raspberry-pi-2-media-machine

New for Pi 2 8 Easy Steps to Build Raspberry Pi Media Machine1. Set Up Your Raspberry Pi In order to the get best experience from your Raspberry Pi 2 (or older model B+), you will need to get some peripherals on top of the actual board itself. Place your Raspberry Pi in a case such as the Flirc case, to protect it and make it look stylish. Plug a HDMI cable and an Ethernet cable into the RPi. I would also recommend using the Flirc USB IR receiver that allows you to use any remote with the RPi. Then, insert a MicroSD card into you laptop or computer’s card reader and proceed to the next step to install an operating system. Click here to get the full list of required parts.

2. Install OSMC Both OpenELEC and OSMC are good operating system choices for you, but I would recommend opting for OSMC as it is easier to set up and configure if, for example, you want to overclock it later on. First, download the OSMC installer application. Launch the OSMC installer application and select the language and Raspberry Pi 2 device in the welcome screen. Then, click the next button and select the latest OSMC version. Next, select where you would like to install OSMC. Usually, you should install it on MicroSD card. Now, select the device path where you would like to install OSMC. Click next and accept the licence agreement. When the download process has completed, confirm installation by selecting “Yes” when prompted. After installation is completed, you are ready to insert the MicroSD card onto RPi, plug in a micro USB to USB power cable, and boot it up.3. Configure Kodi Enable AirPlay When you boot up the Raspberry Pi for the first Airplay allows you to play music or time, the OSMC will install files before video from your iPhone, iPad, and launching the Kodi Entertainment Center. other iOS devices. In the \"Welcome\" screen, select your locale. Go to \"Settings\" > \"Services\" > scroll Next, you will need to agree with the license to AirPlay and enable the “Allow agreement. Let's now configure Kodi settings. Kodi to receive AirPlay content”. Set time zone If the time zone is not showing correctly, go to \"Settings\" > \"Appearance\" > \"International\" and select your region and time zone country. Configure weather settings Next, let’s configure weather settings for your location. Go to \"Settings\" > \"Weather\". Select \"Service for Weather Information\" > \"Get More…\" > \"Yahoo! Weather\" > \"Install\". After installation is completed, go back to \"Settings\" > \"Weather\" > \"Service for weather information\" and select \"Yahoo! Weather\". Next, in the General tab, select \"Settings\", choose the \"Location 1\" and enter the name of the nearest town. Press “OK” once you have located your city.

4. Add Content In order to set up your media library, you will need to add sources to video, music, and photo menus. Go to videos in the home menu and select “Files”. Select “Add Videos” and “Browse” in the add video source. Browse to the folder where your media files are stored (e.g. USB hard drive or NAS server). Rename the media source, if needed, and select “OK”. In the set content window, you can set the type of media. Kodi will scrape the movie, TV show, or music information after you have set up the media content. If your movies are in separate folders, enable \"Movies are in separate folders that match the movie title\". Confirm \"Yes\" in the Change content question. Now, go back to main menu where you will find a new \"Movies\" menu with your recently added movies. If you wish to check for new media files on Kodi startup, go to \"System\" > \"Settings\" > \"Video\" > \"Library\" and enable \"Update library on startup\". You can also select \"Hide progress of library updates\" if you do not wish to see the progress indicator everytime the library gets updated. Learn more: Integrate Netflix and other premium channels with Kodi. 5. Get Some Add-Ons In order to get the most out of your RPi, there are many add-ons that will add more functionality to the Kodi. You can install official add-ons, such as YouTube, by following these steps: Go to \"Settings\" > \"Add-ons\" > \"Get Add-ons\" > \"Kodi Add-on repository\" > \"Video Add- ons\" > \"YouTube\". Click on the add-on name and select install to download it. Next, go back to the videos menu, and you will find the new YouTube add-on under the Video Add-ons folder. Learn more: List of the best Kodi add-ons.

6. Install Video Codecs In order to decode and play MPEG-2 and VC1 video files using hardware acceleration, you will need to purchase codec licenses from the Raspberry Pi foundation. You will receive the license key through your email within 72 hours. Install the codecs by following these steps: Purchase MPEG-2 and VC1 codec license keys. In OSMC, go to \"My OSMC\" > \"Pi Config\" > \"GPU Mem & Codec\". Enter the license key to MPEG2/WVC1 licence under the Codec status. Reboot the system. Example: booting up time 7. Boost Speed(before and after overclocking) with Overclocking Before You can safely speed up the (default) Raspberry Pi by overclocking it. After Go to \"My OSMC\" > \"Overclock\". (turbo) Change \"Normal\" to \"Turbo\". Set \"init_turbo\" to 20 seconds.

8. Customize Home ScreenAre you watching YouTube videos or Go to \"Settings\" > \"Appearance\" >playing Spotify all the time? Why not set \"Skin – Settings\" > \"Customizeyour favorite add-ons and folders into Home Menu\".the main menu for quicker access andbetter user experience? Select an existing menu item such as \"Movies\", select \"Add\". SelectFirst, let’s add the YouTube add-on as \"Choose Shortcut\" > \"Favourite\" >a favourite. Go to \"Videos\" > \"Video \"YouTube\".Add-ons\" and press the C-key to showthe context menu. Select “Add to You can change the order with up /favourites”. down arrows next to menu items.Build Your Own MachineAll in all, the Raspberry Pi 2 is now ready to replaceyour home theater PC, but it will still require sometweaking before you can realize its full potential asan entertainment center front-end.I hope you have found this simple guide useful insetting up your own Raspberry Pi Media Machine.If you need even more performance for your mediacenter needs, or the possibility of upgrading yourHTPC, for example, into a media server or steamgaming machine, have a look at these referenceHTPCs I have built myself.Click here to see recommended HTPC builds.