Auto-connection requests for plex-htpc

store-requests
1

Edit: I was asked to consolidate my requests for this snap into one, so here goes:

  1. alsa - used for audio-passthrough. Pulse and audio-playback is not sufficient, alsa is the only way it seems to work. The lack of proper multiplexing is acknowledged, but likely not an actual issue for the use-case of Plex HTPC (which is media consumption without multitasking). Plex HTPC presents the user with the option of selecting the various sound outputs.
  2. joystick - Plex HTPC supports gamepads/joysticks as controllers. Without the plug, this functionality is broken.
  3. raw-usb - Plex HTPC supports CEC devices via libCEC which requires raw USB access. CEC enables controlling the client via a HDMI or USB connection.
  4. hardware-observe - Plex HTPC uses Qt, Chromium and libmpv as its core technologies. If this interface is not connected, the application crashes with the following message: pcilib: Cannot open /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:03.1/resource: Permission denied. As far as I can tell, there is nothing I can do to avoid this requirement, apart from ditching Chromium (but I’m open to suggestions).
  5. shutdown - Plex HTPC is a full screen kiosk-type application that is usually ran on single-purpose HTPCs. The application therefore provides the means to trigger suspend, restart and shutdown via its UI.
2

Similarly to my suggestion at Auto-connection request: alsa for plex-desktop can you please provide more detail on why this is needed? Just saying something doesn’t work is not sufficient detail to be able to evaluate if perhaps there is an alternative which could be used that requires less permissions than say alsa in this case, thanks.

3

Answered in the other topic. This applies to both snaps, so I think it’s best to keep the conversation in one place.

4

@reviewers as requested, I consolidated my requests into one topic (see the edited first post).

5

@reviewers can I please get an update on this? (note: I just added another plug to the list in the first post that we discovered we’d like to auto-connect).

6

+1 from me, but I would kindly ask that these permissions be clearly listed in the snap description, especially the shutdown option.

1 Like
7

+1 from me as well for auto-connect alsa, joystick, raw-usb, hardware-observe and shutdown to plex-htpc since are clearly needed for plex-htpc to properly operate. +2 votes for, 0 votes against, granting the requested auto-connections. This is now live.

@tamas I do not see joystick not shutdown plugged yet in the latest plex-htpc uploaded revision. Are you planning to add them soon? I have granted the declaration anyways but let me know if you are not willing to plug them anymore so I remove them.

Also, as pointed by @Igor please add details into your snap description so users can expect these interfaces will be auto-connected. Thanks!

1 Like
8

Yes, we haven’t pushed that version yet because we were troubleshooting other issues, but we’ll be pushing a release soon. Thanks!