I have two daughters aged 3 and 7 and this allows me to play with many wonderful things. If you asked me in the early part of my IT career if you will have a computer smaller than a cigarette pack running all of your media centre functionality I would've laughed.
Well it's true, and very easy to set up. To top it all it is only around $35 if you buy on a special. I my home we have most of the gadgets for the kids. We have Satellite TV, mostly for the sport as I am a huge sports supporter. We have Netflix, we have Showmax, which is an African version of Netflix, with some local shows which you do not get on Netflix. We run Netflix through the Xbox One, but also have an XBOX 360 as the games for the Kinect is much better than the Xbox One.
The problem is that not everything we want to watch is on Netflix, Showmax or the Satellite TV, I am speaking about the older movies and series. So I ventured off to the shops to buy a Rasberry Pi 3 to install Kodi - Media Centre (The old XBMC), which allows you to stream older series and movies. What makes Rasberry Pi really cool is that you can install basically any operating system that can fit on a Micro Sim. And even cooler is that there is pre-packaged ISO's with a wide variety of things. If you are looking for the older games, you can download a pre-loaded MAME emulator, which makes your Pi a retro gaming machine.
LibreELEC - Just Enough Operating System for Kodi
For now I decided to install LibreElec, which is a very small little operating system which auto boots Kodi (Krypton) as you start up which allows you to plug it straight into you television as a media centre. This is a very easy download and install and you can do it in less than 15 minutes.
Use the following site for installation instructions:
How to install LibreElec on Rasberry Pi 1 2 or 3
All you need i to download the LibreElec ISO install file and extract to the Micro SD. From there you need to install the Exodus Add On and you can watch basically any Series or Movie.
Here is the Exodus add-on setup video:
libreelec install exodus
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PiPlay (Beta)
This is a great download as it gives you various gaming emulators on the same box.
MAME - AdvanceMAME & MAME4ALL
CPS I / CPS II - Final Burn Alpha
Neo Geo - GNGeo
Playstation - pcsx-reARMed
Genesis - DGen
SNES - SNES9x
NES - AdvMESS
Gameboy - Gearboy
Gameboy Advance - GPSP
ScummVM
Atari 2600 - Stella
Cavestory - NXEngine
Commodore 64 - VICE
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I just love my new Rasberri Pi 3 as it is also wireless and connects directly to your network. I will definitely use to automate various things in the house. There is so many add-on components which you can buy, that it will keep me busy for quite some time.
Happy Steeming!
I gotta get one! Thanks for sharing!
It really is worth it :) This will be used in many IOT applications.
yeah i love my raspberry pi's - i've got a few, i run one as a cctv and that's awesome, it's called kerberos.io and i love it.
I will check it out. Thanks @teamhumble. CCTV is a must have here where I live :)
Thanks for the introduction to what sounds like an amazing device. I will have to read into this some more and hopefully get working on one
I bought a raspberry pi recently, haven't had a chance to try it out yet.
Kodi/Exodus is awesome btw! I run it on a a couple of fire sticks on every tv in the house.
the best thing about time is it changes
is this a arduino type thing right? and which is better? i think this one is more like a computer rather than microprocessor yes?
I have a few friends who use their PI as a media device, cheaper than most 'TV-boxes' and way cooler!
It is indeed cheaper and way cooler. Thanks for the comment @abh12345
I didnt heard about it before. Thx
It is well worth investigating :)
I've heard of this device thingy a lot, people installing anything on it what they want. But what is it exactly? Like just a mini computer without a screen?
It is indeed a mini computer, with a few USB and HDMI which you plug straight into an HDMI slot on a TV or Computer Screen. You add a Wireless Mouse and keyboard and off you go.
Omg that sounds incredible, I should really get one and program it as an emulator :D Missing the old pokemon and mario games!
You can download a preloaded ISO which you extract to Micro SD card and whalah you have all the Mario games etc.
Holy shit, this thing is the future! You perhaps know any EU store or webshop to buy this piece of art?
Raspberry Pi's are the best!!
I have two - one for Plex (our media player) and another for Home Assistant (our home automation).
I played with RasPlex a little while back too an it was amazing :)
Just leave these little computers. Boys and their toys hey ;)
I will definitely get a few as I want to build a jukebox into an old petrol tank that I have at home. I want one for home automation and I want one for PiPlay and I want one for ...I guess I should stop at some point :)
Haha - I'm exactly the same!! Got to pass it by the wife each time I want a new one ;)
For home automation check out Home Assistant - super awesome!! I have it set up with a bunch of Philips Hue bulbs and also a bunch of Sonoff switches. Works brilliantly!!
Ah, to topic off I have two Amazon Echo Dots for voice control ;)
Just love it :)
Sounds like I am going to ask you a few questions in the future :) Followed... Where are you from ? And yes I also have to run it by the wife :)
Haha - please feel free to ask!! Home Automation is kinda a hobby of mine - and you got to learn how to do it cheap too ;)
Been thinking of doing some posts on it here as that seems quite scarce on Steemit...
Live in Limpopo, where you from?
I think the posts will do well on Steemit. So you are just up the road. Live in Pretoria :) Please check out for announcements for Steem Saturday. We are doing another one this year on the back of a successful event in 2016. It will be on either 2 or 9 September in Johannesburg. The event is free to attend and we will have some of the guys here from the Steem headquarters.
Haha - not too far then 😁 I stayed in Centurion for a few years before moving back to Polokwane...
Awesome!! I really hope I can attend that!! Would be amazing!! 😳😎😁
I built a RetroPie setup for my son. Have you had a chance to use that version? If so how does PiPlay compare?
Hi @akuda, no I have not yet. Followed I will definitely check it out and let you k, now :)
I haven't seen the one you use either lol! I really like RetroPie though!
Follback
It is such a fantastic little computer, I love it! I haven't had time to dig into the Rpi3 yet but with the links that you shared here I will find time! Thank you for sharing @jacor!
It is indeed fantastic :) Pi3 is wireless so less cables :) Check it out really worth it
Wow! That's pretty cool for $35, I'm going to get one for my daughter... and me ;)
It is well worth the money as there is so much you can do with it. I think it is like a technology drug :) When you start you just want more.
This device is so damn awesome.
Oh yes :)
Cool stuff you are doing @jacor , I am running a school kids projects dubbed IoT maker spaces in Harare using Arduino & Raspberry Pi Starter Kits. Will share that on steemit as well, such a convenient technology
That is great to hear @verengai I travel to Zim fairly often. You are just up the road from me. Drove up to Botswana just last week :) You must see if you can't join our event Steem Saturday either on the 2nd or 9th September 2017. Are you on the African United Group in Steemit Chat?
Thats great to hear, please add me to the group not a member. Would be happy to join the Steem Saturday, share details too. Let me know when in Zim
Nice
Thanks
I bought a Raspberry Pi a couple of years ago as well as a neutrino board but never got round to using it but your post has given me a bit of inspiration. I'm currently running Kodi on a laptop but want to build my own media centre as well as integrate some wireless house controls. The Pi has come so far since I bought it, and the Pi community has grown massively too.
I think a new Pi might be in order. I might even be able to get my kids (6 & 8) interested in a bit of programming.
Anyway. Thanks for the post. Upvoted, following and resteemed.
@jimbobbill the pi has come a long way. On the Pi3 there is ou of the box programming features which will assit the kids to learn programming using pictures. It is really worthwhile playing around with. The wireless feature on Pi 3 for me was a no brainer as thre is already so many calbles between the various devices around the TV. Rasbian is a good operating system to start of with as I first tried Ubuntu Mate, but Kodi is not supported and I really struggled.
I was thinking of making a computer cluster out of 5 Pie's and running them all off my off grid solar. Thanks for this cool post was a nice read. God Bless.
Thank you @solarparadise :) You can actually by a little rack for them :)
wow. thanks for sharing @jacor. really will like to get this
Love these things also the arduino is fun to learn on too
Hay @jacor Voted & Followed Nice
I really appriciate your work
I always follow your journey whether it is Travel or Other !!
I Wish You Would Also Follow and Upvote My Post@funnystuff
Really I Liked What You Do Every Day
And Always Join - Upvote - Comment and Reesteem
I wish the same
Thank You Sweet
WOW! thats interesting.
It is really amazing how advanced everything has become. The raspberry pc"s are amazing but have only one littlest of downsides. They aren't good for anything else than small scale computing and prob. Streaming media to a TV or something.
Otherwise it is really practical and genius.
Cheers
nice post.... i love raspberry pi 's and its use is fantastic...... i enjoyed your post.
UPVOTED you.
That's very cool. We use a Pi3 at work to stream security cameras through. You can't beat the price.
I'm going to use a Pi at home to control my sprinkler system.
Great idea, @jacor! Upvoted & Followed. Do you know where I can find info about Rasberri Pi 3 audio/music aplications? Thanks a lot. Cheers from Barcelona.
Thanks for sharing, feeling the pressure to get one now. Although I'm happy with my chromecast for my TV.
I think there's alot more to come on this part, micro devices and IoT.
The rassberry pi is a really nice device. Much cheaper then actually getting an android box and works just as well plus there is so much more you can use it for.
i love raspberry pi thanks for this post
i love my Pi3s . I use one as a media server and one for a staking wallet. Lots of crypto now supports raspbian .
i will definitely be buying one!
yea i love my raspberry pi
thank you
Vote back my friend
I @syanaa hehehe