Seven Pre-Built Raspberry Pi Projects You Can Install in a Few Clicks

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The Raspberry Pi is a home DIYer’s dream, but if you don’t feel like messing around with the command line and setting up a project from scratch, here are seven projects you can launch in just a few clicks.

Each of these projects still requires a little tweak after download to get everything set up, but they all have all the software you need to get your project up and running quickly. At best, all you have to do is enter your network password.

How to install these projects

To install these projects, you just need to clone the images to your SD card and put it in your Raspberry Pi. The process is the same for all of these :

Window

  1. Download the IMG file from the project you want to create.
  2. Download Win32DiskImager and unzip the application (.exe file) inside.
  3. Insert the SD card into your Windows computer using a card reader.
  4. Open Win32DiskImager.exe, the application you just downloaded, by double clicking on it. If you are using Windows 7 or 8, right-click it and select “Run as administrator”.
  5. If your SD card is not automatically detected by the application, click the drop-down menu in the upper right corner (labeled “Device”) and select it from the list.
  6. In the application section with image files, click the small folder icon and select the IMG file you just downloaded.
  7. Click the Write button and wait for Win32DiskImager to do its job. When it’s over, you can safely remove the SD card and insert it into your Raspberry Pi.

OS X

  1. Download the IMG file from the project you want to create.
  2. Download the RPi-sd map builder (be sure to select the correct version for the OS X version you have installed) and unzip the application.
  3. Insert your SD card into Mac using a card reader.
  4. Open the RPi-sd Map Designer. You will be immediately prompted to select an image. Select the IMG file you downloaded earlier.
  5. You will be asked if your SD card is connected. Since we inserted it earlier, it is, so click “Continue”. You will be presented with SD card options. If you only have one inserted, you will not see anything else in the list and it will be checked. If not, just check only the card you want to use and click OK.
  6. Enter the administrator password and click OK.
  7. You will be asked if the SD card has been removed. This must happen because the application must unmount it in order for it to perform a direct copy. Check again that your SD card is no longer available in Finder. DO NOT remove it from the USB port. If you are sure, click “Continue”.
  8. The RPi-sd card maker finishes preparing your SD card, safely ejecting it, and inserting it into your Raspberry Pi device.

RPi-sd Map Maker is not so much an app as it is an Automator action that acts as one. Some people have reported problems using it, so if you have any problems, just open the Terminal application (Your Hard Drive → Applications → Utilities → Terminal) and follow the Linux instructions.

Turn your Raspberry Pi into an AirPlay speaker

The process of turning your Raspberry Pi into an AirPlay speaker isn’t overly complicated , but it takes a lot of command line tinkering to get it working properly. This is why Raspberry Pi forum member rapsberrye created a pre-configured image so you don’t have to do any work.

All you have to do is download the image , place it on the SD card , and then turn on the Raspberry Pi. Your Raspberry Pi will immediately show up as an AirPlay-compatible player, and you’ll even have Watchdog installed to reload the AirPlay software in case something goes wrong.

Make a Minecraft server

Surprisingly, you can make a great little Minecraft server out of a Raspberry Pi, but setting it up yourself is quite tedious. You’re stuck digging through a bunch of different settings and tweaking different settings to make Minecraft really run smoothly. MinecraftPi fixes this.

All you have to do is install MinecraftPi to your SD card and download it to your Raspberry Pi. You will need to become an administrator , but otherwise you can start playing Minecraft right away on your local network. The image is even set to overclock your Pi from the get-go, so you don’t even have to fiddle with those settings.

Running a private or public WordPress site

As you might expect, setting up your Raspberry Pi as a web server is a lot of work. PressPi makes this incredibly easy and also installs WordPress in the image.

After booting up the Raspberry Pi with the PressPi image, you can directly log into your local WordPress version. If you want to do it online so anyone can access it, you will need to follow the guide on the PressPi page to open your router to outside traffic, but otherwise this is probably the easiest way to instantly turn your Pi to the web. server.

Make a wireless access point

The Raspberry Pi makes a great little router or wireless access point. Once set up, you can use it to expand your Wi-Fi network, create a single hotspot, or even give guests access to your Wi-Fi without letting them get into your network.

It takes a lot of time to manually configure it all, Pi-Point is a custom image that includes everything you need. If you’re using it for anything other than a simple hotspot, you’ll need to tweak a bit to get it to work with your network, but otherwise it’s pretty much a one-click setup.

Customize Retro Game Center

We’ve talked a lot about using RetroPie to turn your Raspberry Pi into a retro gaming console, but this really is one of the best stock images out there. It takes hours to manually install everything in the RetroPie image, and it’s surprisingly easy to screw it up.

On the way RetroPie you get dozens of emulators are automatically included total access to SAMBA and SSH, USB-enabled daemon to copy the ROM with USB, and it’s packed with drivers for most popular controllers. All you have to do is turn it on, copy your ROM collection and you are ready to go.

Stream all your music from the Raspberry Pi

If you want to use your Raspberry Pi as a small music streaming device, the MusicBox is your best bet. You can use your Raspberry Pi to stream music from Spotify, Google Music, SoundCloud, various radio stations and podcasts.

The best part is that you don’t have to do anything other than enter your login details. The MusicBox comes with remote control interfaces, MPD support, AirPlay, DLNA streaming, USB audio support, and supports a variety of sound cards. You don’t even need to dig into the command line to get it to work.

Simultaneous launch of Ubuntu Linaro, Raspbian, OpenELEC and RISC OS

Setting up a multiboot system on a Raspberry Pi is surprisingly difficult, but Raspberry Pi forum member Mequa has created a pretty killer multiboot system with several great operating systems.

The Mequa “Monster” image requires a 32GB SD card and a Raspberry Pi 2. You will receive one image that includes Ubuntu Linaro , Raspbian , OpenELEC and RISC OS . Everything is pre-configured and ready to go, so as soon as you get your SD card, you’ll immediately start experimenting with the operating system of your choice.

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