Hi all,
I'm using Stellarmate X OS on a Mele 3Q with 8GB RAM, 256GB eMMC drive (stellarmate is on that drive) and 500GB m2-SSD (just data drive). I used the same system before with UBUNTU 22.04 and the KStars ppa (connection to my Desktop via Anydesk). I'm connected by LAN cable (download of the pictures with 40-50MB/s)

When using the system with Ubuntu/Anydesk I had a flawless presentation of the Ubuntu desktop via Anydesk on my PC. No glitching, all was very smooth. A few weeks ago the Anydesk server was down for a few hours (luckily no clear sky that night) so I decided to buy Stellarmate X OS (1.7.7, I used Stellarmate before with Raspberry Pi). Installation was no problem and the system works, but not that smooth as with the old insatllation. Even when I use HDMI cable directly connected to my monitor moving windows glitching, system seems to hang for a fraction of a second, not very pleasant. Same when connecting with Firefox by noVNC. I tried to tweak the settings for the VNC connection (quality/compression sliders) but no chance to get smooth behaviour.
I looked into HTOP and saw that even with only Kstars (no EKOS) running the VNC process needs 8% CPU load, and when moving around the Kstars window it goes up to nearly 30%... Sometimes it also seems like the Mele freezes (up to a few seconds where I can not type anything) which never happens when using the Ubuntu/Kstars-ppa system.

I have the same behaviour on three Meles, all the same configuration, all work flawless with Ubuntu/Kstars-ppa...

Is there a chance to tweak the system to run smoother? Since the problem is also when connecting directly to the Mele by HDMI cable I think the tweaking should be on the Stellarmate X OS side...

Thanks in advance for any advice.

I have a limited experience with Stellarmate X (Mele 3Q as well). Was only using it for several nights over the past two week.
I connect via Ultra VNC. I doesn't freeze but the screen flickers occasionally, especially the top bar.
Unpleasant but doesn't bother me much.

I use only NoMachine with HDMI dummy plug and I can't say that I have those glitches. I have only casual issues due to the remote connection, nothing special.

Just my 2 cents, you can give it a try and install a newer system kernel. I had issues even installing the OS in my Beelink with the default.

As I wrote I have NO problem using the Mele with Ubuntu 22.04 (and Anydesk or NoMachine, both work). But If I use Stellarmate X OS then the problems occur, even if I use direct HDMI there are flickers and a desktop behaviour which is not smooth! This is annoying, since I can not use the Stallarmate app when taking planet pictures with firecapture. This one reason why I have to use the "remote" connection. this is made in the Stellarmate X OS (dont know if you worked with it) via VNC.
Can you tell me how to install a newer kernel in Stellarmate X OS???

When we build our mini pc ourselves, we install whatever we want. Stellarmate OS is a prebuild OS package and it would be possible to have different bugs, glitches, etc. due to the variety of H/W out there. So any of those preinstall packages that come with Stellarmate OS, could be possible to disturb us due to compatibility issues.

For the kernel I use Mainline

That is clear to me, thats why I first set up my mini PC myself. But as I wrote I stumbled over the Anydesk server shutdown for 6 hours where it was not possible to connect to the Mini PC. Thats why I decided to get the Stellarmate OS again (which I had known from the Raspi days). Since the StellarMate PC which you can buy is also a Mele (but a 2 series) I hoped that everything is ok.
Its not the case, that its unusable, but its annoying. I will switch back to my self made setup, since its much more fluend, also with Firecapture. I will keep one Stellarmate X OS mini PC for the case, there are problems with Anydesk again (which was one day in a year I think), since clear skys are rare...

The reason I wrote it here is, to tell the guys from stellarmate, that theres an issue and I hoped to get response from them... I think, I'm not the only one, since also Max wrote of flickering. For me its no show stopper but gives me no good feeling work with this system.

As a Stelarmate customer, you can always create a ticket at stellarmate.com/support.html and if needed, you can even get support through remote control ;-)

No, you are not the only one. Does it on my Intel NUC11 and on my BeeLink U59.
It's more an annoyance than anything, especially after coming from the RPi4's that did not show this issue.

I changed back to Ubuntu und the Kstars ppa... I working now with AnyDesk and also got the connection via Remmina to work. Both connections dont have any glitches or other drawbacks. Since I dont need the App, this is a much better way to work... But anyway, I appreciate the work the guys (Jasem and all the others) are doing, so it was worth to support them with buying Stellarmate X...

For those having flickering issues, try turning off Compositor in the display settings... so far, 4 hours of testing on a NUC11 and BeeLink U59 (both W11 N5105 Jasper versions) and no flickering found.



Granted, the screen "paints" slower... but at least it's a constant screen!



Now, I do have issues with no WiFi on the U59 with the built in WiFi chip (WiFi6).... but that's because Ubuntu doesn't support the AX201 (think it was) WiFi chipset yet... but I was able to manually compile driver for a newer NetGear AC600 adapter (it was not supported natively either but was the oldest that WalMart had in stock).
Started an article about the U59 over on my site, and, thanks to a Reddit user, have a script that will compile and install the drivers for that adapter.