Using Two Raspberry Pi

highsane

Hello,

I'm newbie for Rune Audio and have been testing it with an earlier version of Raspberry (the first ver.) for more than a week. It just works and I'm pretty happy with the reliability.

Now I have a DIY project in my mind which includes a set-top-box like device that has 1 x Raspberry 2, 1 x Raspberry A(which I already have) and a 3.5" touch LCD. As the only way to access RuneUI is using another device browser (mobile or desktop), my plan is to configure "Raspberry A + 3.5 touch LCD + Raspbian" and autoload "RuneUI of Raspberry 2" in web browser after the boot-up.

My main purpose is continuously displaying the Playback screen and show the cover over my AMP. In order to skip to next track or see the playing song name, I do not want to unlock iPhone and call RuneUI from Safari.

I have some concerns;

- Will 3.5" 480x320 display will successfully show track details and cover?
- I will need two power supplies, one ETH hub to connect two Raspberries and a bigger housing,
- Anyone tried such a solution before? Do you think it is meaningful?

Thanks in advance,

Highsane

Aquarius

Hi,

Your screen resolution should be enough to display the track details and the rotary knob, but you may have to scroll down to see the cover and the volume control. Depending on how the UI is implemented, you may also have trouble with the lower part of the UI "Library / Playback ..." which might not fit.

But with a Raspi 2, why do you need a second one ? why not install the necessary package on top of the Archlinux install and load the localhost UI directly in the browser ? I understand that you want to use your existing Rpi A, but that seems pointless to me. The Model 2 should have all the necessary power to run both the graphical interface and the UI AND play music correctly.

highsane

Dear Aquarius,

Thanks for your kind reply. In fact, I could only find one 3.5" LCD which is not compatible with Rpi2 in local store (in Turkey).
Maybe I should order a compatible display from UK. Secondly, I'm not familiar with the Linux world, thats why I did not thought that it would be possible to run a browser on Archlinux via installing necessary packages. Any guidance (links) will be highly appreciated.

A final question: If I want to use an external DAC in the future (like hifiberry or Rpi DAC+) via Rpi2 GPIOs, do you know is it still possible to use the LCD and DAC together (I2S pins needed to ported over LCD?)

Thanks.

Aquarius

You might want to try this for Archlinux help:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Raspberry_Pi

If you have already bought your LCD for your Raspberry A then so be it, use that. (how does it connect to the network ? wifi or ethernet USB adapter ?)
If you haven't bought your LCD, then I would try to find one that fits the RPi B+ or RPi 2 (they are compatible).

As for your other question: it depends. Normally you shouldn't have any issue, as the pins used for I²S (for the DACs like Hifiberry) shouldn't be the same as for the display. the problem is to stack the boards on eachother. There are raisers that extend the GPIO higher to stack multiple boards but I've never needed it myself so I can't comment on how it works;