I’m looking to use RasPlex on a new RPi3 in my truck for rear seat entertainment (rather than carrying around a case full of DVDs). I have the system almost completely planned out, aside from the issue of cleanly turning the RPi3 on and off with the vehicle.
After a couple days of research, I purchased a UPS PIco HV3.0A from Pimodules.com, which I have not received yet. The install for this UPS is stated as needing I2C bus to control the power-on, power-off and charging through a Python script. It appears running the Python scripts shouldn’t be an issue, but will I need to make some changes to RasPlex, like loading kernel modules for I2C or anything?
Just had a look at the user manual for this and at the moment you will not be able to use this board with Rasplex, there is no apt-get to be able to install the additional packages required to allow for the installation of additional software required for this to operate successfully.
Thanks Ned, I was afraid of that. Someone had written some new Python scripts to control one of the older models here. Might give it a try. I just need it to power down and restart cleanly…
Doing some more research, I read your info on using 2 RPis, one for server and one for RasPlex. It sure it tempting to get a setup going that direction. I could probably get the UPS working on a Rasbian PMS, to cleanly shutdown and restart with the vehicle. The question is, how would I get RasPlex to shutdown and restart also?
Would I be able to power the RasPlex from the Rasbian PMS over USB? And then modify the UPS scripts to initiate a shutdown of the RasPlex over SSH first, and then have PMS shutdown itself? When powering the truck back on, the PMS would get power and boot, and RasPlex would power on from the USB again.
I really didn’t want to have to buy a second RPi3, as I’m already in this $100. But with a local server in the truck, I could get some decent storage and not have to worry about Syncing movies to our external devices.
I also came across the Plex Media Player for Embedded. Interesting, with the option of being able to Sync movies. Looks like it is also OpenELEC based, so unsure if it will have all the features I want also. I’ll have to download and play with it a bit…
You would have the same issue with Plex Media Player for the RPi, same underlying OS (now LibreELEC, used to be OpenELEC) with the same restrictions.
Is is not possible to wire the RPi into a permanent live feed on an auxiliary battery that is charged by a split charge relay, therefore not affected by vehicle startup, current draw on idle is around 260mA and could be permanently left powered on. This would also be a better way of wiring all of your media devices, stops draining main battery if any high drain device is left inadvertently powered on.
If following my guide for RPi as a PMS server, you can run any device as a client, Roku, iOS device, Android device, Smart TV, Apple TV, etc.
