RPi 3 As Media Center And Torrent Box

[MaSh]

Mine runs kodi all day and night. No issues playing any audio video format, streaming from internet or streaming to any device in the house. Just make sure you have a good router to manage the internal traffic. Pi slows down a bit if more than 3 movies are getting streamed

MaSh

Sent from my Lenovo A1000 using Tapatalk

 

[nipunkx]

Dude nipunkx, buy it peacefully, I power my 1tb hdd ntfs seagate, using pi's usb, just set max usb current parameter to 1, As simple as plug and play.

:signthankspin:Thank you very much Appys.

 

[nipunkx]

if you are skilled enough in linux install volumio and then kodiv16 on debian via wheezy's repo and then transmission(torrent client) on top of it for torrents running as root..tweak your samba and enjoy

Appys, I am not much into music listening. So will i need volumio in that case? Only movies hyeah: I need my RPi 3 to directly boot to Kodi and watch movies on my TV. So I guess like what you said 'distro like xbian, osmc or openelec and run transmission on top' will be my ideal way. Or does running kodiv16 on debian via wheezy's repo and then transmission(torrent client) on top of it for torrents running as root have any advantage? Please give your valuable inputs.

 

[nipunkx]

Mine runs kodi all day and night.

Thanks Mash. Are you using a RPi 3 or 2? Are you keeping the RPi board in closed case? Any heating up issue when used 24/7?

 

[MaSh]

Thanks Mash. Are you using a RPi 3 or 2? Are you keeping the RPi board in closed case? Any heating up issue when used 24/7?

I am using Pi3 in a Red White encosure available on Amazon. No heating issues what so ever. It is powered from the USB port of mt Airtel set top box which is Always ON.

Appys, I am not much into music listening. So will i need volumio in that case? Only movies hyeah: I need my RPi 3 to directly boot to Kodi and watch movies on my TV. So I guess like what you said 'distro like xbian, osmc or openelec and run transmission on top' will be my ideal way. Or does running kodiv16 on debian via wheezy's repo and then transmission(torrent client) on top of it for torrents running as root have any advantage? Please give your valuable inputs.

Kodi comes as an executable file (*.exe). Just execute the file in your computer with the Pi SD Card inserted. Run through the setup installing it on the SD Card. Once done, insert the card into the Pi, connect the hard disk and you are good to go. As simple as that.

MaSh

 

[EthenHunt]

I am using Pi3 in a Red White encosure available on Amazon. No heating issues what so ever. It is powered from the USB port of mt Airtel set top box which is Always ON.



Kodi comes as an executable file (*.exe). Just execute the file in your computer with the Pi SD Card inserted. Run through the setup installing it on the SD Card. Once done, insert the card into the Pi, connect the hard disk and you are good to go. As simple as that.

MaSh

I don't think this is gonna work. If you install executable installer to a SD card and then use the SD card in PI3 it is not going to boot from the SD card. You have to install OSMC/Open Elec or other Linux distros to boot from SD card.

 

[MaSh]

I don't think this is gonna work. If you install executable installer to a SD card and then use the SD card in PI3 it is not going to boot from the SD card. You have to install OSMC/Open Elec or other Linux distros to boot from SD card.

The exe is executed and on the computer which deploys the bootable image on the SD card.

MaSh

Sent from my Lenovo A1000 using Tapatalk

 

[regeHA]

I don't think this is gonna work. If you install executable installer to a SD card and then use the SD card in PI3 it is not going to boot from the SD card. You have to install OSMC/Open Elec or other Linux distros to boot from SD card.

Its an executable that will write the OS image on an SD card. Lots of Linux distros and file recovery systems have such executables. They will create an OS image on a pen drive or card... just have to be careful giving the correct drive or you can tank your OS or other drives on the system.

 

[Appys]

Appys, I am not much into music listening. So will i need volumio in that case? Only movies hyeah: I need my RPi 3 to directly boot to Kodi and watch movies on my TV. So I guess like what you said 'distro like xbian, osmc or openelec and run transmission on top' will be my ideal way. Or does running kodiv16 on debian via wheezy's repo and then transmission(torrent client) on top of it for torrents running as root have any advantage? Please give your valuable inputs.

If you just want to use it for torrenting and videos, simplest way to go is install xbian, this will give you kodi directly booting up on your system, post this just install transmission daemon over it and tweak the fstab file for mounting hdd and make it the default download location, tested working even on 8gb card..
Why xbian? On my pi2 I found it better than osmc or openelec and it is based on debian so installing and maintaining transmission was a breeze.It hung much less often compared to osmc or openelec and was simple and to the point for me. Just tweak your advanced settings.xml for best kodi playback and carry on.. No headache setup.. Avoid raspbian and then kodi or any such daemon installation etc on top as it does need some extra command line play. Dont need volumio if you dont need decent music playback.
Last but not the least, if you mount your hdd on the pi's usb get the best power supply available with a decent and recommended amp setting for pi3.

 

[sam9s]

Sam, does that mean if I am planning to download full hd files (say for example more than 20GB), i needs to have RPi's default SD card size to be 32GB? Wont a 8GB of 16GB sd card work in this case?
Also, will the write speed of the SD card affect the downloading performance?

either this or set the default download location to HDD. This will create temp download location to HDD as well, so 16GB card will work. You might need to manually set the temp download location if you face any issue, and no write speed of card will not affect the download speed.

 

[sam9s]

If you just want to use it for torrenting and videos, simplest way to go is install xbian, this will give you kodi directly booting up on your system, post this just install transmission daemon over it and tweak the fstab file for mounting hdd and make it the default download location, tested working even on 8gb card..
Why xbian? On my pi2 I found it better than osmc or openelec and it is based on debian so installing and maintaining transmission was a breeze.It hung much less often compared to osmc or openelec and was simple and to the point for me. Just tweak your advanced settings.xml for best kodi playback and carry on.. No headache setup.. Avoid raspbian and then kodi or any such daemon installation etc on top as it does need some extra command line play. Dont need volumio if you dont need decent music playback.
Last but not the least, if you mount your hdd on the pi's usb get the best power supply available with a decent and recommended amp setting for pi3.

No confronting anything, but for me OpenELEC gave me the best experience on Rpi, and this is coming form a person who has tried all, and when I say all, I mean ALL ... , BUT YMMV so try and then decide.

 

[nipunkx]

Kodi comes as an executable file (*.exe). Just execute the file in your computer with the Pi SD Card inserted. Run through the setup installing it on the SD Card. Once done, insert the card into the Pi, connect the hard disk and you are good to go. As simple as that.
MaSh

Thanks Mash.
Can you please give me link or webpage where i can get to download the kodi exe file that you have mentioned?

 

[sam9s]

https://kodi.tv/download/

 

[EthenHunt]

Its an executable that will write the OS image on an SD card. Lots of Linux distros and file recovery systems have such executables. They will create an OS image on a pen drive or card... just have to be careful giving the correct drive or you can tank your OS or other drives on the system.

Ohh..Thanks Got it now. I was thinking about the exe installer for Windows.

 

[nipunkx]

Guys,

Is there any tweaks/tricks in RPi to get optimum download speed when using RPi as a torrent box?

 

[regeHA]

Guys,

Is there any tweaks/tricks in RPi to get optimum download speed when using RPi as a torrent box?

You'll get your ISP speeds up to max of 60-65 mbps. Local traffic too will max at that as that's the max speed of the Pi.

No specific settings, I've tested with Deluge and it works with default settings. I was getting around 60 mbps, and I even d/l a 15 GB file without any issues.

I've a 100 mbps line, so I get that on the PC, but not on the Pi.

 

[nipunkx]

I've a 100 mbps line, so I get that on the PC, but not on the Pi.

Thanks regeHA for your reply.
Can you please clarify why RPi cant download at the speed with which your PC downloads?
I am having a 8mbps connection, I am getting 8mbps speed in PC and on android devices. Do you think if i use RPi there will be some deduction from 8mbps?

 

[regeHA]

Thanks regeHA for your reply.
Can you please clarify why RPi cant download at the speed with which your PC downloads?
I am having a 8mbps connection, I am getting 8mbps speed in PC and on android devices. Do you think if i use RPi there will be some deduction from 8mbps?

That's because the Pi ethernet is limited to 10/100, my PC has gigabit 10/100/1000.

No, till 60-65 mbps the Pi will handle, but not beyond. Most folks internet will not be that fast anyways, but local network traffic will be limited. That's one reason the Pi is not a good solution for a NAS, I used it initially, but upgraded to a proper NAS for better transfers and backup speeds.

 

[nipunkx]

Thanks a lot :signthankspin:

 

[MaSh]

Thanks Mash.
Can you please give me link or webpage where i can get to download the kodi exe file that you have mentioned?

I downloaded the OSMC version of it from https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/

MaSh