I don’t want to use Osmc or LibreELEC. What I’m going for is something like Android TV (tried using LineageOS but that didn’t work out for me).

I was interested in something like Plasma Bigscreen but most of the tutorial is about 4 years old and point to using an old image.

I installed the Debian package. After that, I logged in and set Automatic login, and switch the session to Plasma Bigscreen (x11). After applying and a reboot, it launched Plasma Bigscreen but some widgets (like the audio, KDE Connect) froze when clicking on them.

What do you recommend? I prefer to use a Raspberry Pi.

  • chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world
    93·
    6 months ago

    I run an HTPC that works fully with my AirMouse Remote I bought for it for ~$15USD. It uses Flex Launcher running on Debian.

    Basically, I use it for Plex, some Netflix, retrogaming, and Steam.

    I was in a similar boat to you were I looked at Plasma Big Screen, LibreElec, etc. Plasma BigScreen was too buggy or unmaintained. LibreElec is great if you want to play local stuff, but terrible for streaming things like Netflix. In the end I said “screw it. I’ll make my own”. Now it’s the center of my living room.

    • BumbleBearOPEnglish
      20·
      6 months ago

      That looks amazing! Are the icons you have there, for example, Netflix, is that a desktop shortcut to open up the browser and load the website?

      Your use case is very similar to mine. Thank you for sharing.

    • yo_scottie_oh@lemmy.mlEnglish
      7·
      5 months ago

      Do you get high def Netflix? I’ve read in multiple places that Netflix limits streams to 720p in web browsers, which has always stopped me from straying from my chromecast. Not sure if that’s what I’m seeing in your photo, though. (basically I have the same question as OP)

      • chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world
        51·
        5 months ago

        As long as your browser supports the DRM, it should stream 1080p and 4k fine. Chrome is best, unfortunately, specifically for Netflix.

        • Chewy@discuss.tchncs.de
          3·
          5 months ago

          No DRM for desktop Linux supports 4k Netflix. IIRC Netflix doesn’t even support 4k on Windows for anything except Edge, at least that was the case for many years.

          • chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world
            4·
            5 months ago

            Really? I thought Chrome added support on Linux for 4k.

            I rarely stream Netflix and it’s only on there for my wife. If I want a show, I add it to my Plex library. Even if Netflix has it.

            • Chewy@discuss.tchncs.de
              3·
              5 months ago

              According to Netflix documentation, they only support 720p on Linux, regardless of the browser.

              Chrome officially supports 1080p on Windows and macOS, while 4k is only available through Edge on Windows and Safari on macOS.

              In the past I’ve used a Firefox plugin to enable 1080p playback on Linux, but the bitrate was lower than the 1080p bitrate on Windows (with Edge, iirc).

              https://help.netflix.com/de/node/30081

              Edit: Luckily Jellyfin does not have such annoying restrictions.

    • exu@feditown.comEnglish
      5·
      5 months ago

      This looks awesome. I currently don’t need a TV interface, but when I do I’ll definitely try this out over Kodi.

      • bigmclargehuge@lemmy.world
        2·
        5 months ago

        Same boat here. RaspberryPi running LibreElec, which is okay but can be unstable and lacks power. Been looking at an AMD 4x4 pc to boost performance and run some form of full Linux distro.

    • glasgitarrewelt@feddit.de
      1·
      5 months ago

      May I ask: did you write the config on your own and did you create the neccessary icons? Or is there a sample config somewhere, with some icons as well (jellyfin, youtube etc would be nice).

      • chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world
        2·
        5 months ago

        There is a default config it comes with. I just modified it. Their documentation is really good. If you’d like a copy of my config, LMK.

        Icons I found online and then trimmed to the correct size and transparency.

        • glasgitarrewelt@feddit.de
          1·
          5 months ago

          You are right, I had a look at the documentation, made myself some icons and modified the standard config in /usr/share/flex-launcher a bit. Thanks!

          Could you copy and paste the menu-entry you start jellyfin with here?

          • chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world
            2·
            5 months ago

            Entry3=Jellyfin;/usr/share/flex-launcher/assets/icons/jellyfin.png;flatpak run com.github.iwalton3.jellyfin-media-player --fullscreen

            Make sure you switch your view to TV in the settings so that arrow key navigation works.

  • ChillPill@lemmy.world
    20·
    6 months ago

    KDE bigscreen looks perfect for me. I know I have heard of it before but I will need to look a bit more in depth at it.

    All I want is Roku, but FOSS, without the ads and tracking.

    • SayCyberOnceMore@feddit.ukEnglish
      18·
      5 months ago

      Checkout big-launcher:

      big-launcher is a work-in-progress HTPC application launcher. The design is loosely based on the Roku UI, consisting of a sidebar menu on the left, and selectable apps on the right. This project is intended to be the successor to my other HTPC project, Flex Launcher. Compared to Flex Launcher, big-launcher will be more graphically advanced, but less customizable. The program will be written in C++ and utilize SDL for graphics.

      I just read about it from the Flex Launcher page, so no idea what it’s like, just passing it on…

  • jcarax@beehaw.org
    12·
    6 months ago

    What’s your use case that OSMC and LibreELEC don’t work? I think those are going to be common recommendations, so knowing why they don’t suit you would be helpful.

    • BumbleBearOPEnglish
      4·
      6 months ago

      I used Kodi in the past as a standalone app but then switched over to Emby. I have Emby set to play my media and also setup to play stations on my custom IPTV server. Installing the Emby client on my mobile or or using the browser will have access to that media since I set that up on the Emby server. Wife and the kids are use to the interface too. Have to keep them happy.

      Also I would like to install some Linux compatible games on it.

  • SidewaysHighways@lemmy.world
    12·
    6 months ago

    I have been on this hunt myself and am coming up short. Especially on the hardware at my disposal.

    So far I’ve tried all the same stuff you’ve mentioned but am settling in to LibreELEC well enough with addons, including the emby next gen setup (got into emby before finding out about jellyfin)

    what don’t you dig about LibreELEC?

    Plasma bigscreen sounds like it would be the best, but I never got it to work right ( granted I was very new to Linux back then)

    Have you tried blissOS?

    • BumbleBearOPEnglish
      9·
      6 months ago

      I tried Kodi in the past but switched over to Emby. Not 100% sure if there is an Emby plugin but the wife and kids are use to the Emby interface.

      Plasma Bigscreen looks very cool but spent time trying to figure out why some of the widgets on the main screen loads up then freeze. Like the Mycroft widget, for example.

      Also trying to figure out why apps like Kate appears twice under Applications.

      I have not tried Bliss OS. Looks very interesting so I will take a look. Thank you for that one.

      • JustTesting@lemmy.hogru.ch
        6·
        5 months ago

        Have you tried Jellyfin? It’s a FOSS fork of emby, so pretty much a drop in replacement and it’s been working very well for me.

        Personally I use jellyfin as a backend, with the web interface and jellyfin app as frontend. Plus Kodi as an additional frontend for my beamer, with the Kodi Jellyfin plugin and Yatse remote to make it feel more like a TV.

        • TBi@lemmy.world
          1·
          5 months ago

          I tried Jellyfin but had many issues, then tried Emby and it worked first time. Since then I’ve purchased Emby so no point going back. The OP probably has an Emby license so no point changing to Jellyfin now.

      • SidewaysHighways@lemmy.world
        3·
        6 months ago

        We’ve so much in common! I had a skin working that made Kodi look just like an emby app or webpage

        There is an emby addon that uses your server to keep track of profiles and stuff. It’s actually pretty sweet to get it set up.

    • neomachino@lemmy.world
      2·
      5 months ago

      Commenting to check back later.

      I also do not have an answer but want to know.

      I have used Flex launcher on a mini PC, it seemed like a good option but I got busy before I could even half set it up.

  • friend_of_satan@lemmy.worldEnglish
    8·
    5 months ago

    Plex used to have a distro that booted straight to Plex and that was it. You could control it using your tv remote if your tv supported HDMI-CEC. I’m not sure if it still exists. I guess it wouldn’t be any better than openelec though. 🤷‍♂️

    Could you be more objective about what you want and don’t want feature wise? I don’t know about other folks but I’ve never used android tv so I don’t know what you mean when you say that’s similar to what you want.

    Edit: I’m pretty sure the Plex software I was talking about was based on this archived repo, so it likely isn’t a modern option https://github.com/plexinc/plex-media-player

    • ltxrtquq@lemmy.mlEnglish
      4·
      5 months ago

      I don’t know about a distro, but it looks like they are still maintaining an HTPC app for windows, mac and linux. The linux one looks like it was last updated about 2 weeks ago

  • electricprism@lemmy.ml
    7·
    5 months ago

    Also recommendations for a good remote to go with these?

    I was so desperate I was thinking of reprogramming a wireless number pad cherry MX low profile or something.

    It should have volume buttons, arrow keys, previous, next, pause, etc… Something a old person could understand.

    Numbers and alphabet not required.