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Looking for a decent Linux Distro for a mini-PC to replace a shitty Android TV Box
(lemmy.blahaj.zone)
@[email protected] how much do mini pc’s cost these days?
this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2024
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It depends. Thie one I got for this was cheap on Facebook marketplace for ~£100.
Try Bazzite.
I'm going to second this. It runs Android apps with a little bit of config.
Could be nice but the download section tells „As of right now, Plasma Bigscreen isn't available for public use yet.
Piggy backing on this post to ask those running a mini-PC on their TV: How tf did you get content to actually stream in full HD? Whenever I try to use the web browser to watch hockey games through YouTube TV, or some random show through Netflix, I'm limited to 720p. Is there a workaround for this?
ETA I'm aware of an agent spoofer extension in Firefox, but it hasn't solved this problem in my experience.
Torrent stuff in HD or 4K and play those files instead of trying to stream from a company that won't offer better than 720p :-)
I figured this was the answer. It still makes me sad that I can’t legitimately stream content from the major streaming services in full HD on a regular laptop.
No workaround as far as I’m aware. Commenting to follow others comments to learn if something changed in this area
Thinking out loud, is it possible to load the apps themselves (YouTube TV, Netflix, etc) onto Linux using an Android emulator?
Don't do Waydroid, its way too slow and buggy for what you're wanting. I'd highly suggest Genymotion and have been using it on touchscreen 2in1s for a few months without issue, even with Play Store
I am pretty sure what you're looking for is called Waydroid.
I use flat Ubuntu on my projector with a palm keyboard with built-in thumb-ball. 1080p all day. It's a normal PC after all.
1080p all day. It’s a normal PC after all.
Right, but which streaming services are you watching?
YouTube
you weren't specific about your use case, but if running media-consumption apps is your thing, there's a LineageOS AndroidTV port for Raspberry Pi. the most polished UX, no Google spyware to slow things down, super-competent hardware (avaialable with up to 8 GB RAM), supports HDMI-CEC (you can use your TV's remote), has a wired LAN port, and you always have the option of installing a linux distro.
I have been slumming it with a normal ubuntu install, I tried plasma bigscreen but never got it working properly
LibreELEC Or OpenELEC
It is not immutable, but use Linux Mint for my tv computer. It is similar enough to windows that my so has no promblem using it. I use it with a 2 in 1 keyboard/touchbad from logitech.
There are some rumors about a new android box made by Valve. Perhaps if you have the benefit of time wait a little bit to see if it sees the daylight
I looked into doing this a bit ago. For me, the current solutions just aren't good enough. Once Plasma Bigscreen and Waydroid Android TV are ready, then I think I'll take the plunge. For now, my Nvidia Shield 2019 is hard to beat.
Haven't tried but maybe worth a look: https://github.com/MythTV/mythtv
Mythtv is awesome if you want to watch live TV, DVR the live TV or watch media. I've never been able to get it to work easily with streamed content. However you can just download the content you want and watch it as media. Best part is you can split the backend (disks, TV tuners etc) front the frontend (playback) and have a tiny box sat next to your tv
Look into Batocera. It has Kodi and Emulation Station as the two halves of the OS. You can even install Steam games on it (check RetroGameCorps video). Get a USB IR receiver from Flirc. The one thing it won't support is WayDroid
I think I want something bazzite-like and probably immutable but more media focused than gaming, with already working and set up waydroid and remote control support.
Likely does not exist yet. I haven't heard of one, at least.
The closest one with the remote stuff and media will probably be https://libreelec.tv/
Yeah, but not immutable and not with waydroid pre-installed.
I actually made a similar post on this a while back and never quite found what i was looking for.
Ultimately, i just settled for using popos with it scaled up so i could use it easier with a remote i have. Works fine for my needs.
Does your use case include watching content from Netflix and/or Hulu?
Not netflix no, after one of the price hikes a couple years back i dont subscribe to them anymore. Hulu worked fine if i remember correctly. Hbo works fine for me rn.
While not perfect, pop os does the job.
So when you wanna watch Hulu or HBO, you just open up a web browser, go to the Hulu/HBO site, and play the content in the web browser in full HD? No bullshittery around limiting the playback to 720p in a browser?
For HBO, I dont think so.
And thinking about it now, i was watching Netflix with my GF the other day at my place using her account, didn't look like 480p at least. That said, hard for me to tell since my internet rn is limited and i stream most things at 480p, sometimes 720p if its a good day.
I'm probably not the best barometer for stream quality give my situation. Atm I'm just glad it works.
I'm using firefox with drm content turned on and thats all I've done.
Don't try to work around a hardware issue with software.
Get yourself one of these, use any normal distro and call it a day.
