Raspberry Pi

eggbert

is full of Vision Collision
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Da Menth Heads
Joined
Jan 25, 2012
Location
North
I've been thinking about buying a pi for a while now. I liked the idea of it since it came out, and have been looking for reasons to buy one, but could never find enough of a reason to do so. A while ago I saw that XBMC (a media centre) could now be run on it but by then I had already shelled out on a video card for my microserver. I finally gave up and bought one as the build-up to the wet season just makes spending any time in a non airconditioned room horrible, and we only have a/c in the bedrooms.

I got mine from Element14 for the princely sum of $61.53 including a case and GST.
I've separately ordered an EDUP usb wifi card $14 ($8 US if you can wait for the shipping from China), a 16GB transcend class 10 SD card (ebay $13), and a hdmi-dvi adapter (ebay - $3)

My pi arrived on Friday - before some of the accessories I needed for it so I borrowed some equipment from work (hdmi-dvi adapter, and an SD card), and had a play while waiting for the non-event that Cyclone Alessia became. It is connected via wifi (using one usb connection) to my network, where tv/movies are stored on a HP N40l microserver. For input I am currently using a logitech wireless touch keyboard with integrated touchpad (using the 2nd usb port). I've borrowed a male hdmi to female DVI cable from work, and am using that to connect the pi to the modem, and am just using a basic set of logitech external speakers for sound.

I installed NOOBS on the SD card as you can install multiple distributions on the one card, and play until you have the one that feels right to you.

Initial thoughts so far:
Openelec is the distro I have used most so far. It does what is says on the tin, i.e. it runs XBMC almost perfectly. It was a little slow scanning all of my media across the network and for obvious reasons is not as snappy running xbmc as the microserver or laptop, but it has managed to play everything I have thrown at it so far.

Gripes about Openelec:
Other than XBMC, it is a very basic install.
There are no repositories which makes it very hard to install and run other processes (so no apt-get, yum, etc) – I didn’t bother checking if it would allow make/install but surely it would?
The only way to access the command line is via ssh from another machine. 1
I had a minor issue getting the wifi to work but eventually found out that Openelec (and Raspxbmc) doesn’t like SSID names with non a-z, 1-9 characters in them.
I don’t think even a browser is included out of the box, and you have to jump through a few hoops to get one installed.

Pidora (based on Fedora)
Couldn’t get this to work. I think I gave it the wrong display setting while performing the setup and since then whenever I try to run it just goes into a bootloop. I’ve found from a friend that I can just press shift during NOOBS bootload and reinstall that easily enough.

Raspbmc
Appears to be very similar to Openelec – I just haven’t had time to do much with it yet.

Raspbian
Much more like a “normal” operating system than either Openelec or Raspbmc. Gives you the opportunity during startup to decide whether you want to use command line or a gui on bootup. The gui it feels like linux did about 5 years ago when I kept trying to use it for my desktop. I would struggle with it for a period then eventually migrate back to Windows. This was more like what I was expecting from the pi, I just hoped that the version of linux being used might be a little easier to use by now.
Gripes:
Installing xbmc on raspbian appears to be more difficult than it should be considering it runs perfectly on the other two.


I've still got a lot more playing to do before I make a final choice on what distribution we go with, but I would like something that allows a bit more tinkering than Openelec seems to, and can run a browser and a few other small programs as well as the media centre. A friend has suggested I go with Plex for the media centre if I can as it might work a bit better with the server handling the transcoding and distributing the stream to the pi, but I'm not sure about the server/client idea of that. At the moment I am leaning towards using Raspbian if I can get XBMC loaded on it.

I am so far fairly impressed, but wish it was a little more usable out of the box. That could be my old, rusty linux skills though. Having been out of the IT game for over 10 years my skills are rapidly diminishing!
 
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They are fun little things. Sadly mine has been very neglected (and I'm still in the I.T game too!). Current plans are to install it permanently in the workbench of the man-cave / detached studio I'm building, should be a good match to the off grid power setup I've got in mind.

I've only run Raspbian on mine thus far
 
I've now settled on raspbmc and am using it as an htpc attached to the back of a monitor.

Pretty good but definitely slower than a proper htpc.

The microserver will soon be going Linux too I think. I've just discovered a 4gb ram stick that Linux can see but causes blue screen crashes on win 7. The default 2gb that comes with the server is just too small.
 
How is the Raspberry pi running? I am thinking about getting one to run as a NAS server for my external HDD.
 
Mine has been up for 91 days (only downed it to relocate it) running a downloader for BBC iPlayer and also the upload point in the cupboard for my GPS watch...
 
Still haven't touched mine in months. Man cave is getting closer to completion though so hopefully that will jump start the pi usage
 
I got mine and set up Raspbian using NOOBS. I have it se up as a Samba and DLNA server for my 2TB external HDD. The HDD has two partitions one for back ups and the other houses media (pics, mp3s and vid) plus shared files.

I've got access over the network working using PuTTy and XMing although I seem the prefer to use PuTTy.

I had quite a lot of trouble getting the RPi to disply its host name on the network. I could ping it's IP but not RaspberryPi. In the end I installed avahi, but I am not conviced that is wasn't because I failed to feed the Pi the corrct settings for my network.

All in all it is a nifty bit of kit, I am thinking of other uses and have been reading whirlpool for ideas, one chap over there has just posted his temperature monitring set up which goes to a web page, I can use something like this at work to monitor lab fridges and freezes.
 
An update,
I have installed nginx and PHP and have my temperature probes (3 of) connected and am monitoring the temperature around my respberry pi every 5 minutes and plotting them up with RRDTool.

I have also set up a thermostat webpage/python script with a view to get my spare freezer controlled as a fermentation chamber for home brew. This is why I needed nginx and PHP.

Other plans are when it moves to the garage to connect it via ethernet and set it up as a WiFi access point to extend the WiFi range.
 
Pretty cool dude, sounds like you should be able to pretty much guarantee a good first batch if you can monitor the temp that closely. Nice to see an out-of-the-box use for the Pi too.
 
An update,
I have installed nginx and PHP and have my temperature probes (3 of) connected and am monitoring the temperature around my respberry pi every 5 minutes and plotting them up with RRDTool.
Which temperature probes are you using? I'm looking at geeking up my Biltong dryer big time :)
 
Ooh, @hunnymonster , great timing.
I was just wondering how to go about doing this as I should be inheriting a free dehydrator from someone at work soon.
Are there any bulletin boards, IRC channels or other new-fandangled ways to find out information about such a hobby?

My boss brought some biltong in to work the other day, and the flavour was amazing. Unfortunately he doesn't know how it was made.
 
Hopefully it's not too powerful a dehydrator... my source tells me that the keys to good biltong are good meat and not drying too aggressively. FWIW - I'm building a slightly upgraded version (for the European market - no dowelling, using aluminium tubing and it has a removable drip tray in the bottom for easier cleaning) of this one from Popular Mechanics (SA edition)...

On the method front - on his recommendation I'm starting out with a commercial spice mix (just need white/spirit/distilled vinegar and beef to get going then).

Freddy Hirsch is his recco from home - so that's what I went with - I see it on sale in Oz here, there & everywhere and probably many more places.

His method (remember this isn't rocket science - this is what simple Dutch farmers did back in the day... but without fancy drying boxes)

So, you need a drying box. Very sophisticated you will need a closed box with a fan at the top and vents at the base to move air through it and a 40 to 60 watt light bulb to provide a bit of warmth.

Attached flash one (insert picture of a Mellerware - Biltong King Food Dehydrator - BK002 here) or one can simply use a cardboard box, bedside lamp and small fan.

Then get a good rump (do not used corned meat) I just buy cut rump steaks makes it easy to keep a steady flow. Crappy meat = crappy biltong

Fill a shallow dish with white vinegar place the meat in for a few seconds then turn over and leave for a few more seconds. Remove and place in or sprinkle over seasoning (I buy a spice mix from safer shop) then place in a sealed container for 2-4 hours pouring out fluids here and there (prevents fluids ending up at the bottom of your drying box).

Then hang in your flash or not so flash box for 2-4 days (longer for thick or dry).

Due to my own inattention I've not completed my dryer yet (the 75mm hole cutter I thought I owned turns out to be 65mm and doesn't allow the fan to push air into the box, so construction delayed to acquire that hole cutting solution - I went for a turbocharged input with a non-turbo exhaust rather than a normally-aspirated input and turbo exhaust or a bi-turbo arrangement :))

Otherwise - the basic recipes can be found all over the place, wherever SAfers congregate and of course you can experiment with the spices you add... simple google search for "biltong recipe" turns up dozens - all variants on the same basics... vinegar dip, salt cure, optional spices, hang to dry.
 
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Oh - one other thing - the 1kg bag of spice claims it is sufficient to treat 28kg of input meat - so that's going quite a way at recommended dose.
 
Thanks - the control part isn't on my radar (yet)... I'm thinking webcam + temp monitor (+ humidity if I can locate an appropriate sensor)
 
temp monitor (+ humidity if I can locate an appropriate sensor)
Easy they are here.
https://learn.adafruit.com/dht
http://www.freetronics.com/blogs/ne...and-humidity-with-a-raspberry-pi#.U0Z43lcXJfQ

and lots of them here, http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_trksid=p3984.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xtemp humidity raspberry pi&_nkw=temp humidity raspberry pi&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Detailed instructions on getting it logging, http://chrisbaume.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/beer-monitoring/

There is someone trying to control temp and humidity. Here is a gist on github, https://github.com/Cat-Ion/raspberrypi-incubator. But there is someone else that I have seen trying, I think for the same or similar reasons.

EDIT - Found it, https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/diy-pid-control/Qvodbs0PK8Q
 
First lot is in there curing/drying now. As per his hot tip for a starter batch, using rump steak as the feedstock. Hope I've got the spice in the goldilocks zone (too much and it'll be salty, too little and it'll be rancid). Just need to wait for it to happen now. You don't have to use the spice mix of course, there are heaps of recipes out there to help you on your way...

More news when I have some.
 
And pics too Hunny if possible. I'm a big Biltong fan and would love to see how it is looking.
 
Well - I had some today (the extra thin slivers that I thought twice about drying...) - verdict - a little vinegary (as you might expect from a thin piece) and light on the spices. Otherwise a good go for a first shot... will lean in the box with a camera later on (today's inspection time looming).
 
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