CouchLiteOS v0.3.0

CouchLiteOS v0.3.0

v0.3.0 gives the box a TV interface with your games first, themes, and a way to
undo an update. The download is much smaller: you pick a web browser during
setup and it installs from the internet. Older installs, including MoonlightOS,
can now update from the USB stick and keep their settings.

Downloads

File	For
couchliteos-0.3.0-amd64.iso	Intel and AMD graphics, NVIDIA Kepler and older (including the iMac Late 2013), Intel Macs, VMs
couchliteos-0.3.0-nvidia-amd64.iso	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745/750, GTX 900 series and newer (up to RTX 40)
SHA256SUMS	Checksums for the ISOs

New

• A TV interface, PS3 style. The home screen is a row of categories
  (POWER, SETTINGS, TV & VIDEO, GAMES and APPS) over a moving wave, with
  sounds and soft background music. GAMES comes first, the most recently
  played at the front, each with its cover, and the focused game's cover fills
  the background. The top of the screen shows the paired gaming PC and whether
  it is ONLINE, ASLEEP, NOT FOUND or has NO SUNSHINE running. Every Settings
  page, the Setup Wizard, WHAT'S NEW and the on-screen keyboard are drawn in
  the same look. A
  bar along the bottom always shows what each controller button and keyboard
  key does, with the button symbols of the pad you hold (Xbox, PlayStation or
  Nintendo). Small notices appear when a controller connects or disconnects,
  its battery runs low, the gaming PC comes online or an update is ready.
  Navigation sounds can be turned off in Settings > APPEARANCE > SOUNDS. After a
  stream, Home comes back with the game you just played in focus.

• Quick menu. Tap Guide / PS, or press Home on a keyboard, for VOLUME,
  BRIGHTNESS (on PCs with a built-in screen), controller batteries, NETWORK,
  running APPLICATIONS, HOME, SLEEP, RESTART and TURN OFF. B or Esc goes back
  to the app you were in. During a Moonlight stream it also has STREAM PRESET
  and SHOW STATS. Holding Select+Start (View+Menu) or L3+R3, or the keyboard
  shortcut (Ctrl+Alt+H unless you changed it), opens ACTIVE APPLICATIONS as
  before, and Guide still goes to the gaming PC while you stream.

• Game covers. Covers come from Moonlight when it has them, and are
  otherwise looked up by the game's name on Steam, or on SteamGridDB if you add
  your own SteamGridDB key. Hold Y / Square (or F9) on a game for CHANGE
  ARTWORK: pick another cover, RESET, or a plain TITLE CARD. Settings >
  APPEARANCE > ARTWORK turns the lookup off (only game names are sent) and
  lists the UNMATCHED GAMES.

• Per-game stream settings. Hold X / Triangle (or F10) on a game for STREAM
  SETTINGS: PERFORMANCE, BALANCED, QUALITY, or CUSTOM resolution, frame rate,
  bitrate and HDR, kept for that game alone and never above what your TV and
  this PC can show. Games without their own settings stream as before.

• Themes. Settings > APPEARANCE has five themes (MIDNIGHT, SLATE, DAYLIGHT,
  HIGH CONTRAST and TERMINAL, the white-on-black look of 0.2.x) and eight accent
  colours. The whole box, including the
  on-screen keyboard, changes colour at once. You can add your own theme file;
  see the theme guide.

• Undo an update. Every update now saves the current system first. If the
  new version misbehaves, Settings > SOFTWARE UPDATE > RESTORE PREVIOUS VERSION
  restarts the box and puts the saved version back, with the settings and
  pairings it had then. If the box no longer starts, the boot menu has
  CouchLiteOS: restore previous version (hold Shift, or press Esc on UEFI
  PCs, while the box starts). One version is kept; the next update replaces it.
  SOFTWARE UPDATE shows the SAVED VERSION, and has SAVE BEFORE UPDATE (ON or
  OFF) and DELETE SAVED VERSION for small disks. The update from 0.2.x to 0.3.0
  is saved too, so you can go back to 0.2.x.

• Update an older install from the USB stick. Boot the 0.3.0 USB stick on a
  box with 0.2.0 or MoonlightOS 0.1.x installed. Settings > SOFTWARE UPDATE >
  UPDATE THE INSTALLED SYSTEM (KEEPS PAIRINGS AND SETTINGS) updates it in place
  instead of erasing the disk.

• Pick your web browser. Firefox and Google Chrome are no longer in the
  download. The Setup Wizard has a WEB BROWSER step, and Settings >
  APPLICATIONS > ADD A WEB BROWSER installs FIREFOX or GOOGLE CHROME from the
  internet any time later. Web apps open in Google Chrome, or in Firefox if
  that is the one you have.

• LO-FI RADIO. A lo-fi music app in APPS: relaxed beats from
  radio.dudiebug.net, full screen. It opens in the web browser, so it needs
  Firefox or Google Chrome and an internet connection; without a browser, its
  tile offers ADD A WEB BROWSER.

• Moonlight in APPS. APPS has MOONLIGHT, which opens Moonlight's own list
  of gaming PCs, and REMOTE DESKTOP. Wi-Fi and network are under SETTINGS >
  NETWORK.

• Type on your phone. In a text field, press Select (View) or F2 and scan
  the QR code with a phone on the same home network. Type on the phone, send,
  then confirm on the TV. The code works once and runs out after 5 minutes.

• Controllers. Settings > CONTROLLERS lists every connected pad as PLAYER 1,
  2 and so on, with its battery. MOVE UP and MOVE DOWN set the order (and the
  player lights, where the pad has them), IDENTIFY makes a pad rumble (and blink, where it has lights),
  TEST shows its sticks, triggers and buttons live, and SWAP A/B and SWAP X/Y
  suit Nintendo layouts in the CouchLiteOS menus. A stream still gets the pad
  as it is, in Moonlight's own order.

• The classic look stays. Settings > APPEARANCE > INTERFACE > CLASSIC
  brings back the text menu of 0.2.x (TV goes back to the new one); the box
  restarts the launcher into it at once. Pair it with THEME > TERMINAL for the
  old colours too.

• Bluetooth headphones and a microphone. Settings > BLUETOOTH pairs
  headphones and speakers; sound moves to them when they connect and back when
  they disconnect. Settings > AUDIO picks the output and the microphone, tests
  the microphone, and the classic interface shows MIC LIVE while an app is
  recording.

• Battery. On a laptop or a PC with a battery, the top bar shows its charge,
  a notice appears at 20, 10 and 5 percent, and Settings > SLEEP & SCREEN has
  BLANK SCREEN ON BATTERY.

• Security fixes and app updates between releases. The box installs Debian
  security fixes, and new Moonlight and chiaki-ng versions, by itself once a
  day, never while you stream. Settings > SOFTWARE UPDATE shows the last result,
  has INSTALL SECURITY FIXES AND APP UPDATES NOW, turns either one off, and has
  ROLL BACK for an app that misbehaves after an update. An app that fails to
  start twice after an update goes back by itself.

• Keep your settings on a live USB stick. On a stick that keeps nothing,
  Settings > SOFTWARE UPDATE > SET UP STORAGE ON THIS STICK turns its free space
  (or, on a Ventoy stick, a file next to the ISO) into a data area for settings,
  pairings and apps. The ISO on the stick stays as it is. Restart when it says
  STORAGE IS READY.

• Beta versions, if you want them. Settings > SOFTWARE UPDATE > UPDATE
  CHANNEL switches between STABLE and BETA. On BETA the box is also offered
  test versions, and moves on to the final release when it comes out. Going
  back to STABLE never installs an older version: the box waits for the next
  stable release. A box running a beta starts on BETA.

Changed

• Smaller download. Besides the browsers, the ISO leaves out files no
  supported PC can use. Hardware support is the same.
• Faster start on installed boxes: the hidden boot menu waits 1 second
  instead of 3, and the launcher itself starts sooner.
• The installer no longer asks for a user name and passwords. The box never
  needed an account to log in with; the launcher starts by itself as before.

Known limitations

• INSTALL TO THIS STICK is not in 0.3.0; it is planned for a 0.3.x update.
• If the TV interface cannot start on a PC, the box starts the classic
  interface by itself.
• The music has no setting on screen yet. To turn it off, set music = off
  under [appearance] in /var/lib/couchliteos/config.ini, or put your
  own track in ~/.local/share/couchliteos/music/.
• On PCs without 3D graphics the wave stands still and animations are shorter.
• A web browser added on a live USB stick is gone after a restart, even with a
  persistence stick; add it again, or install CouchLiteOS to the disk.
• TYPE ON PHONE sends the text over your home network without encryption. For
  a password, use it only on a home network you trust.
• Saving the current system needs about 7 GB free on the disk, besides the
  download. With less, the update stops before changing anything and says so.
  On 0.3.0 you can turn SAVE BEFORE UPDATE off. A box updating from 0.2.x, or
  from the USB stick, that has too little room updates without a saved copy and
  says so. 32 GB disks or larger are recommended.

Updating

A box on 0.2.1 or newer gets this release from Settings > SOFTWARE UPDATE. Boxes
on 0.2.0 or MoonlightOS 0.1.x do not need a reinstall any more: write the 0.3.0
ISO to a USB stick, boot it, and choose Settings > SOFTWARE UPDATE > UPDATE THE
INSTALLED SYSTEM. When it says UPDATE DONE, remove the stick and restart. See
Updating in the wiki.

A box that had Firefox or Google Chrome keeps them. A box on a 0.3.0 beta with
UPDATE CHANNEL set to BETA is offered this release too.