Raspberry Pi - $35 Linux computer

  • Thread starter Thread starter daz
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Got mine today, all setup etc, just have a few questions if someone can help?

Is there a way to keep it in a low-powered state or something where I can keep it on all the time? or is it better to have it off when not used?

I have Raspbmc installed at the minute, and powering off from XBMC it says 'System halted' I take it that means its safe to turn off at the mains / charger?

Thanks
 
Got mine today, all setup etc, just have a few questions if someone can help?

Is there a way to keep it in a low-powered state or something where I can keep it on all the time? or is it better to have it off when not used?

I have Raspbmc installed at the minute, and powering off from XBMC it says 'System halted' I take it that means its safe to turn off at the mains / charger?

Thanks

Your worried about a piece of hardware that is consuming around 4watt?
 
Yea, I bought it to just watch films and on demand stuff really through XBMC.

Used to use my Xbox for it but it requires live membership which I ain't shelling out for.
 
Finally got a chance to have another play with mine today, having been unable to do anything because of my keyboard drawing too much power.
I used a cunning tactic called... turning the led backlighting off. Works perfectly now!

Need to get a xbmc build on it now, didn't search much earlier so didn't find a build I could just image onto the memory card. Will be less lazy next time!
 
How hot does the raspberry pi get when running raspbmc and actually doing something (like watching a movie)? I was thinking about a case to protect it from dust and getting knocked about and I realised that the little box that it came in could make a perfect cheap little box with a few holes cut for the ports. Or would that be too small due to being enclosed and cause overheating?
 
How hot does the raspberry pi get when running raspbmc and actually doing something (like watching a movie)? I was thinking about a case to protect it from dust and getting knocked about and I realised that the little box that it came in could make a perfect cheap little box with a few holes cut for the ports. Or would that be too small due to being enclosed and cause overheating?

I made a case by taking a bit of plasic from a dvd case and cutting it so i could fold it around, two folds, two holes for the audio and tv out, a bit of tape and maybe bluetac to keep it all in and job done, the hard plastic and open sides actually works quite well i think and not a lot of work. :)
 
Just set mine up on the network to see if I could speed up the movement of getting films etc on the device, 700mb file has taken around 45 minutes so far :o
 
Just hit bit of a a snag. the only SD card reader I have is built into my R61 thinkpad running Ubuntu, this is my first time using the card reader and it seems as if ubuntu isn't detecting it :( so I may end up having to buy a external card reader before I can get any further.
 
Just hit bit of a a snag. the only SD card reader I have is built into my R61 thinkpad running Ubuntu, this is my first time using the card reader and it seems as if ubuntu isn't detecting it :( so I may end up having to buy a external card reader before I can get any further.

Luckily there cheap :p
 
i am pretty surprised at how many are selling thiers coz they arnt using it much. there are lots just selling thiers on now.
 
i am pretty surprised at how many are selling thiers coz they arnt using it much. there are lots just selling thiers on now.

A lot of people got caught up in the hype of a $25 computer.
It's a great bit of kit that is more than worth it's price, but it requires effort to get the most out of it. Those people who don't have the inclination to put in that effort are just left disappointed, and then sell on their RPi.
 
Nothing to do with a lack of effort for me.

I bought it to do a job it turns out it can't do. My fault for missing the mpeg2 restriction before I bought it though.

How many people in here actually code on theirs or do clever stuff with it, compared to those who are running an XBMC build?
 
Nothing to do with a lack of effort for me.

I bought it to do a job it turns out it can't do. My fault for missing the mpeg2 restriction before I bought it though.

How many people in here actually code on theirs or do clever stuff with it, compared to those who are running an XBMC build?

From a quick bit of research, mplayer can play mpeg files, which you should be able to set XBMC to play videos in.
 
Nothing to do with a lack of effort for me.

I bought it to do a job it turns out it can't do. My fault for missing the mpeg2 restriction before I bought it though.

How many people in here actually code on theirs or do clever stuff with it, compared to those who are running an XBMC build?

I got mine as a media centre, as I don't have an xbox/ps3 or an internet enabled TV. If I had a 2nd raspberry pie though I would jump at the chance to play around with it, try some cool stuff with it that I wouldn't do to the one I'm actually going to use every day.
 
Personally speaking I bought the RPi to start a project or something but I can't think of anything to do, plus working in IT and spending 8+ hours on computers its nice to get away from it all in my free time. Thought about using it as a media centre but then that seems so pointless when i have a smart tv that doesn't even get used. The RPi is a great piece of kit, but i personally can't find any use for it, but i might hang on to it for a while and see if i can find ideas for a project.
 
Personally speaking I bought the RPi to start a project or something but I can't think of anything to do, plus working in IT and spending 8+ hours on computers its nice to get away from it all in my free time. Thought about using it as a media centre but then that seems so pointless when i have a smart tv that doesn't even get used. The RPi is a great piece of kit, but i personally can't find any use for it, but i might hang on to it for a while and see if i can find ideas for a project.

A lot of people bought the pi as it was cheap and for no other reason. Most of them will be played with for an hour or so max before being left to collect dust and never used again. A quick novelty if you will.
There are better options for a media centre for not much more money. The pi will be useful I'm sure for specialist projects, but lets face it, the majority of people are not making custom/specialist pieces of gear.
It's primary role to help teach kids programming is also not a very good proposal. Most kids will not be interested in the first instance, and lets face it, if you're into programming you will have a PC, probably with a Linux partition. PCs are cheap enough for most people today so I doubt the low price point of the pi is any real advantage.
 
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