geerlingguy / pi-dev-playbook Goto Github PK

At a minimum, set up Molecule to run the playbook against Debian 10 Buster, and set up yamllint and ansible-lint for Molecule's lint stage.

Ideally, it would be cool if I could find a way to run this against the Raspberry Pi OS image on ARM hardware...

I have a couple Logitech C920 webcams, and I wanted to see if I could use them while streaming and/or recording clips at 1080p... the problem is "it's complicated", and unlike macOS where there are literally a dozen or so free options with fancy/simple GUIs for the purpose, on Linux/RPi, it's a lot more complex.

The most reliable way to capture video is with ffmpeg, but its usage is inscrutable for beginners. And maybe not impossible for me, but it still requires a lot of futzing around.

After reading this article about streaming 1080p content to YouTube directly (without killing your Pi's poor CPU), it was apparent I was in luck that my Logitech C920 has a built-in H.246 encoder that puts out a pre-compressed stream.

Using this incantation gets the video and dumps it into an mp4 file, with minimal CPU usage:

ffmpeg -f v4l2 -codec:v h264 -framerate 30 -video_size 1920x1080 -itsoffset 0.5 -i /dev/video0 -copyinkf -codec:v copy -codec:a aac -ab 128k -g 10 -f mp4 test.mp4

Using a simpler/more standard example from ffmpeg's documentation, however, results in the Pi's CPU struggling to maintain 5 fps:

ffmpeg -f v4l2 -framerate 30 -video_size 1920x1080 -i /dev/video0 output.mkv

You might wonder, 'how do you know the webcam is at /dev/video0? Well, find it with:

$ v4l2-ctl --list-devices
bcm2835-codec-decode (platform:bcm2835-codec):
	/dev/video10
	/dev/video11
	/dev/video12

bcm2835-isp (platform:bcm2835-isp):
	/dev/video13
	/dev/video14
	/dev/video15
	/dev/video16

HD Pro Webcam C920 (usb-0000:01:00.0-1.2.3):
	/dev/video0
	/dev/video1

Now, onto finding a way to get my audio interface into the stream...

Following are some of the settings I've changed just for appearance and initial usage:

• Removed desktop picture.
• Set desktop background to medium grey (solid color).
• Set Dock/Pi bar to bottom, interface defaults to 'Large'.
• Mouse: Acceleration 7.0, Double-click delay 250
• Keyboard: Repeat delay: 500, Repeat interval: 30

Regarding 4K, the Pi is capable of 4K resolution, but with a number of caveats:

1. You can do up to 30 Hz, so there is noticeable 'flicker' while scrolling, moving windows, etc. (jarring to my eyes).
2. The default window manager/UI does not natively have any kind of HiDPI mode built in.
3. You can set many apps to higher font sizes but many apps end up looking a little janky.
4. You can enable 'pixel doubling', but this basically doubles pixels from 1080p resolution, though without anti-aliasing, so (to my eye, at least) it is harder to read (and sticks with 30 Hz refresh rate), so just using 1080p is a better option.

Notes on the keyboard and mouse:

• As with any time I switch platforms (Mac to Windows and vice-versa, especially), my muscle memory for control/option/command/alt really hinders my ability to be productive the first few hours, because I keep accidentally closing something or going back when trying to paste.
• The way mouse acceleration works makes my Apple Magic Trackpad almost completely unusable. I'll have to see if there's a better driver for it I could use. It doesn't feel natural at all. Luckily scroll behavior is pretty good still. Also, can't right click without a driver for it. (For now I'm using my Kensington USB mouse, but boy do I hate mice!).
• The keyboard responsiveness is great, no problems there.

There are a few apps I kind of rely on day-to-day on my Mac:

There are also a dozen or so other apps I probably use once a week and I'd miss them if I had no alternative.

So the point of this issue is to try to figure out if the same app can be had for the Raspberry Pi under arm64 arch, or if I'll need to find a decent substitute (in most cases, probably yes). In a few cases, if there's no substitute, I'll have to find a way to make do with the web app version of something (e.g. Calendar and maybe something like Slack?).

On top of all that, I'd like to see if I can use my typical accessories (AirPods, Behringer USB audio interface, Logitech C920 webcam(s), etc.) with the Pi 4 through an extra USB 3.0 hub. See how far I can go down the road of fully replacing my Mac with an ARM 64-bit SBC.

I know I won't get all the way, but how far can I go? Surely I can do more on it than my iPad Pro, since I actually have some control over the computer :D