With the recent GN video I’d been wondering about turning an old mini PC from eBay into a little Linux TV box for streaming. I’d need access to Android apps (I guess through Waydroid).
After a brief look, it seems that the two options are some form of LibreElec system running Kodi or Arch running Plasma Big Screen. Any thoughts / advice? And if I went for Big Screen, does anyone know of any distros that ship with it or will I have to spin it up myself on Arch?
I would recommend considering Plasma Bigscreen as an interface option.
What we need now, and maybe it exists, is a proper remote for this. In not keen on the idea of using hand held or full keyboards/mice. Or phones.
I bought the Flirc Skip remote and an using it on steam big picture mode. It’s not perfect, and I had some issues configuring it in Linux, but once I did it works pretty well. Can even navigate the steam ui. Fails on browser things though like YouTube in Firefox kiosk mode.
Same. I bought the Flirc USB + Skip 1s remote and they work okay… Their configuration apps are rough around the edges. The biggest hurdle I’ve had, though, is apps not supporting remote/keyboard input very well.
Yeah. I’ve not really figured out a good way to deal with the streaming services inside steam or plasma.
This is the best one I’ve found that works well with a proper PC like one running KDE ≥6.7 with Plasma Bigscreen, and I’ve tried a few. The only thing I miss is no voice control, but it has controls you’d want for Bigscreen
https://www.pepper-jobs.com/collections/smart-remote
Seems neat but this is what I want to avoid. I like being able to jam the big pause button without thinking. Training people in the family to hit space bar, or escape, or whatever and use the arrows 2 handed is not ideal.
Edit:
Something like this is actually good:
https://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Wireless-Keyboard-Control-Raspberry/dp/B07PHPSC95?tag=addtips-20&linkId=abdfcbe60a4a95aa805132b6166fe045&language=en_US
Get a Bluetooth version. Those USB dongles regularly go bad (ask me how I know), and the remote becomes useless without it.
That one breaks easily when dropped, is designed for Android so you’d need to map some buttons
Oh shit, I didn’t know this was a thing. I’ve just been running Plasma on a used mini PC, but Bigscreen seems like it could make for a more comfortable experience. Neat!
EDIT: Aaaand it’s not available in Debian 13. Well, that’s unfortunate.
It feels like Plasma Bigscreen needs someone to spin up a distros for it to be easy. I know KDE Neon has a spin so I guess that works, but ideally I think it’d be:
If anyone feels like making a distro like that then that’d be amazing…