I have an exclusive gaming PC. Ideally what I'd like to do is shove it in a closet or other vacant room to contain the heat and then stream games over LAN.
The problem with existing solutions is:
- They need a monitor connected
- The monitor to be powered on
- They don't support varying refresh rates/resolutions. Only whatever is displayed on the connected monitor. I want to play on my 4k/60Hz TV in the living room for AAA visual spectacle games that work best with controller, and the 1440p/120Hz display in my office for FPS or otherwise fast-moving games that demand KBM, and the 5k monitor for photo/video editing.
- I haven't had much success getting these working at all. Red screens, 1/4 screens, image noise, etc.
They're literally just mirroring the screen of the connected display.
I really don't want to have to buy a dedicated PC for each use-case. Does a solution like this exist? What are their pros and cons? Preferably something that doesn't require a degree in software engineering.
Currently I am using Bazzite OS with 5700x + 6800xt, if that matters.
28 Comments
abeltramo@lemmy.world · 22 pts · 1y
Shameless plug: I'm the main developer of Games on Whales.
I've built Wolf exactly because of those shortcomings of other solutions: it runs fully headless, spins up virtual Wayland desktops that matches the resolution/FPS that's requested from the clients and everything runs in Docker so it doesn't pollute your host OS (just your HDD).
I'm currently working on a massive performance improvement in this PR if you'd like to try it, I'd suggest to pick that tag.
Ulrich@feddit.org · 2 pts · 1y
That's very cool. Thank you for creating this and for sharing it here. No shame necessary as it seems to fulfill exactly what I asked for.
Unfortunately Docker containers and terminal coding is a bit over my head.
Also YT doesn't like to let me watch their videos so if you uploaded them somewhere else for sharing, that would be cool.
abeltramo@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y
That's absolutely understandable, getting comfortable with the terminal is definitely the first step to be able to shove that PC in a closet. 😉
Ideally, in the meantime I'll have made all this stack even easier to run!
ZeroHora@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 1y
Games on Whales... the naming department was on-fire this day.
abeltramo@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y
Probably the only thing I wouldn't change in the project after all these years!
mighty_bombero@feddit.org · 1 pts · 1y
I really love your project but couldn't get it up and running on Bazzite due to only supporting podman out of the box. Do you know of a good guide for Bazzite?
abeltramo@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y
We support podman, you just have to enable the Podman System Service so that Wolf can use that socket to spin up and down additional containers.
I really should add a section in the quickstart guide..
mighty_bombero@feddit.org · 1 pts · 1y
Many thanks, I will look into this.
Kolanaki@pawb.social · 4 pts · 1y
What? You don't need a monitor to use Steam Link. 🤨
Is this something specific to Linux?
Ulrich@feddit.org · -1 pts · 1y
Yes you do
Kolanaki@pawb.social · 5 pts · 1y
Unless it's a limitation specific to Linux, or you're talking about the physical Steam Link and not the app: No you don't.
I just unplugged my monitor from my PC, fired up the Steam Link app and started Elden Ring no problem.
Ulrich@feddit.org · 1 pts · 1y
I'm talking about the host machine.
Kolanaki@pawb.social · 4 pts · 1y
Yes, that is obvious.
KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 1y
How… how else would this be referred to? What would be the point in starting it headless on the client side?
Ulrich@feddit.org · 1 pts · 1y
I have no idea. But they seem to be confused in some way.
mighty_bombero@feddit.org · 2 pts · 1y
I wrote a tutorial that might be of interest to you:
https://feddit.org/post/12000513
It describes setting up Sunshine on Bazzite without a HDMI dongle. Hope this helps.
Ulrich@feddit.org · 1 pts · 1y
I did see that (and even commented on it) but I'm not nearly smart enough for that.
mighty_bombero@feddit.org · 3 pts · 1y
Maybe you have to wait for Artemis/Apollo becoming available for Linux. They seem to be looking into Linux support.
Ulrich@feddit.org · 1 pts · 1y
Interesting, I'll keep an eye on that, thanks for the heads up.
Snoopey@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 1y
This does everything you need with a super simple setup, but all the screen trickery is Windows only unfortunately. Still I can heartily recommend it: https://github.com/ClassicOldSong/Apollo
Ulrich@feddit.org · 2 pts · 1y
It's not currently working for Linux, unfortunately
wccrawford@discuss.online · 2 pts · 1y
Parsec? It has virtual monitors.
Chronographs@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 1y
That’s what I use
Edit: I see you’re using linux though, I can’t really speak to its performance there as I only use it for windows
omega_x3@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
Can't setup a parsec host on Linux only a client.
Some motherboards lock out video output without something plugged in but never found one that did it with a dedicated video card. You can always just plug in an HDMI dummy plug to get around an expected display requirement.
skozzii@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 1y
I'm not sure if I am just picky but I have literally tried everything on brand new wifi 6 and access points and it just never is that perfect feeling, I always notice a tiny bit of input lag and I'm not sure if it's possible to fix it at all. Playable, but I just can't do it - miles ahead of cloud gaming still.
ryathal@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 1y
I found steam link to be heavily game dependant because of the input lag. It's not a great solution for fps games, but anything that didn't require fast reactions was fine.
TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz · 1 pts · 1y
I just got a 10 m HDMI cable that brings 4k 120Hz video from my office to my living room. Then I use a bluetooth mouse and gamepad.
Ulrich@feddit.org · 1 pts · 1y