What Plex Client To install On Raspberry Pi 3B+?

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MY HARDWARE:
Raspberry Pi 3B+, Justboom DAC HAT, Justboom Rotary Encoder (for volume)
Server is unraid (but this is probably doesnt matter) with a few Terrabytes of my CD’s as FLAC files.

I have searched extensively both on and off this forum and cant find anyone who has a way to do this that seems reasonably stable, up-to date and doesn’t require you to be a coder. Why should this be so difficult? Maybe plex is just not for the average person?

REQUIREMENTS:

  1. Must be able to run headless.
  2. Must suport the Justboom DAC
  3. Must be able to cast from both iOS and Android mobile (dont care what app is used to cast from. Plex, plexamp or? (I have plexpass))
  4. Must be able to write to the OS to install the rotary encoder (proably via SSH) This is a requirement so I can run straight from the DAC into the power amp so I dont haver to have audio signal running through a crappy volume pot.
  5. Not too complex. Im a Pi noob and aren’t that familiar with CLI’s but i do my best.
  6. Dont care if its just audio.(plexamp)
  7. Must suport FLAC file playback (I understand some HD tacks could be downsampled to match output device)
  8. Prefer to be a plex media player rather than the server to keep it light.

I HAD PARTIAL SUCCESS WITH Plex Medi Player Embedded.
I used the april nightly from here.
It works great, it saw the Dac fine, got wifi working, it starts upo fast, works headless and I can cast to it.
The Problem is I dont seem to be able to write to the OS to install the rotary encoder. I think th Os is either LibreElec or OpenElec and read only.

WHAT OPTIONS WILL ACHIEVE THE ABOVE REQUIREMENTS?

  1. Plexamp for raspberryi? Can this os can be written to?. It may be a bit complex install for me but I’d try.plexamp for pi
  2. Kodi with plexamp plug in?
  3. LibreElec and ???
  4. Raspbian/Rasberry Pi OS and ??? What with plex docker??? This Or this Or This?
  5. Rasplex. (No development for years and not working well on Pi 3B+)
  6. WHAT ELSE?
  7. I’m a Pi noob so please only suggest solutions that have been tried by somebody and worked. The simplest easiest system that meets requirements will be used.
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I don’t know about your specific DAC hardware and its associated rotary encoder, but on my pi with an adafruit I2S DAC “bonnet” I’m just running standard raspbian and the very old and hopefully soon to be replaced plexamp 2.0 headless thingy that you can find details on here: Plexamp for Raspberry Pi Release Notes

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@pjv so plexamp runs on TOP of raspberry pi Os?

Documentation is so sketchy I didn’t know that.
Plex media player embedded for pi comes with its own os.

@pjv can you cast to your scenario from plex mobile?

Thanks

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I’ve not tried a Pi 3B+ but I use a Pi 4 as my primary Plex client.

I run LibreELEC (Kodi) on the Pi with the Plex add-on. Installation couldn’t be much easier: Pi images are available from the LibreELEC website, and then you install the Plex add-on from right inside Kodi interface (it’s found in the ‘video’ category of the add-on’s repository). Both LibreELEC and the Plex add-on are good about keeping themselves up-to-date too.

I don’t do sound decoding on the Pi (so have no need for a DAC hat - which are normally restricted to stereo only in any case), instead I just pass HDMI though my amp:
[ Pi ] —(HDMI)—> [ Amp ] —(HDMI)—> [ TV ]
Doing it this way means that all surround sound is decoded by the amp and the amp deals with whatever audio formats you may be sending it.

I don’t use a keyboard, just a bluetooth remote control, which keeps everything easy. Specifically I use the OSMC RF Remote Control and another Kodi add-on called Keyboard Editor to map the buttons on the remote (although the default is pretty close).

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yes, headless plexamp 2.0 beta runs on top of raspbian - the install is pretty well detailed in the post I linked to above. This is all the wild west; it assumes some linux cli experience.

yes on the “cast” (or what plex calls “flinging”). The plexamp client on my pi shows up as a target for casting / flinging from all my other plex clients.

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Thanks
I have just got this working. Lots of pulling of hair but it finally works. I find most descriptions assume some knowledge yet its quite achievable for a linux,pi,cli noob like me when you have all the information and a little determination

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Thanks @_keith_smith. This was my next port of call but somehow i managed to get plexamp 2 working on pi. It installed on top of the latest Raspberry Pi Os… which seems rather heavy when you consider its headless and audio only.

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