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
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…
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.