Daniel James  wrote:
> In article , Chris Green wrote:
> > I want a keyboard/remote with buttons and a screen larger than a
> > smartphone.
>
> What sort of screen? You mentioned the possibility of using an old
> Android tablet -- that'd work as a remote using a web server on the Pi
> and accessing it through a browser on the tablet. Essentially the same
> smartphone solution you're so against, but using the tablet instead of
> a phone.
>
Yes, it's not a perfect solution for me/us but a 7" screen would work
*much* better than a phone screen (though some modern phones are
approaching 7").


> Alternatively, you could attach a small screen to the Pi and use a
> Linux media player on the Pi itself ... something like mpd is capable
> of playing either local or networked media to a variety of clients.
> Unless you use a normal desktop monitor you'll probably be using a
> miniature screen made for the Pi, in which case it won't be much bigger
> than a smartphone.
>
Yes, that was one of the things I was wondering about for a Pi (the
screen that is).


> Have a look at https://www.musicpd.org
>
> If you have a keyboard attached to your Pi you could use the
> commandline client mpc (also good for testing) or any one of the other
> clients available.

While I am usually a command line junkie (mutt for E-Mail, tin for
usenet, etc.) and I have played with mpc I don't think it would go
down too well with the other users.


>                       You can even get client libraries that enable you to
> write your own client software -- you might write a player program with
> large text and wire some buttons up to the GPIO bus to drive it (so
> that you don't need a keyboard).
>
> You can interface an i/r sensor to the Pi and use a normal i/r remote
> control to send signals to it to control a media player, but the i/r
> solutions I've seen for Linux always seem a little clunky -- or perhaps
> it's just that i/r seems clunky now that we have WiFi? The Pi doesn't
> have i/r hardware built-in as standard, but flirc receivers are
> available.
>
I think the suggestion elsewhere in this thread of using a remote
mouse would probably be a better solution for us. I use trackballs
rather than mice mostly which would work quite well with a Pi and a
small screen, just leave one's favourite player software running on
the Pi with the screen stuck somewhere handy and then all you need is
to roll the trackball and click buttons.

--
Chris Green
·

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