I’ve got a Chromecast on which I have disabled Google Services and only use NewPipe and VLC from F-Droid.
I was wondering what I could replace it with when it stops working.
The remote depletes batteries within a coulle days and the Chromecast has started rebooting randomly…
What I want to do:
- watch videos from my SMB share
- watch videos from media.ccc.de
- optional: Youtube access
- nice to have, but optional: PeerTube access
I’d prefer something very free and open. Could be something I build myself, I’ve recently been given a used FireTV remote, perhaps I could re-use that and avoid some e-waste.
EDIT: other functionality is optional and I don’t need anything like casting or AirPlay.
I’m quite a fan of “old office PC from eBay with Debian LTS” myself. You can often get them with decent specs for $30-$40 (less than a Pi) since companies will deprecate them en-mass when their support contract ends.
Yes I have an hp elitedesk mini 800 something G2 which is small (like a thin client), runs kubuntu just fine and can do everything you are asking for. I have a logitech k400 wireless keyboard and trackpad to control it
I definitely have some old hardware lying around.
But what do I use to add my remote? I’d need an IR receiver, but which one… And then software I can control.
Wait, I have an old FireTV remote I’ve recently been given, it uses Bluetooth. I don’t need an IR receiver, I only need Bluetooth… huh.