Amazon Prime Video on Raspberry Pi
Ever since I got familiar with Raspberry Pi, I am trying to use it as a PC/Laptop to do my regular work like Coding, Document Drafting, Web Browsing etc. As it’s a bit different hardware it’s OS type is different too, making it a bit tricky to run as your daily use PC/Laptop. There are many different versions of OS available for Raspberry Pi to use it as a PC, e.g Raspbian, Ubuntu Mate, Windows IoT Core and many more, but I stumbled upon a problem when I wanted to stream Amazon Prime Video on my Ras-Pi and connect it to my big screen to use it as a media center. Youtube can be streamed on almost all OS but the browser version limitation causes trouble in streaming Amazon Prime, Netflix etc. I wanted to use the Raspberry Pi as a media center so that I can free my PC from multi tasking connected to a big screen streaming videos and on the main screen doing other work like coding, playing games etc.
There are many other types of OS available for Raspberry Pi to use it as a Retro Gaming Console, Media Center etc, and luckily I tried one and my Amazon Prime Video Streaming problem was solved.
Here are the list of things you need to proceed with the steps:
- Raspberry Pi 3 Model B
- LibreELEC ( Media Center Type OS — https://libreelec.tv/downloads/)
- A micro memory card - Minimum (16 GB)
- A memory card Reader/Writer (To write the OS on the memory card)
- Your PC/Laptop
Follow the below steps to create a media center with your Raspberry Pi:
- Install OS on Raspberry Pi
i) Download the LibreELEC OS from the given link. Download the version compatible with your PC version.
ii) Plugin your memory card to your pc.
iii) Open the downloaded file and Select Version as Raspberry Pi 2 or 3 and make sure your memory card is selected.
iv) Hit Write.
v) Once write is complete insert the memory card in Raspberry Pi and boot it up.
vi) Follow the setup wizard and make sure to connect it to internet.
vii) This is the base official version of the OS but we need to update it to a different version to enable it to stream videos. Go to, Settings> Libreelec> System> Updates
viii) Set “Automatic Updates” to “manual” — “Show Custom Channels” / “show custom channels”
ix) For “ Custom Channel 1” enter the following: http://milhouse.libreelec.tv/builds/master/RPi2 (Works for RPi 3)
x) Select “Milhouse-9.0” or greater for “Update Channel”
xi) Select a current build for “Available Versions” (Select the most recent one)
After this the updates will be downloaded and installed and your Raspberry Pi will restart 2–3 times and should boot up with new version of the OS.
2. Download and install Amazon Prime Add On
i) Enable, install from unknown sources.
ii) For addons look for and install the Kodinerds Repo.
iii) Go to “Install from Repo”, the Kodinerds Repo select and install the sandman79 repo at addon directory.
iv) Install the desired Amazon addon in the Sandmann Repo for video addons (I installed Amazon VOD)
v) Configure the addon, select “Input Stream” as a rendering method, Open Inputstream Addon Settings. After selecting this it may prompt to download an update, please proceed with the wizard to complete the updates.
vi) In Amazon VOD Settings shown above, go to Connections and hit signin to enter your Amazon Prime credentials. After sometimes it will show a popup saying logged in. (Beware that entering your amazon prime credential in a open source addon library is bit risky (but I believe in creators of the project).
That’s it, we are done with the setup. close the settings and wait for the categories to load. Try searching titles or hit the categories but it will take some time to load because of Raspberry Pi H/W limitations. The best way to watch is find the titles and add to your favorites. You can find and play them directly from the main menu of the LibreElEC OS.
This way you can install Addons for Netflix, Youtube and many other video and also music streaming services. You can find many live TV channels as well. There are lot of stuff you can do with this OS and use your Raspberry Pi as a media center and convert your Big Dumb Flat Screen into smart TV.