Interesting MiniPC with Linux

Amazon.com: ATOPNUC Mini PC Ubuntu,AMD A9 9400 APU(up to 3.2Ghz) Linux Computer 8GB RAM 128GB SSD,Mini Desktop Computer Suppport 4K Dual HDMI/2.4&5G WiFi/BT5.0/Gigabit Ethernet/VESA/Auto Power On : Electronics

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Is Radeon R5 supported for hardware encoding?

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Interesting product and a good price. Strangely it won't ship to California.

AMD h/w transcoding should work on Ubuntu.

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Yeah they had a $30 coupon could not resist Cheaper than a PI.

Coupon: $30 coupon applied to one item per order at checkout Shop

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Thanks for this post! I picked one up as well. With that 30.00 coupon definite great deal!

Wow, thanks. Been using Ubuntu on my laptops for years. Converted my Media Server to Ubuntu early last year. I loved the way Channels DVR ran under Linux but couldn't keep it on my Media Server long term because I am always tinkering with it and rebooting which would screw up a heavy recording schedule. So I've been running Channels DVR on one of my Shield Pro's but would rather not. I can envision buying one of these strictly for use as a headless Channels DVR server and set it up next to my HDHR.

I was already going to pull the trigger at $119, but then saw the $30 coupon -- smiled broadly as I clicked "buy". Thanks again.

just tossing out the idea that amazon sells a lot of renewed PCs that would work well. example is this $80 HP MiniPC

https://www.amazon.com/HP-Computer-Mini-i3-4160T-Renewed/dp/B07DKNPPHZ/ref=sr_1_4?c=ts&keywords=Mini+Computers&qid=1683697759&s=pc&sr=1-4&ts_id=13896591011

Already got mine my helper helped with the unboxing .... 5 AM PT.

Check Bottom for user and PWD

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Curious how this compares in practical use to a, say Beelink style N5905 so please keep us informed.

The case is a bit goofy looking, but the price is certainly attractive.

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For those interested it does auto power on after power loss but needs to be set in bios to get to BIOS power on and hit F2 repeatedly.

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I would wipe this thing and put my own distro on it immediatly. Just sayin' lol.

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I do that with every PC windows/linux etc... Also install new operating system with no network connection.

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While Iā€™m sure this thing will run CDVR just fine, the Beelink with a n5905 will smoke this a9 with anything cpu intensive.

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Got my ATOPNUC on 5/11, connected it to network, monitor, keyboard & mouse and fired it up. Very Slick for $90. It booted the pre-loaded Ubuntu 20.04 very quickly. I played with it a little bit then booted from an Ubuntu Desktop 22.04 image, wiped the SSD and installed a clean minimal v22.04 which is what I have running on all my other machines. It installs and runs Ubuntu Desktop 22.04 very quickly with no issues. I installed chromium-browser, curl, then Channels-DVR; connected to CDVR from another machine and it was there and ready for me to transfer my system over from a Shield.
My intent is to transfer my CDVR system over to this box and run it as a headless (no KVM) CDVR server with just the SSD from my Shield plugged in.

Problem:
I do like to keep my Ubuntu's current so I was planning on using Remmina to make an RDP remote desktop connection to the ATOPNUC so I could access the GUI and run the software updater tool. I use Remmina to remotely access all my machines with no problems. With the ATOPNUC, Remmina also works perfectly -- no problems -- until you pull the HDMI cable to the monitor out. Then poof, the remote desktop window closes and you can't get it back -- until you plug a monitor back in. Kind of puts a kink in running headless if you want to be able to access the GUI.

I'm no linux expert, but I do know my way around the command line so the solution for me was to install Open-SSH server on the ATOPNUC so I could connect to it via SSH and run the apt and snap update commands from the command line. The SSH connection works fine on a headless ATOPNUC. At this point I'm thinking of just trashing Ubuntu Desktop and just installing Server 22.04 since I have to use SSH. There is no auto login on reboot of Ubuntu Server, but since CDVR runs as a service no login is needed. I'll let you know once I get this and CDVR up and running how I decided to float the boat.

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My setup is similar

A. I use a dummy display plug
Amazon.com : hdmi dummy plug
B. I configured x11vnc server to boot at startup so that Remmina can connect.

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The only problem is that Channels DVR does not support hardware transcoding at the moment on it ... I tested the other DVRS Emby and Plex and they both work with hardware transcoding on it.

If your goal is to have hardware transcoding on a sub $90 device w/Channels get this -

My goal is to see Channels DVR support hardware transcoding on AMD Linux like all other software out there.

did anybody ask you for this?

Yes I did and they already support Hardware on AMD in Windows.

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