Introduction & Requirements

Hardware and add-ons

This is an attempt to document the best options for a stable and reliable installation of H2R-Graphics Server on Raspberry Pi. The full use-case described here would be for stand-alone and automated Raspberry Pi running without keyboard or mouse installed in a rack or fly-case with both HDMI output directly connected to a video switcher. (I use a BMD ATEM mini-extreme ISO).

Requirements

-Raspberry Pi5 -Proper power supply for your PI (not any brick will do!) -Fan for your Pi5. (Unlike the Pi4, the Pi5 wont perform well fanless) -Keyboard, mouse and monitor of initial setup -Raspi-Imager software -Micro-SD card reader -Reliable micro-SD Card (can you get less than 32G these days?) I believe the micro-SD card is probably the greatest point of failure. It will fail over time if you have continuous use of your Pi. Good quality cards will give you more mileage.

Alternatives

M.2 SSD

As of January 2024 expansion cards for the Pi-5 that support M.2 memory are coming on the market and a positive alternative to using SD card who can be a point of failure. As more become available I plan to update my setup to use M.2 SSD as opposed to an SD card to improve reliability

Raspberry Pi 4B

The Pi4 is probably "good enough" to run the H2R-Graphics Server for light duty. If you plan to use it with 2 outputs and/or videos, probably not a good choice. In early test it did perform well. As of January 2024 this tutorial only covers the Raspberry Pi5. Instructions to make this work are very similar but if you are not familiar with the Pi OS it could be challenging because of the many differences between the Pi4 and Pi5.

PoE

There are available add-ons to power the Pi over PoE that I believe would improve the overall workflow if your kit already has a PoE switch