I went into this project optimistic and ready to learn, but I also underestimated how much friction a few early decisions would introduce. I chose a Minisforum mini PC as the foundation for my home media and personal server setup, and on paper it checked all the boxes: compact, powerful, and flexible. Where things became complicated was my assumption that Wi-Fi would be a non-issue once I moved to Linux.
I started the setup without hard-wiring the machine, which in hindsight wasn’t ideal. Once Linux was installed, the built-in Wi-Fi didn’t work, and that meant everything else depended on solving connectivity first. What followed was a lot of troubleshooting—firmware installs, reboots, and trying different approaches—before I finally accepted that Ethernet was required to move forward.
To regain control of the system, I set up remote access using TigerVNC. Once that was working, things stabilized quickly. Being able to manage the machine remotely made the setup feel more intentional and repeatable, and it became clear that remote desktop access was going to be a core part of how I use this box long-term.
Looking back, I would have started with the machine hard-wired from the beginning. And if I had known ahead of time that Wi-Fi support would be unreliable under Linux on this hardware, I might have reconsidered the specific model. None of this is a knock on Linux itself—just a reminder that hardware compatibility and setup order matter more than I initially gave them credit for.
The system is now in a good place, and the experience clarified a few things for future builds: verify Linux support early, establish reliable access first, and then build upward from there.