Putting together a new Linux HTPC build and looking for a 10ft UI WM/DE to use with it. Essentially, it would be a launcher for a few PWAs (Emby, Netflix, etc) as well as Steam and maybe some emulators. Navigation would likely be a wireless keyboard and, if absolutely necessary, mouse (goal is to get a bluetooth remote working and use that, but that’s the next phase).
I haven’t used Kodi since it was still Xbox Media Center (running on an actual Xbox lol), but would it be a good choice? I used it forever ago as the dashboard for my modded Xbox, and it was great. However, for this, I’d rather not run Kodi, if possible, since Emby already covers those use-cases.
If there’s no “dedicated” one, any recommendations for which regular DE might be best modifiable/extendable to work for that purpose?
I think Kodi is a good choice, but not really sufficient for everything you might want to do IMO.
You could also look into KDE Plasma Bigscreen. It’s still pretty rough around the edges, but I think it aims to do what you want.
I am actually thinking about building something similar with different tech, as I’m not satisfied with any of the existing options. I really want something that’s primarily controlled via a mobile Web interface like the Kore app for Kodi.
I think Plasma BigScreen has been effectively abandoned.
How can you tell?
Yeah, I currently boot straight into OpenBox -> Firefox Fullscreen -> Emby right now, and everything’s controlled from a second Emby session on my phone. I’d keep that, but I’d also want to be able to easily navigate the “desktop” part. Someone else mentioned BigScreen, but I’ve never had a good experience with KDE in general, so I’m hesitant. May still try it out, though.
Hold up
You have a 10ft TV!
Anyway I would just install a regular desktop and then adjust scaling
I’ve recently retired an old aio to be our tv using libreelec. There’s a new-ish bundled skin called copacetic which is highly configurable and I’m slowly organising the interface to move away from the conventional menu style interface that most other skins still use to something more like the interface of a steaming service. Copacetic has a video that demos some of what you can do.
I’m an emby person myself and am enjoying LibreELEC a bunch. With the emby for Kodi addon I’ve gotten so used to having every single thing in one interface that when a situation presents itself where I’m using the actual emby app, I get disappointed with the fact that none of the other Kodi addons are there.
It’s pretty slick and once everyone is used to the Kodi interface for all apps/addons we’ve never looked back
Yeah, Kodi seems to be the leading contender.
With the emby for Kodi addon
How old is that add-on and howe well does it work? I was exploring Kodi at one point in the past (never got past planning stage) and was looking to see if there was a plugin to integrate Emby but couldn’t find one (there’s nothing really special about it’s streams, they just need to be requested the right way).
I may give that a try. I do like the idea of a unified interface versus a controller for the UI and a separate controller/webapp for Emby.
There’s an older and a new version of the addon. And it works well enough! Even has a helper to clean up the interface around the emby stuff.
The secondary emby app can still control the kodi box the same way also!
Yeah, I think I just tried the older one “EmbyCon” and it just loads an empty repo.
“Emby for Kodo NextGen” seems to be the “new” one and is currently syncing my library on my test box.
KDE has Plasma BigScreen. It’s a little buggy but mostly world alright and automatically supports HDMI CEC to keyboard conversion so you can navigate most apps.
I’ve used Plasma off and on for years, and every time I just regretted it. Can’t point to one particular issue that ruined it, it was just a lot of little annoyances over a long period of time (mostly with multi-monitor setup and the panels glitching out all the time). So “BugScreen” sounds about right, lol.
That said, this would be more of an “appliance” configuration so I may give it a shot and keep Kodi as a fallback.
Plasma 6 got a ton better. Like remarkably.
Still some bugs though.
BigScreen is also basically no longer in development, IIRC.
Thanks. (hands you two slips of gold-pressed latinum). I haven’t had a chance to look into that yet (been playing around with Kodi and the Emby add-on), so you may have saved me some time/research effort.
I thought Bigscreen was abandoned?
Batocera works really well, has a 10ft UI, and includes:
- Kodi to stream local media and can act as an Airplay receiver. I use Jellyfin as a server but I bet Emby would work just as well.
- the ability to run Flatpaks
- a nice 10 ft UI as the default and allows for customization
- emulation backends and moonlight game streaming
- the ability to pair Xbox, PlayStation, or any other Bluetooth controllers
Get a usb IR receiver like FLIRC or something similar with HDMI CEC to control everything via standard remote.
I used to use Kodi, worked really well.
Asked Perplexity, got this back, seems right.
When choosing a Linux distribution for a Home Theater PC (HTPC), several options are tailored for media consumption:
-
LibreELEC: This is a lightweight, fast, and easy-to-use media center distro based on Kodi. It’s designed for dedicated media center PCs and supports various media formats. LibreELEC is simple to set up and runs smoothly on older hardware[5].
-
OSMC: Another Kodi-based distro, OSMC is known for its automatic media library updates and support for remote control devices. It is designed to be lightweight and efficient, making it ideal for media playback[5].
-
OpenELEC: Similar to LibreELEC, OpenELEC is a “just enough operating system” designed for running Kodi. It is suitable for embedding into a media center setup[6].
-
Ubuntu MATE: Although not specifically a media center distro, Ubuntu MATE is user-friendly and can be configured with media center software like Kodi or Plex. It offers flexibility and stability for a media center environment[5].
-
Linux Mint: Known for its ease of use, Linux Mint can also be used as a media center with additional software installations. It provides a full desktop experience with the option to install Kodi[7].
Each of these options provides different levels of customization and ease of use, making them suitable for various HTPC needs.
Citations: [1] Is there an ideal distro for a HTPC? - Tom’s Hardware Forum https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/is-there-an-ideal-distro-for-a-htpc.2409938/ [2] Distro and desktop for htpc - Linux - Level1Techs Forums https://forum.level1techs.com/t/distro-and-desktop-for-htpc/93738 [3] Suggest Linux distro for a media PC? : r/linuxquestions - Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxquestions/comments/18f7mk3/suggest_linux_distro_for_a_media_pc/ [4] Best Linux Media Center Distros for Your Home Theater PC - Tecmint https://www.tecmint.com/linux-media-center-distros/ [5] Best Linux Media Center Distros for Your Home Theater PC https://www.tutorialspoint.com/best-linux-media-center-distros-for-your-home-theater-pc [6] Your favorite HTPC OS - PCPartPicker https://sa.pcpartpicker.com/forums/topic/123750-your-favorite-htpc-os [7] Linux recommendation for htpc? :: Hardware and Operating Systems https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/11/3047182953359355429/?l=czech [8] Best linux HTPC distro I can easily create a DVD ISO for? - AVS Forum https://www.avsforum.com/threads/best-linux-htpc-distro-i-can-easily-create-a-dvd-iso-for.3305964/
Looks like Kodi it is, lol. Which is fine, I guess. I should be able to customize it and remove the unneeded options.
My current setup only really runs Emby and Snapcast, so I haven’t had to deal with any kind of launcher. It just boots into Openbox, launches FF full screen, and loads Emby. I’m aiming to add some new features to the new build since it’s more capable than the old Core2 Duo laptop I dug out of the basement lol.
-
