up again. I didn't find raspBMC useful for anything but XBMC. The O/Ses are chopped to a minimum. XBMC runs well. Rasbian comes with about 4-5 versions of python and the syntax changes a lot between versions so that many help forums don't. This is similar to different versions of the O/S. Raspbian can be accessed with a remote terminal programme such as PuTTY or with a GUI interface built into Windows called RDC=remote desktop connection. On a very HD monitor you can barely make out the 6 pt system menus font. You will need a KB, mouse and monitor until you set that up loading the other RPi end of RDC.
io_guy Posted September 20, 2014 Posted September 20, 2014 (edited) I run an overclocked Pi (with heatsinks) for XBMC using OpenElec. It works "ok" but it's nowhere near as smooth as using a little atom box. Something like a MyGica ATV is a lot smoother (and a little more expensive). If you do run XBMC on a Pi, I would definitely recommend keeping it dedicated for only that purpose. XMBC needs every bit of horsepower and memory a Pi can offer. As for a Pi for home automation, I use arch linux. Main reason being it's a running distro, so the package manager handles all updates. Looking at the issues people are having with Rasbian, I think arch is easier (aside from it being systemd based). When I get a little time I'm going to put together a step-by-step. I thought about creating a pre-configured image but was a little unsure about licensing and copy write issues doing that. Edited September 20, 2014 by io_guy
larryllix Posted September 20, 2014 Posted September 20, 2014 (edited) As for a Pi for home automation, I use arch linux. Main reason being it's a running distro, so the package manager handles all updates. Looking at the issues people are having with Rasbian, I think arch is easier (aside from it being systemd based). When I get a little time I'm going to put together a step-by-step. I thought about creating a pre-configured image but was a little unsure about licensing and copy write issues doing that. Thank you sensei ! Edited September 20, 2014 by larryllix
Teken Posted September 20, 2014 Posted September 20, 2014 (edited) All of this is open source so long as you're not trying to make cash on someone else's back it's supposed to be OK. Anyways since we are all collective members even if someone was making some small cash. Would anyone really expect to see someone rat a member out? Encrypted By: Phoenix Security Solutions Edited September 20, 2014 by Teken
johnnyt Posted September 24, 2014 Author Posted September 24, 2014 Thanks io_guy, larryflix, With respect to XBMC, I'm kind of starting to lean to an ECS Liva running win 8.1, particularly the version with the N2807 CPU (instead of N2806) with Intel Quick Sync (hardware video decoding/decoding). I got one (N2806-based) to replace my in-laws PC and it runs beautifully for their purposes (email, web browsing, word, other light duty) and they're loving it. I also read some positive reviews of it as an XBMC box. ISY-wise I suspect it would be able to run ISYLogger and DSCLink, my two PC-based services today, even when XBMC is running. Although I'm not sure what else people are using RPi's for, it might have to be a trial and error process to know anyway if all the services can co-exist on the same ECS Liva. For sure it doesn't sound like one RPi can do it all so I'm thinking I may try it all on an ECS Liva and, only if needed, offload some stuff to an RPi. Of course there's the cost debate but at the end of the day I don't want to be penny-wise on the hardware and pound foolish on my time to use the English expression (I'm more windows savvy than linux savvy) Any other thoughts / suggestions welcome.
io_guy Posted September 24, 2014 Posted September 24, 2014 (edited) Personally I wouldn't mix home automation and a media computer. I'd stick with a dedicated Pi for HA but that's just an opinion. Edited September 24, 2014 by io_guy
larryllix Posted September 25, 2014 Posted September 25, 2014 (edited) Personally I wouldn't mix home automation and a media computer. I'd stick with a dedicated Pi for HA but that's just an opinion. Have to second that one. SWMBO will not like it when you use the family TV for a monitor to setup the HA. Two RPis would probably be cheaper and you wouldn't listen to a computer fan while watching a quiet movie. I have an Antec case media PC running XBMC. It has two very large and quiet fans running on a slow setting. Video hardware is usually useless for media PC's. Good for 3D rendering but not video decoding. The encoding has always been in such a state of flux that hardware had never supported video decoding methods. Multiple cores never really helped XBMC either. You either watch a movie or run the GUI and access databases with the same core. In the past most experienced users agreed that one 2.0 GHz core was necessary for XBMC to run without any jitters on a Windows system. RPi is breaking this rule somewhat with it's 700MHz core running on a Unix-like OS. Edited September 25, 2014 by larryllix
johnnyt Posted September 25, 2014 Author Posted September 25, 2014 SWMBO will not like it when you use the family TV for a monitor to setup the HA. Two RPis would probably be cheaper and you wouldn't listen to a computer fan while watching a quiet movie. I have an Antec case media PC running XBMC. It has two very large and quiet fans running on a slow setting. Video hardware is usually useless for media PC's. Good for 3D rendering but not video decoding. The encoding has always been in such a state of flux that hardware had never supported video decoding methods. Multiple cores never really helped XBMC either. You either watch a movie or run the GUI and access databases with the same core. In the past most experienced users agreed that one 2.0 GHz core was necessary for XBMC to run without any jitters on a Windows system. RPi is breaking this rule somewhat with it's 700MHz core running on a Unix-like OS. The ECS Liva is fanless and the CPU can burst/turbo up to 2GHz. I had pictured using remote desktop to configure it (not the TV) but, good point, the WAF will take a hit if I do that while she's watching a movie. I didn't consider that the h/w decoding may not make a difference. Quick sync covers H.264, MPEG2, and VC-1 video. Is it a case of not hitting the right video formats or is it a case of not even doing the ones advertised properly?
larryllix Posted September 25, 2014 Posted September 25, 2014 The ECS Liva is fanless and the CPU can burst/turbo up to 2GHz. I had pictured using remote desktop to configure it (not the TV) but, good point, the WAF will take a hit if I do that while she's watching a movie. I didn't consider that the h/w decoding may not make a difference. Quick sync covers H.264, MPEG2, and VC-1 video. Is it a case of not hitting the right video formats or is it a case of not even doing the ones advertised properly? More research is required but a few years ago there was no video decoding hardware and the first time a new method comes out (that never happens more than every month) the video hardware is obsolete again. It will probably be CPU only for a few more years yet.
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