netstack

Pattern: Media Equipment Inventory (Room-Based Stations)

Pattern type: Physical infrastructure documentation Applies to: Federation sites with media equipment (TVs, streaming devices, DVRs, audio) Related: site-physical-inventory-pattern, plex-lan-only-pattern

Problem

Home sites have media equipment spread across rooms — TVs with multiple HDMI inputs, streaming boxes, DVRs, game consoles, audio receivers. Each device has multiple cable types connecting it to different infrastructure:

HDMI to display
Coax from antenna/cable splitter
Ethernet to network switch (or wifi)
Power to a specific outlet/strip
Sometimes optical audio, USB, component video

Without a connection map, troubleshooting a dead input or tracing a cable run is guesswork.

Solution: Room-Based Media Stations

Model each room as a media station centered on a display (TV), with attached devices and their connections documented.

site-config.yml Schema

physical:
  media:
    stations:
      - tag: "<site>-<room>-tv<n>"
        name: "<Room> Media"
        location: <room-code>
        display:
          name: "<TV description>"
          make: "<manufacturer>"
          model: "<model>"
          size: "<screen size>"
          inputs:
            - { port: "HDMI1", label: "<what's plugged in>" }
            - { port: "HDMI2", label: "<what's plugged in>" }
            - { port: "HDMI3", label: "<what's plugged in>" }
            - { port: "ARC/eARC", label: "<soundbar or receiver>" }
          audio_out: "<optical, ARC, 3.5mm, none>"
        devices:
          - tag: "<site>-<room>-<type><n>"
            name: "<device name>"
            type: "<roku|tivo|firetv|appletv|bluray|game|soundbar|receiver>"
            make: "<manufacturer>"
            model: "<model>"
            mac: "<MAC if network-connected>"
            ip: "<IP if static/reserved>"
            connections:
              - { type: "hdmi", to: "<display input or receiver input>" }
              - { type: "coax_ant", from: "<splitter tag + port>" }
              - { type: "coax_cable", from: "<splitter tag + port>" }
              - { type: "ethernet", to: "<switch tag + port OR wifi>" }
              - { type: "optical", to: "<soundbar/receiver>" }
              - { type: "usb", to: "<what>" }
              - { type: "power", to: "<power tag or strip name>" }
            status: "active|standby|unused|decommissioned"
            notes: "<any special config, firmware version, account>"

Connection Types

Type	Direction	Description
`hdmi`	→ (out to display/receiver)	Video + audio to TV or AV receiver
`coax_ant`	← (in from antenna)	Over-the-air signal from splitter
`coax_cable`	← (in from cable)	Cable TV signal from splitter
`ethernet`	↔ (network)	Wired LAN to switch port
`wifi`	↔ (network)	Wireless (note SSID if relevant)
`optical`	→ (audio out)	Toslink optical audio to soundbar/receiver
`arc`	↔ (audio return)	HDMI ARC/eARC to soundbar
`usb`	→	USB to hub, storage, or power
`power`	←	Power source (outlet/strip/UPS)
`component`	→	Legacy component video (rare)
`composite`	→	Legacy RCA composite (rare)

Generated Output: Connection Table

From the schema, generate a per-room connection table:

Steve’s Room Media

Relationship to Other Sections

The media section cross-references:

Network switches (physical.switches) — which port each device uses
Coax plant (physical.coax) — which splitter port feeds which device
Power (physical.power) — which circuit/strip powers which device
Services (cg.services) — Plex serves content to these devices

site-config.yml
├── physical.switches    ← ethernet connections
├── physical.coax        ← antenna/cable feeds
├── physical.power       ← power sources
├── physical.media       ← THIS: ties devices to all of the above
└── cg.services (Plex)   ← what serves content to these devices

Tagging Convention

Media device tags: <site>-<room>-<type><n>

Type code	Device type
`tv`	Television/display
`roku`	Roku streaming device
`tivo`	TiVo DVR
`ftv`	Amazon Fire TV
`atv`	Apple TV
`sbar`	Soundbar
`rcvr`	AV Receiver
`game`	Game console
`dvd`	DVD/Blu-ray player
`tuner`	Network tuner (HDHomeRun)

Monitoring Integration

Media devices are generally NOT monitored by Wip (they’re consumer electronics, not federation infrastructure). Exceptions:

HDHomeRun — monitored (DVR dependency, has HTTP API)
Network-connected streamers — optional ping check if they have static IP

The monitoring boundary: if it has an IP and serves a federation goal (like DVR), monitor it. If it’s a TV or Roku, don’t.

Example: Full Room Documentation

- tag: sl-sr-tv1
  name: "Steve's Room Media"
  location: sr
  display:
    name: "Samsung 55 inch"
    make: Samsung
    model: "TBD"
    size: "55in"
    inputs:
      - { port: "HDMI1", label: "Roku Ultra" }
      - { port: "HDMI2", label: "TiVo 320 (antenna)" }
      - { port: "HDMI3", label: "TiVo 640 (cable)" }
    audio_out: "TV speakers"
  devices:
    - tag: sl-sr-roku1
      name: "StevesRokuUltra"
      type: roku
      make: Roku
      model: "Ultra"
      mac: "8C-49-62-0B-69-8D"
      connections:
        - { type: hdmi, to: "TV HDMI1" }
        - { type: wifi, ssid: "TP-LINK_24" }
        - { type: power, to: "sl-sr-pwr1" }
      status: active
      notes: "Primary streaming device. Plex, Netflix, etc."

    - tag: sl-sr-tivo1
      name: "Steves320"
      type: tivo
      make: TiVo
      model: "Roamio (320GB)"
      mac: "00-11-D9-35-02-A8"
      connections:
        - { type: hdmi, to: "TV HDMI2" }
        - { type: coax_ant, from: "sl-sr-spl02 port 1" }
        - { type: ethernet, to: "sl-sr-sw1 port 1" }
        - { type: power, to: "sl-sr-pwr1" }
      status: active
      notes: "Antenna DVR. TiVo service active."

plex-lan-only-pattern — media server config
site-physical-inventory-pattern — overall physical infra
netstack portals/plex/README.md — Plex federation notes
netstack#16 — federation dashboard (config-driven docs)