Raspberry Pi Question

Hi, it's been a while since I've posted here.

Anyway, my buddy and I are building this camp, and I'd like to build a Raspberry Pi system that I can mount behind the television, or sit on a shelf nearby that I can bring a USB drive to with movies / tv shows / music etc. for when there's nothing to do in the Pennsylvania Wilds.

I know there are kits on Amazon (Like this one) that would probably be everything I need, I just don't want to order something and get it wrong. Will Noobs let me put an OS like OpenElec on the machine, or am I going to toss that SD card and start somewhere else?

With no internet access or cell phone service at camp (this might be silly) will I be able to use the wifi dongle to connect to my cell phone and use a remote app as long as I already have it preloaded?

Any help or experience with something similar you've done would be awesome. Thanks in advance. :major

 

That kit looks like it will have just about everything you'll need except for an HDMI cable to connect the Pi to your TV and a thumb drive to put your movies on.

Yes, NOOBS will allow you to install either RaspBMC or OpenELEC so you'll be good to go. See this article about using NOOBS: http://www.howtogeek.com/173101/how-to-enjoy-dead-simple-raspberry-pi-setup-with-noobs/

You could tether the Pi to your phone via the wifi dongle but you will probably need a router in between. You could use remote software such as VNC or the like to control your phone from the Pi. The app will run on the phone and you could see the output on the Pi.

 

I am running the B+ for similar use. I would set it up at home and test it 100% while you can look things up on the internet. All of my problems were due to my own ignorance and I really needed the internet references.
Once set up and understood the Raspberry runs well.

 

Alright, thanks for the help. I only asked about the wifi remote to see if avoiding having a keyboard and mouse laying around at camp would be possible. Even at worst case though, I'm sure I can find something small and wireless (maybe like this) that would work.

I'd set it up at home for sure. We're probably a month or two from making good use of it at camp anyway, so I'll have a little time to play around with it and make sure I know what's going on before I take it up and install.

Happy to know that the idea works, too. I was afraid it would absolutely have to have an internet connection or something to function. I didn't have a reason for why that would be the case though.

Just placed my order, so we'll see.

Thanks again!

 

I'm not sure if the wireless dongle for that keyboard will work or not but it may. I personally use a Bluetooth dongle and a Bluetooth keyboard with built-in touchpad for use with my Pi.

The Pi can definitely run completely independent of the internet.

 

You might want XBMC (now Kodi)
http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=xbmc+raspberry+pi
Instead of kludging something together.


Another way, get a tablet (they are as cheap as a PI) and already loaded - that has an HDMI hook up then plug in an OTG cable and use that wireless keyboard (I have that one and it works on my droid phone) to control the setup
or
screen beam, that way you can stream from the Android table to the TV and still have the tablet in your hands to controll it.

Not that I don't have love for the Pi...

 

Along those lines, instead of a tablet with a screen you don't need, you could use an Android mini-PC that plugs directly into an HDMI port on the back of the TV.

For something even simpler to implement, get a Roku 3. The Roku 3 has a USB port for plugging in a thumb drive as well as an SD card slot and comes with a remote so no mouse or keyboard is required.

 

Alright, I've got the Pi at home. I hooked it up to my television, and when I expected to see XBMC or an equivalent available to install, I only had Raspbian and a few other options.

So my question now would be where to go and find that OS, and how I can put it on my SD card to install it to the Pi. I thought if I grabbed NOOBS it would be on there, but that only lead me to the same options that were available out of the box.

I tried to just use Raspbian, but there wasn't even a media player on that OS, and really I'd like the look of XBMC a lot more.

Thanks again. I'll keep looking on my own as well.

 

http://mymediaexperience.com/raspberry-pi-xbmc-with-raspbmc/