OV9

I’ve ordered one of these....

UCreate Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ Desktop Starter Kit

I just want the internet in the garage and I’m an absolute Luddite when it comes to computers so think I should try and learn something. I expect either failing 8nstantly or something similar to the end scene in Superman 3

Has anyone done anything with this stuff ?

Dave!

My eldest does quite a bit with them, has since I bought him a Kano when he was 9-ish. He's a massive geek though.

Different to your application, but I've been using a Pi for a few years now as a receiver for my Squeezebox music player/server/thing.

Great little bits of kit

Yep I did similar and then Sonos and devices which make your tv smart came out and I could no longer be bothered

I've got one running as the media center. Probably should do something more with it, but it just works.

Mito Man wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 7:27 pm Yep I did similar and then Sonos and devices which make your tv smart came out and I could no longer be bothered

I was amazed at how simple it was to do actually.

Copy some files onto an SD card, boot up, then select the required sound card via a web UI.

But it's not a product like Sonos that you just plug and play.

Until Sonos lift their track limit though, it's not an option for me (currently 127k tracks in the library)

I think I’m going to go for an intel NUC for my next media centre as they can handle 4k. Thought about a Mac Mini but the Apple pricing on those is a joke - a £400 NUC will outperform them

Even the new Mac Mini won’t cope properly with 4K apparently. No graphics card.

Mito, how does the NUC deal with the 23.whateveritis framrate used for some films? Also, how does it deal with audio transport? I seem to remember a year or two back the only way to get proper support for the above was go the nVidia route. Has Intel sorted its shit out now?

Just yesterday I dug out one of my Pi Zeros to start this with my daughter
https://camjam.me/?page_id=623
https://github.com/CamJam-EduKit/EduKit ... 0Alarm.pdf

I previously had the temperature sensor working, sending data to an IoT cloud and showing a graph on a web page of my outside temperature.

I've also got
- one running Kodi as a media centre
- one with a USB drive attached as a NAS https://www.howtogeek.com/139433/how-to ... UlC1VwR0r4
- one running Home Assistant https://www.home-assistant.io, really just so I can dig around with Alexa Text To Speech https://github.com/walthowd/ha-alexa-tts (I have Alexa announcing when the sun has risen and set, just really to make sure it's all still running without having to actively monitor it)

My current idea with the sensor kit, for starters, is to get Alexa in her room to say hello whenever she goes in.

I bought one to run Kodi on but I've not got round to setting it up yet, maybe next week .

I work in IT and have done for 20-odd years, man and boy. I still can't think of anything useful or interesting to do with a Pi.

I just want a tiny computer and want it left in the garage. It only needs to work the internet. For anything else I want we will use the Alexa enabled sockets for the heater or battery chargers.

Dave!

NotoriousREV wrote: Wed Feb 13, 2019 9:50 am I work in IT and have done for 20-odd years, man and boy. I still can't think of anything useful or interesting to do with a Pi.

I built a proof of concept system a couple of years ago to track those courtesy carts that move old biddies around airports which involved a Pi on each one, which was interesting in itself but they don't like having the power shut off without a proper shutdown sequence, which makes them a pain in the arse for uncontrolled situations, i.e. going off and on with the ignition of some kind of vehicle.

tim wrote: Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:15 am

NotoriousREV wrote: Wed Feb 13, 2019 9:50 am I work in IT and have done for 20-odd years, man and boy. I still can't think of anything useful or interesting to do with a Pi.

I built a proof of concept system a couple of years ago to track those courtesy carts that move old biddies around airports which involved a Pi on each one, which was interesting in itself but they don't like having the power shut off without a proper shutdown sequence, which makes them a pain in the arse for uncontrolled situations, i.e. going off and on with the ignition of some kind of vehicle.

Did you ever figure out who was stealing the old people ?

Dave!

V8Granite wrote: Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:09 am I just want a tiny computer and want it left in the garage. It only needs to work the internet. For anything else I want we will use the Alexa enabled sockets for the heater or battery chargers.

Dave!

Put wifi in the garage, buy a cheap Chromebook, use it anywhere you want. Job jobbed.

NotoriousREV wrote: Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:18 am

V8Granite wrote: Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:09 am I just want a tiny computer and want it left in the garage. It only needs to work the internet. For anything else I want we will use the Alexa enabled sockets for the heater or battery chargers.

Dave!

Put wifi in the garage, buy a cheap Chromebook, use it anywhere you want. Job jobbed.

That’s exactly what I currently do but......

It takes up worktop space, it gets dirty, it’s nice to have the screen higher up.

I’ve gone a bit Adam Savage where he speaks about First Order Retrievability and it makes working on the cars an absolute joy now so I’m embracing it as much as I can. Which also means I spend hours mulling over how to arrange sockets and ratchets, which drawer to have what in and where best to put power outlets.

Also, I need to do more computer stuff as I think my 3 year old with his electric drum book knows more than me at the minute.

Dave!

V8Granite wrote: Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:24 am

NotoriousREV wrote: Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:18 am

V8Granite wrote: Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:09 am I just want a tiny computer and want it left in the garage. It only needs to work the internet. For anything else I want we will use the Alexa enabled sockets for the heater or battery chargers.

Dave!

Put wifi in the garage, buy a cheap Chromebook, use it anywhere you want. Job jobbed.

That’s exactly what I currently do but......

It takes up worktop space, it gets dirty, it’s nice to have the screen higher up.

you'll still have a keyboard and mouse on the worktop non?

Simon wrote: Wed Feb 13, 2019 9:14 am Mito, how does the NUC deal with the 23.whateveritis framrate used for some films? Also, how does it deal with audio transport? I seem to remember a year or two back the only way to get proper support for the above was go the nVidia route. Has Intel sorted its shit out now?

I think since about the last year you can connect a NUC to an amp and output Dolby Atmos with 4K. They have all the DRM certificates too if you use Windows so you can use them to play Prime and Nexflix in 4k. Not sure how it deals with 24fps but it seems fine from what I’ve seen on YouTube.

Also some older Macs do display 4k https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT206587 Shame my Mini is from 2012

Rich B wrote: Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:41 am

V8Granite wrote: Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:24 am

NotoriousREV wrote: Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:18 am

Put wifi in the garage, buy a cheap Chromebook, use it anywhere you want. Job jobbed.

That’s exactly what I currently do but......

It takes up worktop space, it gets dirty, it’s nice to have the screen higher up.

you'll still have a keyboard and mouse on the worktop non?

I will do but I’ll make a small holder to go under the cupboard, it’ll be a mouse only for 90% of the time.

I’ll take pics once it arrives as I have quite a small garage to work with considering what’s in there.

Dave!