bc250-console/OPERATIONS.md

BC-250 Console — Parent's Operations Manual

A copy of this file lives on the console at /usr/share/doc/bc250-console/OPERATIONS.md.

Accounts: kid (plays games, no admin) and parent (admin, sudo). Both ship with password bc250console — change both immediately: log in (or SSH) as each user and run passwd. Parent can also reset the kid's password any time: sudo passwd kid.

Connecting remotely

	Command / client	Works when
SSH (terminal)	ssh parent@<console-address>	Always (console is never asleep)
RDP (see the screen)	Any RDP client → <console-address>:3389	Only while the kid's session is logged in

<console-address>: the LAN IP, or (recommended) the Tailscale name/IP so it works from anywhere. Never port-forward 22/3389 on the router.

One-time setup after installing

1. On the console, log in as kid, open a terminal, run bc250-remote-setup (sets up RDP credentials + firewall; SSH is already on).
2. sudo tailscale up — log in with your Tailscale account (daemon already runs).
3. In Steam (opens automatically in Big Picture): log into the kid's Steam account, enable Family View (Settings → Family) and set the PIN.
4. Change both passwords (see above).

Installing a game remotely

RDP into the kid's session → unlock Family View with your PIN → Steam → Store → install. Downloads continue after you disconnect.

Updates

• Automatic: the console updates the OS image, flatpaks, and Steam on its own (uupd timer, runs in the background). Nothing to do.
• Force an update now (SSH): sudo bootc upgrade && flatpak update -y
• What version am I on?: sudo bootc status (shows image + digest)
• Publishing a new OS image (on the build PC): see BUILD-CONSOLE.md → "Publish an update". The console picks it up automatically within a day, or immediately with sudo bootc upgrade.
• Roll back a bad update: hold Space at boot and pick the previous entry, or over SSH: sudo bootc rollback && sudo systemctl reboot.

Health checks (SSH)

sensors                                       # temps — watch under load
systemctl status cyan-skillfish-governor-smu  # GPU governor: should be active
cat /sys/class/drm/card*/device/pp_dpm_sclk   # GPU clock scaling
df -h /                                       # disk space

Renaming the kid's account (optional)

With the kid fully logged out (sudo loginctl terminate-user kid):

sudo usermod  -l NEWNAME kid
sudo groupmod -n NEWNAME kid
sudo usermod  -d /home/NEWNAME -m NEWNAME
sudo chfn -f "Display Name" NEWNAME
sudo passwd NEWNAME
echo 'CONSOLE_KID_USER=NEWNAME' | sudo tee /etc/bc250-console.conf

Steam data and apps live in the home directory and move with it. The last line tells the Big Picture autostart which account is the console account.

Tuning the GPU (optional, after thermal testing)

The GPU governor's curve lives at /etc/cyan-skillfish-governor-smu/config.toml. Stock range is 1000–1850 MHz, thermal throttle at 85 °C — a good default. If temps stay comfortably low during long sessions you can raise max under [frequency-range] (safe-points up to 2000 MHz are pre-defined; higher ones are in the file, commented out). Running hot or loud? Lower max to ~1500. After editing: sudo systemctl restart cyan-skillfish-governor-smu. There is also cyan-skillfish-performance-mode for temporarily pinning high clocks. Change one thing at a time and re-check sensors.

Misc

• Reboot: sudo systemctl reboot — Shutdown: sudo systemctl poweroff
• The console never sleeps or locks by design (it must stay reachable).
• Kid's session opens Steam Big Picture automatically; Esc exits to desktop.
• RDP refuses to connect → the kid's session probably isn't logged in, or bc250-remote-setup hasn't been run yet.
• Steam misbehaves after an update → try ProtonUp-Qt (installed) to switch the game to Proton-GE.
• Minecraft: open Prism Launcher, add an account (Microsoft sign-in — a paid Minecraft: Java Edition license on that account), then create an instance for the version/modpack you want. Prism downloads its own Java.
• GeForce NOW (beta) installs itself on first boot with internet. The BC-250 has no hardware video decode, so the stream decodes on the CPU: keep it at 1080p (higher settings will stutter and run hot). If it's missing, check systemctl status bc250-gfn-install — it retries on the next boot.