Friday, March 29, 2013

Raspberry Pi


This is what keeping me busy on my personal time. It's a credit card sized ARM-based computer!

I received my first Raspberry Pi on Feb 1, 2013, with the intent to install an XBMC media center and it was successful. Then on March 5, 2013, I received my 2nd Raspberry Pi with plan to make it into a torrent box. Then a few weeks after, I was able to run rtorrent with rutorrent as the WebUI.



The Raspberry Pi costs a mere 2.5k php from a local supplier. It's packed in a slim box with only the bare module inside (as seen on the first picture above) wrapped in anti-static bag. To build a fully operational Raspberry Pi, you'll need the following materials:

1. SD card (at least 4GB and preferably class 10)
2. Power supply (an original cell phone charger with micro usb plug will suffice)
3. Enclosure
4. heatsinks (optional)
5. cables (HDMI & network patch cable)
6. USB keyboard (mini wireless is preferred)
7. Flat screen TV with HDMI (as temporary monitor during setup or for the media center)

The SD card is needed as in this media with install the Raspberry Pi's operating system (OS).

The power supply needs to supply at least 800mA, an original cell phone charger is needed to ensure sufficient current is delivered.

For the enclosure, you can be creative about it. Some build using legos, some using cardboard and some bought online. I bought my enclosures online and I got the laser-cut clear acrylic cases.

My 1st Raspberry Pi with clear enclosure and heatsink on CPU

For the media center OS, I chose OpenELEC for Raspberry Pi. OpenELEC stands for Open Embedded Linux Entertainment Center. Its core application is the XBMC media center. Raspberry Pi has a built-in HDMI-CEC controller which means I can use the TV's remote to navigate on the XBMC user interface.  I used an 8GB class 10 SD card for this. 4GB would have suffice but the cost difference isn't much.

For the torrent box OS, I chose Raspbian 'wheezy'. It is based in Debian Linux OS built specifically for the Raspberry Pi hardware. I used a 32GB class 10 SD card for this to have room for the torrent downloads.

Regarding its power consumption, it's only using up a measly 4 Watts! after all it can't use up more than 5 Watts which a 1 Amp cellphone charger can give. This will give me huge savings on power bill as I don't need to run a Windows-based PC for 24x7 for the torrent box.

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10 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 30, 2013 at 3:51 PM

    Sweet! That's awesome, bro!

    What's the typical specs of a Raspberry Pi? have you tried watching movies for a long hours... do you think it will need a cooling fan maybe?

    Your other device is converted into a torrent box for 24/7... have you tried that already and how's the performance? do you think it's possible to install a download manager?

    Is it possible to run other compatible linux base operating system?

    Sorry for these questions.

    Please do update us on your device again after a week or month's of use.

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. SEELE01March 30, 2013 at 4:49 PM

    The one I have and the most common one is the model B with 512MB RAM. The CPU is a single core which runs at 700MHz but overclockable up to 1GHz. It has a built-in H.264 decoder so it runs 1080p smoothly. No need to install cooling fan, a RAM heatsink will suffice if it's enclosed. If the enclosure is full of holes then a heatsink may not be needed. It has a built-in thermal sensor so you'll know if heatsink is needed.

    Yes, TBOX (name of my torrent box) has been running for a week now. Its limitation is limited only on the rtorrent program (no local peer discovery & limited dht function). I'm not aware for a download manager for linux, but if it exist then it's possible. I only use the wget command to download files directly from TBOX.

    I know there are more than one linux distribution for Raspberry Pi. You can start searching from raspberrypi.org

    Yes, I'll make an update blog for Raspberry Pi.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMarch 30, 2013 at 7:24 PM

    The specs is decent enough. One thing I like about the wget command is it has the ability to continue interrupted downloads and since you can do CLI then it's probably possible to do a batch script for downloads...

    BTW, I've been thinking. Do you think its cheaper to setup a router with torrent capabilities or should I get this Raspberry instead since I can do media playback as well...

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  4. SEELE01March 30, 2013 at 7:33 PM

    IMHO, using Raspberry Pi is more fun to setup and it has a much bigger community in case you need support. One thing though, it's not a good idea to run the media player and torrent in one box, which is why I bought two. You can however swap SD cards but you can only use them one at a time.

    I am curious, is there a router which has torrent capabilities out of the box?

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousMarch 31, 2013 at 12:13 PM

    Thanks for your input man. highly appreciated!

    There are some routers with torrent capabilities like brands from Asus, D-Link, and Linksys. (also CD-R King just look for compatible model) Price ranges from low, midrange to high depends on the model. I'm not exactly sure what model from D-Link and Linksys with torrent functions, but you can also look for compatible model (Asus,D-Link,Linksys with USB Port to plug your flash drive or portable HDD) by using a third-party firmware from dd-wrt and tomato.

    As for the Asus brand with torrent capabilities. Again, not exactly sure what model, but look for Asus Routers with "Download Master" (I think, it has a build-in torrent client) features or you can try from the post above by flashing your old compatible router with dd-wrt or tomato firmware.

    And of course, you need to power-up your PC to add the url, bt, torrent file into your router's user interface then shutdown/turn-off your PC, but not the router. :D

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SEELE01March 31, 2013 at 12:30 PM

      I didn't know torrent client can be installed in DD-WRT. My current CDR-King router is running DD-WRT. unfortunately it doesn't have a USB port so there's no way to create storage space. Also after googling about this, I found out they only run the Transmission torrent client app. I've tried Transmission few years ago in my Popcorn Hour media player and then again recently on TBOX (first attempt), then realized it doesn't support RSS feeds so download of TV series cannot be automated. So I switched to rtorrent and the rest is history. If you do not need auto download capability and you already have the router w/ USB port and USB storage then why not give it a shot and let us know of the results.

      Delete
    2. AnonymousMarch 31, 2013 at 5:22 PM

      I also have a router with dd-wrt installed. And like what you said, unfortunately it doesn't have a USB port. :( But I'm currently on the look out for router with USB support so I can share my external HDD thru the network.

      Most of the files I download are hosted from online file sharing. So, I often use Download Manager and look for file sharing that don't use CAPTCHA. I've tried those feeds before and it's a little buggy on the apps I use! maybe, I should give it another try! BTW, do they give warranty for the raspberry where you bought it?

      Thanks!

      Delete
    3. SEELE01April 1, 2013 at 7:59 AM

      I believe they only give 1 week store warranty.

      Delete
    4. AnonymousApril 1, 2013 at 9:28 AM

      I see. Thank you for the time and sorry for all the trouble... I know your a busy busy man.

      Thanks

      Delete
  6. AnonymousMarch 31, 2013 at 12:27 PM

    Not sure, but it needs to be flash the memory
    Asus WL-520GU
    Asus RT-N10U
    Asus RT-N13U

    with Download Master
    Asus RT-N56U
    Asus RT-N65U
    Asus RT-N66U
    Asus RT-AC66U

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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