Small home media server. - Build one? Buy one? Remote Control?

[Overly Serious]

I have a good, non-smart TV, I have an older AVR with 5.1 speaker set up and I have a UHD 4K player and that is my merry little set up for movies.

The player has a network connection and comes with some basic apps for YouTube, Netflix, etc. (Though I've stopped watching Netflix, there's something increasingly "off" about their stuff these days).

I'm starting to feel that the player's OS is a little limiting and I'm starting to hook my laptop up to the TV to play things from websites, streaming services, etc. I could just get a console but I hardly ever play games so feels like a massive waste. Thinking of either buying a tiny PC if anyone can recommend a good one, or build one (I'm able to do that).

Anyone have any experience of similar? And anyone got any recommendations for good software to run? I can do GNU/Linux if need be. Also pretty happy with Windows. What would be nice would be if there's anything that supports a remote control. Or are there ones that provide a UI you can control it from your phone or PC on your local network? I have just discovered things like this exist.

Advice and suggestions welcomed!

 

[garakfan69]

Anyone have any experience of similar? And anyone got any recommendations for good software to run? I can do GNU/Linux if need be. Also pretty happy with Windows. What would be nice would be if there's anything that supports a remote control. Or are there ones that provide a UI you can control it from your phone or PC on your local network? I have just discovered things like this exist.

Does your tv support HDMI-CEC? With that you can control your media server with your normal tv remote if it's connected through HDMI (the computer needs to support it too). I had a setup like that with a Pi running Kodi, it's pretty comfy.

 

[REGENDarySumanai]

I built my own server over the course of six years, so I have qualifications for this. I have a CentOS machine (before CentOS betrayed its roots and became upstream instead of downstream, but Rocky Linux is going to be its successor, so use that) running Plex. You can also use Kodi as your frontend and Emby as your backend if you want.

 

[Overly Serious]

Does your tv support HDMI-CEC? With that you can control your media server with your normal tv remote if it's connected through HDMI (the computer needs to support it too). I had a setup like that with a Pi running Kodi, it's pretty comfy.

I've just downloaded the user manual and I can't see any reference to it so I'm going to go with no.

I should have also mentioned that the AVR is too old to support 4K pass-thru. I like it and it's never let me down but anything that plays 4K needs to be able to send the video out through one HDMI and the audio out through another so that I can have it go to both TV and AVR without losing the 4K. I know Audio Return Channel (ARC) is a thing but I heard it isn't that great and can lead to audio sync issues. My 4K player has two HDMI outs for this reason.

I built my own server over the course of six years, so I have qualifications for this. I have a CentOS machine (before CentOS betrayed its roots and became upstream instead of downstream, but Rocky Linux is going to be its successor, so use that) running Plex. You can also use Kodi as your frontend and Emby as your backend if you want.

I'm more of a Debian person than a Redhat but it's presumably a safe-bet that these Plex, Kodi and Emby applications will be happy on either? I've heard of Plex but not the other two. Am looking them up now - thanks.

What about hardware? I want this to be small - ideally, and quiet - definitely. I don't mind buying or building - whichever is most cost-efficient and future-proof.

 

[garakfan69]

I've just downloaded the user manual and I can't see any reference to it so I'm going to go with no.

What manufacturer? Every company has its own name for HDMI-CEC. Sony calls it Bravia Link, Toshiba Regza link, and so on.

 

[Shovel Mech Pilot]

FreeNAS is the best OS for a home server, for sure.

 

[Overly Serious]

What manufacturer? Every company has its own name for HDMI-CEC. Sony calls it Bravia Link, Toshiba Regza link, and so on.

Panasonic. It does have HDAVI Control whatever that is.

 

[garakfan69]

Panasonic. It does have HDAVI Control whatever that is.

Yes, that's CEC.

 

[Overly Serious]

Thanks. I didn't even know that existed.

 

[Sam Losco]

I use ARC with a Sony Android TV and a Yamaha AVR and it works fine. No audio sync issues. The only problem I have with it is actually adjusting the volume. It's a bit laggy and when you hold the button it can go too fast.

I don't use Plex or any other media server. All my stuff is on my NAS and I just use VLC on the TV to browse via SMB shares. Works great.
I tried doing the media library shit on Kodi before and it never correctly recognized how my file names are setup, particularly with TV shows. So faced with having to manually fix it all, I just said fuck it and went back to SMB shares. I don't even use Kodi at all anymore. It has a bloated feel despite actually not really being so. The menu structure is fucking awful too. Nothing is ever where I think it's going to be.

 

[lemmiwinks]

I'd suggest OMV (OpenMediaVault) for OS. It runs on everything and is easy to install and configure. Pretty much any device can be used for the front-end with ease.

I'm not using OMV myself right now. I use Raspberry Pi 2 & 3 with LibreELEC with SimpleIPTV for live TV (using free M3U's) and then I connect to Premiumize.me (around $20) through FTP for populating my video library and also for their Debrid service (which I use with the Venom Addon).

For a local server I use an old HP DCxxxx beater workstation ($75?) running a Core2Quad, ancient GPU and Debian Mint (because I also use it as a desktop occasionally). It has plenty of room for HDD's and has been running for at least 5 years straight (except for occasional reboots).

I've used a bunch of different backends over the years. I just started using JellyFin about a week ago. I can't really comment on it yet other than to say it is fairly easy to install and configure. I haven't had much time using it.

I've been using some variant of this setup for the past 10 year without cable and I've been pretty happy. I don't care at all about live TV except for the news and free IPTV has been good enough for that.

I never used to use any paid services at all before last year. I started using Premiumize.me because I started getting a lot less live links in addons. I wouldn't suggest using it unless you want to take advantage of the other services included with it (VPN, VoIP, NZB).

Edit: I forgot to add, I used to have that identical remote in your picture. I would avoid it and use something like this: http://www.riitek.com/product/x8.html

Its very hard to keep that remote pointed in the right direction to hit the IR sensor while you use the mouse function. Its nearly impossible to type passwords due to double keypresses, its just a shit remote altogther. I suggest either a good USB remote sensor that can be configured to use with almost any Remote like FLIRC or otherwise some RF/Bluetooth device like the Rii type.

 

[XYZpdq]

I'd suggest OMV (OpenMediaVault) for OS. It runs on everything and is easy to install and configure. Pretty much any device can be used for the front-end with ease.

I'm not using OMV myself right now. I use Raspberry Pi 2 & 3 with LibreELEC with SimpleIPTV for live TV (using free M3U's) and then I connect to Premiumize.me (around $20) through FTP for populating my video library and also for their Debrid service (which I use with the Venom Addon).

For a local server I use an old HP DCxxxx beater workstation ($75?) running a Core2Quad, ancient GPU and Debian Mint (because I also use it as a desktop occasionally). It has plenty of room for HDD's and has been running for at least 5 years straight (except for occasional reboots).

I've used a bunch of different backends over the years. I just started using JellyFin about a week ago. I can't really comment on it yet other than to say it is fairly easy to install and configure. I haven't had much time using it.

I've been using some variant of this setup for the past 10 year without cable and I've been pretty happy. I don't care at all about live TV except for the news and free IPTV has been good enough for that.

I never used to use any paid services at all before last year. I started using Premiumize.me because I started getting a lot less live links in addons. I wouldn't suggest using it unless you want to take advantage of the other services included with it (VPN, VoIP, NZB).

Edit: I forgot to add, I used to have that identical remote in your picture. I would avoid it and use something like this: http://www.riitek.com/product/x8.html
View attachment 2011297
Its very hard to keep that remote pointed in the right direction to hit the IR sensor while you use the mouse function. Its nearly impossible to type passwords due to double keypresses, its just a shit remote altogther. I suggest either a good USB remote sensor that can be configured to use with almost any Remote like FLIRC or otherwise some RF/Bluetooth device like the Rii type.

I have a non-glowing of that touchpad keyboard dealie, got it for... I dunno. Under ten bucks on ebay I think.

I just use synchtubes for my media shit. they work on basically anything that can get online

 

[3119967d0c]

It sounds like what you're looking for is something that will mainly be used for playing streaming content. And you want 4K playback.

With the current player, is this something Android based, or more proprietary? If it's on the weird proprietary end, maybe an Android streaming box (or.... Apple TV) might work better for you. Though you have to be careful with these things as to whether they actually have full support for Google's proprietary services and the Play store.

Otherwise, you have to work out (and research specifics) as to what will do the job for you. An recent ex-lease business PC is obviously a good choice if you don't care about space being taken up and want to store some stuff locally. If you are 'all streaming' (with perhaps some stuff stored on external HDs) I wouldn't be surprised if some recent ex-lease thin clients might not do the job, even at 4K. If you're buying new the Intel NUCs might do the job, or a variety of AMD APU based systems. If you can find them available.

 

[Stasi]

Thinking of either buying a tiny PC if anyone can recommend a good one, or build one (I'm able to do that).

This is the route I went down and am very happy (so happy I got two). I have a small machine hooked up to my TV to stream/play media/play some games and another one with a low power CPU just running in the background either torrenting new stuff or streaming to other devices at home. Will have to think about what to do with storage (it takes one 2.5 HDD and one M.2 drive) but so far my library is not big enough to worry about that.


These devices are great - they are former business/education machines and usually flood the used marked at pretty good prices (Lenovo, Dell and HP all make variants). The specs are also usually much better than what you can get on something like a NUC for a fraction of the price.

Initially had a very basic UpNP with Gerbera running off a Linux distro but someone in a different thread suggested Jellyfin and am experimenting with that. So far very happy with it. It had some trouble recognising stuff in my library so had to spend 30 min organising movies and shows into separate folders but was worth the effort. Much nicer user experience than browsing files through VLC.

Edit: I forgot to add, I used to have that identical remote in your picture. I would avoid it and use something like this: http://www.riitek.com/product/x8.html
View attachment 2011297
Its very hard to keep that remote pointed in the right direction to hit the IR sensor while you use the mouse function. Its nearly impossible to type passwords due to double keypresses, its just a shit remote altogther. I suggest either a good USB remote sensor that can be configured to use with almost any Remote like FLIRC or otherwise some RF/Bluetooth device like the Rii type.

+1 for the little handheld keyboard, I have that exact model. A TV style remote would just be too much of an ass pain. One of the reasons I ditched my Roku is typing anything with that remove is hell (that and the ads in the youtube player).

 

[Overly Serious]

I use ARC with a Sony Android TV and a Yamaha AVR and it works fine. No audio sync issues. The only problem I have with it is actually adjusting the volume. It's a bit laggy and when you hold the button it can go too fast.

My AVR is a Yamaha so thanks for that. TV is a Panasonic with a non-Android OS (I hate Google) but imagine it wont make a difference. Thanks.

I'd suggest OMV (OpenMediaVault) for OS. It runs on everything and is easy to install and configure. Pretty much any device can be used for the front-end with ease.

I'm not using OMV myself right now. I use Raspberry Pi 2 & 3 with LibreELEC with SimpleIPTV for live TV (using free M3U's) and then I connect to Premiumize.me (around $20) through FTP for populating my video library and also for their Debrid service (which I use with the Venom Addon).

For a local server I use an old HP DCxxxx beater workstation ($75?) running a Core2Quad, ancient GPU and Debian Mint (because I also use it as a desktop occasionally). It has plenty of room for HDD's and has been running for at least 5 years straight (except for occasional reboots).

I've used a bunch of different backends over the years. I just started using JellyFin about a week ago. I can't really comment on it yet other than to say it is fairly easy to install and configure. I haven't had much time using it.

I've been using some variant of this setup for the past 10 year without cable and I've been pretty happy. I don't care at all about live TV except for the news and free IPTV has been good enough for that.

I never used to use any paid services at all before last year. I started using Premiumize.me because I started getting a lot less live links in addons. I wouldn't suggest using it unless you want to take advantage of the other services included with it (VPN, VoIP, NZB).

Edit: I forgot to add, I used to have that identical remote in your picture. I would avoid it and use something like this: http://www.riitek.com/product/x8.html
View attachment 2011297
Its very hard to keep that remote pointed in the right direction to hit the IR sensor while you use the mouse function. Its nearly impossible to type passwords due to double keypresses, its just a shit remote altogther. I suggest either a good USB remote sensor that can be configured to use with almost any Remote like FLIRC or otherwise some RF/Bluetooth device like the Rii type.

Thanks for warning me off the remote. Is a RasberryPi powerful enough to run a normal OS on and do streaming 4K? I guess they must have come on if so.

It sounds like what you're looking for is something that will mainly be used for playing streaming content. And you want 4K playback.

With the current player, is this something Android based, or more proprietary? If it's on the weird proprietary end, maybe an Android streaming box (or.... Apple TV) might work better for you. Though you have to be careful with these things as to whether they actually have full support for Google's proprietary services and the Play store.

Otherwise, you have to work out (and research specifics) as to what will do the job for you. An recent ex-lease business PC is obviously a good choice if you don't care about space being taken up and want to store some stuff locally. If you are 'all streaming' (with perhaps some stuff stored on external HDs) I wouldn't be surprised if some recent ex-lease thin clients might not do the job, even at 4K. If you're buying new the Intel NUCs might do the job, or a variety of AMD APU based systems. If you can find them available.

Thanks. So reading the above I think I can better define my needs than in the opening post. After consideration what I essentially want is to replace my UHD / Blu-ray player's OS. It's fine for what it is and still works but if I want to play something from NowTV, if I want to play YouTube videos and not have to type using a remote, all that manner of stuff... I'm hooking my laptop up to my TV and I don't want to keep doing that, I don't want to keep plugging and removing the HDMI adaptor to my laptop, I don't want to get up and walk over to the laptop when I want to do anything on the TV, I want to basically be able to replicate all the easy to do things on my PC but on my TV (including having my AVR be part of that loop). I do care about space a little bit. I can fit in a desktop style PC, preferably on its side, if I need to. Something a little smaller would be nice. Intel NUCs are an interesting suggestion. They look like they might be the right sort of thing. A little pricey though and only seem to have one HDMI output meaning I couldn't have outputs to my AVR and TV separately (AVR is old and doesn't have 4K pass-thru).

This is the route I went down and am very happy (so happy I got two). I have a small machine hooked up to my TV to stream/play media/play some games and another one with a low power CPU just running in the background either torrenting new stuff or streaming to other devices at home. Will have to think about what to do with storage (it takes one 2.5 HDD and one M.2 drive) but so far my library is not big enough to worry about that.

View attachment 2014815
These devices are great - they are former business/education machines and usually flood the used marked at pretty good prices (Lenovo, Dell and HP all make variants). The specs are also usually much better than what you can get on something like a NUC for a fraction of the price.

Initially had a very basic UpNP with Gerbera running off a Linux distro but someone in a different thread suggested Jellyfin and am experimenting with that. So far very happy with it. It had some trouble recognising stuff in my library so had to spend 30 min organising movies and shows into separate folders but was worth the effort. Much nicer user experience than browsing files through VLC.

+1 for the little handheld keyboard, I have that exact model. A TV style remote would just be too much of an ass pain. One of the reasons I ditched my Roku is typing anything with that remove is hell (that and the ads in the youtube player).

That looks very neat. Have just found one refurbished for < £200. However, can't quite see what display output it has. Looks like Display Port which would be a problem. I looked at speccing out a mini-ITX system with AMD Ryzen but the mini-ITX motherboards I could find all said not compatible with the Ryzen processors that had a G on the end, which I understand are the only ones with integrated graphics. Which is weird because those boards had onboard HDMI and so presumably require it to use that? I think I'm missing something.

In any case, I think the lack of 4K passthru on my AVR is going to be a problem.

 

[lemmiwinks]

I have a non-glowing of that touchpad keyboard dealie, got it for... I dunno. Under ten bucks on ebay I think.

I just use synchtubes for my media shit. they work on basically anything that can get online

I have a friend who has one like what you described. It's nearly identical in every way to the Rii-tek one I have (minus the backlight). If I were to buy another, I would just look for the cheapest one I can find and ignore the branding.

Thanks for warning me off the remote. Is a RasberryPi powerful enough to run a normal OS on and do streaming 4K? I guess they must have come on if so.

The ones I have are not capable of 4K. The newer Pi4x are 4K capable and can run win10 or whatever OS you want. In the past I tried to use Raspberry Pi & a full Linux OS, but it was a lacking experience. It was a PITA to keep the Widevine DRM shit running for Netflix etc. I haven't bothered with any paid services like that in a long time so its possible they have ironed those wrinkles out.

I used a cheap ($40 CAD) 4k capable Android box in the past, it ran Kodi well, and also worked good for Netflix etc. If you go that route I would be careful to buy one with a processor that is well-supported in the community because IME once they go out the door they pretty much don't get another update.

I looked at speccing out a mini-ITX system with AMD Ryzen but the mini-ITX motherboards I could find all said not compatible with the Ryzen processors that had a G on the end

I've posted about this fairly cheap AMD based ASRock DeskMini series here before.

They go for about $250 USD in barebones config (no RAM, no M2, no APU). I was planning on getting one until I found out how limited the BIOS settings were. I believe that has changed and they are now capable of some overclocking.

 

[Overly Serious]

@lemmiwinks Thanks. That looks pretty cool. I think DP->HDMI converters are a thing so that might be viable for the hardware. Pricing one up, now!

Also going to look into Rasberry PI if it's capable of running Windows these days! They've obviously come on. I thought they were even all still ARM!

 

[lemmiwinks]

@lemmiwinks Thanks. That looks pretty cool. I think DP->HDMI converters are a thing so that might be viable for the hardware. Pricing one up, now!

Also going to look into Rasberry PI if it's capable of running Windows these days! They've obviously come on. I thought they were even all still ARM!

You're welcome. Those are Micro-HDMI They use a passive adapter or cable to connect to HDMI, so they are dirt cheap. Raspberry Pi have an integrated CEC device, so you can use your televisions remote to control Kodi.

If you have a fairly recent DSLR camera it may have actually come with a mHDMI to HDMI cable. The last 2 cameras I owned had one in the box (Sony, Samsung).

I don't have any experience using Windows with RPi so if that is something that is something you plan to buy it for, I would do some research into that first. Currently, Windows 10 is kind of a hacked together solution, and that might have significant limitations, IDK.

Windows Core is officially supported, but people have figured out how to use it with Windows 10 desktop, a hybrid OS.

 

[Stasi]

@lemmiwinks Thanks. That looks pretty cool. I think DP->HDMI converters are a thing so that might be viable for the hardware. Pricing one up, now!

Also going to look into Rasberry PI if it's capable of running Windows these days! They've obviously come on. I thought they were even all still ARM!

Don't know if you are looking for something more fancy but DP to HDMI cables are pretty cheap. One of my machines only came with display ports (bought it blind from a lot) but a HDMI to DP cable set me back £4 on ebay and works fine.

 

[murdered meat bag]

the nvidia shield pro is android box that can be used as a plex server. you can get a janky web browser that does webstreaming.



if youre not building a plex/emby/kodi any tiny pc from the last 5 or 6 years will do what you want.