Turning Raspberry Pi into Jellyfin Media Player Box?
Can anybody lead me down the right path on this...?
I run a jellyfin server and I'd like to utilize a raspberry pi as the equivalent of a roku box / fire stick but for my jellyfin server.
I'm setting this up for a friend as a gift. He isn't very tech savvy so I wanted to make it user-friendly. I'm looking into buying a usb remote control as well.
I love the jellyin UI so it would be cool to stick with that.
What are my options? It would be ideal if the pi boots up right into the browser/player app and can be accessed/controlled via the remote like roku or similar.
If you’re using a 3b just be aware that hevc and x265 files won’t play properly.
FYI, hevc is a name for the codec and x265 is just a name for one of the encoders into hevc (AKA h265) format.
They're kinda-sorta the same thing.
TIL. Thank you.
You're welcome! It's relatively niche stuff and the naming is pretty much a hot mess lol
Jellyfin Media Player is the main desktop app, but if I were you I'd probably set it up with LibreElec and use the Jellyfin Kodi plugin, since you're looking for sort of a console-ized setup for your non-techie friend.
Now all that said, the Roku app is great and you could definitely just get your friend a Roku Streaming Stick+ and set up the JF app on it for them.
It's probably the best solution. Unfortunately you won't have access to the real jellyfin UI
True, though you could grab a Kodi theme that's "close enough" if you're so-inclined.
For instance, if you use a version of LibreElec with Kodi 19 "Matrix" on it, you could grab the Embuary skin for it, which is based on the Emby web-ui, which Jellyfin is forked off of originally
This approach seems like it will get me close to what I'm trying to achieve.
https://libreelec.tv/downloads/
https://osmc.tv/download/
These both run Kodi which can run Jellyfin
Which one of those do you suggest over the other? GPT4 suggests LibreElec might run better on lower spec hardware like the Pi.
LibreElec is lighter, so I'd generally agree with GPT4 on this one. It can be slightly more involved to set up, but there's good documentation for the Pi in particular, so it's not like it's hard to pull off.
Commenting here for traction. Having *arr apps, a VPN, and jellyfin running on a Pi would be a great gift.
take one of the mediaplayer distos (LibreELEC, ...). they are easy to set up and quite robust. there are jellyfin plugins for kodi. but you probably won't have exactly the same ui with kodi.
I found the DietPi OS to be great for getting a media server going. Alternatively, just install a lightweight OS, install docker, then set up Sonarr / Radarr / Prowlar / Overseerr (or Jellyseerr) / a torrent client / Jellyfin using docker. Make sure you transfer the OS off the memory card though, they eventually corrupt if you run the OS off them. Not sure about a remote, Plex let's you use the android app to fling media to another Plex app on the same network, maybe Jellyfin has similar?
If I'm not mistaken, this post isn't asking about setting up a separate server instance, but setting up a Pi as a dedicated client for OP's friend to access OP's server.
Precisely. I made an edit earlier to clear that up.
I've been running my 3B's OS off the card since 2018, lol.
I gotta keep it plugged into a UPS because if it loses power it kills it and I have to reinstall which is a PITA, but I've never had any trouble otherwise (knock wood). It's been a Plex server now for like two years.
Worth testing out if you have one lying around… they are scarce these days. I’m not completely sure it would be a good experience performance wise. I would like to know myself.