New HTPC, or Adventures in rolling your own device

[rotational467 31]

Just ramblings about my recent HTPC upgrade

In my primary setup, I have had a Windows 10 HTPC for 10+ years that has provided excellent service as a Kodi client (later Kodi + EFK Next-gen), as well as light Steam in-home streaming, which never worked great despite being on GbE, being an old i3 on a very old chipset and with only a GT 1030.  My requirements list for the replacement looked like this:

Must haves:

• Direct play of all existing local media.  Most of this I have ripped from BR, 1080p HEVC with the lossless audio track only and primary PGS subs track
• Gaming - either capable of playing modern games competently at 1080p, or capable of Steam In-Home Streaming sufficiently transparently from my gaming machine
• Some level of future-proofing - Needs to be serviceable for a few years, must have VC1 hardware decode
• The hardware must either fit into existing MicroATX HTPC case which fits an A/V rack shelf, or be smaller.  No towers or other boxes on the floor next to the rack.
• Not a ton of money

Nice to have:

• Wife friendly - she likes the Emby client.  She does not like Kodi.  She is not interested in needing to use a keyboard for any reason.  Up to now, she uses a Roku when using this TV, only I use the HTPC.
• Not locked down - I prefer user-controlled/customizable devices over "appliances" like Roku, Apple TV, etc.

A new Windows or Linux HTPC solves for everything except wife friendly (which is optional) and cheap (which is not).  There also is not a low-profile video card (which I need for the case) that's an upgrade to the GT 1030 worth buying right now.  Not to mention that everything else has to be replaced as well.  Not interested in paying $500+ for a machine I know doesn't do everything I want or will need upgrades in < 3-5 years.

Was thinking about the old Odroid C2 I've (still) got running, now as my network DHCP/DNS/NTP and a few other network-wide services, and after looking at the hardware decided to take a chance with the N2+, with the understanding (from experience with the C2) that I wasn't going to get 100% everything I wanted perfectly, and some of it was going to be a pain in the ass, but at $150 for everything after shipping that becomes a lot more tolerable.  So after some trial and error, I've got what so far seems to be an excellent HTPC replacement:

odroid N2+ 4GB

Primary OS: Lineage OS TV 19.1 (Android TV 12) on eMMC

Secondary OS: coreELEC 20.1 on USB

In SPI mode, the board handles the dual-booting (eMMC is out of the box default first boot device)

Android TV Mode - AKA Wife Mode.  The only thing preventing this from being the only OS on the device is the lack of reliable DTS-HD MA passthrough.  Emby can't do it, Kodi sometimes can but when it fails, it locks up audio until the system output mode is toggled or the device rebooted.  From what I've gathered this is an Android limitation/problem.  Otherwise, it's what you'd expect out of a high-powered device running Android TV - everything works great and is nice and quick and smooth.  Emby for ATV works perfect when DTS-HD passthrough is disabled in the client.  SteamLink also really works excellent and for most games is transparent (I've never been this pleased with Steam In-Home Streaming performance).  Playback fails on Prime Video, I haven't figured that out yet (probably DRM/etc. related).  My only other real headache here is a decent local music player app with an EQ that also will actually run on ATV.  (Winamp 4 life)  However I don't really have the mains for serious stereo playback right now anyway, so it's not a dealbreaker since I usually just think "I need real towers up front" when I listen to music in there 

To follow up on Prime not working, we don't subscribe to any premium paid streaming services, so I don't know if Netflix/etc. would have similar issues.  I know the device is currently flagged by Play Services as "not certified" and I haven't gotten that sorted out yet.  Pluto TV and the paid service Philo both work perfectly.

coreELEC Mode - AKA OCD mode.  Kodi on linux, DTS-HD MA passthrough without any headaches.  No issues with EFK Next-gen.  Same music issue as Android, as Kodi doesn't have any EQ capabilities or add-ons.

This took a little bit of patience and figuring out what configurations supported what.  For instance just going straight Linux desktop w/Kodi was not an option because Steam does not provide a SteamLink client for generic arm64 linux.  Android has goofy issues with DTS-HD MA passthrough.  CoreELEC-only again means no SteamLink and other app limitations.  Once I understood that the passthrough problems were Android-related and not anything with my setup, I decided to try the dual-boot route.  Ended up trying basically every Android image available on the Hardkernel forums before settling on Lineage 19.1, in terms of both working software and hardware.  coreELEC was unsurprisingly the easiest part to get sorted out (and setting up the dual boot was shockingly simple).  I expect to upgrade to Lineage 20/ATV 13 when it's been cooked up.  If by some magic the DTS-HD MA passthrough is suddenly fixed and working perfectly in ATV 13, I would definitely remove coreELEC from the setup and go ATV full-time.

All-in-all I'm pleased (esp. for $150).  I already had a media center remote with it's own IR receiver programmed into the Harmony, and that works perfectly fine on both Android and in Kodi (just had to remap a few buttons for Android), so the wife is actually dipping her toes in the water.  I am a fan of the Roku devices on other TVs in the house, just not in the home theater because I never want any transcoding happening there for any reason.  It's not perfect and I believe coreELEC is already ending support for the device with Kodi 20.x, but I've found since getting it configured that it's "just there" and "just works" and have had no actual problems.  It's been a fun project and the hardware can be much more easily re-purposed in the future than an ancient PC.  I'd rather direct the budget towards an Emby server upgrade; I'm considering getting one of the new Intel cards and migrating from HEVC to VC1 for new ripping.  I don't know if I have it in me to re-rip all my BRs 

Edited April 25, 2023 by rotational467

[Luke 37082]

Possibly helpful related discussion: 

 

[Bingie 99]

I recently went thru all of that.  Not much luck.  Your wife already won, you just don't know it yet

My family refuses to give up their roku boxes, so I'm stuck supporting them, no matter what.  I still enjoy my kodi box, but it's just for me.  It does require a tinkerer's mind set, so I'm not wasting time trying to convince my family to use it, and honestly, don't want to have to support them on it.  Let's face it, kodi isn't very stable when streaming from some sources, the first drop in feed can cause it to lock up.  I actually keep an ssh window open on my windows pc to the kodi box, and a linux script ./restartkodi which is disappointingly necessary.  I also programmed a key on the remote to restart kodi, but it only works if you catch it before kodi totally locks up.

I'm also still trying to find an acceptable live tv option.  Emby is just too slow when starting any kind of live tv stream, either from the local hdhomerun device (local tv antenna), or any Internet streaming service.  I tried channels dvr, it's too slow, has problems, and in my opinion isn't ready for prime time, it lacks too many basic features.  Also, emby has trouble streaming some of the free m3u lists out there, such as for these (they all crash/stop when go to commercial, which usually breaks the feed):

https://community.getchannels.com/t/ability-to-import-pluto-tv-xumo-roku-tv-channels-to-tv-guide/32201/3

I'm currently testing plex server on my nas.  I absolutely love it's free live tv, when you select a channel, it INSTANTLY starts buffering, which usually takes maybe 1 second, and bam! live television.  Emby always takes several seconds before it even initiates any live stream from any source (for me anyways), and then several more seconds to buffer, before anything starts playing.  Too slow.

The roku boxes also offer free live tv streaming, and they work well usually (you can't record), although they struggle sometimes to keep playing after a commercial break, and you have to back out of the channel, then back into it.  But at least the roku doesn't lock up like kodi.  I also have an nvidia shield tv box, and have been testing it, but it has issues too, for me, mainly the total lack of audio balancing, or night mode, or whichever "term" you wish to use.  I don't like having to adjust volume every single time I change what I'm watching, so I don't even use it anymore.

I also refuse to pay for one of the many illegal m3u services out there, why should I, there are plenty of legal free ones, if you don't mind commercials.  I also refuse to pay $60-100+ each month for one of the legal streaming services, such as youtube, sling, hulu, etc.  Those sites have problems too, streams not starting, or stopping, etc.  They aren't worth it.

Sadly, IMHO there are no good solutions currently available today for live tv.  They all have major limitations, one way or the other.  I miss the cable boxes from the 80's and 90's where changing a channel was INSTANT, you could literally flick thru channels as fast as you can click, and see what was on.  Those days are gone now.  Now it's all wait wait wait wait wait...

I'm tempted to reconnect the antenna directly to the tv, at least that was quick changing channels.  Maybe use an amplified cable splitter, and run a coax cable to each tv.  And to record, run a coax cable to the hdhomerun device too, then let emby handle the recording.  This is going backwards though.  Technology today isn't all it's cracked up to be.  Pretty disappointing, if you ask me.  Oh well, at least we can still watch all of our movies and tv shows from the emby server to the roku boxes.  That works well.