PINE64

Hi all,
While I'm reasonably savvy in the tech and Windows worlds, I'm probably best described as a newbie in the maker and linux and Android areas, so I'm hoping I can impose on you folks for some advice...

I bought 4x PINE64 units (2GB A64+) to build as media boxes for family, along with the official IR (non-air) remotes. Primarily what I'd like to get running is a box that can:
- play/stream from Netflix
- have a USB hard drive/stick plugged into it
- play music and movies from the drive/stick
- be controlled with a remote
- be an 'appliance' (i.e. have a friendly UI that is non-technical-looking for most common functions)

There seems to be a lot of different options for getting the above working, in various states of readiness, e.g. Android 5.1.1/6/7, Kodi, Linux, OpenElec, RemixOS, SPMC, other...

As much as I'd love to have the luxury of just playing with this stuff and experimenting myself, at the moment I'd just like to jump straight to a good and working solution.

Any thoughts or recommendations from your experiences?

For Netflix (HD/uHD) you need to have device which has Google/Widevine certification 2 or 3. Pine has only level 1 (so SD will work only for you), but you need level 2 and 3. Devices which have level 2 or 3 are: Nvidia shield, Xiaomi Mi Box (the latest you can buy it from Wallmart), WeTek, ...

I have successfully installed and used the Netflix app on RemixOS.

In my experience, Netflix (via Play Store) worked just fine on Remix OS 2.0 Image Release 20160718.

I also found that ayufan's Android TV 5.1.1 with HDMI and 4K plays extremely well with Netflix (installed via USB from APKmirror), if not better due to resolution problems associated with Remix 2.0.


Hope you find what you're looking for!

Matt