How to remote control Raspberry Pi desktop screen from Windows

Aim of tutorial: To remote control / share Raspberry pi desktop screen to your Windows computer or Iphone / Ipad / Android / Windows Phone.

Pre-requisites:
> Raspberry pi running Wheezy raspbian OS and connected to a home network router wired /wirelessly.
> Internet enabled on rapsberry Pi
> Ip address of raspberry Pi (ifconfig command)


Step 1: Login to raspberry Pi via putty or connect the raspberry pi to a TV and start the terminal.

Step 2: You can either login as Pi user or root user. remember to add sudo before using any command if logging in as pi user.Find out your IP address using:
ifconfig eth0 or ifconfig wlan0

Step 3: Use the following command and hit enter:

sudo apt-get install xrdp

after the installation completes your XRDP service should now be able to survive reboot also.

chkconfig --level 2345 xrdp on
(you may need to install chkconfig first)

Step 4: Windows PC users can use the in-built program to access their raspberry Pi screen as follows:

 Press the start button and search for "Remote Desktop Connection"

> Start the program by clicking it.
> Enter the Ip-address of raspberry Pi into the computer field and connect.

> You will be welcomed to enter your raspberry Pi login and password.

> The default login for raspberry Pi is , Login Id: pi and password: raspberry
> After a few seconds your raspberry pi's desktop screen will be in front of your eyes.

It is also possible to access your raspberry pi from remote location by port forwarding your router / gateway with Port number: 3389.

Android Users:
You can download "Microsoft Remote Desktop" app from Google Playstore and configure it the same way to access your raspberry pi screen on your android Phone or Tablet.

Windows Phone users:
You can download "ConnectMe" app from windows market place and configure it by entering your raspberry Pi ip address.

  

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How to turn an old Wireless Router to a Wireless repeater OR extend an existing wireless network using DD-WRT firmware.

AIM of Tutorial: To turn a Wi-Fi Router into a WiFi - Card or WiFi - Extender / Repeater to an existing Wireless Network. OR To extend a Wireless Network, wirelessly using another Wifi Router.

Have a spare or outdated router ? If YES ! then here is how to make smart use of it.
All you need to do first is to check the DD-WRT support and custom firmware which needs to be installed before going ahead.

My Network configuration:

1st Router Model:                   Netgear JWNR2000 (Factory Firmware)
1st Router Access:                  192.168.1.1  (DHCP ENABLED)
1st Router Wireless Network: SSID: SoftwareKing
                                               Security type: WPA2 Personal
                                               Encryption Method: AES only
                                               Security Key: mykey12233221

2nd Router Model:                 D-Link DIR-615 E4   (might work with other H/W versions also)
Flashed DDWRT ROM:        (Non- Factory) v24 Pre SP2 [Beta] Build: 21061  (Default settings)
2nd Router access:                 Default IP: 192.168.1.1
                                             Username: admin
                                             Password: admin

Assuming you have already flashed this custom DD-wrt firmware on your router, we will go ahead..

1. > Make a note of your 1st Router's Security type, Encryption Method, Security Key like I have done above. (No changes have been done on 1st router for this tutorial)

On the 2nd Router :

1.> On the main screen, Go to the "Status" Tab and then "Wireless" tab below.
1.1 Scroll down on this page to find the button "Site Survey"

1.2 Click on "Site Survey" to find the wireless networks available nearby.

1.3 Click on "Join" on the specific network to which you want your 2nd router connect to. Say for example: wireless network SoftwareKing being broadcast-ed from my 1st router.

2.> Joining the Network will take me automatically to the Wireless configuration page having the details automatically filled.

2.2 On the same page: Set "Wireless Mode" to "Client" and SAVE.

2.3 Now go to "Wireless Security" and enter the Security Type as WPA2 Personal, AES and the Key: mykey123321 (that matches your 1st router) and SAVE Only.

2.4 Now back to "Basic settings" under Wireless , you will see Virtual interfaces menu,
2.5 Add a virtual interface
2.6 Select Wireless mode: AP
2.7 Wireless Network Name: Anything you like, apart from the 1st router's ssid.
2.8 Wireless ssid broadcast: Enabled
2.9 Advance settings : Un-ticked
and then go to "Wireless Security" and enter the Security Type as, WPA2 Personal, AES and the Key: 2ndmykey123321 SAVE and APPLY.

3.> Now under "Setup" Tab select "Basic setup"
3.1 Set "Connection type" to "Static IP" and set an IP address of range 192.168.1.xxx ( I have set 192.168.1.8)

3.2 Now, Scroll below and set Router IP address to:
Ip Address :192.168.2.1
Subnet mask :255.255.255.0
Gateway: 0.0.0.0 
Local DNS: 0.0.0.0

3.3 Scroll down to DHCP settings and disable the DHCP Server and then SAVE and APPLY.

4.> Now your router will restart and will be accessible only from 192.168.2.1 in the address bar.

4.1 Assign Static IP addresses to all the devices connected to 2nd Router of range 192.168.2.xxx because we have disabled DHCP server on it. 

Note that: The 2nd router will have its own subnet, but services available on 1st subnet would be accessible from 2nd.

And then you can simply connect your 2nd router to another wall socket, may be in other room and connect your to your extended wireless network, via a wired LAN cable or wirelessly.
You will now be able to access internet and other services on all those devices connected to your 2nd router too.

Scope for improvement: Setting up configuration without having another sub-net in 2nd router.

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How to convert any old LCD / LED / Plasma TV into a featured SMART TV

Aim of Tutorial: To convert any LCD/ LED / Plasma Television into a smart television with built in multimedia applications using Raspberry Pi.

Required:
1.> An Internet connection and a LAN Cable.
2.> Raspberry Pi Computer and case.
3.> A standard micro USB mobile charger (5V, 700-1000 ma).
4.> At-least a 4GB SD card or micro-SD card with adapter.
5.> USB Card Reader if no laptop.
6.> HDMI Cable

Download:
1.> Win32 Disk Imager application
2.> Raspbmc_latest.torrent or Direct download raspbmc_latest


[PART-1]: Installing Raspbmc onto Raspberry Pi.

1.> Connect the SD card to a computer using a card reader.

2.> Run Win32 Disk Imager as administrator and browse the raspbmc-2013-12-23.img file.

3.> Now select the appropriate removable disk drive letter from the drop down list (be careful) and press the "Write" button.

4.> After the process of writing completes, safely remove the USB card reader and the SD card and plug it in the raspberry Pi.

5.> Connect the LAN, HDMI, USB Keyboard and Mouse to your Raspberry Pi computer, and power up the system.

Note that, you can use TV's own USB port to power up your Raspberry Pi, in case you do not have any USB port, you can use a standard MicroUSB mobile charger to power up your Raspberry Pi.

6.> In the initial setup, you will be greeted with  completing configuration menu from step 1 to 2. your raspberry pi will restart several times to finally show the welcome screen.



7.> Select appropriate language and locale, if you miss out you can change it later from settings menu.

 8. > You can change any settings related to your Video / Audio output from "Settings" menu, also if you need to tweak your raspberry pi's performance, it can be done from additional settings under "Programs" menu. (though its not necessary until you are geek)

9.> The best thing about Raspberry Pi is that it comes with HDMI-CEC technology, which allows you to remote control the Raspbmc operating system and TV with help of your TV remote simultaneously.

[Part-2]: Navigation using the TV Remote / SmartPhone.

1.> The Directional keys can be used to navigate through menus in XBMC
2.> The Exit button can be used to return to the previous menu.
3.> The Play, Pause, Forward, Reverse and stop buttons can be used to control all your media playback.
4.> The Power button will turn off Raspberry Pi and the TV simultaneously.
5.> The volume button can be used to increase the volume of the playing media.

You can refer to my other post where, I have explained how you can use your smartphone as a Wifi Remote for your Raspberry Pi XMBC media center.

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How to setup Raspberry Pi computer for Torrent downloading and Network Added Storage.

Aim of tutorial : How to setup Raspberry Pi for downloading Torrents and NAS.

This setup will allow one to access their hard disk drive connected to raspberry pi as a network share in windows or an android phone and also enable raspberry pi to download torrents from the internet and automatically share it on the network.  The tutorial is divided into 2 Parts as follows:

1.] Installing Samba server.

2.] Installing the Transmission Torrent Client.

Login to your Raspberry Pi as default user: pi user and password: raspberry

Use "sudo" with every command.

Type the following commands:

[Part 1]: Installation of Samba and Mounting an external USB Hard Disk Drive.

1.> Install SAMBA on Raspberry Pi:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install samba samba-common-bin
sudo cp /etc/samba/smb.conf /etc/samba/smb.conf.copy

2.> Add support for NTFS drives:

sudo apt-get install ntfs-3g
sudo fdisk -l

>> Note down the drive name ( my 1TB drive was listed as: /sda1)

3.> Mount the harddrive and setup mount points:

sudo mkdir /media/WD1TB

4.> Configuring SAMBA:

sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf

Look for ############Authentication############## line
under which you need to remove the # symbol from the line: 

security = user 

and also copy paste the following lines at the end of the file:

[WD_1TB]

comment = WD_1TB

path = /media/WD_1TB

browseable = yes

writeable = yes

public = no

read only = no

valid users = pi

Use "ctrl+x" and then "y" and then "Enter" keys to Save and close the configuration file.

5.> Save and restart SAMBA service:

sudo /etc/init.d/samba restart

6.> Add Unix users: (no need to perform this step if Pi user is already exists)

sudo useradd pi -m -G users
sudo passwd pi

Enter the password twice to confirm.(Entered password will not be shown)

7.> Add pi user to SAMBA Users:

sudo smbpasswd -a pi

Enter the password twice to confirm.(Entered password will not be shown)

8.> Setup hard disk to mount automatically even if Raspberry Pi restarts:

sudo nano /etc/fstab

Enter the following line in the last and Save:

/dev/sda1 /media/WD1TB auto noatime 0 0

9.> Restart Raspberry pi:
      
sudo shutdown -r

By entering the samba user id and password in windows network, you should now be able to access your hard drive connected to raspberry Pi. 

[PART 2]: Installation of Transmission torrent client and configuration

10.> Installing Transmission Torrent downloader:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install transmission transmission-daemon transmission-cli

11.> Configuring Transmission:

sudo service transmission-daemon stop
sudo nano /etc/transmission-daemon/settings.json

Edit the following lines to your needs:

“rpc-enabled”: true,
“rpc-password”: “raspberry”,
“rpc-port”: “9091”,
“rpc-username”: “pi”,
"download-dir”: “/media/WD1TB/Torrent_Downloads”,
”incomplete-dir”: “/media/WD1TB/Torrent_Downloads”,
”incomplete-dir-enabled”: true,

"rpc-whitelist-enabled": false, 
Use "ctrl+x" and then "y" and then "Enter" keys to Save and close the configuration file.

12.> Creating a Downloads directory for Transmission:

cd /media/WD1TB
sudo mkdir Torrent_Downloads

13. > Start the Transmission daemon service:

sudo service transmission-daemon start

Test if the port 9091 is open:
sudo netstat -antup | grep 9091

14.> Adding Transmission to start-up automatically when raspberry pi starts:

sudo apt-get install chkconfig
sudo chkconfig --add transmission-daemon
sudo /sbin/chkconfig --level 2345 transmission-daemon on

15.> Adding User to transmission-daemon group and set up permissions:

sudo service transmission-daemon stop 

sudo adduser pi debian-transmission

sudo nano /etc/init.d/transmission-daemon

and edit the following:

USER=pi

sudo chown pi -R /var/lib/transmission-daemon/info/ 

sudo chown pi -R /media/WD_1TB/Torrent_Downloads

sudo chown pi -R /etc/transmission-daemon/settings.json 

16.> Start Transmission Daemon:

sudo service transmission-daemon start

17.> Accessing Transmission Webpage:

From any device connected to your same network,
open a browser and type:

http://192.168.2.100:9091

This will open Transmission Web-page where you can add, control and monitor your torrents.
Click on the wrench Icon at the bottom to open settings, Network and edit the port to 9092, save.

18.> Configuring Wifi-Router to forward ports for Transmission torrent downloader.

Check how to forward ports in wifi router here: Port Fowarding

Port forward ports 9091, 9092 for RPC(webserver) and Torrent respectively.

Restart the router if necessary and Raspberry Pi

After the download completes, they will automatically show up in the Network share we created in Part-1 of the tutorial.

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