Torjus Håkestad
b578520905
Decided on Kodi + JellyCon with NFS direct path for media playback, Sway/Hyprland for display server with workspace-based browser switching, and noted HDR status for future reference. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
245 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
245 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
# Media PC Replacement
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## Overview
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Replace the aging Linux+Kodi media PC connected to the TV with a modern, compact solution. Primary use cases are Jellyfin/Kodi playback and watching Twitch/YouTube. The current machine (`media`, 10.69.31.50) is on VLAN 31.
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## Current State
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### Hardware
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- **CPU**: Intel Core i7-4770K @ 3.50GHz (Haswell, 4C/8T, 2013)
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- **GPU**: Nvidia GeForce GT 710 (Kepler, GK208B)
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- **OS**: Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS (Jammy)
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- **Software**: Kodi
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- **Network**: `media.home.2rjus.net` at `10.69.31.50` (VLAN 31)
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### Control & Display
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- **Input**: Wireless keyboard (works well, useful for browser)
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- **TV**: 1080p (no 4K/HDR currently, but may upgrade TV later)
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- **Audio**: Surround system connected via HDMI ARC from TV (PC → HDMI → TV → ARC → surround)
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### Notes on Current Hardware
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- The i7-4770K is massively overpowered for media playback — it's a full desktop CPU from 2013
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- The GT 710 is a low-end passive GPU; supports NVDEC for H.264/H.265 hardware decode but limited to 4K@30Hz over HDMI 1.4
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- Ubuntu 22.04 is approaching EOL (April 2027) and is not managed by this repo
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- The whole system is likely in a full-size or mid-tower case — not ideal for a TV setup
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### Integration
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- **Media source**: Jellyfin on `jelly01` (10.69.13.14) serves media from NAS via NFS
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- **DNS**: A record in `services/ns/external-hosts.nix`
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- **Not managed**: Not a NixOS host in this repo, no monitoring/auto-updates
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## Options
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### Option 1: Dedicated Streaming Device (Apple TV / Nvidia Shield)
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| Aspect | Apple TV 4K | Nvidia Shield Pro |
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|--------|-------------|-------------------|
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| **Price** | ~$130-180 | ~$200 |
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| **Jellyfin** | Swiftfin app (good) | Jellyfin Android TV (good) |
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| **Kodi** | Not available (tvOS) | Full Kodi support |
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| **Twitch** | Native app | Native app |
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| **YouTube** | Native app | Native app |
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| **HDR/DV** | Dolby Vision + HDR10 | Dolby Vision + HDR10 |
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| **4K** | Yes | Yes |
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| **Form factor** | Tiny, silent | Small, silent |
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| **Remote** | Excellent Siri remote | Decent, supports CEC |
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| **Homelab integration** | None | Minimal (Plex/Kodi only) |
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**Pros:**
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- Zero maintenance - appliance experience
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- Excellent app ecosystem (native Twitch, YouTube, streaming services)
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- Silent, tiny form factor
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- Great remote control / CEC support
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- Hardware-accelerated codec support out of the box
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**Cons:**
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- No NixOS management, monitoring, or auto-updates
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- Can't run arbitrary software
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- Jellyfin clients are decent but not as mature as Kodi
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- Vendor lock-in (Apple ecosystem / Google ecosystem)
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- No SSH access for troubleshooting
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### Option 2: NixOS Mini PC (Kodi Appliance)
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A small form factor PC (Intel NUC, Beelink, MinisForum, etc.) running NixOS with Kodi as the desktop environment.
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**NixOS has built-in support:**
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- `services.xserver.desktopManager.kodi.enable` - boots directly into Kodi
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- `kodi-gbm` package - Kodi with direct DRM/KMS rendering (no X11/Wayland needed)
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- `kodiPackages.jellycon` - Jellyfin integration for Kodi
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- `kodiPackages.sendtokodi` - plays streams via yt-dlp (Twitch, YouTube)
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- `kodiPackages.inputstream-adaptive` - adaptive streaming support
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**Example NixOS config sketch:**
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```nix
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{ pkgs, ... }:
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{
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services.xserver.desktopManager.kodi = {
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enable = true;
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package = pkgs.kodi.withPackages (p: [
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p.jellycon
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p.sendtokodi
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p.inputstream-adaptive
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]);
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};
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# Auto-login to Kodi session
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services.displayManager.autoLogin = {
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enable = true;
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user = "kodi";
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};
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}
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```
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**Pros:**
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- Full NixOS management (monitoring, auto-updates, vault, promtail)
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- Kodi is a proven TV interface with excellent remote/CEC support
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- JellyCon integrates Jellyfin library directly into Kodi
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- Twitch/YouTube via sendtokodi + yt-dlp or Kodi browser addons
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- Can run arbitrary services (e.g., Home Assistant dashboard)
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- Declarative, reproducible config in this repo
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**Cons:**
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- More maintenance than an appliance
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- NixOS + Kodi on bare metal needs GPU driver setup (Intel iGPU is usually fine)
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- Kodi YouTube/Twitch addons are less polished than native apps
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- Need to buy hardware (~$150-400 for a decent mini PC)
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- Power consumption higher than a streaming device
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### Option 3: NixOS Mini PC (Wayland Desktop)
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A mini PC running NixOS with a lightweight Wayland compositor, launching Kodi for media and a browser for Twitch/YouTube.
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**Pros:**
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- Best of both worlds: Kodi for media, Firefox/Chromium for Twitch/YouTube
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- Full NixOS management
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- Can switch between Kodi and browser easily
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- Native web experience for streaming sites
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**Cons:**
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- More complex setup (compositor + Kodi + browser)
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- Harder to get a good "10-foot UI" experience
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- Keyboard/mouse may be needed alongside remote
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- Significantly more maintenance
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## Comparison
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| Criteria | Dedicated Device | NixOS Kodi | NixOS Desktop |
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|----------|-----------------|------------|---------------|
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| **Maintenance** | None | Low | Medium |
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| **Media experience** | Excellent | Excellent | Good |
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| **Twitch/YouTube** | Excellent (native apps) | Good (addons/yt-dlp) | Excellent (browser) |
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| **Homelab integration** | None | Full | Full |
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| **Form factor** | Tiny | Small | Small |
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| **Cost** | $130-200 | $150-400 | $150-400 |
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| **Silent operation** | Yes | Likely (fanless options) | Likely |
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| **CEC remote** | Yes | Yes (Kodi) | Partial |
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## Decision: NixOS Mini PC with Kodi (Option 2)
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**Rationale:**
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- Already comfortable with Kodi + wireless keyboard workflow
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- Browser access for Twitch/YouTube is important — Kodi can launch a browser when needed
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- Homelab integration comes for free (monitoring, auto-updates, vault)
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- Natural fit alongside the other 16 NixOS hosts in this repo
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- Dedicated devices lose the browser/keyboard workflow
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### Display Server: Sway/Hyprland
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Options evaluated:
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| Approach | Pros | Cons |
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|----------|------|------|
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| Cage (kiosk) | Simplest, single-app | No browser without TTY switching |
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| kodi-gbm (no compositor) | Best HDR support | No browser at all, ALSA-only audio |
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| **Sway/Hyprland** | **Workspace switching, VA-API in browser** | **Slightly more config** |
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| Full DE (GNOME/KDE) | Everything works | Overkill, heavy |
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**Decision: Sway or Hyprland** (Hyprland preferred — same as desktop)
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- Kodi fullscreen on workspace 1, Firefox on workspace 2
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- Switch via keybinding on wireless keyboard
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- Auto-start both on login via greetd
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- Minimal config — no bar, no decorations, just workspaces
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- VA-API hardware decode works in Firefox on Wayland (important for YouTube/Twitch)
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- Can revisit kodi-gbm later if HDR becomes a priority (just a config change)
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### Twitch/YouTube
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Firefox on workspace 2, switched to via keyboard. Kodi addons (sendtokodi, YouTube plugin) available as secondary options but a real browser is the primary approach.
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### Media Playback: Kodi + JellyCon + NFS Direct Path
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Three options were evaluated for media playback:
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| Approach | Transcoding | Library management | Watch state sync |
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|----------|-------------|-------------------|-----------------|
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| Jellyfin only (browser) | Yes — browsers lack codec support for DTS, PGS subs, etc. | Jellyfin | Jellyfin |
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| Kodi + NFS only | No — Kodi plays everything natively | Kodi local DB | None |
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| **Kodi + JellyCon + NFS** | **No — Kodi's native player, direct path via NFS** | **Jellyfin** | **Jellyfin** |
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**Decision: Kodi + JellyCon with NFS direct path**
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- JellyCon presents the Jellyfin library inside Kodi's UI (browse, search, metadata, artwork)
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- Playback uses Kodi's native player — direct play, no transcoding, full codec support including surround passthrough
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- JellyCon's "direct path" mode maps Jellyfin paths to local NFS mounts, so playback goes straight over NFS without streaming through Jellyfin's HTTP layer
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- Watch state, resume position, etc. sync back to Jellyfin — accessible from other devices too
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- NFS mount follows the same pattern as jelly01 (`nas.home.2rjus.net:/mnt/hdd-pool/media`)
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### Audio Passthrough
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Kodi on NixOS supports HDMI audio passthrough for surround formats (AC3, DTS, etc.). The ARC chain (PC → HDMI → TV → ARC → surround) works transparently — Kodi just needs to be configured for passthrough rather than decoding audio locally.
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## Hardware
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### Leading Candidate: GMKtec G3
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- **CPU**: Intel N100 (Alder Lake-N, 4C/4T)
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- **RAM**: 16GB
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- **Storage**: 512GB NVMe
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- **Price**: ~NOK 2800 (~$250 USD)
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- **Source**: AliExpress
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The N100 supports hardware decode for all relevant 4K codecs:
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| Codec | Support | Used by |
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|-------|---------|---------|
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| H.264/AVC | Yes (Quick Sync) | Older media |
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| H.265/HEVC 10-bit | Yes (Quick Sync) | Most 4K media, HDR |
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| VP9 | Yes (Quick Sync) | YouTube 4K |
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| AV1 | Yes (Quick Sync) | YouTube, Twitch, newer encodes |
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16GB RAM is comfortable for Kodi + browser + NixOS system services (node-exporter, promtail, etc.) with plenty of headroom.
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### Key Requirements
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- HDMI 2.0+ for 4K future-proofing (current TV is 1080p)
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- Hardware video decode via VA-API / Intel Quick Sync
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- HDR support (for future TV upgrade)
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- Fanless or near-silent operation
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## Implementation Steps
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1. **Choose and order hardware**
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2. **Create host configuration** (`hosts/media1/`)
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- Kodi desktop manager with Jellyfin + streaming addons
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- Intel/AMD iGPU driver and VA-API hardware decode
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- HDMI audio passthrough for surround
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- NFS mount for media (same pattern as jelly01)
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- Browser package (Firefox/Chromium) for Twitch/YouTube fallback
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- Standard system modules (monitoring, promtail, vault, auto-upgrade)
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3. **Install NixOS** on the mini PC
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4. **Configure Kodi** (Jellyfin server, addons, audio passthrough)
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5. **Update DNS** - point `media.home.2rjus.net` to new IP (or keep on VLAN 31)
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6. **Retire old media PC**
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## Open Questions
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- [x] What are the current media PC specs? — i7-4770K, GT 710, Ubuntu 22.04. Overkill CPU, weak GPU, large form factor. Not worth reusing if goal is compact/silent.
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- [x] VLAN? — Keep on VLAN 31 for now, same as current media PC. Can revisit later.
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- [x] Is CEC needed? — No, not using it currently. Can add later if desired.
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- [x] Is 4K HDR output needed? — TV is 1080p now, but want 4K/HDR capability for future TV upgrade
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- [x] Audio setup? — Surround system via HDMI ARC from TV. Media PC outputs HDMI to TV, TV passes audio to surround via ARC. Kodi/any player just needs HDMI audio output with surround passthrough.
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- [x] Are there streaming service apps needed? — No. Only Twitch/YouTube, which work fine in any browser.
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- [x] Budget? — ~NOK 2800 for GMKtec G3 (N100, 16GB, 512GB NVMe)
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