How many Raspberry Pis do you have and what are they used for?

The pi hosts the VPN server and I use the WireGuard app on iOS to connect to the internal network, whenever I need to check on something.

e.g log in remotely to update the NAS or transfer a file in to a public folder, so I can grab it in work.
 
@EVH

I have a similar set of applications to you but I run them all off a single pi 8GB and it's still underutilised lol.
Have you managed to configure HOOBS to let you use home kit to control Google Home devices over the bridge or is that not possible? I tried playing around with it but from what I can see the gsh plugin only lets you control home kit devices via Google Home and not vice versa.
 
1 x Pi4 2GB = Raspbian RAID 5 NAS & Shinobi CCTV
1 x Pi3B = moode audio player with NAS as source, HiFiBerry DAC
1 x Pi4 4GB = Umbrel BTC node
1 x Pi Zero = Temperature monitor for fridge, freezer and combi boiler (central heating output and return temps)
 
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Holy thread revival Batman!

Curious to see what operating systems people are running on their Pis, in addition to finding out what people are using them for. This subforum seems a bit quiet so hoped to revive this thread as I enjoyed reading it so far.

I''ve currently got the following:

  • Pi 4B 2GB - currently running Raspberry Pi Desktop OS. This also acts as one of the home Pi Hole instances (the other runs in Docker on Unraid) and gets used also for downloading files from the interwebs if I don't want to have my main PC switched on.
  • Pi 4B 4GB - currently running LibreElec as this Pi has a TV HAT installed. Kodi running on this Pi also runs TV Head End server as a Kodi plugin.
  • Pi 4B 8GB - at the moment I am trying various OS' to see what I like on this, I intend this to be my main Pi going forward. I tried Ubuntu 21.04 and found Gnome just too heavy for the Pi - not really convinced Gnome is the best desktop environment for a Pi. I also installed Ubuntu Server 20.04.2 LTS to this Pi, then ran desktopify to turn it into a Lubuntu desktop. That was OK, but something about the desktop environment that wasn't right, can't put my finger on it. Am currently flashing a memory card to try Twister OS 2.0.3 but if I don't get on with that I can see me going back to Raspberry Pi OS.
  • Pi 3B+ - this is installed inside a SNES style case, I have previously tried SNESES on it which worked OK and I also popped Batocera on there for a bit, but going forward I'll boot from a spare SSD via USB on my 8GB Pi 4B if I want a retro fix. That will probably leave this unused, so I might pop Volumio on it.
 
My Pi estate is currently:

  • Pi 3 Model B+ : Primary Pi-Hole instance
  • Pi 4B 4Gb with PoE HAT - Flight Radar 24 flight tracker thingy
  • Pi Zero W - 'USB' music storage in the car that wirelessly syncs new music from my NAS
 
Quite a few!

2 X Pi 3B at home, 1 for PiHole and 1 for testing stuff

7 X Pi 3B at work for digital signage (Screenly) and another for CCTV streaming display.

2 X Pi 4 4GB currently testing session boarder controller and a personal project

A drawer full of 2 and older 3 models sat unused!

Worked with the Raspberry Pi foundation to give away 255 (and counting) Pi 400 + monitors to disadvantaged kids, have 2 come back broken, will probably end up fixing and keeping one
 
Just the one (working hard), a 3B+ (IIRC) running:

- PiHole (what a surprise)
- Unbound (recursive DNS resolution and cache working with PiHole)
- UniFi Controller
- Homebridge w/FFMPEG Plugin (this allows me to bring my various CCTV cameras into Apple HomeKit on my phone/tablet/MacBook for convenience)

One time I had a power outage, it fried the SD Card (not corrupted, totally dead) but other than that it's been very reliable, especially since I bought the official power adapter.

I am interested to get another Pi working as a retro game emulator, as I recently got a CRT monitor and TV to play with a bit and I think that could be a fun project. Don't think I saw anyone here mention that, at least not recently. Haven't researched the best way to connect things up yet. The TV would obviously be analogue 15kHz so would need some active converter for RGB or CVBS unless the Pi can output that (older ones can maybe?). The monitor is just VGA so probably another converter but not sure if that needs to be active or if the Pi can output analogue signals this way.
 
alex24 said:
Just the one (working hard), a 3B+ (IIRC) running:

- PiHole (what a surprise)
- Unbound (recursive DNS resolution and cache working with PiHole)
- UniFi Controller
- Homebridge w/FFMPEG Plugin (this allows me to bring my various CCTV cameras into Apple HomeKit on my phone/tablet/MacBook for convenience)

One time I had a power outage, it fried the SD Card (not corrupted, totally dead) but other than that it's been very reliable, especially since I bought the official power adapter.

I am interested to get another Pi working as a retro game emulator, as I recently got a CRT monitor and TV to play with a bit and I think that could be a fun project. Don't think I saw anyone here mention that, at least not recently. Haven't researched the best way to connect things up yet. The TV would obviously be analogue 15kHz so would need some active converter for RGB or CVBS unless the Pi can output that (older ones can maybe?). The monitor is just VGA so probably another converter but not sure if that needs to be active or if the Pi can output analogue signals this way.
Click to expand...

There will probably be a scart hat kicking about, or potentially a hdmi > scart option, but I think that'll probably be more expensive.
 
Thanks. Those would work with the monitor. I do wonder if they bring any latency. I have a DisplayPort to VGA from my PC and it doesn't appear to as I think it's just a DAC (not scaler).

As for the TV, doing some reading it looks like even the 4b can output composite via the 3.5mm connection, but I can imagine a rabbit hole of configuration and messing around to get proper 240p on the TV (which is obviously what you'd want if going that route).
 
d_brennen said:
but if you're old enough to remember games like that first time round, you won't be hindered by <5ms :cry:
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Savage :D:D:D

I tried Twister OS, but didn't keep it as one of the themes I wanted to use (Nighthawk) seems to be removed in Twister OS 2.1.0. I have put an instance of Raspberry Pi OS on the MicroSD card and used a spare SSD which Ubuntu 21.04 is currently installing to. Doesn't seem as painful running Gnome off the SSD, whereas I think XFCE/Debian is ideal for installing from a MicroSD (IMHO).
 
I've got 2x pi 4b 8gb and 1x 4gb
the 4gb is in my PiBoyDMG running retroPie
one of the 8gb models is replacing my macmini (running windows10) as a file/plex server using OMV5 on twister OS
and the other one is set up for lineage OS and RetroPie
 
I'm setting a PI3 up now as a VirtualUSB host. This will save me a lot of hassle of having to get to my server which is in a really awkward place in my house.
 
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