raspberry pi 2 as media player

[regeHA]

This was a simple exercise I tried just now - paused my music and raised the volume on the amp to MAX - indeed dead silence. I don't know if the galvanic isolation of my Chord 2qute DAC is playing here - anyways am happy as it passed the test :clapping:

Am using a simple setup - with the supplied Strontronics 2.5A adapter and USB HDD (non powered) directly connected. No fancy LPS or regens!

As usual, YMMV though.

The Chord 2Qute is a very nice DAC, it was on my list vs the Yggy back when I was planning the upgrade.

Try the test with a budget DVD player or Blu-ray player or even a PC and you just might hear things differently.

Of course today's equipment is a lot better... but 10-15 years ago we could all hear the hum coming from the DVD player even through the TV speakers.

I was reading something on CA yesterday... the guy was saying the iPhone would flat out beat every stereo component in every area from 30-40 years ago, that's how good we have it now.

 

[terrible]

Ok. How about contacting the seller you bought the Pi 3 from? I'm sure they would have the power supply.

You can find 5V 3A chargers in the market, but I'm thinking they would all be USB C.

Yes, I think I'll connect with the seller and get his advice.

Raspberry Pi uses micro-USB A or B?

 

[terrible]

@terrible - I've been thinking of this... just not sure I want to spend $50 on a power supply for the $35 Pi.

But its 5V and 3A in case you might want to check it out.

Accessory iPower.

Available in India - Sales | iFi Audio. But might cost more and totally not worth it... but it also addresses the clean power we've been talking about for the Pi.

So regeHA, I have been checking this out and in fact sent an email to their Indian representative but have got no response. Its available on Amazon UK, but wanted to know, if to be on the safer side I should get a 9V instead of 5V. Or does it not work like that and a higher volt power supply may damage the Pi or SD card? Thanks for the help.

 

[regeHA]

So regeHA, I have been checking this out and in fact sent an email to their Indian representative but have got no response. Its available on Amazon UK, but wanted to know, if to be on the safer side I should get a 9V instead of 5V. Or does it not work like that and a higher volt power supply may damage the Pi or SD card? Thanks for the help.

The volt should be the same, and ampere can be higher.

The 9V (or anything over 5V) will fry the Pi.

Edit - Why not call the listed number? The site does not load, makes me think the mail will be down as well.

 

[regeHA]

@terrible - I'm using this with the Pi 2 and have not had any issues. Runs 24/7 (on home UPS so works even during power outages).

Sony CP-AD2 USB AC Adapter 2.1A with 1.5m Micro USB: Amazon.in: Electronics

The Pi 3 specs state 2.5A, but that would be for a fully loaded device i.e. using all the USB peripherals and even drawing power from the Pi.

I'd think the 2.1A will suffice for the Pi 3, provided any plugged in external HDD has its own power supply and you are not attaching any other devices like WiFi dongle (comes with onboard WiFi so I don't see that situation either).

However, that's an educated guess from me... and you are better off plugging in a good smartphone charger and testing it out. Borrow, don't buy. Not everyone is using a Nexus or the Samsung 7 series smartphones, so I'm sure you should have a mobile charger rated at 5V 2.1A lying around. Or else borrow from a neighbor/colleague and use it for a couple of days.

Power banks will also have the same specs, 5V 2.1A so you can borrow one of those and try it out too.

 

[terrible]

@terrible - I'm using this with the Pi 2 and have not had any issues. Runs 24/7 (on home UPS so works even during power outages).

Sony CP-AD2 USB AC Adapter 2.1A with 1.5m Micro USB: Amazon.in: Electronics

The Pi 3 specs state 2.5A, but that would be for a fully loaded device i.e. using all the USB peripherals and even drawing power from the Pi.

I'd think the 2.1A will suffice for the Pi 3, provided any plugged in external HDD has its own power supply and you are not attaching any other devices like WiFi dongle (comes with onboard WiFi so I don't see that situation either).

However, that's an educated guess from me... and you are better off plugging in a good smartphone charger and testing it out. Borrow, don't buy. Not everyone is using a Nexus or the Samsung 7 series smartphones, so I'm sure you should have a mobile charger rated at 5V 2.1A lying around. Or else borrow from a neighbor/colleague and use it for a couple of days.

Power banks will also have the same specs, 5V 2.1A so you can borrow one of those and try it out too.

Now that I have all my movie HDDs attached to the Pi 2, which runs on 2.1A successfully. The odd 5 HDDS are powered externally. However I tried using the same powersupply with Pi 3 but the rainbow keeps appearing. But as recommended, I'l try one of the chargers lying around. Thanks.

 

[amitk777]

HI ,

I just bought the Dig+ DAC. It ships from Switzerland. Does anybody know how much time it takes to reach India ?

Thanks,
Amit

 

[regeHA]

Wireless and HDMI has its limitations in pi. Both of them downsample the signal.

Trying to find these threads/posts.

Please share the links if possible.

 

[saikatbiswas82]

HI ,

I just bought the Dig+ DAC. It ships from Switzerland. Does anybody know how much time it takes to reach India ?

Thanks,
Amit

For me, it took 16 days.

 

[saikatbiswas82]

Trying to find these threads/posts.

Please share the links if possible.

I have yet Bubble. Haven't tried minim yet. Will let you know if I find any useful link.

 

[jsanand]

Has any one tried using a dual power USB A to micro USB cable to power their external hard disks (portable ones and not ones with external power supply)? I am using my Pi 2 as a OpenElec + Kodi based media player and unable to power my 2.5 inch 1 TB WD HDD. Was thinking of a powered USB hub but given that I need to connect only one HDD, decided to look for cheaper options.

 

[terrible]

Have finally found the power supply that works with Pi 3. Here's the link: T5875DV Raspberry Pi | 5.1 V dc, Micro USB, 2.5 A Official Raspberry Pi 3 White Power Supply | 909-8126 | Welcome to RS Online

 

[MaSh]

Has any one tried using a dual power USB A to micro USB cable to power their external hard disks (portable ones and not ones with external power supply)? I am using my Pi 2 as a OpenElec + Kodi based media player and unable to power my 2.5 inch 1 TB WD HDD. Was thinking of a powered USB hub but given that I need to connect only one HDD, decided to look for cheaper options.

Go for the hub. A crashed hard disk due to insufficient power will be a bigger loss, i feel.

Have finally found the power supply that works with Pi 3. Here's the link: T5875DV Raspberry Pi | 5.1 V dc, Micro USB, 2.5 A Official Raspberry Pi 3 White Power Supply | 909-8126 | Welcome to RS Online

I got an adapter and cable with my kit. Its been running well so far. However, planning to now switch over to a usb power source since my hard disk has it's own power source.

This brings me to a question. Are there any heating issues or any concerns if the Pi is running all day? I am planning to power it from my Airtel set top box's usb port. The set top box would be On all day, switched off at night. Anyone seeing any issues with this thought? Tv's usb is not an option.

MaSh

 

[regeHA]

This brings me to a question. Are there any heating issues or any concerns if the Pi is running all day? I am planning to power it from my Airtel set top box's usb port. The set top box would be On all day, switched off at night. Anyone seeing any issues with this thought? Tv's usb is not an option.

MaSh

No issues, mine is running 24/7 for the past 6 months.

Just make sure the STB is providing adequate power, though I'd simply plug in a mobile charger to the wall socket instead of relying on a USB port.

 

[terrible]

Go for the hub. A crashed hard disk due to insufficient power will be a bigger loss, i feel.



I got an adapter and cable with my kit. Its been running well so far. However, planning to now switch over to a usb power source since my hard disk has it's own power source.

This brings me to a question. Are there any heating issues or any concerns if the Pi is running all day? I am planning to power it from my Airtel set top box's usb port. The set top box would be On all day, switched off at night. Anyone seeing any issues with this thought? Tv's usb is not an option.

MaSh

I have a powered USB hub from Anker to which five 1 TB 2.5" HDDs are connected; to Pi 3. For music, which runs through the day, I have Pi 2, with a setting in Moode, ticked for a non powered external HDD, connected through USB port of the Pi.

Some peculiar issues are developing though, like certain albums that I can see in Moode library, I cannot discover through, any of the DLNA apps. Don't know if thats happening due to the power supply. Though the small rainbow box has disappeared from both the Pi (s).

 

[regeHA]

Some peculiar issues are developing though, like certain albums that I can see in Moode library, I cannot discover through, any of the DLNA apps. Don't know if thats happening due to the power supply. Though the small rainbow box has disappeared from both the Pi (s).

That's a problem with DLNA in Moode, MiniDLNA. It would always choke on indexing my over 40K library and never showed my entire library. That's one reason I gave up on Moode though I'm planning to try with 2.6 again.

If its purely DLNA and UPnP you want then go with MinimServer. Just follow the instructions on the website, very simple installation. You can in fact install on your existing Moode itself.

Not a single issue since I started using it, now it also runs on my NAS.

 

[jsanand]

Well the concept of a Y cable is to power the HDD and allow data through another USB end point so there is no reason for HDD crash (in fact that is internally what a USB hub will do!) I can try a DIY to for the Y cable but just lazying around that.

I have Pi 2, with a setting in Moode, ticked for a non powered external HDD, connected through USB port of the Pi.

Terrible - what HDD are you using with Moode?

 

[terrible]

If its purely DLNA and UPnP you want then go with MinimServer. Just follow the instructions on the website, very simple installation. You can in fact install on your existing Moode itself.

Not a single issue since I started using it, now it also runs on my NAS.

Now I don't know if your system is configured like mine but this is how it works for me. The Pi for music is on the network with Moode installed and an external HDD connected to the Pi. I access the music library on the USB through Cambridge Connect App. Now what you are suggesting is that I add minimserver alongside Moode on the SD card? How do I burn both of them together on the SD card? I have found how to install minim on Raspbian though.

Terrible - what HDD are you using with Moode?

WD Elements 1TB.

 

[regeHA]

Now I don't know if your system is configured like mine but this is how it works for me. The Pi for music is on the network with Moode installed and an external HDD connected to the Pi. I access the music library on the USB through Cambridge Connect App. Now what you are suggesting is that I add minimserver alongside Moode on the SD card? How do I burn both of them together on the SD card? I have found how to install minim on Raspbian though.

Moode runs on Raspbian, so you can install MinimServer the same way i.e. via command prompt using Putty.

If you are only using DLNA then MinimServer makes more sense, so you can do fresh install of Raspbian and go with MinimServer only. But even otherwise you can install on Moode OS too since that too runs on Raspbian.

Edit: My system was same before. Now I use NAS for storage and run MinimServer on both NAS and the Pi.

 

[regeHA]

Folks using a powered USB hub do note that back powering is a possibility with the Pi. The USB hub can send power to the Pi too. This works both ways, if the Pi power supply is weak the back power can help, but it can also cause the Pi to blow.

I'd use external HDDs with their own power supply, something from WD. NAS works too. Or better still HDD plugged into the router or on a network switch so the Pi accesses it via ethernet. I've not tried the last option, but I'll be giving it a try as I'm working on some power tweaks for the Pi, and isolating it from other power sources via ethernet and network switches.