[rene]

I saw a KODI in the car post and I realized I had never posted anything on the portable setup I cobbled together for my kids before embarking on a three week road trip in 2014.

I started with two jailbroken iPads which have KODI installed.
I added a HooToo TripMate (http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00DTPYRTI) and a 500 gig portable hard drive and "installed" them in a lock 'n' lock container.

The HooToo has WiFi, a USB connection and it's own battery plus more). It is also powered/charged by a Micro-USB connection plugged into the vehicle.

The hard drive was plugged into the HooToo and powered by it.
I set up a share on the hard drive using the HooToo App.
I connected the iPads to the HooToo's wireless and then pointed KODI on the iPads to that folder and the kids were able to enjoy the full library experience in the car, wirelessly.

This worked like a charm for that road trip and many other road trips since then. It also works great for rainy days in the camper where we have absolutely no internet access and days when we might be stuck in a hotel room.

An added bonus is that I can recharge my iPhone using the HooToo if needed.
When running the harddrive I get over an hour of life from the built in battery. I'm pretty sure a USB thumb drive would consume a lot less power and generate less heat as well.

I don't have any pictures handy, but if anyone really wanted to see them I'm sure I could post a few.

[vineet381]

That's sounds like a great idea!
Do you mind sharing the settings/ connections (home and car) on how your kids are able to stream videos stored on your hardrive at home.
I have Syology NAS drive at home connected to my router and was wondering if I can utilize something like this.

Also, when the kids are watching videos in the car, does that consume the internet/ data?

Thanks

[rene]

They don't stream videos from a hard drive at home. They only stream while we are out of the house and the hard drive comes with us and is connected to the HooToo.

All videos are served from the hard drive which is connected to the HooToo. There is no internet connection used, just a local (wireless) network.

The HooToo can connect to an internet service (i.e. A network jack in a hotel room or a wireless lan in a hotel or at home) but we do not use this feature for the purpose of watching movies.

[vineet381]

Got it! Thank you.

[trogggy]

I do something similar for long trips.
Raspberry pi, wifi stick, usb hard drives and powered hub sit in the glove box. The pi's connected to the car stereo via aux-in, so play music, audiobooks via yatse. Video goes to tablets via 'davessmashingcarfi', unless internet's needed in which case the pi's connected to a mifi.
And at the other end I can take it all out and attach it to the telly.

[DarrenHill]

Likewise for when I'm travelling. I have a RavPower Filehub, which if I remember well is basically the same as your HooToo device (wifi hotspot, battery and able to share either its internal micro-SD card or whatever is connected to its USB port - in my case usually a WD MyPassport 2TB).

I'm in the process of finalising my Pi Zero as a portable media player as a front-end, either pulling from that via wifi or just directly from the MyPassport using a PiDrive cable to power both the Pi and the MP. Can use that to chuck stuff to the hotel TV via HDMI, or alternatively use my Tab S2 to playback (via Kodi of course on both devices).

The Zero currently has an IR diode connected up to it so can be controlled using an old remote handset (as hotel TVs never seem to have CEC enabled), but the next little project is to add some hardware buttons to the Zero for not-so-remote control too. I have the python script for that up and working using a temporary breadboard set-up for the buttons, and I'm awaiting delivery of a ProtoZero pHat board via Kickstarter to finish that off as a proper final addition to the Zero (and it will still have the diode then wired up to the board too).

[Kib]

I would like to see some pictures !

[DarrenHill]

Mine will need a little while for the Protozero board to arrive so I can wire it up (unless you like pics of circuitry on breadboard), but happy to oblige once it's done.

[mikeflan]

After reading everyone's comments about the HooDoo tripmate, I took the plunge and purchased the cheapest one they had on amazon (around $16). After ten minutes of configuration, I've got it streaming tons of kids stuff to the Ipads in the car via a combination of the HooDoo tripmate app and VLC. Impressive stuff, so much so I bought the bigger version with the 10000 Mah battery to make the thing more portable. Very cool.

[mizzicrazi]

[i] Is it worth using or is it a head pain