DIYing with the Raspberry Pi?

[makem]

I have a Humax HDR T2 with the custom firmware 1.02.29 installed. I have a Panasonic TV with FreeSat and FreeView but it is a 2010 model.

I gather that HUMAX are highly unlikely to enable an obsolete box with ITV Player.

I would like (emphasis on the word 'like'), to be able to view ITV Player but don't want to dig deep in my pocket.

Do I need to buy a Humax FreeSat box or change my TV? Is there no other way?

We do have a laptop which has HDMI but it is inconvenient to keep connecting that to watch ITV Player.

 

[Ezra Pound]

Raspberry Pi running XBMC + ITV player possibly

 

[makem]

Can you enlarge on that please?

What I gather is that I purchase a RPi which is cheap, put it in a box, connect it to a TV and a keyboard, install an OS then XBMC.

Where does the signal come from, the HUMAX?

Is there any guidance available?

It sounds an interesting project.

 

[jxp]

There are OS distributions that are pre-packaged as XBMC machines for Raspberry Pi.
I think XBMC includes a CEC implementation so you can control XBMC with your TV remote control.
You shouldn't need the keyboard permanently attached.

The Pi will need to be connected to the network for ITV Player to work.
The standard model has an ethernet port (not sure if they currently do a cut down model without it).

If you have a suitable SD card, lan access and spare HDMI cable: go for it.
If not, buying these extra things may make the RPi less of a bargain.

 

[makem]

No, buying those parts most of which I have, is not a problem for what seems an interesting project and a useful piece of kit.

I have seen so far OS's OpenELE, Xbian and Raspbmc, the latter seems to be the way to go. Thank you both for the pointers.

I have found a url which looks a promising place to start to learn:

http://learn.adafruit.com/raspberry-pi-as-a-media-center

There is a remote control project there also:

http://learn.adafruit.com/using-an-ir-remote-with-a-raspberry-pi-media-center/

 

[Ezra Pound]

Where does the signal come from, the HUMAX? Is there any guidance available?

The Raspberry Pi (RPI) would be doing what the Humax TV portal is doing when watching say BBC-Iplayer, i.e. it has an HDMI output that is connected to your TV and it has a RJ45 LAN connector that you connect to the internet, usually via a router. The RPI is a mini computer running Linux similar to the Humax and can run many different programmes. XBMC is Xbox Media Centre, similar to the TV portal part of the Humax firmware, it can display TV programmes \ Videos streamed from the internet from sites like BBC Iplayer, YouYube etc. and has an ITV player plugin.

There is a RPI + XBMC link HERE

 

[makem]

Ok, many thanks, I am presently searching for a place to purchase the RPi, looks like a trip to RS in Southend tomorrow

When you say, "has an ITV player plugin" do you mean already in the Raspbmc OS?

One of the things I was trying to do last year was to stream video from a Chinese site which showed the New Year celebrations over many hours. Maybe that could be possible too. I felt sorry for my wife having to sit at a lappy for many hours.

 

[makem]

I see a heatsink is available for the RPi, would it be worth getting whilst I am buying the other parts?

 

[Black Hole]

Just to add, there is an existing topic devoted to the RPi that EP has already referenced in post 2, and I believe it has been possible to power it from the TV's USB port.

 

[makem]

Thanks, yes, I did read some of that thread but it looked rather techie for me. However, I am beginning to get the gist of things now. I will be looking for the USB powering from a TV.

I have joined a local user group and two forums.

 

[Black Hole]

Ok, many thanks, I am presently searching for a place to purchase the RPi, looks like a trip to RS in Southend tomorrow

I'm not sure of the current situation, but I used to have to show trade credentials (just a business card) when turning up at an RS trade counter. They will however take mail order from anyone.

 

[AndrewB]

I believe it has been possible to power it from the TV's USB port.

Yes, I have an early Model B Pi, which ran XBMC powered off our TV's USB port with no trouble.

The standard model has an ethernet port (not sure if they currently do a cut down model without it).

Yes, if you don't need wired Ethernet (e.g. USB WiFi) then a Model A will be fine, as 256MB is enough. And the Model A has lower power requirements, although I guess adding a WiFi adapter will offset that saving to some degree.

I've tried both Raspbian and OpenELEC. Currently I'm on OpenELEC 3.0.0 - mainly because OpenELEC doesn't use a swapfile (I believe), which I'm hoping is more tolerant of having the power cut without shutting down first!

I was able to use CEC (i.e. the TV remote control) to control XMBC on the Pi without any trouble.

 

[makem]

I've read that as there isn't an off switch there can be a problem with corrupted SD cards. The trouble is, when you read these things you can never tell how old the information is and whether that has been overcome.

I see you mention 'shutting down' and I presume that means shutting down in a similar manner to Windows before you pull the plug.

As the Pi uses so little power maybe it is best to leave it powered on from it's own power supply rather than from the TV USB which, although it is never actually off, does stop power going to the USB ports when turned off from the remote.

Just had a thought, my RT-N56U router has two USB ports and I only use one, maybe that could be used as it is always on. It would need to send 700ma I believe and the router can supply 30watts (each or both?)

 

[Ezra Pound]

I doubt that your router will supply 30Watts to the USB sockets, that would be 6 Amps at 5Volts. It is more likely that the router consumes 30 Watts, Max. probably

 

[dandnsmith]

I started with Raspberry Pi and RaspBMC (basic linux OS + XBMC, tailored for Pi) to investigate whether I could use it for playback of videos in various formats in Spain (where I have a PC which isn't up to the job). I wanted to know whether it could cope with 1080p - and it seems to.
I find that the HDR-T2 and RaspBMC offer parallel ways of playing back recordings/videos/pix/mp3, while the Pi offers much better iPlay facilities in being not limited to BBC. I haven't delved into the possibilities for recording programmes.
I've played a little with remote controls - enough to gather that there is a whole field of experience to be gained with different types of remote and how to get the Pi to implement actions for keystrokes.
In my view, a keyboard adds little after the initial setting up, most of which can be done with a mouse.
The amount of power to be supplied is source for a lot of debate on various forums - it all depends on what the Pi is to be connected to (I use a specialised PSU from CPC/Farnell, and small powered USB hubs for my Pi's).

 

[makem]

I doubt that your router will supply 30Watts to the USB sockets, that would be 6 Amps at 5Volts. It is more likely that the router consumes 30 Watts, Max. probably

snip>
When we plug a USB hard drive into all too many routers, we find that the port doesn’t deliver enough juice to spin up the drive’s platters. Our long-time favorite, Netgear’s WNDR3700, proved guilty of this when we connected a Verbatim Clon drive (which is based on a 2.5-inch 500GB Samsung mechanism). The RT-N56U has no such problem; it can deliver up to 30 watts of power through its USB ports.
snip>

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/reviews/asus_rt-n56u_dual-band_wireless_router_review

I too was surprised and will do more research.

 

[Ezra Pound]

I think the guy who wrote the article was mistaken, the power supply to the router is rated at 30 Watts (Spec. HERE), however the router would probably have no problem powering the RPI,

 

[Black Hole]

That's definitely mistaken if the 30W reference was deduced only from the PSU figures. With a 19V output, the PSU is only providing an intermediate voltage rail which will be further converted to the operating voltage(s) within the router itself, for the purpose of limiting the supply current on the DC cable connection between the PSU and the router (and eliminating the need for regulation at the PSU end).

The current available at the USB ports will be limited by the DC-DC conversion in the router, and will very likely be controlled to prevent damage if the current is exceeded (by a short circuit, for example, as the manufacturer has no control over what somebody might plug in to the USB port). I suspect that if it is a USB2 port, it will be able to supply the spec 500mA and little more (900mA if it is a USB3 port).

 

[makem]

Oh! it is USB2 and the RPi needs up to 700ma apparently. However, if I do away with the drive that is now connected as I rarely use it, I could use both ports and get up to 1A?

I am just looking for a way to power the unit without more mains converters and having to be careful about removing the power.

 

[af123]

It depends. Many devices have polyfuses to limit the current that can be drawn from a single USB port.