Media Streamer?

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#1033598 30-Apr-2014 02:49

ADKM: Hi Farcus,

Really happy with things so far ! The mouse is the only thing to improve - it is very sluggish while watching something. I hope this will work better as a remote (too late if not as I bought one!)

http://www.trademe.co.nz/computers/peripherals/other/auction-721406361.htm

When I get (far) more familiar with it I'd like to try watching BBC World. Did install the 'Wold News Live' plugin but but am told "Script failed".

Thanks for your encouragement to get a pi. Already proved it will show files DLNA would not.

no experience with that remote, although I did consider buying one but ended up going with the one I linked to earlier.
There was some suggestion in reviews of the one that you have purchased that the remote needs to be pointing directly at the receiver.

Not sure that you will get much improvement with mouse movements. I don't think it is really designed to be used with a mouse, although mouse movements are required from time to time.
Remote movements are pretty zippy though so once you have a remote navigation should be a lot better.

Where did you instal World News Live from?

You should install from K3oni's repo (he is the developer)

https://github.com/k3on i

Plenty of youtube guides on how to add repos and also how to add the very useful fusion.

edit: BBC World doesn't seem to be working on World News Live at the moment although BBC News is working fine.
I'm sure it will get updated with a fix soon.

JWR

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#1033601 30-Apr-2014 04:29

farcus:
SumnerBoy: I would recommend getting a very good fast USB3.0 stick and installing Raspbmc in USB mode. This made mine a lot smoother and less prone to SD card corruptions.

This really is no longer necessary. Since I think the November update last year RaspBMC will run as quick on a class 10 SD card now as it would from a USB3.0 stick. SD card corruptions are now rare (especially with overclocking) since it has also been addressed in an update a few months back.

A fast USB 3.0 stick is a waste of money.

The Rasperry PI only supports USB 2.

Class 10 SD cards may seem like the best performance option. They have fast sequential access. But, often terrible random access speeds.

From what I have read, the best option is a class 4-6 card with good random access. Samsung cards in that range seem to score highly.

farcus

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#1033602 30-Apr-2014 05:05

JWR

A fast USB 3.0 stick is a waste of money.

The Rasperry PI only supports USB 2.

Class 10 SD cards may seem like the best performance option. They have fast sequential access. But, often terrible random access speeds.

From what I have read, the best option is a class 4-6 card with good random access. Samsung cards in that range seem to score highly.

a good USB3.0 stick formatted to ext4 will give you much better read/write speeds than a USB2.0 stick even in a USB2.0 port such as that in raspberry pi.
However, the price you would have to pay for such a USB stick to achieve what is now minimal improvement over an SD card install makes it not worthwhile.

post #7 in this thread gives a good run-down on speeds from various formats

http://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=62869&p=468941

SumnerBoy

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#1033612 30-Apr-2014 07:55

farcus: This really is no longer necessary. Since I think the November update last year RaspBMC will run as quick on a class 10 SD card now as it would from a USB3.0 stick. SD card corruptions are now rare (especially with overclocking) since it has also been addressed in an update a few months back.

Good to know - I have been running Raspbmc on a couple of Pis + USB sticks for almost a couple of years now and they run like a dream. Would be good to remove the need for that expensive stick for any future instances tho.

Dawg

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#1033940 30-Apr-2014 12:49

Check out http://www.popcornhour.com.ph/

I have an original A100 series - and havn't kept up with the latest releases.

It could display photos and play audio - but not as easily as I hoped.

But always found it was the perfect device for streaming Video from PC to TV.

And in say vdeo - Virtually everthing I have thrown at it - Backed up DVD, to recorded Freeview via htpc, MKV etc

Plus very flexible in where the media is coming from. PC or via usb, or internal hardrive - the choice is up to you.

Woof

farcus

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#1034026 30-Apr-2014 14:50

ADKM:

When I get (far) more familiar with it I'd like to try watching BBC World. Did install the 'Wold News Live' plugin but but am told "Script failed".

K3ONI updated the World News Live addon this morning to version 1.3.5.1
Playback for BBC World is working again (but only the mobile quality version).

Dyson

Shop now for Dyson appliances (affiliate link).

garvani

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#1034041 30-Apr-2014 15:11

Dawg: Check out http://www.popcornhour.com.ph/

I have an original A100 series - and havn't kept up with the latest releases.

It could display photos and play audio - but not as easily as I hoped.

But always found it was the perfect device for streaming Video from PC to TV.

And in say vdeo - Virtually everthing I have thrown at it - Backed up DVD, to recorded Freeview via htpc, MKV etc

Plus very flexible in where the media is coming from. PC or via usb, or internal hardrive - the choice is up to you.

Woof

The OP has purchased a raspberry pi already so isn't after further suggestions.

Its a shame you didn't ask now. The amazon firetv has since came out and has blown me away, very happy with that purchase!

ADKM

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#1034317 30-Apr-2014 21:58

Farcus, I did try to get the same remote as you suggested, but the sale had ended or closed
I have the addon by K3ONI (version 1.3.4.4) and just updated it to v1.3.5.1 but get the same "Script failed' message.

Just to be sure I'm doing it right - unzip and copy to \\Raspbmc\pi\.xbmc\addons
Then I access from VIDEOS-Add-ons-World News Live.

I get Working.. very briefly then the error message.

Copying the new version in was a bit of a hassle. With rasp on I couldn't delete the old folder (in use error) , but with it off the network path is gone. I ended up overwriting
it which executed without complaint.

Is it perhaps not working because access is not allowed/available from NZ ?
Thanks, ADKM

farcus

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#1034363 30-Apr-2014 22:39

ADKM: Farcus, I did try to get the same remote as you suggested, but the sale had ended or closed
I have the addon by K3ONI (version 1.3.4.4) and just updated it to v1.3.5.1 but get the same "Script failed' message.

Just to be sure I'm doing it right - unzip and copy to \\Raspbmc\pi\.xbmc\addons
Then I access from VIDEOS-Add-ons-World News Live.

I get Working.. very briefly then the error message.

Copying the new version in was a bit of a hassle. With rasp on I couldn't delete the old folder (in use error) , but with it off the network path is gone. I ended up overwriting
it which executed without complaint.

Is it perhaps not working because access is not allowed/available from NZ ?
Thanks, ADKM

I think you are actually supposed to install the repo from K3ONI and not the addon itself.
Once you install the repo and do a force refresh you can then install the World News addon from there - and it will automatically update in the future.

If I try to install the addon and not the repo my raspi wont let me install it - so youo have gotten further than me using that method.

Easiest way to add repo is to put the repo zip file somewhere on your network.
Go into
settings > addons > install from zip file
and navigate to where you saved the zip file and then install
then go to
settings > addons > get addons
and right click on K3oni's repo and select force refresh.

Once done navigate your way out and go to
Videos > addons > get more
and install World News Live from here.

before doing any of this reverse what you have done earlier to install the addon to make sure it is cleaned out.

edit: easiest way to delete would be to take the SD card out of your pi and put it into your computer - however, I'm not sure if Windows can read the f2fs filesystem (no problems here on linux) so you might need to look into that.

ADKM

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#1034430 1-May-2014 02:33

Wow Farcus - I have it working and that's a mighty impressive add on.

No trouble following your instructions. I managed to delete my original folder OK (but not rename- seems odd??) and everything installed just fine.

Mobile mode is just audio, I guess? But so many other things work and without the awful buffering that happens on a Windows internet stream (to me at least).

Thanks very much for the how to. And raspbi is a cool little gadget. I read the instructions saying to remove the blue covering from the case parts, but it wasn't till my son came around that I realised what it was. I thought the bits were just coloured blue! Looks even better now it's see-through.

May I ask - is there any way to get the output from it streaming over DLNA? Probably not (solution would be to get a 2nd one) but so it could be fed into a second room ?

farcus

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#1034432 1-May-2014 02:55

ADKM:
Mobile mode is just audio, I guess?

It's just a stream fault.
Keep trying and you'll get the video as well (stop, exit and retry the BBC World mobile feed)
sometimes I have found exiting, playing another stream and then trying again gets the video to work.

May I ask - is there any way to get the output from it streaming over DLNA? Probably not (solution would be to get a 2nd one) but so it could be fed into a second room ?

I've never looked into this.
Best place to ask would the either xbmc forums or raspbmc forums

edit: anther tip. You can slightly improve UI performance using the Amber skin instead of the default Confluence skin.
But stay away from most other skins as they are designed for higher performance machines than raspi.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

ADKM

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#1035814 3-May-2014 01:58

Farcus, got BBC World eventually ! Sadly it seems to stall a lot.. too bad!
The remote arrived but it's an absolute dog. Hardly ever does the same thing twice or work in any consistent or reliable manner. Suspect it'll go into the recycling bin very soon !

But oddly, it would do nothing with the pi connected to the Panasonic Plasma TV, while it did at least respond when pi connected to a computer monitor. Any reason for that do you know ?

It came with no instructions of any kind. Will any "PC Remote" work? If so, I'll hunt around for something better.

farcus

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#1035815 3-May-2014 02:50

ADKM: Farcus, got BBC World eventually ! Sadly it seems to stall a lot.. too bad!
The remote arrived but it's an absolute dog. Hardly ever does the same thing twice or work in any consistent or reliable manner. Suspect it'll go into the recycling bin very soon !

But oddly, it would do nothing with the pi connected to the Panasonic Plasma TV, while it did at least respond when pi connected to a computer monitor. Any reason for that do you know ?

It came with no instructions of any kind. Will any "PC Remote" work? If so, I'll hunt around for something better.

Try your Panasonic TV remote. If it is CEC compliant then it should work to control the pi.
You just need to work out what buttons do what.

ADKM

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#1035816 3-May-2014 03:05

You bet ! It does work... blimey :) And figuring out the buttons is essential. Can't find one to turn the pi on/off or to escape when all else fails. But it's light years ahead of that thing I got on TradeMe.

The display on the comp monitor was perfect, but on the TV it loses a bit on the edges, Any way to size it spot on ?

And it will not play mpg files (so far). Any known reason/workaround for that ?

On the plus side picture and sound are great, audio sync is fine. Pause/play and FF/RW work and respond very nicely.

Turning if off remains a problem though. And it tells you off when it reboots LOL!!!

I had a lockup on BBC News when I did something (not sure what), but guess that will happen now and again.
BBC World News has only worked once in about 20 tries, is it still 'under development' ? Is that how these apps work ?

farcus

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#1035820 3-May-2014 05:20

There's probably not much need to power the pi off. It uses very little power.
I guess if you are using your panasonic remote and want to power off you can just use the power off function in the bottom left corner (of the confluence home screen)
Or on the Amber skin power off / reboot functionality is built into the main menu of the home screen.

To set the pi up for your TV screen go to system > system > video output > video calibration
to get it to fit correctly within the screen you need to make a corner arrow in the top left and bottom right of the screen, and then a perfect square in the centre of the screen. If you keep an eye on the numbers when making the arrows you shouldn't need to adjust anything with the square.

to keep licensing costs down the pi doesn't come with mpeg2 support.
It needs to be purchased separately

http://www.raspberrypi.com/license-keys/

I don't have any mpeg2 files so have never bothered. If I come across mpeg2 files I usually just encode them to something better (more efficient).

BBCWorld seems a bit flaky at present for me also but BBC News seems solid enough.

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