Going to migrate Channels to a Mac Mini and am trying to decide on running macOS vs Ubuntu. Primarily running samba file sharing and Channels DVR server so both should suffice. Anything inherently better about one versus the other? Is one faster or better optimized? They’ll both be accessed headless remotely.
Which Mac mini?
1 Like
This is a 2012 i7
Intel CPU, so that would let you do h/w transcoding in both macos and linux. Ubuntu may be simpler to get the most perf out of the older model.
Sounds good. Thanks!
1 Like
I've been running channels on a 2012 Mac Mini i7 2.6GHZ since 2019 and it has worked extremely well. Even with external USB drives and SSD.
1 Like
Do you do much watching remotely from it? Do you run macOS or Linux on it?
One thing for you to investigate before jumping on with Linux on a Mac is the ability to have the system auto-resume in the event of a power interruption/restoration.
I run my MILs DVR on an older iMac. Linux does not actively support resume on power fail/restoration and there isn't a user accessible BIOS option (like in a PC) to set that option. I can't tell you how many calls I've received in the last year where the resolution was to tell her to turn it back on because her power blipped. Macs do this via MacOS.
There are ways to do it in Linux. But, it's a bit of a hack to figure the right settings to make it happen.
IMHO, auto-resume after a power failure is a critical function for a DVR.
Other than this, Linux is a great platform to run the DVR on. I use it for mine on an ESXi VM with absolutely no issues and fantastic performance.
I run one of these 2012 Mac Minis using the generic X86 image of Home Assistant as well. Appears that the 2012 version Mac Mini keeps the setting persistent to reboot after power failure. I set that with macOS before imaging the HD. So that’s been working great after a power failure. There is a Linux equivalent of the command that I found. Haven’t tried it though.
Currently running MacOS on it. Unfortunately I don't stream remotely so cannot really answer questions regarding that but if there is anything you would like to know about my Mac Mini let me know!
PS: Mac mini auto powers on after a electrical outage.
1 Like
Will do. Thanks!
This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.