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+--- Thread: Combine server and client into one machine (/t-combine-server-and-client-into-one-machine)
Combine server and client into one machine - johnnychicago - 2024-01-28
Hello --
New around here, although a Kodi user for a long, long time and jellyfin since 3 or so years. Emby, before.
My setup is probably not out of the ordinary: the server's a jellyfin docker container running in a Debian VM on a Proxmox host that has some beefy hardware and a handful of drives with the media content. The main player is a Raspberry Pi running Libreelec (and mostly the jellycon plugin, because since an SD card died and I had to recreate, the jellyfin one doesn't seem to sync). There's a Roku player, and a few phones and tablets, sometimes in the house, sometimes outside. All good.
Except the Proxmox host is a huge power sink, and some of the drives getting long in the tooth, and it doesn't do much except running Jellyfin for most of the time.
So I was thinking about switching it off and replacing it with one of these cute N100 based mini pc's, and add an USB drive to that. One large drive could fit my library these days, and I was thinking about parking this combo next to the TV and using it as a client as well. I am ok with that physical setup, had similar hardware sitting next to the main TV for years when I was using Kodi on its own (a SFF ITX based PC with a 3.5'' drive).
I am not sure how to go about this, specifically the client bit. Although I like the jellyfin app and the webclient is great on a computer, this stuff seems lacking when I picture how to use it with a remote control on a TV. People in general don't seem to run it on TV, but rely on either Android or kodi based interfaces.
Currently I would install some debian or ubuntu on the box, docker for the jellyfin server, and Kodi for the client (dockerized Kodi seems not much of a thing). Alternatively, there could be a Libreelec based system, there's a plugin that installs docker apparently and from there one could set up Jellyfin. I've been searching around a bit and was surprised not to find this described - or even mentioned - a lot. There's people running Jellyfin on their Kodi sometimes, but other clients and transcoding is certainly not a factor.
Is this even a good approach? Would an N100 do the job? Is there a smart way to go about it or things to avoid? On one side I'd enjoy the 'works out of the box' Libreelec bit, but I am hesitant about how much out-of-the-box is left after putting docker, jellyfin, and ideally a ZFS'ed USB drive on that.
In general I trust that I can get something to work more or less reliably, I'd just like to hear some opinions one way or the other... when nobody seems to have done this before, either I am a genius for having the idea, or there's good reasons not to do it
RE: Combine server and client into one machine - tmsrxzar - 2024-01-28
N100/Intel UHD will be good for 1-2 4K HDR -> 1080p transcode streams
i have one here i have been planning to make a jf server out of
Kodi will be the best client but LibreELEC may not be the best OS for this job, Kodi already handles things like CEC and 'remote control' based input, the jellyfin clients just running on linux won't offer the same level of mediacenter interface
i would recommend this
Debian with Kodi running as the desktop in standalone as a service, this is basically how libreelec works
https://linuxaudiofoundation.org/install-kodi-20-1-on-debian-11-12-bullseye-bookworm
Jellyfin in a straight docker, no Proxmox, no VM
https://docs.linuxserver.io/images/docker-jellyfin
**you might find your HDMI is inadequate as i did with the newer N100, the output is 12bit and you will get a blank screen if you do not use 48Gbps HDMI cables and components
RE: Combine server and client into one machine - johnnychicago - 2024-01-28
(2024-01-28, 05:45 PM)tmsrxzar Wrote: N100/Intel UHD will be good for 1-2 4K HDR -> 1080p transcode streamsThat sounds reasonable for my needs. If there's a local user, there might be one remote user. With two remote users, we'd rarely have a local user. And of course by far not everything here is 4k and needs transcoding down...
Quote:Kodi will be the best client but LibreELEC may not be the best OS for this job, Kodi already handles things like CEC and 'remote control' based input, the jellyfin clients just running on linux won't offer the same level of mediacenter interface
Ah, good to know Kodi does these things already, and they're not libreelec specificities. It's been a while since I cared, Raspberry Pi's with Libreelec have been good for me for a long time
Quote:i would recommend this
Debian with Kodi running as the desktop in standalone as a service, this is basically how libreelec works
https://linuxaudiofoundation.org/install-kodi-20-1-on-debian-11-12-bullseye-bookworm
Ah, there's a reasonable modern Kodi in sid, that's nice
Quote:Jellyfin in a straight docker, no Proxmox, no VM
https://docs.linuxserver.io/images/docker-jellyfin
That's a given. I assume to just copy my compose file and get going.
Quote:**you might find your HDMI is inadequate as i did with the newer N100, the output is 12bit and you will get a blank screen if you do not use 48Gbps HDMI cables and components
Oh - could you elaborate some here, please? Currently the Raspberry 4 with Libreelec feeds into an Onkyo 646 receiver and from there to a TV. Never much cared about HDMI specificities, so far things were plug and play for me on that front.
Thanks a lot!
RE: Combine server and client into one machine - tmsrxzar - 2024-01-28
(2024-01-28, 08:05 PM)johnnychicago Wrote: Oh - could you elaborate some here, please? Currently the Raspberry 4 with Libreelec feeds into an Onkyo 646 receiver and from there to a TV. Never much cared about HDMI specificities, so far things were plug and play for me on that front.
i purchased an N100 at the end of last year to experiment with it as an HTPC, pretty much the same thing you are talking about doing
i already use Zeskit HDMI cables which are 48Gbps
initially i was testing outside my normal setup, directly to an unused port on the TV
everything was up and running to my expectations so i decided to go ahead and plug it in "the normal way" which means connecting it to my home theater ethernet switch and hdmi switch
tuck the cables, route everything, etc.
of course that takes a little time, at the end of which i was met with no video on the TV
long story short, a lot of aggravation and back tracing i figured out my HDMI switch was only 18Gbps which wouldn't carry the signal, replaced it with a 48Gbps switch and everything worked again
i just wanted to leave a disclaimer as to maybe save someone else diagnosing a blank display with one of these, if it happens re-evaluate the HDMI in your setup