As it should be :)

I’m a fat American, I can confirm all my strength is in my legs

Setting a BIOS password is one of the best pieces of advice I’ve read on Lemmy. Once you set that password, Windows shouldn’t be able to overwrite grub. That doesn’t help with devices and storage locks but that removed the biggest frustration for me.

IPTV is a video streaming protocol that delivers live TV. Here’s a basic overview:

1. An IPTV provider is streaming TV Channel 3 from its server.
2. Subscribers pay for access to a playlist file.
3. An IPTV player takes the playlist file and connects to the server.
4. The playlist file tells the player where TV Channel 3 is available for streaming.
5. The IPTV player streams the broadcast.

Most common IPTV providers are illegal restreams of commercial broadcasts. IPTV players don’t typically come with access to these servers, the user need to find a service and gain access to a playlist file.

Edit: There are free and ad-supported IPTV streams out there as well.

An obligatory “Fuck Blockbuster:” They sucked compared to the local rental shops.

Pop! OS might be a good option. It’s Ubuntu-based and is pretty easy to get running. I switched from Windows 10 earlier this year and it’s been mostly fine. A couple points to ask yourself before experimenting with Linux:

1. Is your data backed up? Will it be okay if you lose all of your computer’s data? I backed up all the important documents just in case I made a mistake.

2. Do you need Windows specifically for anything important? For example, do you use your computer for work? Stuff like Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Cloud either doesn’t or can’t run on Linux. However, there are tons of FOSS alternatives to replace Office and Adobe software.

I really like Pop! OS because it’s a nice bridge distro from Windows to Linux. It’s possible that I’ll switch to a more “advanced” distro like Arch in the future, but it’s nice just not having to worry about Windows 10 or having to upgrade to 11.

Keep in mind though, I still keep an install of Windows 10 on my machine in case I need to switch back for work software.

If you do dual boot, turn on the BIOS password to prevent Windows from messing with your bootloader.

There was a big shift between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion. Compared to Zero Mission, there is almost no plot in Super Metroid. The only major plot point is the whereabouts of the metroid which Ridley abducted in the opening scene.

Super Metroid is much more action focused then the later entries. I will say that the later areas are a little more atmospheric than the first half of the game. Wrecked Ship definitely has a different vibe than the rest.

I’d say it’s okay to take a break from Super Metroid and try Fusion. Fusion is much more linear and story driven. There was a short Super Metroid comic series in Nintendo Power that might provide some more context.

Apple in 2001:

Another option is using an alternate launcher. I’ve used Flauncher and ProjectIvy to bypass Google’s default launcher.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spocky.projengmenu&hl=en-US

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.efesser.flauncher&hl=en-US

APKs are available wherever you’d like to source them. F-droid should technically work on Android TV, as well. Android TV OS is a different OS from original Android, so I’ve never seen an alternative like Graphene.

All *arr apps should use root folders to organize media. If I understand the question, here’s the hypothetical situation:

1. Create a root folder for *Arr App.
2. Download media until drive is full.
3. Create a new root folder that points to different drive.
4. Configure *Arr App to move new downloads to new root folder created in step 3.

You should be able to have multiple root folders, but I’ve only checked in So are. One problem you’ll run into is that you can’t break up music artists or TV show series across root folders.

You might want to consider something like OpenMediaVault or Unraid to manage your storage. Either platform (or others) allow you to add drives as needed. I don’t use either so I’m just passing that along as a consideration.

Not sure if my setup is unique or wrong but here’s what I use:

1. I registered a domain with Name cheap and created subdomains for the tools I wanted to access (i.e. jellyfin.domain.tld, sonarr.domain.tld)
2. A DDNS client on my OpenWRT router updates the IP address for those subdomains. Traffic for each subdomain is pointed at my server.
3. Nginx Reverse Proxy runs on my server. This provides HTTPS certificates and is pretty straightforward.

I also use Tailscale for remote access and I’m not sure that my friends and family are ready for that. (Admittedly, I’m still on Plex.) Registering your own domain and using a DDNS service and reverse proxy will give your users an easier experience than Tailscale. I can give an easy-to-remember URL to folks rather than a new VPN platform to learn.

If security is more important, Tailscale is the best option for remote connections.

Why don’t we need this for Plex? Because Plex has all of the above steps baked into its service.

I wish someone would make a new RTS with the Halo Wars control scheme. It works so well on the Steam Deck. I played Halo Wars 2 on the Xbox and I was disappointed by the new gameplay.

Flauncher is a great pick too

I use the ONN 4K Pro and the ProjectIvy launcher. You can completely hide the standard Android TV OS launcher and its ads. Button Mapper is another good app to have on Android boxes. The remote is full of app-specific buttons that I’ve either disabled or remapped to alternative apps

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spocky.projengmenu

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=flar2.homebutton

I have no idea which codecs are supported.

I recently lost a media drive and Radarr was a godsend. I’ve made database backups a priority. It’s also much easier to recover from a dead drive with access to a private BitTorrent tracker that allows free leeching.

After I stopped other programs except for Radarr and qBitTorrent, I let those two with for two days and got most of everything back. There are a few more movies that I need to manually recover and I should properly back those up. Besides that, it worked very well.

Thanks everyone, I feel much better about moving forward. I’m leaning towards Proxmox at this point because I could still run Windows as a VM while playing around and setting up a new drive pool. I’d like a setup that I can gradually upgrade because I don’t often have a full day to dedicate to these matters.

MergerFS still seems like a good fit for my media pool, simply only to solve an issue where one media type is filling a whole drive as another sits at 50% capacity. I’ve lost this data before and it was easy to recover by way of my preferred backup method (private torrent tracker with paid freeleech). A parity drive with SnapRaid might be a nice stop gap. I don’t think I feel confident enough with ZFS to potentially sacrifice uptime.

My dockers and server databases, however, are on a separate SSD that could benefit from ZFS. These files are backed up regularly so I can recover easily and I’d like as many failsafes as possible to protect myself. Having my Radarr database was indispensable when I lost a media drive a few weeks ago.

Good catch, yes my drives are 12TB. My brain is still stuck in 2005. :)

I still use Plex because they offer the product I bought, an easy way to stream content on my devices. Others have technical or philosophical issues, which I totally understand. Plex is the easiest option for my situation as of now. It is working great for me and my family.

Nothing lasts forever so it’s good to realistic about the future. If I start having technical issues, it’s Jellyfin. If Plex doubles down on subscriptions, it’s Jellyfin.

If you’re like me, a lifetime Plex Pass holder, I would experiment with Nginx Reverse Proxy now so you understand how it works. I have Overseerr running through a reverse proxy now.

I think it’s a matter of when, not if, Plex will make a business decision that pushes me off their platform. It’s a company focused on profit and that’s fine. And it would be good to be prepared for the future.

Do a barrel roll!