Linux Format - UK (2020-03)

38 LXF260 March 2020 http://www.linuxformat.com

Raspberry Pi projects

ou don’t have to use your Pi to learn Python,

Linux, electronics, or anything at all really

(although remember, knowledge is power –

Ed). It has also got the potential to be a cheap and

cheerful source of entertainment for you. So here are a

few top project ideas to keep you happy.

Media box

Unusually in the company, LibreELEC – which dubs

itself “just enough OS for Kodi”— has kept pace with the

Pi 4 and appears to be providing regular updates. That

makes setting up a Pi 4 as a Kodi box absolutely trivial.

Head to http://libreelec.tv, grab the Raspberry Pi 4

image from the downloads section, and write it to a card

with Etcher. There’s a whole seedy streaming subculture

of Kodi that we won’t go into (stay away from dodgy

plugin repos, please). Bear in mind the Pi 4’s hardware

decoding capabilities: if you want to watch 4K media

files on your TV, they need to be in H.264/H.265 format

for the best results, so convert them beforehand with a

tool such as Handbrake.

A Pi with a decent amount of storage is perfect for

Plex Media Server. It’s not necessarily the best at

transcoding that media, but it can. Hosting it and

streaming it around your network and beyond is fully

plausible, but you may find that your CPU is getting

hammered and the Pi is heating up hugely. Thankfully,

at least the most recent version is happy to work with

the Pi 4, which is better-equipped to cope with such

vicissitudes. Run

$ sudo apt install apt-transport-https -y

$ curl https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-keys/PlexSign.

key | sudo apt-key add -

to grab the Plex PGP key. Then run

$ echo ‘deb https://downloads.plex.tv/repo/deb public

main’ | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/

plexmediaserver.list

$ sudo apt update

to tell your package manager where to get Plex’s files

and to update its cache. Finally, run

$ sudo apt install plexmediaserver

to install it. Once it’s done, you’ll be able to log in to its

web interface, and get it configured using

Pi-based entertainment

Let Pi entertain you! With movies, music and games galore.

localhost:32400 on the Pi, or substituting localhost for

your Pi’s IP address on a remote machine.

Retro gaming

It’s fair to say that the only reason many people own a

Pi at all is RetroPie (http://retropie.org.uk), the all-in-

one package that pulls together emulator support for

just about every classic system and adds a neat

frontend with which you can select (legally obtained)

ROMs. Right now, the system image for RetroPie

(version 4.5.1) is built on top of Raspbian Stretch, an

older version of the OS with no support for the Pi 4, and

RetroPie’s creator specifically notes that it will not work.

This is a shame, particularly as the Pi 4 has the

muscle to run Dreamcast, N64 and PSP games at

close to original speeds, but not all is lost. You can

run emulators such as RetroArch yourself, or you can

simply install the RetroPie package (which contains

the equivalent of what’s included in the system image)

on top of Raspbian itself. Execute

$ sudo apt-get install git lsb-release

$ git clone --branch fkms_rpi4 --depth=1 https://github.

com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup.git

to install some prerequisites and download the

installation script. Jump into the directory and make

that script executable with

$ cd RetroPie-Setup

$ chmod +x retropie_setup.sh

then run it with

$ sudo ./retropie_setup.sh

Alternatively, you can try Lakka, the official Libretro

distro – there’s a stable Raspberry Pi 4 version, or if

you’re feeling adventurous you can grab the latest

version from http://nightly.builds.lakka.tv. Drill down

to the RPi2.RPi4.arm directory, and grab the .img.gz

file, which you can burn as usual using Etcher. It’s

bleeding edge, so like running RetroPie on top of

Raspbian, expect with a litany of bugs.

One more option: DOSBox. While you’re hard

pressed to translate anything x86 on to the Arm

architecture of the Pi, DOSBox is an exception. If you’re

interested in running classic old games, just run

$ sudo apt-get install dosbox

to download and install it.

VolumeIO

The Pi’s onboard analogue audio capabilities are

nothing to write home about. This doesn’t really matter

if it’s just making the occasional beep bop. And it’s

totally irrelevant if you’re playing audio via the HDMI

port (so that your TV or digital receiver is doing the

digital-analogue conversion). But if you want to hook up

an old analogue amplifier to your Pi, you’d best get

yourself a dedicated DAC first, otherwise things will

sound hollow, lacking in range. The headphone jack will

also pick up noise and static from other components.

Y

Just enough for

Kodi. And if you

want a simple

media centre then

LibreELEC is just

enough for you.

38 LXF260March 2020 3332March 0Sens2i0e

Raspberry Pi projects

ou don’t have to use your Pi to learn Python,

Linux, electronics, or anything at all really

(although remember, knowledge is power –

Ed).Ithas also got the potential to be a cheap and

cheerfulsource of entertainment for you. So here are a

fewtopproject ideas to keep you happy.

Mediabox

Unusually in the company, LibreELEC – which dubs

itself“just enough OS for Kodi”— has kept pace with the

Pi 4 andappears to be providing regular updates. That

makessetting up a Pi 4 as a Kodi box absolutely trivial.

Headtohttp://libreelec.tv, grab the Raspberry Pi 4

imagefrom the downloads section, and write it to a card

withEtcher. There’s a whole seedy streaming subculture

ofKodithat we won’t go into (stay away from dodgy

pluginrepos, please). Bear in mind the Pi 4’s hardware

decoding capabilities: if you want to watch 4K media

filesonyour TV, they need to be in H.264/H.265 format

forthebest results, so convert them beforehand with a

toolsuch as Handbrake.

APiwith a decent amount of storage is perfect for

PlexMedia Server. It’s not necessarily the best at

transcoding that media, but it can. Hosting it and

streaming it around your network and beyond is fully

plausible, but you may find that your CPU is getting

hammered and the Pi is heating up hugely. Thankfully,

atleastthe most recent version is happy to work with

thePi4,which is better-equipped to cope with such

vicissitudes. Run

$ sudoapt install apt-transport-https -y

$ curlhttps://downloads.plex.tv/plex-keys/PlexSign.

key| sudo apt-key add -

tograb the Plex PGP key. Then run

$ echo‘deb https://downloads.plex.tv/repo/deb public

main’| sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/

plexmediaserver.list

$ sudoapt update

totellyour package manager where to get Plex’s files

andtoupdate its cache. Finally, run

$ sudoapt install plexmediaserver

toinstallit. Once it’s done, you’ll be able to log in to its

webinterface, and get it configured using

Pi-based entertainment

Let Pi entertain you! With movies, music and games galore.

localhost:32400 on the Pi, or substituting localhost for

your Pi’s IP address on a remote machine.

Retro gaming

It’s fair to say that the only reason many people own a

Pi at all is RetroPie (http://retropie.org.uk), the all-in-

one package that pulls together emulator support for

just about every classic system and adds a neat

frontend with which you can select (legally obtained)

ROMs. Right now, the system image for RetroPie

(version 4.5.1) is built on top of Raspbian Stretch, an

older version of the OS with no support for the Pi 4, and

RetroPie’s creator specifically notes that it will not work.

This is a shame, particularly as the Pi 4 has the

muscle to run Dreamcast, N64 and PSP games at

close to original speeds, but not all is lost. You can

run emulators such as RetroArch yourself, or you can

simply install the RetroPie package (which contains

the equivalent of what’s included in the system image)

on top of Raspbian itself. Execute

$ sudo apt-get install git lsb-release

$ git clone --branch fkms_rpi4 --depth=1 https://github.

com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup.git

to install some prerequisites and download the

installation script. Jump into the directory and make

that script executable with

$ cd RetroPie-Setup

$ chmod +x retropie_setup.sh

then run it with

$ sudo ./retropie_setup.sh

Alternatively, you can try Lakka, the official Libretro

distro – there’s a stable Raspberry Pi 4 version, or if

you’re feeling adventurous you can grab the latest

version from http://nightly.builds.lakka.tv. Drill down

to the RPi2.RPi4.arm directory, and grab the .img.gz

file, which you can burn as usual using Etcher. It’s

bleeding edge, so like running RetroPie on top of

Raspbian, expect with a litany of bugs.

One more option: DOSBox. While you’re hard

pressed to translate anything x86 on to the Arm

architecture of the Pi, DOSBox is an exception. If you’re

interested in running classic old games, just run

$ sudo apt-get install dosbox

to download and install it.

VolumeIO

The Pi’s onboard analogue audio capabilities are

nothing to write home about. This doesn’t really matter

if it’s just making the occasional beep bop. And it’s

totally irrelevant if you’re playing audio via the HDMI

port (so that your TV or digital receiver is doing the

digital-analogue conversion). But if you want to hook up

an old analogue amplifier to your Pi, you’d best get

yourself a dedicated DAC first, otherwise things will

sound hollow, lacking in range. The headphone jack will

also pick up noise and static from other components.

Y

Just enough for

Kodi. And if you

want a simple

media centre then

LibreELEC is just

enough for you.