Project History

Just so you know — the text was mostly written by me, but slightly touched up by AI

This experiment started in autumn 2025 on an old 2016 Android TV box — specifically, an X96 with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage (shown in the gallery or in the "Device Specs" section). It had been sitting in a drawer since summer 2022, as nobody needed it until that moment.

At first things didn't go very well due to lack of time — the project had to be put on hold. But at the end of winter 2025 I came back to it with fresh energy and ideas. I also moved the server, as you can see in the photos. Previously it was literally under my feet (under my desk), and the router (reconfigured as a switch) for some reason was giving the PC and server a maximum of 100 Mbit/s (most likely due to a bad cable). On top of that, moving the server allowed it to keep running even during power outages, since it's now powered by a UPS (the device's low power consumption made this possible).

The box runs Armbian — a Debian-based distro adapted for ARM devices. First I launched FileBrowser — a simple web file manager. Then I deployed more serious services via Docker (more details in the "What has been running on the server" section): Nextcloud, qBittorrent and Jellyfin. Later some services were disabled and/or replaced. Surprisingly, the box handles all of this.

Initially I planned to connect an archive drive with important files, but had to abandon that idea: constant operation could lead to its premature failure. So I kept only a 256 GB flash drive as the main storage. (If you don't understand why — read the FAQ, question 2) Jellyfin was disabled due to lack of need. The result is a compact home server with exactly the functionality I need.

On December 30, 2025 I bought the domain gavladorias.win from Cloudflare (I chose this one specifically so nobody would accidentally find it) for $4.18 (177.82 UAH at the exchange rate at the time) per year. That same day I started setting up Cloudflare Tunnel — a service that safely and simply exposes a local server to the internet (the free tier was more than enough).

Around January 27, 2026 this website was created (the old-browser version — February 10). The project was completed in a few days using Nginx as the main web server. Part of the code was written with AI assistance, which only helped optimize the process without affecting quality.

On January 29, 2026 I tried running the XFCE 4.20 graphical environment on the box, and I succeeded. To do this I had to install the necessary packages and their dependencies, and also specify in one of the config files which GPU to use for video output to a monitor or TV, since there were some quirks there. As a "typewriter" and for similar tasks it's quite suitable, but for "heavy" video or web browsing the box is too weak.

On February 10, 2026 the site was updated: I completely removed JavaScript (it's not needed here, in my opinion — more details in FAQ, question 3). To do this I had to sacrifice the color themes (dark and light), the smooth navigation button and automatic video player pause on close. In return, a button for quickly scrolling back to the top appeared. A separate version of the site for old browsers was also added, and it works quite well.

On February 11, 2026 Forgejo was launched to create an independent home code repository (like GitHub). This gives me the ability to fully control my projects without any restrictions, guarantees privacy of my work, and provides access to repositories from wherever the hell I am.

On February 12, 2026 the site was updated again: thumbnails were created for the galleries, allowing pages to load even faster. The story text was also rewritten and the internal file structure on the server was reorganized. For the modern version of the site, text readability on small screens (e.g. smartphones) was improved, photos and videos were updated.

On February 13, 2026 the site's source code went open! A bug was also fixed in the old version of the site: fixed misaligned gallery elements at specific screen resolutions. Notes for the gallery were also added (they are present in both versions of the site).

On February 19, 2026 the first stable version of my site was released, version number 1.02. I implemented everything I wanted at the time and it now runs stably on both PC and mobile devices.

On February 21, 2026 a website was created that gives a bit more information about the author of this site (or rather, me). The site address is: https://about.gavladorias.win

On March 25, 2026 a full migration from Nextcloud to Seafile was completed, the reason being Nextcloud's very slow performance and heavy resource usage. The websites were also updated. On the server site (you're on it now) device specs and FAQ were added. On the about page (https://about.gavladorias.win) additional information about the author and his PC specs appeared.

On March 31, 2026, version 1.2 of the website was released, adding English and a language switcher. The English version of the site opens by default.

Go to FAQ (Answers to common questions)

Click the button at the very bottom of the page — there's a gag there! (but be careful)

X96 Specs (2016, 16/2 version)

Technical Specifications

• CPU: Amlogic S905X (4 × ARM Cortex-A53, 1.2 GHz)
• GPU: Mali-450 MP
• RAM: 2 GB or 1 GB LPDDR3
• Storage: 16 GB or 8 GB eMMC
• Network: 100 Mbit/s Ethernet + Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
• Ports: HDMI, 2 × USB 2.0, microSD, AV, LAN, Optical
• Power consumption: 5–10 W (perfect for 24/7 operation)
• Current OS: Armbian (Debian-based Linux), previously Android 6

Pros

• Second life for an old device
• Minimal power consumption (5–10 W)
• Personal cloud without monthly fees
• Full control over data
• Silent 24/7 operation
• Great experience with Linux and Docker

Cons

• Limited ARM CPU performance
• Limited network speed of the box (100 Mbit)
• Requires time for setup and maintenance
• Limited built-in storage

What has been running on the server

Gallery

* All videos have been converted to AVI format using the MPEG-4 codec with square pixel aspect ratio for compatibility with older browsers and software. They must be downloaded separately for viewing.