{{tag>projects Entertainment_Center Epson FOSS Home_Theater Netgear_Powerline OpenELEC Powerlite projector raspbarry_Pi XBMC}} ====== Home Theater Setup ====== When I moved into my house and saw the large living room and knew I wanted to put in a home theater. It would be great to sit on a comfortable couch or chair at home and watch a movie with the family on a large screen. The home theater system provides a big screen that everyone can enjoy without having Wishlist of features: * The entire theater system must be portable * 3-D compatible * Connection to a digital storage of movies * Remote control /* Blank lines /* \\ \\ \\ ==== The Projector ==== {{:projects:epson_powerlite_home_cinema_2030-1.jpg?200 |}} I chose the [[ http://www.projectorcentral.com/Epson-PowerLite_Home_Cinema_2030.htm | Epson Powerlite Home Cinema 2030 ]]. It has a remote control, several audio and video connection options, including HDMI, to connect almost any source you may have. It’s also 3-D ready, but you need to purchase a specific type of “active” 3-D glasses and a 3-D video to make this feature work. More on this in another post. /* Blank lines /* \\ \\ \\ ==== The Raspberry Pi Computer ==== {{:projects:raspberry_pi_2b.jpg?200 |}} For those not familiar with the [[ https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-2-model-b/ | Raspberry Pi ]], it’s a small computer about the size of a credit card. It is an entire computer in a single component/board (excluding a monitor/TV, keybard, and mouse). It uses an HDMI port to connect to a monitor or TV. In my case, I’m connecting this to the HDMI port on the projector. It has a network port for connecting to a network share where I store all of my digital movies. Because this is an actual computer, there are a few options of operating systems to choose from. Because this is a home theater system, I chose to use [[ http://openelec.tv/ | OpenELEC ]]. This is media center software that is already setup as a bootable system ready for the Pi. /* Blank lines /* \\ \\ \\ ==== OpenELEC ==== {{:projects:openelec-3-2-300x168.png?200 |}} [[ http://openelec.tv/ | OpenELEC ]] (formerly called XBMC), is free Open Source Software (FOSS) in the entertainment center space. It will play your digital vidoes, music, DVDs, TV shows, and even live TV if you have a TV tuner card in your computer. It can run as a DVR/PVR if you set it up as such. Maybe I’ll try it someday. /* Blank line /* \\ \\ \\ ==== The Storage Server ==== {{:projects:server_micro.jpg?200 |}} I took a somewhat modern PC and put in a 2TB & a 1TB hard drive. I setup [[ https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lvm | LVM ]] to maximize the 3TB of disk space. I am storing my digital movies, music, and our photos on this server. I have setup both [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_File_System | NFS ]] and [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samba_(software) | Samba/CIFS shares ]]. The NFS shares are for the raspberry pi and my personal access as I use Linux. The Samba shares are for my family to access the same data. /* Blank lines /* \\ \\ \\ > **Update** > I no longer use a tower PC. I now use a ServerMicro rack server with [[FreeNAS]]. This provides the flexibility of expansion, redundancy, and easier disk and server management. /* Blank lines /* \\ ==== The Wiring ==== {{:projects:cat-6-cable.jpg?100 |}} The storage server is in the office with the rest of our computer equipment. The house is not wired with network cables. Therefore, I have few options. I could use wireless, but I don’t trust it. It’s really easy to crack and gain access. Is there an alternate option? Yes. I chose to use to use the [[ https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/powerline/xavb1301.aspx | Netgeare Powerline 200 ]]. The powerline comes in pars and provides encryption between them. It allows you to use the existing electrical wiring for computer networking. I have one of these in the office connect to my network switch and the other connected to the raspberry pi in the movie room. ** Update ** I no longer use the Powerline adapters as they're too slow. I have now wired my house with Cat 6 cables. I upgraded my equipment to provide 1GB speed throughout the house.