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Thanks for sharing @TXRon. Have you personally used FydeOS? What seems to be some of the main limitations versus Windows or Linux/Ubuntu?
I tried an earlier version and it was ok but now it appears to be making strides in development. I am excited to find out how apps like tivimate and sparkle work with a remote etc. I can vouch for linux with stremio and kodi as they both work very well under linux or in this case maybe android. It will offer options for sure… it just boils down to the remote imho.
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Thanks for posting this.
As I was looking over the site I saw they had a version specifically for the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 and I have one that I had moved away from since it isn’t Windows 11 capable without hacks, and I was planning to try a version of Linux on it. So, I gave it a try, and it works great. The stylus even works.
The OS is very much like ChromeOS and flies on the Pro 4. I activated Android and installed the 64bit x86 AndroidTV version of Stremio from their website and it runs great as long I avoid the HDR/DolbyVision files.
I also installed the latest version of TiviMate and activated premium. I was able to setup SMB share to where my backup is stored but it was unable to see the file. I went on my windows compute and copy/pasted the file to another directory, and it then showed up. The backup installed perfectly, and it loads EPG data very quickly, faster than any of my boxes including my Shield Pro and Ugoos SK1. At first no channel would load on any of my playlists and I couldn’t figure it out but then then everything just started working. No idea but it is flawless for live tv now. VOD will play audio, but I can’t get any video even on videos that should be non HDR. If you try to open in an external player, it launches a web browser. Since I don’t use VOD and use Plex and Stremio instead I haven’t tried to install another player or figure it out.
The remote I’m using is a cheap MX3 that was like $4 on AliExpress. It has a 2.4ghz USB dongle.
Almost all buttons work, and all of the essential ones do. The D-pad, back, volume, mute etc. work as well as the air mouse function. You can use the number buttons in TiviMate to jump to channels. The page down/up work in the guide also. The play/pause, FF, Rewind work in Stremio as well. The search button pulls up the equivalent of the Windows menu and its search box. The QWERTY keyboard works.
I installed a trial version of Sparkle, and it works but there were a few hiccups. The interface is tiny even with the font size set to the largest option. It is hard to see the guide. Also, in the guide the page up/down button causes it to jump multiple pages. With TiviMate working so much better I won’t waste adding my license and trying to tweak it.
I also installed iMPlayer and it installed but crashes immediately on launch, so I deleted it.
With just the ChromeOS type functionality and browsing etc. along with TiviMate and Stremio the Surface has a new lease on life. I plan on trying Kodi when I get some more time and might try the Linux versus Android editions but I’m very happy as is.
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You can follow FydeOS on discord>>> FydeOS
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I’m going to try FydeOS on a mini PC I have that currently runs LibreELEC. That could be a game changer if I could run Android apps on it instead of just being limited to Kodi.
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