From 508ccc3111094644216eb697315269e2b21d2c35 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: dsmith47 Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2023 19:46:24 -0800 Subject: [PATCH] Beginning of draft post for RPI media player experiment --- content/post/projects/rpi-media-box.md | 94 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 94 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/post/projects/rpi-media-box.md diff --git a/content/post/projects/rpi-media-box.md b/content/post/projects/rpi-media-box.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ed59c6d --- /dev/null +++ b/content/post/projects/rpi-media-box.md @@ -0,0 +1,94 @@ ++++ +author = "Doug Smith" +title = "Raspberry Pi as a Media Player" +date = "2023-11-11" +description = "Squeezing enoug power out of an rpi to play media" +toc = true +draft = true + +categories = [ + "Projects" +] +tags = [ + "Raspberry Pi" +] ++++ + +# Intro: My somewhat petty motivations + +In the 2020s is a funny decade for the cable box. Like, streaming has given us +access to so much media on the computer that a lot of people give up on that +special converter strapped to the TV. So many people in fact that we have a +phrase for it: "cord-cutting". Meanwhile, the computing power of everything +else attached to your TV, from game consoles to DVD players to even the TV +itself, is massively increasing their computational power. This is usually +to support a variety of internet powered content-delivery features, be it +the aforementioned streaming or some wacky reimagining of smartphone apps, +and the result has broadly been an increase in entertainment options for the +consumer. And I think I don't like it. + +Like, all those internet-enabled devices were being critiqued for enforcing +planned obsolescence and experience-ruining DRM before we knew that people +could use them to spy on you. And the UX isn't great. Like, you used to just +hit buttons to configure your TV, which passed through all the images from the +things you plugged into it, which you configured seperately, with or without +the image it displayed on the TV, but now those lines are all blurry. Like, do +you watch Netflix on the TV or through the Xbox connected to your TV? Because +the controls and performance can be very different, as will the level of ads +thrown at you during a watching session. + +Like most device problems, my first instinct to solve it is to throw everything +away and see what can be done with FOSS. The goal is to make a single media box +that collects as much of my media experiences as possible so I can control/configure +them. It's hard to dispense with the Smart TV entirely +(they don't really make a lot of "dumb" TVs, especially not at the +higher tier of quality), but if all I'm using is one HDMI port I'm hoping I won't +notice. + +# Step 0: Getting an Rpi running + +So before building anything, you need to make sure you have a working Raspberry +Pi. There are a lot of tutorials out the for RPi setup, basically you just get +your device, flash the appropriate verion of the Raspbian OS to an SD card, +plug the card into your Pi, and connect a power source. Pretty straightforward, +I can even verify that this will work as a media player by loading youtube on a +browser and playing a video... + +And if you're in a similar situation to me, this is the first hurdle. The video +experience for me chugged horribly an the OS threw alerts about "insufficient power +to CPU". + +## Verifying Your Power Source + +So as it turns out, the Pi3 isnt actually powered by a MicroUSB. Well, it is, the +power port fits a MicroUSB connector ad not much else, my old MicroUSB phone +charger turned the thing on, but it only sort of works, because the Pi demands +more power than a MicroUSB should be able to supply. Per the standard, a MicroUSB +connector can handle 2 Amperes at 5 volts, and the Pi3 needs all of it to drive +its CPU. The problem is, a lot of MicroUSB cables that are for charging other +devices or doing data transfer aren't capable of delivering at that standard, +you need to identify a good power supply out of a field of false promises. + +How do know if you have a good cable? Well, if you own a multimeter you can +actually test this yourself. Just configure a meter to the 2A/5V range +expected, arrange the MicroUSB port you want to test so it's facing you, +and touch the live (red) probe to the further left pin while touching the +ground (black) probe anywhere on the outside of the port. The multimeter will +read the voltage the port delivers, which is the power supply you Pi has to +work with. If you're not seeing 5V (I found a lot of my device chargers +delivered 1.5V, which I guess could be a different standard for data-delivering +cables?), or having trouble getting a reader (the pins can be recessed on +some ports that make readings hard to get), you can just get a new cable +certified to deiliver power to the MicroUSB max for about $10. I've found +CanaKit works fine. + + +# Step 1: Running a media player + +Now we've got our power source, we're running the CPU at its full power +level, and we can try and load that video... and it still chugs. Maybe its +just the network? Nope, VLC runs a file slowly as well. It's important to +remember that this isn't a particularly powerful computer by modern PC +standards. Just running the stuff you would use on your Linux PC is probably +not going to work when the task is as intensive as audio/video. We need to +optimize for the compute we have. \ No newline at end of file