You want to install XBMC on Raspberry Pi? In this article, you will learn how the Mini-PC with Linux turns into a media center. The Raspberry Pi has roughly the size of a credit card and is delivered as a fully populated board. In order to protect them from environmental influences, there are cheap plastic housings in which the board is simply inserted and tightened.
Extremely cheap
Raspberry Pi is available in two models, A and B. For our project we use the more powerful model B. It is equipped with a 100 MBit / s fast network connection, HDMI port and two USB ports.
Different XBMC distributions
In retail, version B costs about 35 euros, housing is available for about 7 euros. For the power supply you need a USB power supply for approx. 6 Euro, as well as HDMI and network cable. The Raspberry Pi is started from a SD card with at least 2 GB.
We recommend a larger model from 8 GB, which costs about 7 euros. In sum, the complete media center PC costs about 55 euros. The power consumption is extremely low with about 5 watts. Even if you run the Raspberry Pi all year round, the electricity costs only about 12 euros.
XBMC on Raspberry Pi: Other options
The Mediacenter is the Raspberry Pi through the operating system Linux and the free software XBMC. However, you do not have to be frightened by this as a hard-working Windows or Mac user. The installation is limited to preparing the SD card using a Windows software and two or three mouse clicks.
Then insert it into the mini computer and leave it to the rest of the installation. Then configure XBMC in a graphical interface.
The package from Linux and XBMC is currently available by three different developers or developers. Our first attempts have been made with version 1.0 Beta 2 of Xbian. However, we were struggling with various problems and could not put the Pi into operation successfully.
A pity, because Xbian offers new XBMC versions very fast. We therefore chose Raspbmc, which was as easy to install as we had hoped. OpenELEC, which also makes a good impression, will be tested later.
There are different possibilities for remote control of XBMC. In the simplest case, the remote control of your TV set jumps in because, thanks to HDMI-CEC, this can simply transfer the commands to the Raspberry Pi. This presupposes, of course, that your TV has HDMI-CEC.
In Apple's App Store or Google Play, you'll find various apps that turn your smartphone into an XBMC remote. You can also use a keyboard.
Lesetipp: XBMC on Raspberry Pi, Android & Co.
Or you can buy the Raspberry Pi later an infrared interface and then control it with a universal remote control. For about 8 euros, there are tiny WLAN adapters that protrude only a few millimeters from the USB port of the mini-computer and make the network cable redundant.
You can overclock the Raspberry Pi to get more speed (under Programs> Raspbmc Settings> System). In order to play MPEG2 videos (for example, not converted DVD content), you can purchase a nearly 3 Euro expensive MPEG2 license.
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