[ikk157]

Hello there everyone!

I have two rapsberry pis:
1) the Raspberry Pi 4B with 4GB ram and an external fan powered by the gpio pins with a heatsink.
2) Raspberry Pi 3B+ (comes with 1GB ram as standard, you don’t have an option when it comes to ram).

I really don’t know what to use them for. I feel like it’s wasteful to just leave them there doing nothing.

I initially wanted to use them as a server, but I cannot leave them running 24/7.

Many people suggested running emulators on them. But that’s not my cup of tea.

I really want to make use of them, so I’d love to know what you guys suggest.

Thank you

[Mashiro]

Why exactly can't you let them run 24x7? The power usage is so small that you'd end up only paying a few dollars/euros or whatever currency per year for a Raspberry Pi... you pay more for running your computer for just several hours every day. Is noise a problem? Usually they make no noise unless you actually install a active cooling fan. To avoid this you can get some nice cases that are made fully out of head conductive material like aluminium. So the whole case is the cooling. I checked out benchmark videos and they do help quite a lot compared to those small heatsinks or such. One name I have for you "flirc". Is the light of the LEDs a issue? You can actually disable the PWD and ACT LED. See here.

Anyway. So using them as a server is no option for you. That kills already million possible ideas and things to do. Not doing emulation also kills of some great ideas (retro console, arcade stations and etc). Left overs are educational purposes such as learning to code, programming robots and similar things. Learning how to use Linux also works really well since you can easily reflash the OS when you mess it up. Other things you could do with it... maybe a media center? Kodi alpha for the RPi 4 finally has the ability to use the full power of the GPU and playback real 4K content. That opens many channels for media consumption that older RPis couldn't provide due to lack of computing power.


I have three RPis left unused (original RPi 1 B, RPi 1 B+ and a RPi 3 B+), too. Just really not doing anything with them. I put them away. The RPi 3 B+ I have in a NES case with active cooling, controllers and a 64 GB µSD from Samsung full of NES, SNES and N64 games running Retro Pi. However no time to play...


For many more ideas I actually recommend to check the official RPi forum. They have a forum for projects. People post their ideas there to introduce their projects, show them off or simply get help. That can get you ideas .

[ikk157]

Why exactly can't you let them run 24x7? The power usage is so small that you'd end up only paying a few dollars/euros or whatever currency per year for a Raspberry Pi... you pay more for running your computer for just several hours every day. Is noise a problem? Usually they make no noise unless you actually install a active cooling fan. To avoid this you can get some nice cases that are made fully out of head conductive material like aluminium. So the whole case is the cooling. I checked out benchmark videos and they do help quite a lot compared to those small heatsinks or such. One name I have for you "flirc". Is the light of the LEDs a issue? You can actually disable the PWD and ACT LED. See here.

Anyway. So using them as a server is no option for you. That kills already million possible ideas and things to do. Not doing emulation also kills of some great ideas (retro console, arcade stations and etc). Left overs are educational purposes such as learning to code, programming robots and similar things. Learning how to use Linux also works really well since you can easily reflash the OS when you mess it up. Other things you could do with it... maybe a media center? Kodi alpha for the RPi 4 finally has the ability to use the full power of the GPU and playback real 4K content. That opens many channels for media consumption that older RPis couldn't provide due to lack of computing power.


I have three RPis left unused (original RPi 1 B, RPi 1 B+ and a RPi 3 B+), too. Just really not doing anything with them. I put them away. The RPi 3 B+ I have in a NES case with active cooling, controllers and a 64 GB µSD from Samsung full of NES, SNES and N64 games running Retro Pi. However no time to play...


For many more ideas I actually recommend to check the official RPi forum. They have a forum for projects. People post their ideas there to introduce their projects, show them off or simply get help. That can get you ideas .

The reason why I can’t run it 24/7 isn’t really an issue with leaving the raspberry pis on 24/7. It’s an issue with having an internet connection 24/7. The people here at home are super paranoid about leaving the router on at night, hence they turn it off. Trust me, I’ve tried everything to convince them, none of which really worked. And obviously without an Internet connection, I can’t use the raspberry pis as a 24/7 server. (Otherwise I wouldn’t even be here since I could’ve used it instead of a vps haha).

I like your idea with kodi, but I already have an apple tv just for that. I can’t seem to get much inspiration from the raspberry pi forums either.

Apologies for being very picky.

[Mashiro]

Well, as far as I'm aware you don't have to run a server application on it that requires 24x7 Internet access. Take Pihole as an example. This will allow you to run a DNS server at home for yourself (your local network) that filters out ads on DNS level. This will just start working as soon as your folks start the router again and that's it. No issues with not having a Internet connection. I love Pihole. Blocks ads before they get to you. Helps saving bandwidth and can help to protect you from malware and similar by blocking access to ads hat spread malware or sites that are known for spreading malware.

Site: https://pi-hole.net/


There are many other server applications you can run for yourself in your own local network without the need of an Internet connection at all times.


No need to be sorry. I'm pretty much in the same situation as you. I have a NAS with 8 TB storage that runs a Plex server and as a player I use a Amazon FireTV 4K stick. So I don't use a RPi as a media center either (especially since the RPi 3 B+ can't play 4K or even 720/1080p @ 10 Bit or HEVC but my Amazon FireTV 4K stick can play all of it without any issues).

Basically we already have everything we need somehow in a different way but we have some devices that we got and aren't using them... looking for a final purpose for them is hard because "we basically have everything already". Right? That is the situation you are in?

[ikk157]

Well, as far as I'm aware you don't have to run a server application on it that requires 24x7 Internet access. Take Pihole as an example. This will allow you to run a DNS server at home for yourself (your local network) that filters out ads on DNS level. This will just start working as soon as your folks start the router again and that's it. No issues with not having a Internet connection. I love Pihole. Blocks ads before they get to you. Helps saving bandwidth and can help to protect you from malware and similar by blocking access to ads hat spread malware or sites that are known for spreading malware.

Site: https://pi-hole.net/


There are many other server applications you can run for yourself in your own local network without the need of an Internet connection at all times.


No need to be sorry. I'm pretty much in the same situation as you. I have a NAS with 8 TB storage that runs a Plex server and as a player I use a Amazon FireTV 4K stick. So I don't use a RPi as a media center either (especially since the RPi 3 B+ can't play 4K or even 720/1080p @ 10 Bit or HEVC but my Amazon FireTV 4K stick can play all of it without any issues).

Basically we already have everything we need somehow in a different way but we have some devices that we got and aren't using them... looking for a final purpose for them is hard because "we basically have everything already". Right? That is the situation you are in?

Well, I wouldn’t say I’ve got everything. But I would say I’ve already got what the raspberry pi could’ve been haha.

And pihole sure sounds like a great idea! Will definitely give it a try! Let’s hope it works well as an ad blocker.

[rudra]

i always wanted to check how raspberry pi performs when running a light Linux and running vnc or something to remote into a severe running full desktop. but i guess even the 1gb rPI is enough for that. still, you could configure and try it and tell me how it functions. using a full hd monitor.

that idea came to me when i wanted to use my vps as the main system for all my files and projects. so i just carry my pi and my system is always there for me. just need a monitor..hdmi

then i dropped the idea. cause i can put together a fairly ok computer without monitor at the cost of a complete pi setup. it will have the advantage of being repairable. while one will have to just throw away the pi if it gets faulty.

[ikk157]

i always wanted to check how raspberry pi performs when running a light Linux and running vnc or something to remote into a severe running full desktop. but i guess even the 1gb rPI is enough for that. still, you could configure and try it and tell me how it functions. using a full hd monitor.

that idea came to me when i wanted to use my vps as the main system for all my files and projects. so i just carry my pi and my system is always there for me. just need a monitor..hdmi

then i dropped the idea. cause i can put together a fairly ok computer without monitor at the cost of a complete pi setup. it will have the advantage of being repairable. while one will have to just throw away the pi if it gets faulty.

I really like your idea of using the pi as a portable vnc viewing machine.

How about you also throw in a touchscreen along with a portable charger. That way, you can literally use it anywhere without having to look for an hdmi monitor or power source. So it basically becomes an independent device.

And I also agree with your point on repairability. The raspberry pi seems to not be repairable at all. If anything fails in it hardware wise, you’re pretty much doomed. Even asking in their forums you’ll get told to just buy a new one. I absolutely hate this!

But hey, for something with that price tag, can we really complain? They obviously cut corners and sacrificed many things to get it to be that cheap. And here we are, the consumers, paying the price.

[humanpuff69]

the 4gb one is great for daily light desktop uses it have powerfull processor and huge ram . it is also great for emulation thanks to the improved processor . the 3 is kinda underpowered it can run lower emulation and the 1gb of ram is very bottleneck for desktop use espescially with browser

[rudra]

i was told that even raspberry pi 3b could be used as a system to do work over vnc. i mean remotely logging in a system over network / internet. Could anyone please confirm that from personal experience ? Using full size monitor (1080p i mean).

4gb ram raspberry pi v4 b is awesome i am told. playing full hd youtube in full screen gets it bogged down a bit. otherwise it can be used as a desktop. But i would be very careful to use a good hunk of metal with good heat dissipation surface area in good contact with the heat generating chips . heat kills electronics fast.

[LightDestory]

Well, you can use your mobos to experience with Arduino alike stuff.
The first card is very powerful for its range of activity so using it for Arduino is a waste, maybe something more resource-eater like NAS manager or TORRENT station?