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

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.
• 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.