homebridge-omxplayer

A Raspberry Pi (only) Plugin to download and play any YouTube video or a local video file using omxplayer.

New version (2.0) - This plugin is a platform now and have many new features:

Play Playlist - to play the tracks in their order.

Play Playlist Shuffle - to play tracks in a random order.

Play Next Switch - to play the next song in the list.

Pause Switch - to pause/resume playback.

Repeat All - set to true to allow the playlist to repeat itsef when it**s done.

Volume Control Light Bulb - to control the volume of the track, when set to false 100% volume will be used.

Format in config - for choosing the quality of the downloaded file. USE WITH CAUTION - See "Formats" section below.

Path in config - to choose which folder to download the files. when not set, the default persist folder will be chosen.

Output in config - to select your audio output ("both, "hdmi", "local", "alsa"), default to "both.

Example config.json:

"platforms": [
   {
       "platform": "OmxPlayer",
       "name": "Baby Playlist",
       "playPlaylistSwitch": true,
       "shuffleSwitch": true,
       "repeatAll": true,
       "format": "18",
       "path": "remove this row to download to default persist folder",
       "output": "both",
       "playNextSwitch": true,
       "pauseSwitch": true,
       "volumeControl": true,
       "playlist": [
           {
               "switchName": "Coldplay Babies Go",
               "youtube": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7G-hU5Eaxc",
               "loop": false
           },
           {
               "switchName": "Beatles Babies Go",
               "youtube": "https://youtu.be/cF4jiDsifmo",
               "loop": false
           },
           {
               "switchName": "testFile",
               "filename": "my_video.mp4"
           },
           {
               "switchName": "Lullaby",
               "youtube": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAGP3LwyP0M",
               "loop": true
           },
           {
               "switchName": "Lullaby2",
               "youtube": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhh9OQKh-Sc"
           },
           {
               "switchName": "Lullaby3",
               "youtube": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhh9OQKh-Sc"
           }
       ]
   }
]

Why do we need this plugin?

This plugin is great for getting some music and videos into scenes and automations, for example:

• It can be used for a "Good Night" scene with a lullaby music for babies (can be done with speakers only connected to Pi).
• It can play music videos on TV screen (connected to the Raspberry Pi) when "Arrive Home" is triggered.
• it can be connected to a projector and project any video (I used it for the kids room).

How it works

Basically, all you need to do is:

1. Set the desired youtube url or local filename.
2. Use this switch in any scene or automation.

when setting a new youtube link, only for the first time,the video will be downloaded which should take a few seconds.

How to install

sudo apt-get install omxplayer

sudo npm install -g homebridge-omxplayer

The raspberry pi should be logged in with the same user that runs homebridge. It is suggested to use auto-login when Raspberry rebooted.

Troubleshooting

Permissions issue

If you're running homebridge on a different user than pi you may have permission issues. Try running the following commands:

sudo usermod -a -G video $(whoami)

sudo chmod 777 /usr/lib/node_modules/homebridge-omxplayer/node_modules/youtube-dl/bin/youtube-dl

Delete any .mp4 files inside your /tmp folder.

Make sure your home folder exists at /home/USERNAME and run sudo chmod -R 0777 /home/USERNAME

Reboot and try again.

Formats

Easy Formats

"best": Select the best quality format represented by a single file with video and audio.

"worst": Select the worst quality format represented by a single file with video and audio.

"bestvideo": Select the best quality video-only format (e.g. DASH video). May not be available.

"worstvideo": Select the worst quality video-only format. May not be available.

"bestaudio": Select the best quality audio only-format. May not be available.

"worstaudio": Select the worst quality audio only-format. May not be available

For Experts

it will only download if this version is available for all your tracks

| format code | extension | resolution | note | | ------------ | ---------- | ------------ | ------ | | 140 | m4a | audio only | DASH audio , audio@128k (worst)| | 160 | mp4 | 144p | DASH video , video only| | 133 | mp4 | 240p | DASH video , video only| | 134 | mp4 | 360p | DASH video , video only| | 135 | mp4 | 480p | DASH video , video only| | 136 | mp4 | 720p | DASH video , video only| | 17 | 3gp | 176x144 | | | 36 | 3gp | 320x240 | | | 5 | flv | 400x240 | | | 43 | webm | 640x360 | | | 18 | mp4 | 640x360 | | | 22 | mp4 | 1280x720 | (best)|

Credits

This plugin was inspired by homebridge-dummy by @nfarina and the idea for this plugin came from my little brother @nitaybz which has written many other plugins already, so you should definitely explore his repos too: https://github.com/nitaybz?tab=repositories