this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2026
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Advice for Linux media center (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 21 hours ago by Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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Hi everyone!

In the next year or so, my project is to rip all my blurays and put them on a 4tb external USB hard drive. I've already done it for all my DVDs, but I still have to buy an external bluray player in order to finish the job. My budget for the bluray player is CHF 75.- used, so around 75$. All this is done through MakeMKV.

Then, I'd want to have a small Linux PC that I'd use as a media center. My budget is under CHF 100.-, so around 100$. I've noticed that you can get 2014 MacMinis with i5 or i7 for that budget, but I'm open to any other brand.

What I'd want the PC to do: -Play all my movies stored on my external USB drive. I don't think I have 4k movies, but I can't exclude that some of my Blurays will be 4k in the future -Display my family pictures and videos stored on kDrive (a cloud by Infomaniak) through Firefox and WebDav -Play my music on my Yamaha Amplifier through Firefox and Tidal -Use the wifi for updates, browser based stuff, etc..

The PC would probably not be used for anything else for now, but it needs to be able to become a desktop PC again in the future if needed.

I'd want to operate the PC with a bluetooth mouse and only have to use a keyboard from time to time.

I've heard about Jellyfin, Libelec, Kodi and other stuff but I don't really know what they are.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

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[–] Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works 3 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

The external Bluray poayer is a necessary for me as I really want to make copies of my own movies.

Some of them could also be difficult to find on torrent sites and a Blu ray player can also be useful to backup my videogames at one point.

In my country, it is legal to make copies of something you own. Even downloading movies is legal to make, but it ain’t what I want 😇

[–] blitzen@lemmy.ca 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

I hear you on those concerns. You may find that ripping blu-rays, even if legal, has technical decrypting hurdles too high to clear. Just keep your option open is my suggestion.

[–] Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works 1 points 18 hours ago (3 children)

What kind of technical hurdles do you mean? Apparently makeMKV makes it quite easy but I’d be happy to have feedback

[–] blitzen@lemmy.ca 1 points 12 hours ago

Apparently, it seems my information might be outdated so I apologize. I've MakeMKV ripped from disc images before, but was under the mistaken impression that physical BD disks were unable to be easily ripped from.

[–] nix98@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

I don't have trouble with most blu-rays, but there are a few I have not been able to get to rip. This includes, brand new, out of the box blu-rays. I have not tried any ultra-hd blu-rays yet, even though my external blu-ray drive should support it.

I do recommend looking at the makemkv forums for blu-ray drives. Some of the cheaper external drives do not last very long! A higher quality internal drive with an external case works much better. There are some people on the makemkv forums you can buy from. They have specific drives they like and they'll pre-flash libredrive firmware on them.

I also prefer ripping to downloading. I am quite specific about how I like my movies ripped, and like to keep embedded subtitles, extra languages, full DTS surround, and commentary tracks, which are often missing in downloads. It does take a bit more time, but I also find I am way more careful about curating my collection and keeping it high quality.

[–] Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works 1 points 13 hours ago

Agreed. When you download, you don’t really know what you’re getting. Also you don’t get consistency between all of your movies. That’s the difference when you rip your own stuff.

With the bluray drive, there isn’t much choice on the used market in Switzerland so I’m just trying to go with a good brand and check reviews if I find some.

[–] cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

You shouldn't have any issues with MakeMKV and normal blurays. 4K blurays can only be ripped with certain drives and they need custom firmware.