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Alternative to Steam Link/Sunshine? (feddit.org)
submitted 2 days ago by Ulrich@feddit.org to c/pcgaming@lemmy.ca
29 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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:

  1. They need a monitor connected
  2. The monitor to be powered on
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

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[-] abeltramo@lemmy.world 22 points 2 days ago

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.

[-] ZeroHora@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 days ago

Games on Whales... the naming department was on-fire this day.

[-] abeltramo@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

Probably the only thing I wouldn't change in the project after all these years!

[-] Ulrich@feddit.org 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

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 points 2 days ago

Unfortunately Docker containers and terminal coding is a bit over my head.

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!

[-] mighty_bombero@feddit.org 1 points 2 days ago

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 points 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

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 points 2 days ago

Many thanks, I will look into this.

[-] Kolanaki@pawb.social 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Needs a monitor that is also turned on

What? You don't need a monitor to use Steam Link. 🤨

Is this something specific to Linux?

[-] Ulrich@feddit.org -1 points 2 days ago

Yes you do

[-] Kolanaki@pawb.social 6 points 2 days ago

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 points 2 days ago

I'm talking about the host machine.

[-] KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 18 hours ago

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 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

I have no idea. But they seem to be confused in some way.

[-] Kolanaki@pawb.social 4 points 2 days ago

Yes, that is obvious.

[-] Snoopey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 days ago

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 points 2 days ago

It's not currently working for Linux, unfortunately

[-] mighty_bombero@feddit.org 2 points 2 days ago

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 points 2 days ago

I did see that (and even commented on it) but I'm not nearly smart enough for that.

[-] mighty_bombero@feddit.org 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Maybe you have to wait for Artemis/Apollo becoming available for Linux. They seem to be looking into Linux support.

[-] Ulrich@feddit.org 1 points 2 days ago

Interesting, I'll keep an eye on that, thanks for the heads up.

[-] skozzii@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

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 points 1 day ago

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.

[-] wccrawford@discuss.online 2 points 2 days ago

Parsec? It has virtual monitors.

[-] Chronographs@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

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 points 11 hours ago

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.

[-] GammaGames@beehaw.org 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Buy a headless plug, like this: https://www.amazon.com/EVanlak-DisplayPort-Headless-Emulator-3840x2160/dp/B07YLP1GG4

I use one to do VR, I can leave the computer in the corner and still do desktop stuff. Works great!

[-] Ulrich@feddit.org 1 points 2 days ago

It looks like this plug only emulates 4k@17Hz?

[-] GammaGames@beehaw.org 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I just found a random one as an example, I don’t remember what I bought a few years ago

this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2025
24 points (100.0% liked)

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