[Abshole]

Not sure where I should place this, so I'll start it in this section..

I have a Model B RPi with xbian running on it as my media center, and I recently bought a second Rpi (Model A) and this 7 inch touch panel. I'm hoping to use the second Pi & touch panel as a remote to control my media center. I guess you could say I want a cheap tablet

I've looked into various ways of doing this and they all end up with a web browser (simple web browser, remote desktop -> web browser). I know that xbmc can be set up to be used on a touch screen (I've seen that done with the same touch screen (LINK), but I see no way possible to control one session of XBMC with another separate session. As far as the Beagleboard, I believe it can run Android, which would (I'm assuming) allow me to use something like Yatse.

Any help or suggestions?

[hernandito]

Sorry for not getting the geek-out, DIY thing... but why not get a simple IR remote control to control the thing $15...? if you have a smartphone, there are remote apps for iOS and Android...

Please take my comment lightly, I am sure it will be a cool challenge for the maker crowd. I prefer to have an infallible, reliable media center experience.

[el_Paraguayo]

The remote app comment is a valid point. But it's not quite as fun as building something yourself (which is what the pi is all about).

If it were me, I'd do this in pygame to make a basic interface - I'd create a screen with various buttons displayed and then get them so send controls to XBMC (can do this via JSON or event-client) but I'd probably struggle if I wanted to scroll through libraries etc.!

I'd do it this way because I've got some basic experience with pygame but there are bound to be other ways it can be done.

Which route you go down will depend on how much functionality you want the touch screen to have.

[Abshole]

Sorry for not getting the geek-out, DIY thing... but why not get a simple IR remote control to control the thing $15...? if you have a smartphone, there are remote apps for iOS and Android...

Please take my comment lightly, I am sure it will be a cool challenge for the maker crowd. I prefer to have an infallible, reliable media center experience.

Sure, I could buy a remote to control it, but having an interface in front of you that just lists the movies or shows with it's brief description makes it easier for people who aren't tech savy. I can't recall how many times while my parents have called me asking how to do something while they were at my home and I was away.

I do use the xbmc app on my phone, but in my opinion the main screen (at least for iPhone) is jam packed & slightly busy.

The remote app comment is a valid point. But it's not quite as fun as building something yourself (which is what the pi is all about).

If it were me, I'd do this in pygame to make a basic interface - I'd create a screen with various buttons displayed and then get them so send controls to XBMC (can do this via JSON or event-client) but I'd probably struggle if I wanted to scroll through libraries etc.!

I'd do it this way because I've got some basic experience with pygame but there are bound to be other ways it can be done.

Which route you go down will depend on how much functionality you want the touch screen to have.

Could you happen to explain pygame a little more? I've never heard of it. Is it easy for a beginner to use? What you described is basically all I'm looking for.

[el_Paraguayo]

Pygame is a python library which, unsurprisingly, was developed to help write games in python. As an result, it has methods to render text and images on the screen while also detecting events (key poses etc) which can be used to trigger actions.

There's an example on the raspberry pi forum of someone who made a remote for his receiver using pygame. See http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewto...41&t=56146

I've used pygame for various things, including as a display for my Logitech media server, which shows how easy it is to render anything you want to the screen. See http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=51807

Once you've set up your screen, you then need to configure it so that pressing the screen in certain areas trigger actions in xbmc.

Depending what you want your remote to do you could use json calls or the event client library to send commands. Json could also be used to retrieve information.

[Abshole]

Interesting. Looks like I'm going to have to to a bit of reading.

I've seen the post about the Onkyo Touchscreen remote before, just never really looked into it.

-Edit-

I just read about HTPC Manager & Maraschino. Wonder if it would be possible to get one of those running.