Media Systems

This section is a list of resources related to RPi systems that deal with media, such as motion detectors, ad blockers and media players. These are sometimes a read-only file system! You can use and modify the OS, but must contribute changes back to OSMC! So be careful if you write custom code!

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OpenELEC -

Both are basically barebones Kodi, based on Kodi v18.2. This allows you to stream content from Netflix and Amazon. OpenELEC is almost identical to LibreELEC. The new fork from March 2016 is called LibreElec. Some developers feel OpenELEC was made for ease and portability and light whle LibreELEC and OSMC were made for have a customized setup. Most of the media players are running Kodi. It's a read-only file system that turn the RPi into a Kodia media ceenter. LibreELEC and OpenELEC are both trimmed down, particularly OpenELEC. This is a Linux-based JeOS (Just enough Operating System) turn PCs into a Kodi media center, so it's a smaller subset. The auto update feature on OpenELEC is not encrypted. Packages are not signed, which means “man in the middle attacks” are possible. OpenELEC (Open Embedded Linux Entertainment Center)

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LibreElec (Leia)

  • LibreELEC – formerly OpenELEC, it is almost identical to OpenELEC and is also a read-only file system, a Kodi Retroplayer with DRM (digital rights management) support.
  • Embedded applications such as Plex and embedded Kodi builds such as Lakka are used for playing legacy games by Sega, Genesis, and SNES in emulators.

Resources:

Articles Comparing Media OS

 

OpenMediaVault (OMV)

OMV is based on Debian and provides a NAS solution (backups, movies): SMB, NFS, …SSH, FTP. OMV supports larger SD card or an external hard drive and you can install nginx and mysql plugins to build a web server and web interface.

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OSMC (Open Source Media Center)

  • There are two flavors, OSMC or XBian. Both are on writeable file systems. You can make changes to the file system.
  • OSMC is a full operating system. OSMC (Open Source Media Center) us open-source standalone Kodi OS that can play virtually any media format.You’ll be able to run other software alongside Kodi. People have used it to run web servers or Plex media servers. It's based on Debian using Kodi as a front-end, formerly RaspBMC. XBian OS has not been trimmed down and needs less modification.

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Xbian

  • Another Debian derivative of Kodi-embedded Linux.
  • Quote - "Xbian has CEC and LIRC technology installed for using your TV remote with your Xbian device. It also uses AirPlay for Apple devices. You can run VNC Server software for mirroring screens. TV Headend provides a PVR. It even comes ready with NZBGet for accessing newsgroups, Couchpotato, Sickbeard and Transmission for downloading and streaming torrents. It also has an app called Headphones for people who like listening to music. And, it resides on a ZFS file system, which is the most advanced FS in use today."

Motion and MotionEyeOS

Read-only file system. Motion surveillance system based on BuildRoot and uses motion as a backend and motionEye for the frontend. Essentially you format your SD card then flash it with the OS. Use ext4 as the hard drive format or use SSD. Make sure to use a powered USB source. Access the server from a browser. Make sure to use the ethernet connection the first time you set it up. When you login, use admin with no password by default.

You'll need a camera or USB webcam. There are several available for the RPi but there are also webcams that you can use.

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Pi MusicBox

  • This is a standalone streaming music player for Spotify, Google Music, SoundCloud, Webradio, Podcasts (with iTunes, gPodder directories), cloud or your local and networked music files (MP3/OGG/FLAC/AAC), Webradio (with TuneIn, Dirble, AudioAddict, Soma FM directories, FM scrobbling). You can play music files from the SD Card, USB, Network and includes AirTunes/AirPlay, Spotify Connect, and DLNA/OpenHome streaming from your phone, tablet (iOS and Android) or PC using software like BubbleUPnP.
  • This is a headless audio player based on Mopidy (no need for a monitor). It runs using Linux command-line only. So you have to use SSH or the command line directly on the RPi.
  • You can use remote control. There is a nice web interface or you can use an MPD-client (like MPDroid for Android). This won't drain the battery of your phone or stop the music if you play a game on your phone!
  • Audio support for USB soundcards, speakers, headphones.
  • Wifi support (WPA, for Raspbian supported wifi-adapters)
  • Several Pi soundcards supported (HifiBerry, JustBoom, IQ Audio)
  • When you connect make sure to change the config/settings.ini. for WiFi before booting. By default the WIFI_NETWORK = 'mywifinetwork' and WIFI_PASSWORD = 'mypassword'

When you access your media use one of these addresses or the IP address or your own domain name.

  • MusicBox.local
  • http://musicbox.local/ *
  • http://musicbox/

Reference:

Pi-Hole Ad Blockers

Basically Pi-Hole allows you to avoid advertisements on web sites by screening out the known ads.

Balena.(12 Feb 2019). Build your own network-wide ad blocker with Pi-hole

  • According to Balena, Pi-hole is a DNS Sinkhole, as a DNS server, and "will respond with a false address when any browser or other client software attempts to load content from a known advertiser. Pi-hole maintains a set of "blocklists" and in addition we've supplemented them with additional blocklists from WaLLy3K and firebog.net. DNS is the system used to resolve server hostnames such as balena.io into the IP address for the server sitting behind them when you try to load a web page, for example 52.210.75.180. In the case of an advertising server such as internetadvertising.com, Pi-hole will respond with a false address such as 0.0.0.0 rather than the real address, meaning that the advertising will not load."

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Linutop OS - Kiosk/Digital Signage

  • Secure Raspbian-based Web Kiosk, digital signage player or desktop computer
  • Used to deploy public Internet stalls and digital signage solutions using Raspberries.
  • Uses: retail outlets, hotels, restaurants, shops, city halls, offices, museums
  • Built-in tools: VLC, LibreOffice and Firefox
  • Autostart applications: Firefox web page, play a video file in a loop, start a specific app or directly Linutop Kiosk
  • Linutop Lock: make your initial configuration and enable this mode to be sure the system will work as wanted after each reboot, all added data will be discarded after reboot (like a LiveCD)
  • Linutop Kiosk: choose what you want to display on the screen (web page, videos, images, pdf, screen saver, …)
  • Compatible with Raspberry Pi B, B+ and 2.
  • Download
  • Linutop OS - lightweight for low-power Nettop computers, a remix of the Raspbian OS and XFCE