PieFedChromecast alternative?
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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.
Either a Pi5 with OpenELEC or any other fanless Linux machine with Kodi + Plugins.
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.
There used to be that raspberry pi casting thing, but it’s gone now.
What thing..?
https://www.instructables.com/Raspberry-Pi-As-Chromecast-Alternative-Raspicast/
I swapped to a retired office PC with Linux on it, using KDE. I use KDE connect on my phone to use the browser to watch whatever I want. Some increased scaling made the interface more readable from a distance, and I set the hotbar to hide when I maximize a window.
It’s not perfect, but honestly it’s been better than any other option I’ve tried.
I have an NVIDIA Shield running Projectivy (launcher), Kodi (SMB share) Smarttube (YouTube). If there’s a Peertube app I’m sure it will run that. I’m happy with it, but I think it’sl pricy.
FUTO does some things
Who or what is FUTO? Why are/is they/it doing things?
Look, the internet!
That’s a startpage link to a search that does not find anything that looks like it might be a thing you’re referring to. *shrug*
It does for me
https://fcast.org/
https://github.com/futo-org/fcast
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41376215
They will have hardware compatible with the protocol/software listed somewhere.
Thank you!
I have a Chromecast dongle on the tv and stream with VLC.
Though i’m not sure what data does to Google this way.