This week was Pi Day, so what better time to celebrate the beloved tinkerer tool, the Raspberry Pi?
You might know the Raspberry Pi as a tiny, low-powered computer which can be programmed to do just about anything. It’s also used in commercial products as a convenient off-the-shelf processor for hardware devices. A lot of Raspberry Pi projects require typing commands into a text-based terminal to get things up and running, and to configure them once they are. But there are lots of really fun and useful software that can be installed just by copying it to the Pi’s SD card. And that’s what we’re looking at today.
Easy as Pi
Any time you have an idea for a project that might require a computer (a media server, even running an entire operating system) consider something like the Raspberry Pi instead. The main draw is cost. Depending on the model and the spec, you can get one for around $50 and up, compared to $500 for that other great headless hobby machine, the Mac mini. Buying older models, or used units, is even cheaper.
The problem, as mentioned above, is that installation can be hard. Unless you’ve had some practice with typing into a command line, it can be overwhelming. There’s no visual feedback, no way to just click around and learn what’s what. You have to type very specific instructions into a black hole, and hope for the best. It’s a good idea to learn the basics of command line usage, but it’s definitely a barrier to entry for many, or most, folks.
But many cool Raspberry Pi “apps” can be installed without typing a single command. It’s all done by downloading a package, copying that package to an SD card, popping that card into the RP, and booting. On first run, there will usually be configuration options, but those are done via a wizard or similar.
It’s even possible to buy Raspberry Pis preloaded with software, but these picks are so easy that you really don’t need to bother. Let’s go!
Retro Games
Recalbox turns your Raspberry Pi into a retro gaming system. Add a screen and a controller and you can play games from all your favorite game systems—S/NES, Game Boy, Genesis, PSP, PlayStation, Atari, and more. You’ll have to source your own game files, or ROMs, which are readily available on the internet despite being copyrighted material.
Recalbox is not the only Raspberry Pi console emulator. RetroPie has an insane number of supported consoles, Lakka is also available as a kit with a Raspberry Pi and a pre-flashed SD card, and Batocera is also available to install on those Linux-based GameBoy knockoffs you can find on Amazon and AliExpress. I use Batocera and I like it, but that’s not necessarily a big recommendation as I have not used the others as much.
Installation for all of the software in this post follows the same procedure. You download the software, and then copy that software to an SD card, slot it into the Raspberry Pi, and boot. The software should just run, and the first time around it may run you through some setup steps.
You don’t just copy the files across using the Mac’s Finder or Windows Explorer though. You need to use a special tool which arranges all the files correctly on the card so that it can boot into the operating system. It’s just like when you install Linux, Windows, or macOS onto your computer, only (usually, see below) on a much smaller scale.
On the Mac, I use balenaEtcher, because it has always worked for me. You just select your downloaded file, point balenaEtcher at your mounted SD card, hit the “Flash!” Button, and wait. BalenaEtcher is available for Windows, Linux, and macOS, and there are alternatives like the Raspberry Pi Imager, available for the same platforms. Why pick a third-party option over the official Raspberry Pi tool? Because balenaEtcher also works with other systems in addition to the Raspberry Pi. The Teensy, for example.
As mentioned, this procedure will be the same for any OS that you are installing onto your Raspberry Pi. Or at least, any OS that doesn’t require the command line, which is what we’re looking at today.
Media Server
A Raspberry Pi makes a neat network media server. You can plug it into your router with an Ethernet cable (bonus points if you have a Raspberry Pi with PoE, or Power over Ethernet), slot in a huge SD to hold all those movies, and you’re off.
LibreElec is a minimal OS dedicated to running the Kodi media server, which you may already be familiar with from its desktop OS version. For the best experience, you’ll want to use a Raspberry Pi 4, 400, or 5. These have native hardware decoding of HEVC aka High Efficiency Video Coding, aka H.265 or MPEG-H Part 2. Older Pi versions will still work, but use less-efficient software decoding.
Kodi on LibreElec has almost endless options, far beyond the scope of this article, but you’ll be able to use it to watch movies, play music, and you can use it with a remote control. It’s a pretty great alternative to all the terrible streaming services out there.
A Real-Deal Computer
The Raspberry Pi is powerful enough to run a full desktop operating system, as a lightweight alternative to the Mac, Windows, or a regular desktop Linux. Raspberry Pi provides the official PiOS, which works with any version of the Pi hardware, but there are other options.
DietPi, as you might guess from the name, is an extremely lightweight version of the Linux Debian OS, optimized to use minimal RAM and CPU resources. This is ideal either for less powerful Pis, or to have more resources available for apps.
Why run a full desktop OS on a Pi? One answer is, why not? Another is that you want to do a computery-type project but don’t want to buy a full Mac or PC computer to do it. And yet another is that the tiny Pi is a very handy computer platform. You could jam one inside a keyboard to make a writer deck (Raspberry Pi actually makes a computer-in-a-keyboard, just BYO display). Or velcro it to the back of a monitor.
As we have seen, it’s extremely simple to set up a Raspberry Pi to be anything from a games console to a fully-fledged desktop computer. It’s easier (and probably more likely to work on the first try) than updating the firmware of your camera, say. And once you’ve got a Pi or two at home, the projects start to suggest themselves.
You might even find yourself going over to the dark side, and installing software via the command line. If so, the instructions for popular projects is often very well documented, and requires little more than typing a few commands into the terminal. For example, PiHole connects your Raspberry Pi to your router, and will block all ads and tracking across your entire network—even inside apps, and on devices that can’t load content blockers.
Or run the amazing Pianoteq piano emulation software on a Raspberry Pi and turn any midi keyboard (and speakers) into a very realistic grand piano.
In short, if you like hobby projects, or just want to set something up and forget it, then you should definitely check out the Raspberry Pi.
4 Comments
Hold up, isn't Kodi the primarily a media client? It can play media but it does not serve media as far as I know. Would a Raspberry Pi 5 be appropriate to run an actual server like Plex or jellyfin?
Jackson Howa - Reply Share
You can run Plex from a 4 or 5 yes.
Albert Zweistein - Share
kodi can also be used as a server. also, i used gemini AI go totally set up my pi. it gave all the commands all i did was copy and paste into powershell. Gemini walks you through all of it and trouble shoots. you can take screen shots and upload them and it figures out whats going on and how to get it going. amazing.
Mit Axe - Reply Share
Volume nahin a Rahi
Kartik Tomar - Reply Share