Easy Raspberry Pi projects

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Anyone got recommendations for easy Raspberry Pi projects?
By easy I mean, no need to program or mod components.

A while ago I saw a pc with led lights behind the monitor that have a real time Ambilight affect. It didn't run on a Pi, it was using an equivalent. A project like that would be good.
 
I set up a kiosk monitor on archlinux for a device here at work.

Nothing special, In attach the built log :)

•put the sdcard into some card reader, make sure you use the correct device, everything will be wiped and overwritten:
# dd if=/mnt/temp/archlinux-hf-monberry30092013.img | pv | dd of=/dev/sdX
this is an altered image of the original Archlinux image with updated packages, different partition table and different file system.
You should continue with 'logon as root via ssh client and update packages'. The other steps are only needed if you start from scratch and do not use the prepared backup image.
•mount the first partition and change config.txt (this is to fully enable HD 1920x1080):
disable_overscan=1
change the resolution to your liking, possible HD:
#framebuffer_width=1920
#framebuffer_height=1080
#framebuffer_width=1600
#framebuffer_height=900
framebuffer_width=1366
framebuffer_height=768

•boot the monberry and login root/root:
# passwd
# useradd -m dematic
# passwd dematic
# systemctl enable sshd

•ALWAYS RUN SYNC BEFORE REBOOT:
# alias reboot='sync && reboot'
# alias halt='sync && shutdown -h now'
# echo 'monberry.emea.tld' > /etc/hostname
# sed -i 's/alarmpi/monberry/g' /etc/hosts
# reboot

•logon as root via ssh client and update packages:
# pacman Syu
if you get the error "HTTP server doesn't seem to support byte ranges", use a normal DSL line and not the company network.

•# reboot

•install X11:
# pacman -S xorg-xinit xorg-server xorg-server-utils xterm xf86-video-fbdev

•install WM:
# pacman -S openbox

•install browser:
# pacman -S midori

•set to autologin user dematic:
# mkdir /etc/systemd/system/[email protected]
# echo '[Service]
ExecStart=
ExecStart=-/usr/bin/agetty --autologin <username> --noclear %I 38400 linux' > /etc/systemd/system/[email protected]/autologin.conf

•set default runlevel 3:
# systemctl enable multi-user.target

•reboot and check if dematic is logged in
# reboot

•copy the monitor2.html into /home/dematic and logon via ssh client as root
# su - dematic
$ echo 'startx' >> .bash_profile
$ echo '#define none_width 1
#define none_height 1
#define none_x_hot 0
#define none_y_hot 0
static unsigned char none_bits[] = {
0x00
};' > none.xbm
$ echo '# DPMS stuff
## turn on monitor
xset dpms force on
## disable sleep modes etc.
xset -dpms
## disable screensaver
xset s off
# turn off beep
xset -b
# activate zapping (ctrl+alt+Bksp killall X)
setxkbmap -option terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp
# set to gb keyboard
setxkbmap gb
# start WM
exec openbox-session &
# hide cursor
sleep 3
xsetroot -cursor none.xbm none.xbm
# start browser
exec midori -e Fullscreen -a monitor2.html' > .xinitrc

•# reboot


You still need to enter username/password on first load :(

To have something to load, here the monitor2.html I made for it (it would swap between main page and forums every 200000ms):
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOINDEX, NOFOLLOW">

<style>
.restricted{width:1347px; height:723px; overflow-y: hidden;}
</style>

<TITLE>Monitor BNB</TITLE>
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="images/favicon.ico" type="image/ico">
<script>
var i = 0;
var sources = new Array();
sources[0] = "http://overclockers.co.uk";
sources[1] = "http://forums.overclockers.co.uk";

function loadSource()
{
top.frames["main"].location.href = sources;
if (sources[i+1])
i++
else {
i = 0
}
}
</script>
</HEAD>
<BODY scroll="no">
<iframe src="JavaScript:''" name="main" class="restricted" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="100%" width="100%" scroll="no"></iframe>
<script>
window.onload = loadSource();
var myVar=setInterval(function(){loadSource()},200000);
</script>
</BODY>
</HTML>
 
Last edited:
thanks. links duly bookmarked :-)
there's even an ambilight project - though its a work in progress.
 
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