piCRT

piCRT is a Raspberry Pi-powered retro media player written in Go and Svelte, with a terminal-style UI, designed for automated video playback and remote control.

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📜 Features

• 🔹 ASCII/BBS-style UI
• 🔹 Categorised media playback (e.g., Anime, JDM, Longplays)
• 🔹 Remote control via a web UI.
• 🔹 Runs on a Raspberry Pi with a Go backend & SvelteKit frontend.
• 🔹 Auto-starts on boot using systemd.

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Screenshots

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🚀 Installation & Setup

1️⃣ Clone the Repository

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/piCRT.git
cd piCRT

2️⃣ Build & Deploy

On Your Dev Machine (Arch/Linux/MacOS):

GOOS=linux GOARCH=arm64 go build -o server main.go
cd svelte-ui
npm install
npm run build
cd ..

Transfer to Raspberry Pi

scp -r server pi@<PI-IP>:/home/pi/piCRT/
scp -r svelte-ui/build pi@<PI-IP>:/home/pi/piCRT/build/

Or SSH into your Raspberry Pi and use the deployment script:

ssh pi@<PI-IP>
cd /home/pi/piCRT
./deploy-to-pi.sh

3️⃣ Setup systemd Service

On Raspberry Pi:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/piCRT.service

Paste the following:

[Unit]
Description=piCRT Go Server
After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/home/pi/piCRT/server
Restart=always
User=pi
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi/piCRT
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal
Environment="PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin"
Environment=PICRT_MEDIA_PATH=/home/pi/media/

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Save (Ctrl+X, Y, Enter), then enable & start the service:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable piCRT
sudo systemctl start piCRT

4️⃣ Access the UI

• Open http://<PI-IP>:5000/ in a browser.
• Use the UI to browse & play videos.

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🛠️ Development Workflow

Updating Code & Deploying

Use the provided script to sync files and restart the server:

./deploy-to-pi.sh

Or SSH into your Raspberry Pi and run:

ssh pi@<PI-IP>
cd /home/pi/piCRT
./deploy-to-pi.sh

Checking Logs & Debugging

sudo systemctl status piCRT   # Check service status
journalctl -u piCRT --follow  # View logs

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🛠️ Dev Mode & Media Path

Want to use a different media folder for development or testing? Just set the PICRT_MEDIA_PATH environment variable when you run the server. This way, you don't have to edit the code to switch between your dev and production media folders.

Why?

• Makes it easy to test with a different set of videos on your laptop or dev machine.
• Keeps your production setup clean and safe.

How to use:

• On Linux/macOS:

  PICRT_MEDIA_PATH=/path/to/your/dev/media go run server.go
  # or if running the built binary
  PICRT_MEDIA_PATH=/path/to/your/dev/media ./server

• On Windows (cmd):

  set PICRT_MEDIA_PATH=C:\path\to\your\dev\media
  go run server.go

• On Windows (PowerShell):

  $env:PICRT_MEDIA_PATH="C:\path\to\your\dev\media"
  go run server.go

• For production/systemd: Add this to your service file:

  Environment=PICRT_MEDIA_PATH=/home/pi/media/

If you don't set it, the server defaults to /home/pi/media/.

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📜 TODO & Future Features

• ✅ Add dynamic thumbnails for videos.
• ✅ Implement category filtering.
• ✅ Support for YouTube links.
• 🛠️ Improve mobile UI.

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🖥️ Tech Stack

• Backend: Go
• Frontend: SvelteKit + Tailwind CSS
• Deployment: systemd + SSH + SCP