Multitool.org Forum
Non Tool Forum => Gadget Freak and EDC Forum => Topic started by: Chako on June 02, 2023, 11:31:53 PM
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I bought a few days ago a Mini PC that I plan to use as a Batocera Retro gaming unit. The idea is to have the little PC boot right into Batocera from the BIOS. I have found doing this on my main computer a bit of a PITA. It arrived today.
I originally was attracted to the Ace Magician AMR5 Mini PC because it has blinking RGB lights and is billed for gamers. The price for one off of Amazon.ca is $499 to $599 Canadian. The specs on that is:
Mini PC Windows 11 Pro,16GB DDR4 512GB NVMe SSD AMD Ryzen 5 5600U Mini Gaming PC.
After reading a few reviews, I do like the form factor. The manual switch for cooling is a nice touch. The easy panel removal for upgrading memory and storage is handy (room for another NVMe drive)....but I found an even better machine for less.
That machine is a Beelink SER5 Mini Pro PC. The specs on this is:
AMD Ryzen 7 5800H(Up to 4.4GHz) 8C/16T, Mini Desktop Computer 16GB DDR4 RAM 1TB NVMe SSD, Small Gaming PC Support 4K@60Hz Output/BT5.2/WiFi 6 for Gaming/Office/Home.
I was able to get it on sale for $460 dollars.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52946485513_a4aa1477db_4k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2oEGzvT)20230602_162630A (https://flic.kr/p/2oEGzvT) by Chako (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187039850@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52946165164_e89e197cab_4k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2oEEWhC)20230602_162703A (https://flic.kr/p/2oEEWhC) by Chako (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187039850@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52946485478_7d3c4d910b_4k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2oEGzvh)20230602_162725A (https://flic.kr/p/2oEGzvh) by Chako (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187039850@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52946020191_356a5bccd3_4k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2oEEcc6)20230602_162853A (https://flic.kr/p/2oEEcc6) by Chako (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187039850@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52946409185_049731f28f_4k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2oEGbPT)20230602_162934A (https://flic.kr/p/2oEGbPT) by Chako (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187039850@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52946485483_1e31e3e684_4k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2oEGzvn)20230602_162949A (https://flic.kr/p/2oEGzvn) by Chako (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187039850@N04/), on Flickr
I haven't tried it yet, but I think this little PC will do the trick nicely.
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That’s a gorgeous little pc, Dan. I’m interested to see your thoughts on it when you have some time with it.
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No time today as I just came back from a day trip. I hope tomorrow sometime. I will let you know how it goes. :tu:
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Like the specs and small form factor 8) I want to see how it goes as well :tu: :like:
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Update:
I had some time this morning to set things up and I will admit, I am very impressed with this mini PC. I forgot how annoying setting up Windows 11 is. I had to say no to everything Microsoft wanted to be intrusive about. My idea is to make this a little PC retro gaming powerhouse and I think I was able to get that but it took a few hours.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52949944770_9e4ba16c6e_4k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2oF1iQf)20230604_061548A (https://flic.kr/p/2oF1iQf) by Chako (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187039850@N04/), on Flickr
The computer fits right on my HP monitor base. I planned to use this monitor as you can rotate it 90 degrees, perfect for those arcade games that need a portrait landscape.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52950018573_d36a198471_4k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2oF1FLH)20230604_062751A (https://flic.kr/p/2oF1FLH) by Chako (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187039850@N04/), on Flickr
Once you tell Microsoft to basically keep your data as private as you can, the Windows 11 Pro install was bloatware free. My plan is to see this as little as possible. I want to be able to bypass Window 11 and to boot directly to an external Linus drive with Batocera.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52949566381_a9f466785f_4k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2oEYnmi)20230604_063148A (https://flic.kr/p/2oEYnmi) by Chako (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187039850@N04/), on Flickr
I had a bit of difficulty with the booting sequence. In Windows 11, the Batocera drive is given a D name. However, I could not see this in Bios. I had to play a little with it and eventually had success using the F7 key that accessed the boot sequence. With a bit of trial and error, I was able to figure out which was my external Linus drive.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52949944705_b7902cb110_4k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2oF1iP8)20230604_064029A (https://flic.kr/p/2oF1iP8) by Chako (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187039850@N04/), on Flickr
What I didn't know was that I had to select the drive in the BBS Priorities, as both bootable drives showed up there. Once I selected the right drive in that section, I am now booting directly to the Batacera drive.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52949566326_486d2f75a8_4k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2oEYnkm)20230604_070313A (https://flic.kr/p/2oEYnkm) by Chako (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187039850@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52949944635_6883089296_4k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2oF1iMV)20230604_070329A (https://flic.kr/p/2oF1iMV) by Chako (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187039850@N04/), on Flickr
Once I got the mini PC to boot directly into Batacera, now I had to figure out how to upgrade Batacera. At first, the Linus OS refused to see what Wifi was present. After a few re-boots, I got that to work correctly. Then I upgraded Batacera. When I rebooted however, no sound. I then had to figure out how to force the OS to select the right sound as the auto function did not work anymore. I am please to say I now have everything working as needed...at least for now.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52949710744_19d2c02454_4k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2oEZ7gj)20230604_073311A (https://flic.kr/p/2oEZ7gj) by Chako (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187039850@N04/), on Flickr
Here is the Mini PC hooked up to the external Batacera HD.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52950018513_c281bf0eee_4k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2oF1FKF)20230604_064037A (https://flic.kr/p/2oF1FKF) by Chako (https://www.flickr.com/photos/187039850@N04/), on Flickr
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Looks like you have it going your way now :woohoo: :like:
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I think so. Everything is running good. I am surprised at how much power is packed into something so small.
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I think so. Everything is running good. I am surprised at how much power is packed into something so small.
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2a/e0/ac/2ae0ac035e97544b48956b712f72f1e3.gif)
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
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Nice little machine, however now you're comfortable with it, read this and start again :dunno:
https://www.neowin.net/news/microsofts-default-bitlocker-on-your-windows-11-pc-is-hitting-even-the-fastest-ssds-hard/ (https://www.neowin.net/news/microsofts-default-bitlocker-on-your-windows-11-pc-is-hitting-even-the-fastest-ssds-hard/)
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I replaced my FireTV stick with an Nvidia Shield pro. I think it's the perfect device to do this sort of thing, and it's a fine android TV box to boot. Although you would be looking at android version of emulators instead of windohs.