RASPLEX Setup - but within noobi file

Dev Community Apps & Creations
1

Hi guys .... firstly .... AMAZING!!!!!  love this sooooo much .

 

 

the Rasplex is like my drugs .... hahaha

ok so i finally got my raspberry pi  (yahoooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

 

i downloaded the img file for rasplex ...

amd flashed SD card ... 

 

problem is it does not boot my RaspberryPI on a SDTV (RCA)  only with HDMI CABLE---

 

hopefully this gets fixed soon ...\

now

 

 

on the website www.raspberrypi.org/downloasds   there is a (out of the box ) software ...\

i think Rasplex should be in there 

 

 

is there a way i can add it manually ? or can it be added ?

 

this is a nice way to setup multipled RPI .... 

 

 

anyones feedback will be much appreciated !!!

 

 

many thanks

 

Tony

2

i downloaded the img file for rasplex ...
amd flashed SD card ... 
 
problem is it does not boot my RaspberryPI on a SDTV (RCA)  only with HDMI CABLE---

This is a well known issue caused by a specific directive in the "config.txt" file of the RasPlex boot partition.
You can edit it yourself using a normal text editor on a normal PC, similar to how you add your own CODEC license codes (if you bought any). (It can also be done on the RPi via SSH, if you are fluent in Linux methods)

I successfully did this myself in preparing an RPi with RasPlex for my brother to use with his non-HDMI TV set.

The reason why that directive is used in the config is because most people have the RPi constantly running, and without that directive it would switch to the non-HDMI outputs whenever the TV is turned off or switched to another input, and after such a switch the RPi would never switch back to use HDMI again (until next power off-on). So when you do use HDMI you definitely want that directive in the config, to prevent such nonsense.

But when you need to use the composite video output instead of HDMI, then you must have a "config.txt" file where that directive is either removed or 'commented out' (I recommend the latter).

The critical section of the file is usually near its end and looks like this:
hdmi_force_hotplug=1
hdmi_drive=2
It's the first one which forces HDMI to be used, but I suggest you 'comment out' both those lines, so they look like this instead:
#hdmi_force_hotplug=1
#hdmi_drive=2
That will disable their effect while still allowing you to easily enable them again, if you want to use HDMI in future.

NOTE! Do not confuse the lines I quoted here with the two similar ones occurring earlier in the file, looking like this:
# Force HDMI even if unplugged or powered off
# hdmi_force_hotplug=1
That directive is already in commented form, and is intended as 'in-file' documentation.
But the one ruining your results is further on in the file, close to its end, and in uncommented form.

Best regards: dlanor
3

hi,

at the risk of sounding stupid, i can not get this to work. i have installed 0.2.2 and made following mods to cofig.txt :

# hdmi_force_hotplug=1
# hdmi_drive=2
 

to knock out the hdmi port, and :

sdtv_mode=2
sdtv_aspect=1
 
for my old-school tv. i also added : 
 
hdmi_ignore_hotplug=1
 
for good measure. but no joy.
 
i played around with overscan settings as well to no avail.
 
i mention as well that i have two rasplex living on the network and they 'irritate' each other. for example, i just got playback stutter when i powered-up the second rpi though movie was playing fine before.
 
any ideas. please. i'm getting desperate.  :-p
 
 
- scott
4

hi,
 
at the risk of sounding stupid, i can not get this to work. i have installed 0.2.2 and made following mods to cofig.txt :

 
I never used non-HDMI inputs with the most recent versions, so I'm not sure if these versions differ in this behaviour.
(My brother for whom I prepared that RPi is now using an HDMI TV set.)

Exactly how did you  modify "config.txt" ?

I always did it on my main PC, directly after preparing the SD card using "Win32 Disk Imager".

Using normal Explorer windows I first copied the file from an SD card reader to HDD, edited it in UltraEdit, and then copied it back to the SD card again.

So for each of my setups that modified file was in place before the first launch of RasPlex.

# hdmi_force_hotplug=1
# hdmi_drive=2
 
to knock out the hdmi port, and :
 
sdtv_mode=2
sdtv_aspect=1

Those changes should have sufficed. They're very similar to what I did, with good results.
But I never did it with the most recent RasPlex versions, so something may have changed in the default setup.
Doublecheck the "config.txt" file to make sure that there are no extra instances of the 'hdmi_' commands.
Any such instance after your added changes would override your corresponding entry.

for my old-school tv. i also added : 
 
hdmi_ignore_hotplug=1

for good measure. but no joy.

I didn't use that one, but I don't see that it would cause any harm.

Even so, since you're having problems I recommend trying with that one removed (or commented out).
 

i played around with overscan settings as well to no avail.

I think those only apply before launch of the PHT program in RasPlex
PHT then imposes its own Overscan settings, configurable in the PHT "Preferences" menu.

i mention as well that i have two rasplex living on the network and they 'irritate' each other. for example, i just got playback stutter when i powered-up the second rpi though movie was playing fine before.

Originally all RasPlex units had the same device ID in PHT, making it impossible for the server to tell them apart.
Newer RasPlex versions should have a device ID entry so you can change it.
But the default ID probably starts out identical anyway, so that explains your problem.

Best regards: dlanor

5

hello dlanor,

thanks very much for your response and explanations ; a great source of knowledge !

i did a clean install with the four basic parameters ... and it worked.

i notice that the rasplex is not as clean (text hard to read, images fuzzy) on sd though films play just fine, is this because the skin is 720p ?

thanks again !

- scott

6

hello dlanor,
 
thanks very much for your response and explanations ; a great source of knowledge !

I'm glad you liked it. It's always nice to be appreciated. :)

i did a clean install with the four basic parameters ... and it worked.

Good. I was a little worried that something might have changed in the latest versions, as I've only used these with HDMI.

i notice that the rasplex is not as clean (text hard to read, images fuzzy) on sd though films play just fine, is this because the skin is 720p ?

You could say that, though the true restriction is that a traditional SD TV screen ALWAYS suffers from this kind of problem. (Especially the CRT kind.)

You just don't notice it as much for normal TV programs, because then you're mostly viewing analog scenes, not digital output with razor-sharp edges on everything (which an SD TV set is unable to display as 'razor-sharp').

The low resolution is bad enough in Europe, where SDTV==PAL with vertical resolution of 576i, but it's horrible in the US and other locations where SDTV==NTSC with vertical resolution of only 480i (often reduced to 448i by CRT-screen overscan). So PAL has a 20% higher vertical resolution, but at cost of a 17% lower interlace frequency (responsible for interlace fuzz/flicker).

thanks again !

You're very welcome. I'm always glad to help when I can.

Best regards: dlanor

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