raspberry pi 2 as media player

[regeHA]

I know regeHA loves minimserver , but I have tried and it does not offer anything that moode cannt, moode can as well do everything that minimum server can, plus moode is a UPnP renderer AND a DLNA server both. Minium server is just a DLNA server ( a good one no doubt, but not better than Moode in any way, and Moode can act as a renderer as well.)

Infact if you ask me I enjoyed asset upnp (another UPnP server) more than minimum server. If I have to move away from Moode in any manner I would strongly suggest Subsonic ultimate player and DLNA/UPnP server as well. (runs on Rpi as well) Another one Serviio is also quite good

AND you can also add radio streams to Moode as well.

@hydra .. ans to your questions ...



Will it be possible for me to install minimserver on the same RPi as Moode? I'm guessing that I can.

You dont need minimserver if you are running Moode. Moode acts as a great DLNA server.

- If I do that, I'm guessing miniserver would index the files and then feed the data structure to Moode? Is that how it works?

See above, when Moode is in action as the DLNA server it already has indexed the files.

- And for that I would need minimwatch on another machine (like my Windows Laptop) to control Minimserver, right?

Yes correct, but I take this as a disadvantage.

My problem with Moode is it locked down the network access to the HDD plugged into the Pi. I shared the HDD that's plugged into the Pi as a network device and while I use it only for audio playback, I do however still buy CDs and rip them and then copy to the external HDD. That was not easily possible with Moode... everytime I need to shutdown Pi, uplug HDD and then copy new albums and songs after connecting to PC... hence I gave up on it and MinimServer works excellent for me and my needs.

 

[regeHA]

Thanks, regeHA!

I will add this to the list too. I'd read up in detail about minimserver after I read your posts here, and it looks very promising indeed. In fact, If this network streaming thing works for me, I was thinking of cutting out the laptop from the last stage, and getting another RPi, attach a HDD to it, install minimserver on it, with this one being the server, and the Rpi and HifiBerry Digi+ being the renderer.

The install process onto the Rpi seems a bit uh, involved for a guy like me who knows nothing about Linux and commands, though. An alternate option would be to install minimserver on the windows laptop itself and use it the same way (at least to try things out before I invest in another Rpi).

Some basic questions (not fully related to the above) from a linux noob:

- Will it be possible for me to install minimserver on the same RPi as Moode? I'm guessing that I can.

- If I do that, I'm guessing miniserver would index the files and then feed the data structure to Moode? Is that how it works?

- And for that I would need minimwatch on another machine (like my Windows Laptop) to control Minimserver, right?

Installation via SSH (using Putty) is very easy. Even I'm a Linux noob... but took me all of 5 mins with Google. Just follow any guide and you are good to go... never had any tutorial fail on me. Right now I'm running Raspbian and on it MinimServer, Deluge, Samba Server, and Webmin. Pretty much takes care of all my networking and file sharing needs.

The best part is once you have things setup exactly as you like you can always make a backup image or the card and deploy it on another card... so no need to bother with installing again. Reminds me of Norton Ghost that I used back in the day as a kid.

Your idea to plug the HDD into the router and use ethernet to access via Pi sounds good. I had a play with it, but sonically I never heard any benefits. I'm guessing because I was anyways achieving galvanic isolation and electric treament via wireless streaming. But any smart router that also acts as a media server or DLNA/UPnP server will also work. I personally however isolate the Pi, PC, NAS, etc. with a separate network switch. The general thinking is most of the media is local streaming and does not need internet access or the router should not be bothered with network switch duties. Also, it helps with electrical and network isolation. Anyways just a thought since you are planning with the router... the addition of a network switch will help and also free up the router.

A few Pi specific s/w you can install on your PC or laptop that will help a lot...
Putty
WinSCP
Win32 Disk Imager or Etcher (new tool I've not tried yet).
SD Formatter
MinimServer - MinimWatch

They will help you install OS on the card and install programs on the Pi and also access contents from the Pi on the network. The last is obiviously the media player s/w of choice for me... MinimWatch is a s/w you can install on your PC and then change/configure MinimServer from your PC. Most s/w work this way since the Pi itself is headless and needs to be accessed on the network from another station.

However, I'm not too sure how MinimServer and Moode play together... never tried it. Both are individual s/w for media playback... Moode primarily via USB and MinimServer via wireless.

Also the main limitation I ran into with Moode...

My problem with Moode is it locked down the network access to the HDD plugged into the Pi. I shared the HDD that's plugged into the Pi as a network device and while I use it only for audio playback, I do however still buy CDs and rip them and then copy to the external HDD. That was not easily possible with Moode... everytime I need to shutdown Pi, uplug HDD and then copy new albums and songs after connecting to PC... hence I gave up on it and MinimServer works excellent for me and my needs.

 

[hydra]

Thank you for your comments, sam9s and regeHA!

I'm a total newbie to streaming audio, so I'm just picking up what goes where and what the terms mean. This discussion has cleared up some of my confusion about the dlna tabs in moOde.

I got the hard drive hooked up to the Router working just now. It was just a matter of entering the IP address of the router and the volume name that the router had assigned to the share (viewable in the router settings page). And of course the user name and password assigned to the share.

MoOde indexed 600GB of data pretty fast (just 8 minutes). The Pi is hooked up via ethernet to the router.

This is pretty convenient, as I don't need to turn anything else on the source end. I'm keeping things simple for now, and sticking to this setup for a bit.

The only bummer here (unrelated to the Pi) is that I wanted to hook up a 3TB powered hard disk, but my router will only work with hard disks under 2TB. Not so much of a big deal, really.

I agree with the isolation aspect, regeHA! The router is being used only for music and control. My Internet comes directly from the WiFi modem.

After a lot of reading on the DIY audio moOde forum, I got a few excellent easy to follow instructions (from various posts there) that I can use for SSH via PuTTy if things come to that. I'll get my hands dirty with the command line if the need to tweak hits [emoji14] All this seems to be getting lesser and lesser scary now.

 

[hydra]

My problem with Moode is it locked down the network access to the HDD plugged into the Pi. I shared the HDD that's plugged into the Pi as a network device and while I use it only for audio playback, I do however still buy CDs and rip them and then copy to the external HDD. That was not easily possible with Moode... everytime I need to shutdown Pi, uplug HDD and then copy new albums and songs after connecting to PC... hence I gave up on it and MinimServer works excellent for me and my needs.

I'm able to access (via ESExplorer on my Android phone) both the USB drive connected to the RPi, as well as the files on the HDD shared to the Pi via the router.

When I select "Network > LAN" via ESExplorer, Moode shows up as one of the computers on the network. Under Moode, the SDCard, the USB drive, and the NAS show up as folders. Tapping on each give me access to the files in each.

(By "NAS" above, I mean the hard drive shared via the router. Also, Moode displays it as "NAS" on the network).

I haven't tried copying anything into or from these folders just yet. I'm on Moode 2.6 Final build.

 

[Kushanava]

Great learning for me as well, as I wait for my Pi and hifiberry to arrive.
@Hydra . Are you powering the hifiberry externally ? The hardware mods seems to do a lot of benefit. You can check out these videos on Youtube. Since you already have a LPS this could be a good option.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L83EEDbAMJI

 

[regeHA]

I'm able to access (via ESExplorer on my Android phone) both the USB drive connected to the RPi, as well as the files on the HDD shared to the Pi via the router.

When I select "Network > LAN" via ESExplorer, Moode shows up as one of the computers on the network. Under Moode, the SDCard, the USB drive, and the NAS show up as folders. Tapping on each give me access to the files in each.

(By "NAS" above, I mean the hard drive shared via the router. Also, Moode displays it as "NAS" on the network).

I haven't tried copying anything into or from these folders just yet. I'm on Moode 2.6 Final build.

That works fine for me too... and Moode also runs MiniDLNA so streaming works too. But network access and ability to copy, rename, move files, etc. was not possible... not via WinSCP and not via network location setup in Windows Explorer.

I'm sure its easily fixed with changing permissions and its more my fault than Moode's... but I'm a Linux noob so that's beyond my ability right now.

I simply need something that will play and also give access via WinSCP and also create a NAS via Samba... all to copy content from my PC, Synology NAS, external HDD plugged into PC and/or router, etc. Its not just copying and updating my music collection content... I also like to run automated backups to the Synology and also another copy to an external HDD and then online backup to Amazon Cloud. Considering so much copying and syncing back and forth and all of it works without any issue on the Synology, Moode being the only limitation had to go. MinimServer OTOH had no issues and works the same for my requirement of wireless streaming... that's not to say MinimServer is not special... it is. But its real strength lies in its simplicity and plug and play easiness.

 

[sam9s]

My problem with Moode is it locked down the network access to the HDD plugged into the Pi. I shared the HDD that's plugged into the Pi as a network device and while I use it only for audio playback, I do however still buy CDs and rip them and then copy to the external HDD. That was not easily possible with Moode... everytime I need to shutdown Pi, uplug HDD and then copy new albums and songs after connecting to PC... hence I gave up on it and MinimServer works excellent for me and my needs.

Nope something is not right you should be able to access Moode and the HDD connected to it via normal SMB protocol, as confirmed by Hydra as well, not sure where the problem could be, as I am not aware about your network architecture, but moods not at fault here... keep digging you should be able to figure out ...

 

[sam9s]

That works fine for me too... and Moode also runs MiniDLNA so streaming works too. But network access and ability to copy, rename, move files, etc. was not possible... not via WinSCP and not via network location setup in Windows Explorer.

I'm sure its easily fixed with changing permissions and its more my fault than Moode's... but I'm a Linux noob so that's beyond my ability right now.

I simply need something that will play and also give access via WinSCP and also create a NAS via Samba... all to copy content from my PC, Synology NAS, external HDD plugged into PC and/or router, etc. Its not just copying and updating my music collection content... I also like to run automated backups to the Synology and also another copy to an external HDD and then online backup to Amazon Cloud. Considering so much copying and syncing back and forth and all of it works without any issue on the Synology, Moode being the only limitation had to go. MinimServer OTOH had no issues and works the same for my requirement of wireless streaming... that's not to say MinimServer is not special... it is. But its real strength lies in its simplicity and plug and play easiness.

Another thing I am so so surprised is that you having synology have to rely on so many Third party tools like mimimserver, windcp etc etc to do all sorts of tasks. Synology DSM allows you to do EVERYTHING, exceptionaly good. The synology DLNA server is the BEST out there, you dont need any thing if you have that. Why would you even need minium, beats me seriously. Second the synology filestation lets you copy any file/ditectory from any location local or cloud to any location on your local or cloud drive, with automated syncs and jobs and everything ......ITS A COMPREHENSIVE solution, and you are stuck with these winscps and what not. Seriously bro, you are way too under utilizing your hardware.

Third you dont even need moode, Synology USB works as USB Audio out,out of the box, all you need is to connect the USB DAC and thats it. Quality is amazing.

Now you would ask .. then why do I use Moode, .... the ONLY thing that synology dsm does not do it to act as a UPnP renderer. I cannot push songs from my laptop/mobile/spotify/gana/savaan etc to synology USB audio out, and that is actually my main way to play/enjoy music. Hence Moode. My Moode just acts as an UPnP renderer and nothing else. I have not connected any HDD or anything. All my music is on synology and I use various ways to access that music from any device I have in my house and push that music to Moode via UPnP all that wirelessly, and I love moode for that. For the Rest Synology is the KING of hardware .....

 

[hydra]

Great learning for me as well, as I wait for my Pi and hifiberry to arrive.
@Hydra . Are you powering the hifiberry externally ? The hardware mods seems to do a lot of benefit. You can check out these videos on Youtube. Since you already have a LPS this could be a good option.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L83EEDbAMJI

Kushanava, the Hifiberry I'm using is a loaner. It has been H/W modded to take power directly. I can't use the LPS with it just yet, as the sockets (o/p from LPS and I/p for the modded Hifiberry) don't match. I've ordered a converter, but that will take a while to get here.

I haven't tried a battery bank to power it yet (which I can do right away). I'll do that over the weekend.

 

[rikhav]

Kushanava, the Hifiberry I'm using is a loaner. It has been H/W modded to take power directly. I can't use the LPS with it just yet, as the sockets (o/p from LPS and I/p for the modded Hifiberry) don't match. I've ordered a converter, but that will take a while to get here.

I haven't tried a battery bank to power it yet (which I can do right away). I'll do that over the weekend.

Battery banks I am told regulate a 3.7 volt to make it 5 volts, thus adding lots of noise
I would suggest don't waste time with one since you already have a LPS
I tried a teradak LPS once with raspberry pi and was impressed with the results

Hunt for a cable ASAP to power RPI by your HDPLEX
)

About modding the RPI , with hifiberry digi plus mod, the hifiberry card powers the raspberry board via the GPIO pins

There is one more mod where you bend some pins of GPIO and then raspberry pi you power both the raspberry pi and hifiberry board separately
Not sure how much improvement it will bring if any but idea is the board and raspberry pi get powered separately
But you need to be more adventurous as this mod involves bending of GPIO pins, and many a times those pins would never straighten again

 

[regeHA]

Another thing I am so so surprised is that you having synology have to rely on so many Third party tools like mimimserver, windcp etc etc to do all sorts of tasks. Synology DSM allows you to do EVERYTHING, exceptionaly good. The synology DLNA server is the BEST out there, you dont need any thing if you have that. Why would you even need minium, beats me seriously. Second the synology filestation lets you copy any file/ditectory from any location local or cloud to any location on your local or cloud drive, with automated syncs and jobs and everything ......ITS A COMPREHENSIVE solution, and you are stuck with these winscps and what not. Seriously bro, you are way too under utilizing your hardware.

Third you dont even need moode, Synology USB works as USB Audio out,out of the box, all you need is to connect the USB DAC and thats it. Quality is amazing.

Now you would ask .. then why do I use Moode, .... the ONLY thing that synology dsm does not do it to act as a UPnP renderer. I cannot push songs from my laptop/mobile/spotify/gana/savaan etc to synology USB audio out, and that is actually my main way to play/enjoy music. Hence Moode. My Moode just acts as an UPnP renderer and nothing else. I have not connected any HDD or anything. All my music is on synology and I use various ways to access that music from any device I have in my house and push that music to Moode via UPnP all that wirelessly, and I love moode for that. For the Rest Synology is the KING of hardware .....

Hey Sam,

I do use the Synolog the most... in fact for everything from MinimServer to Plex Media Server for all my audio and video needs both at home and out of home. I however don't use RAID as I'd rather not rely on a single point of failure device so I do backups to external HDDs and Amazon Cloud.

The Pi though is lots of fun. Hard to describe... but its a fun device and its as easy as flashing the SD hard to set things back if something goes wrong. Like I said hard to describe... but its something I like play with on the weekends to build something and learn something. I'm in my 30s, but playing with the Pi takes me back to time I was a teenager and assembling PCs and playing with Norton Ghost. Now that fun is gone with PCs... but I've sort of rediscovered it with the Pi.

I've done various weekend projects with the Pi like MinimServer, Deluge, Samba Server, Webmin and Ramlog apart from Kodi and its variants.

Now I'm planning on doing a Bramble Pi Cluster with 4 Pis. Probably a NAS project and/or a combo of a media server/router... still undecided and reading up on it.

Like you said Synology is the king and I use it the most... but the fun that the Pi gives me... maybe the kid in me doesn't want that to end... so the endless building, tweaking, and fun projects with the Pi continue.

 

[sam9s]

^^ well if for fun projects , then its ok ,,, I was talking about the permanent solution one adopts for the needs of home networking. In that sense I have 3 Pis with me .. . One runs moode, which is permanent and rest two I keep for all sorts of projects, I also keep doing truck loads of projects every now and then .....,infact there were 3 I shared on hifi as well, those I thought were worth sharing. ........ one was called powered by LMS and Squeezelite and 2nd one Personal Cloud powered by Tonido and unfortunately my fav one, I believe has been deleted by mods, for god knows what reasons, I have spent the last 30 minutes searching for it, before writing this post..... but couldnt find it. Will mail to MODs to see what happened. It was called something like Raspbery Pi BBQ project. It had nothing to do with BBQ(barbacue), but it was my most comprehensive extensive project that I shared and I thought even for me it was good to be documented and I am so so mad and surprised that I couldnot findit on hifi anymore .....All my otherprojects are there, like with UNRAID NAS, my radio station, my website etc etc, I find no reason why this one would be deleated ...

 

[regeHA]

Solar Powered Raspberry Pi...

Runs off a battery, so should make for cleaner powered Pi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze5mqZyondQ

Solar Powered Raspberry Pi - All

 

[sam9s]

yep, good project, but I feel getting a battery bank 13K mAH does a better job, since it can run Rpi much longer then 5 hours. (Tried and tested). Plus the cost is marginally more than getting a 12V 1.3 ampHour battery, but as a weekend project this is a good excersise ....

 

[srikar2011]

Hi friends,

I like the kodi interface wherein you could able to see the movie details like imdb rating, movie posters,genre while scrolling. I could not add video add-ins like Genesis/Exodus by watching some youtube vides well explained mainly for HTPC users, but still I could not achieve it properly.

So please let me know the steps in detail on how to add addins/Genesis or any other add-in which make my movie interface look great in kodi/OSMC.

Regards
Srikar

 

[Appys]

@srikar since you are quick at experimenting and picking up,for basic things like this refer to online guides. I would refer seo-michael.co.uk for kodi plugins as it is the most updated site for kodi imho.
As for interface try changing the view in the menu while scrolling,e.g media info vs list vs thumbnail and chose what you like best.

 

[srikar2011]

@srikar since you are quick at experimenting and picking up,for basic things like this refer to online guides. I would refer seo-michael.co.uk for kodi plugins as it is the most updated site for kodi imho.
As for interface try changing the view in the menu while scrolling,e.g media info vs list vs thumbnail and chose what you like best.

Thanks for providing the site, will start exploring..

I am not able to view 3D ISO or 3D Br rips, I mean they are playing in 2D. Is there any setting which I need to enable in KODI to view in 3D?

 

[regeHA]

Thanks for providing the site, will start exploring..

I am not able to view 3D ISO or 3D Br rips, I mean they are playing in 2D. Is there any setting which I need to enable in KODI to view in 3D?

The Pi? I don't think it has the h/w to do 3D.

I might be wrong though... I don't use my Pis for video... strictly audio.

 

[sam9s]

Thanks for providing the site, will start exploring..

I am not able to view 3D ISO or 3D Br rips, I mean they are playing in 2D. Is there any setting which I need to enable in KODI to view in 3D?

Kodi can only do SBS and TB 3D format at the moment, 3DBD ISO is still an expected feature in future versions. There are test builds and Forks that support it, but its not in the mainstream product as of now.

Rasp Pi 3 can play SBS and TB 3D formats just fine. Its frame-packing format (3D ISO)that might not be playable on Rasp Pi 3.

If you want to use kodi for 3D BD ISO you have to convert the ISO to SBS/TB and then kodi will be able to play back it. (Assuming your TV supports SBS/TB, most 3D TVs does BTW)

 

[sam9s]

Hi friends,

I could not add video add-ins like Genesis/Exodus by watching some youtube vides well explained mainly for HTPC users, but still I could not achieve it properly.

There is this person who has a channel on you tube called SOLO MAN who does all sorts of videos pertaining to only Kodi addon and how to configure them. Try that and see if that helps.