Re: [Hampshire] Anyone using their Raspberry Pi as a "carputer"?
On Wednesday 11 Sep 2013 22:49:58 Tim Brocklehurst wrote: > On Wednesday 11 Sep 2013 21:49:56 Samuel Penn wrote: > > On Wednesday 11 Sep 2013 13:42:46 Imran Chaudhry wrote: > > > I want to explore using the Raspberry Pi as something in the car, a > > > "carputer". I am envisioning attaching a smallish LCD screen+speakers > > > where it can play movies, take a USB key to play music, display Google > > > Maps, show pictures etc. Has anyone done this with their Pi? > > > > Ignoring the hacker element for a moment and being all practical, why > > not just use a phone for this? > > > > I pretty much do all this with my phone (except for the video bits, > > since that could be dangerous when I'm driving). Bluetooth to the > > car's audio system (I have an adapter) plays all my music and does > > Google Maps. > > I do the same, but I sometimes feel that a bigger screen would be nice. I'd > seriously consider running Android on the PI for exactly that reason. Bigger than what? Swap out phone for tablet and you can go up to 10". A lot of phones are in the 5" - 6" range. -- Be seeing you,Games: http://www.glendale.org.uk/ Sam. Posts: http://www.google.com/profiles/samuel.penn -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
[Hampshire] Social Enterprise
Good evening everyone I have recently had this idea of setting up a Social Enterprise which would have a heavy emphasis on Open Source technologies and Linux. I want to give something back to the community and have a strong desire to help others. The key ideology of the enterprise is to train volunteers / customers / people from unprivileged backgrounds in Computing. The main income stream of the company would be a focus on refurbishment of IT equipment where it can be put to good use or resold. Prices would be reasonable! ( avenues such as eBay, gumtree) Second main income stream would be repairs, I have about 8 years experience repairing PC's and laptops Third income stream would be focused on administration and deployments for the small business and charity sector we can also throw in support contracts. And use Linux as alternative to Windows. I don't want to take advantage of volunteers who aid the progression, I want to be able to put volunteers through the Compita A+ training. That way as a Social Enterprise we will be giving something back they will become qualified I,T combined with experience which will either open doors or if the Enterprise expands we can take them on full time and explore other avenues such as IT call outs, home visits. There are diverse options for training I have alot of Windows experience. You guys have the Linux knowledge :) Few options for courses Computer hardware how to build PC Introduction to the Internet Desktop publishing Introduction to Windows Linux for beginners BASH Basics BASH scripting 101 Setting up a Home media Server Network Services for beginners Securing your Server I also thought able setting up a training room consisting of raspberry Pi's where users could be taught the basics of programming. I could really use your input I am passionate about Linux and helping others and I am sure alot of you guys are aswell has anyone setup a similar venture? Sent from my iPhone -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] Anyone using their Raspberry Pi as a "carputer"?
On 11/09/13 22:49, Tim Brocklehurst wrote: On Wednesday 11 Sep 2013 21:49:56 Samuel Penn wrote: On Wednesday 11 Sep 2013 13:42:46 Imran Chaudhry wrote: I want to explore using the Raspberry Pi as something in the car, a "carputer". I am envisioning attaching a smallish LCD screen+speakers where it can play movies, take a USB key to play music, display Google Maps, show pictures etc. Has anyone done this with their Pi? Ignoring the hacker element for a moment and being all practical, why not just use a phone for this? I pretty much do all this with my phone (except for the video bits, since that could be dangerous when I'm driving). Bluetooth to the car's audio system (I have an adapter) plays all my music and does Google Maps. I do the same, but I sometimes feel that a bigger screen would be nice. I'd seriously consider running Android on the PI for exactly that reason. Or perhaps you could use an Android-on-a-stick adapter such as http://cpc.farnell.com/dynamode/dyn-mp802-b/tv-stick-android-mini-pc/dp/CS25712 Not as much fun as playing with a Raspberry Pi, perhaps (not that I've tried either). cheers Chris -- Chris Dennis cgden...@btinternet.com Fordingbridge, Hampshire, UK -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] Anyone using their Raspberry Pi as a "carputer"?
On Wednesday 11 Sep 2013 13:42:46 Imran Chaudhry wrote: > I want to explore using the Raspberry Pi as something in the car, a > "carputer". I am envisioning attaching a smallish LCD screen+speakers > where it can play movies, take a USB key to play music, display Google > Maps, show pictures etc. Has anyone done this with their Pi? Ignoring the hacker element for a moment and being all practical, why not just use a phone for this? I pretty much do all this with my phone (except for the video bits, since that could be dangerous when I'm driving). Bluetooth to the car's audio system (I have an adapter) plays all my music and does Google Maps. -- Be seeing you,Games: http://www.glendale.org.uk/ Sam. Posts: http://www.google.com/profiles/samuel.penn -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] Anyone using their Raspberry Pi as a "carputer"?
On Wednesday 11 Sep 2013 21:49:56 Samuel Penn wrote: > On Wednesday 11 Sep 2013 13:42:46 Imran Chaudhry wrote: > > I want to explore using the Raspberry Pi as something in the car, a > > "carputer". I am envisioning attaching a smallish LCD screen+speakers > > where it can play movies, take a USB key to play music, display Google > > Maps, show pictures etc. Has anyone done this with their Pi? > > Ignoring the hacker element for a moment and being all practical, why > not just use a phone for this? > > I pretty much do all this with my phone (except for the video bits, > since that could be dangerous when I'm driving). Bluetooth to the > car's audio system (I have an adapter) plays all my music and does > Google Maps. I do the same, but I sometimes feel that a bigger screen would be nice. I'd seriously consider running Android on the PI for exactly that reason. -- Hampshire Linux User Group Chairman -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] Anyone using their Raspberry Pi as a "carputer"?
Paul thanks for the heads up. The AMD fusion sounds like a nice bit of kit I'm looking at putting together a open Elec box as a future project case wise I am after something small what kind of pricing would a project like this set me back? Any recommended components for such a build? The only part I currently have is a 2 terabyte hard disk. Sent from my iPhone On 11 Sep 2013, at 19:37, "Tim Brocklehurst" wrote: > I haven't played with XBMC on the PI, but I was considering using it as a > carputer running Android with 3G dongle. I haven't had time to get much > further, but from what I read I think it should work. > > Tim B. > > -- > Hampshire Linux User Group Chairman > > -- > Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk > Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire > LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk > -- -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] choice of motherboard for use with Linux
On Wed, 11 Sep 2013 16:58:24 +0100, arturla...@gmail.com said: > try Ubuntu (or K/X/Lubuntu) - it is Debian based, have very good support > and work just out of the box while Debian needs much more configuration. In what way does Debian need "much more configuration"? (Genuine question) -- "You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you." -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] Anyone using their Raspberry Pi as a "carputer"?
I haven't played with XBMC on the PI, but I was considering using it as a carputer running Android with 3G dongle. I haven't had time to get much further, but from what I read I think it should work. Tim B. -- Hampshire Linux User Group Chairman -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] choice of motherboard for use with Linux
Hi Peter, On 11/09/13 12:21, Peter Alefounder wrote: I have been considering what new motherboard + processor to get that will work with Linux without any problems. I like the look of this one, MSI FM2-A75MA-E35: http://uk.msi.com/product/mb/FM2-A75MA-E35.html There days, with the notable exception of the wifi on some laptops and horrid chipsets like those from SiS, I don't worry about the "will it work" question any more. I've not installed on any machine in the last 3 years that was a total brick. All my recent machines have been Intel chipsets, which were very well supported. It has a VGA socket and a sufficient number of USB sockets. It appears to come with something called Winki 3, "a free Linux-based O/S which is based on the Linux core". Has anyone any experience of using that? Is it safe to assume that the board would work with Debian? One possible problem that I have noticed is that I currently have a board that uses a single 20-pin ATX connector. The FM2-A75MA-E35 requires a 24-pin connector and a separate 4-pin 12v CPU power connector. I will have to investigate whether my PSU has a 4-pin connector. Maplin have an 20 to 24-pin adaptor, and for that to work, no extra voltages would be required. So why was the change from 20-pin connectors made and would I be better advised to get a new case or PSU?e I generally reckon on 3-5 years' life for a PSU. If your PSU is older than 3 years then I would pension it off or, more likely, get a new case so my new toy is shiny too. If your PSU is that age, it may not have SATA power connectors for newer drives either. Has the old PSU got enough watts for the stuff you intend to put into the machine? If the machine has legacy PATA (IDE) drives then they are probably towards the end of their service life too and you would get better performance, and freedom from the worry the drives are going conk out on you, from going to modern SATA drives. The web page also gives links for a number of drivers. Are boards supplied with the latest drivers or would I have to install these, something I have no idea of how to do? It's been my experience with Ubuntu that almost every driver is already rolled into it so it should just be a matter of install-and-go. I gave up building new machines a while back. I found that I just couldn't replace the board, RAM, drives, graphics card and PSU for less than I could buy a well-chosen new machine. Have you looked at the Dell Outlet Store (go to Dell.co.uk, go down to the navigation box towards the bottom of the page and you will find the link at the bottom of the first column). They sell production-failure and warranty-return machines there that have been fixed and retested. You only get a 3 month warranty but the price is very good and I'm of the opinion that if it lasts past the first month, it's a good machine and it's generally not going to self-destruct. I would see how much you could get an equivalent or better brand-new machine in the outlet for. What is your intended use for the machine? I'm into 3D rendered games and handling video. The highest performance CPU I could find that would fit in that board was a dual core. For my usage, I would consider it a little underpowered. Bests, Paul. -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] choice of motherboard for use with Linux
On 11/09/13 16:07, Paul Stimpson wrote: Hi Peter, On 11/09/13 12:21, Peter Alefounder wrote: I have been considering what new motherboard + processor to get that will work with Linux without any problems. I like the look of this one, MSI FM2-A75MA-E35: http://uk.msi.com/product/mb/FM2-A75MA-E35.html There days, with the notable exception of the wifi on some laptops and horrid chipsets like those from SiS, I don't worry about the "will it work" question any more. I've not installed on any machine in the last 3 years that was a total brick. All my recent machines have been Intel chipsets, which were very well supported. As I wrote in previous thread, there should be no problem with any motherboard, but I will go to Intel platform - all because of AMD graphics card driver. You are going to use integrated GPU and I am sure that Intel HD Graphics will be much less problematic. Check this link http://askubuntu.com/questions/151445/which-ati-amd-or-intel-or-nvidia-graphics-for-unity?rq=1 It has a VGA socket and a sufficient number of USB sockets. It appears to come with something called Winki 3, "a free Linux-based O/S which is based on the Linux core". Has anyone any experience of using that? Is it safe to assume that the board would work with Debian? One possible problem that I have noticed is that I currently have a board that uses a single 20-pin ATX connector. The FM2-A75MA-E35 requires a 24-pin connector and a separate 4-pin 12v CPU power connector. I will have to investigate whether my PSU has a 4-pin connector. Maplin have an 20 to 24-pin adaptor, and for that to work, no extra voltages would be required. So why was the change from 20-pin connectors made and would I be better advised to get a new case or PSU?e I generally reckon on 3-5 years' life for a PSU. If your PSU is older than 3 years then I would pension it off or, more likely, get a new case so my new toy is shiny too. If your PSU is that age, it may not have SATA power connectors for newer drives either. Has the old PSU got enough watts for the stuff you intend to put into the machine? If the machine has legacy PATA (IDE) drives then they are probably towards the end of their service life too and you would get better performance, and freedom from the worry the drives are going conk out on you, from going to modern SATA drives. New processors - and in case of upgrade also graphics cards - are using mostly 12V line, while old components used 5V line. As you had old Athlon configuration and you don't have 24pin connector your PSU probably is not good for modern setup. Check cheap FSP 300W PSU units (I don't remember exact model number, check maximum power on +12V line) or go to XFX 450W/550W Pro PSU - very good, reliable and quiet power supplies - I have three of them and no problems at all. The web page also gives links for a number of drivers. Are boards supplied with the latest drivers or would I have to install these, something I have no idea of how to do? It's been my experience with Ubuntu that almost every driver is already rolled into it so it should just be a matter of install-and-go. You usually don't need any drivers for motherboard. Extra drivers are required mostly for graphics cards and some wireless adapters, but in Ubuntu there is easy application that informs you about available drivers I gave up building new machines a while back. I found that I just couldn't replace the board, RAM, drives, graphics card and PSU for less than I could buy a well-chosen new machine. Have you looked at the Dell Outlet Store (go to Dell.co.uk, go down to the navigation box towards the bottom of the page and you will find the link at the bottom of the first column). They sell production-failure and warranty-return machines there that have been fixed and retested. You only get a 3 month warranty but the price is very good and I'm of the opinion that if it lasts past the first month, it's a good machine and it's generally not going to self-destruct. I would see how much you could get an equivalent or better brand-new machine in the outlet for. What is your intended use for the machine? I'm into 3D rendered games and handling video. The highest performance CPU I could find that would fit in that board was a dual core. For my usage, I would consider it a little underpowered. Bests, Paul. At the end, if you are Debian user, but you don't feel very safe with starting with new Debian from scratch, I am suggesting that you should try Ubuntu (or K/X/Lubuntu) - it is Debian based, have very good support and work just out of the box while Debian needs much more configuration. -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] Anyone using their Raspberry Pi as a "carputer"?
Hi, On 11/09/13 14:22, Ally Biggs wrote: No but if you haven't got a use for it I will have it :) i'm after a Model B for a XBMC setup how do they handle performance wise any lag during video playback Powering the Pi should be easy; There are many car USB power adaptors available. I would recommend you go for a quality, brand-name supply as I found my Pis become really crashy if you use a cheap mains PSU. I wouldn't see any reason why a DC PSU would be any different. If you are using an ignition-switched power source, it might be worth including a startup-delay timer in the power circuit so the power glitch when you crank the engine doesn't crash the Pi. All the following observations were made using the OpenELEC appliance build of XBMC approaching a year ago. I found no issues with playback integrity or frame rate but I did note that my Pi wouldn't play up to 50% of my collection. I built a new OpenELEC box using the native Fusion build on an x86-based AMD Fusion board. That plays every file in my collection. I concluded that the cause of this discrepancy was that many of the codecs the files used didn't have ARM ports so the Pi could never play them. Every codec I found has an x86 port. Whilst the video played fine (without an MPEG 2 hardware key on the Pi) the user interface fared badly whenever the Pi got busy and became so laggy when doing things like media indexing it was unusable. Note that the following observation was made on original (256MB) Pis rather that the newer (512MB) so things may be better now. I have a large media collection (of the order of 27,000 music tracks and 1TB of video). I found the experience of indexing them on the Pi to be painful. It took 3 days to index my collection and needed at least 2 power-off reboots, often causing database corruption, when it crashed from running out of resources. My Fusion board indexes the whole collection in a matter of minutes and the user interface and video playback are rock solid while it's doing so. The problem with the Pi seemed to be more related to the media database engine than the video performance. The Pi's CPU is of the order of a 700MHz single core. The Fusion is a 1.6 GHz dual core but there is more to it than that. The Pi averaged CPU load about 90% ; The Fusion runs at about 7%. (90% of 700 MHz is a lot more cycles than 7% of 2x1600MHz). The Fusion also has 4GB or RAM but uses less than the Pi has so I'm not sure this is relevant. I bought my Pi to use as a media player but I ended up ditching it out of frustration. Bests, Paul. -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] Anyone using their Raspberry Pi as a "carputer"?
No but if you haven't got a use for it I will have it :) i'm after a Model B for a XBMC setup how do they handle performance wise any lag during video playback Ally > From: ichaud...@gmail.com > Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 13:42:46 +0100 > To: hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk > Subject: [Hampshire] Anyone using their Raspberry Pi as a "carputer"? > > So I got given a Raspberry Pi at that XBMC Fest thing a few weeks back > (they were giving them out free, I got one with a ton of extra > accessories). > > I have tried XBMC and Debian on it and it does a fair job of both, > however I already have those covered with other devices. > > I want to explore using the Raspberry Pi as something in the car, a > "carputer". I am envisioning attaching a smallish LCD screen+speakers > where it can play movies, take a USB key to play music, display Google > Maps, show pictures etc. Has anyone done this with their Pi? > > Thanks > > -- > Key fingerprint = EF78 310C C517 9564 9ECA 82F6 68FA E621 17E1 5D16 > http://about.me/imranchaudhry > > -- > Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk > Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire > LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk > -- -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
[Hampshire] Anyone using their Raspberry Pi as a "carputer"?
So I got given a Raspberry Pi at that XBMC Fest thing a few weeks back (they were giving them out free, I got one with a ton of extra accessories). I have tried XBMC and Debian on it and it does a fair job of both, however I already have those covered with other devices. I want to explore using the Raspberry Pi as something in the car, a "carputer". I am envisioning attaching a smallish LCD screen+speakers where it can play movies, take a USB key to play music, display Google Maps, show pictures etc. Has anyone done this with their Pi? Thanks -- Key fingerprint = EF78 310C C517 9564 9ECA 82F6 68FA E621 17E1 5D16 http://about.me/imranchaudhry -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
[Hampshire] choice of motherboard for use with Linux
I have been considering what new motherboard + processor to get that will work with Linux without any problems. I like the look of this one, MSI FM2-A75MA-E35: http://uk.msi.com/product/mb/FM2-A75MA-E35.html It has a VGA socket and a sufficient number of USB sockets. It appears to come with something called Winki 3, "a free Linux-based O/S which is based on the Linux core". Has anyone any experience of using that? Is it safe to assume that the board would work with Debian? One possible problem that I have noticed is that I currently have a board that uses a single 20-pin ATX connector. The FM2-A75MA-E35 requires a 24-pin connector and a separate 4-pin 12v CPU power connector. I will have to investigate whether my PSU has a 4-pin connector. Maplin have an 20 to 24-pin adaptor, and for that to work, no extra voltages would be required. So why was the change from 20-pin connectors made and would I be better advised to get a new case or PSU? The web page also gives links for a number of drivers. Are boards supplied with the latest drivers or would I have to install these, something I have no idea of how to do? I would be grateful for any advice. I have no doubt there are some on this mailing list who know far more about this sort ot thing than I do! Peter Alefounder. -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
