For a long time I was running piCorePlayer on my RaspberryPi 4 Model B with a HiFiBerry DAC+ Light without any problems. The little Pi 4, however, is capable of much more, so I decided to try to put NixOS on it. It wasn’t entirely straightforward.

The guide on the NixOS Wiki is pretty good for the first parts of the installation–flashing a MicroSD card with a recent image (I used 25.05), generating a config, and updating the firmware. Where it got trickier was trying to get the HiFiBerry DAC+ Light to be recognised.

First I had to add the nixos-hardware channel with the following commands:

$ sudo nix-channel --add https://github.com/NixOS/nixos-hardware/archive/master.tar.gz nixos-hardware
$ sudo nix-channel --update

Then add the following a line to the top of /etc/nixos/configuration.nix

  imports =
    [ # Include the results of the hardware scan.
  # The line just below adds the hardware repository so we can add the Hifiberry board
      <nixos-hardware/raspberry-pi/4>
      ./hardware-configuration.nix
    ];

The next step was the hard bit to figure out. A post on the NixOS hardware github was key (thank you, Ramblurr), though I had to change which DTS overlay I copied from as I have a DAC+ Light not the standard DAC+. This is what works for me in my configuration.nix:

  # I'm adding this to enable the HifiBerry DAC+ Light board. Overlays, urgh!

  hardware = {
    raspberry-pi."4".apply-overlays-dtmerge.enable = true;
    deviceTree = {
      enable = true;
      filter = "bcm2711-rpi-4*.dtb";
      overlays = [
        {
          name = "hifiberry-dac";
          dtsText = ''
// Definitions for HiFiBerry DAC
/dts-v1/;
/plugin/;

/ {
	compatible = "brcm,bcm2711";

	fragment@0 {
		target = <&i2s_clk_producer>;
		__overlay__ {
			status = "okay";
		};
	};

	fragment@1 {
		target-path = "/";
		__overlay__ {
			pcm5102a-codec {
				#sound-dai-cells = <0>;
				compatible = "ti,pcm5102a";
				status = "okay";
			};
		};
	};

	fragment@2 {
		target = <&sound>;
		__overlay__ {
			compatible = "hifiberry,hifiberry-dac";
			i2s-controller = <&i2s_clk_producer>;
			status = "okay";
		};
	};
};
'';
   }
 ];
    };
  };

Then I could add the magical NixOS service line for squeezelite in configuration.nix:

  # Squeezelite, and the output sent to the Hifiberry.
  services.squeezelite.enable = true;
  services.squeezelite.extraArguments = "-o sysdefault:CARD=sndrpihifiberry";

And do the magic rebuild:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch

Then restart, and it should all work perfectly.

(directed by Yan Fei 闫非 and Peng Damo 彭大魔) This is another absurd comedy from the directing team who made Hello Mr Billionaire and Goodbye Mr Loser. Here the target is helicopter parenting, and the scenario (rich parents pretending to be poor to instill good values in their son) produces some very funny moments of Truman Show-esque manipulation. Silly but entertaining. ★★★☆☆

(dir. Shao Yihui 邵艺辉) This is a comedy-drama focusing on the lives of a single mother, her daughter, and her neighbour in Shanghai. Song Jia 宋佳 should win every award going for her driven and hilarious performance as the mother, Tiemei, but Zhong Chuxi 钟楚曦 is also excellent as the neighbour. The script, written by the director, is witty throughout and there are some genuinely funny scenes–the noodle dinner with the ex-husband and the new boyfriend is a particular highpoint.

The ending leans a little too much into cliché and sentimentality for me, but Shao is clearly hugely talented and has made one of the funniest Chinese films in years. ★★★★☆

(dir. James Hawes) This film is based on Nicholas Winton’s role in the rescue of children from Czechoslovakia in 1939. The recreation of occupied Prague is impressive, and Johnny Flynn’s performance as the young and awkward Winton is very appealing. Anthony Hopkins as the older Winton is–as you might expect–well-judged, and the script gives him room to portray the complex feelings that came from saving six hundred children from the Nazis, but failing to save many more. It may not be especially original as a film, but the story it tells deserves to be told over and over. ★★★★☆

(dir Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger) I have mixed feelings about this film. On the one hand, I appreciated its beautiful cinematography and glorious early Technicolor, and admired Roger Livesey’s performance as Clive Wynne-Candy all the way from the Boer War to the Second World War. I was less impressed, however, at the argument it seems to be making about the failure of “gentlemanly warfare” in the face of the Nazi threat (it seems self-deception to pretend there were any “gentlemen” in these twentieth century wars), and was disappointed the film did not take the opportunity to develop the post-war resentment of Anton Walbrook’s Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorf into support for Nazism.

Perhaps a more self-critical film could not have been made in Britain in 1943–it was still criticised for the mild critique it did offer–but it does not go far enough for me in 2025. ★★★★☆

(dir. Josh Margolin) This is a sweet comedy about a ninety-three year-old (played by June Squibb) falling victim to a scam and vowing to find those responsible. The script is funny throughout and the gentle spoofing of Mission: Impossible action scenes adds to the pleasure. I think anyone with an older relative will relate to Thelma’s determined resistance to being patronised (and her struggles with computers!). ★★★★☆

I haven’t watched much anime (bar Akira in the 90s and various Miyazaki) so never tried to get hold of Cowboy Bebop. Its name has kept popping up through the years, though, so I thought I should make the effort to go beyond my natural inclinations and pick up the boxset of the series (together with the slightly later film).

The bad: Faye Valentine’s physical appearance and outfit are stupidly sexist. Child-genius Ed can be annoying (but did grow on me as the series progressed).

The good: it’s stylish through and through in design, animation, and editing. The music–jazzy with a hint of Vangelis at moments–is superb. The stories are a delightfully weird fusion of elements from different genres (science-fiction, noir, gangster) and are never predictable. The characters’ backstories are gradually revealed as we go, and deepen our understanding of why they have become the oddities they are. The show even has ending that completes the narrative in satisfying way.

If you haven’t seen this, put your prejudices about anime to the side and watch a few episodes. It’s a treasure. ★★★★★

The original God of War was released in the ten-plus year period where I didn’t play any games. Playing it for the first time comes for me, then, without any nostalgia for the era or the series.

The major gameplay annoyance is the fixed camera angles–whether that is not being able to see behind yourself, or having to change your stick direction arbitrarily just because the camera decides to shift. I am very glad that gamers have now been entrusted with the right stick to control the camera; it seems strange that anyone thought using both thumbs would be too difficult.

Early 2000s gaming sexism is my other chief problem–the game’s display of female breasts at every opportunity and its ultra-violent, ultra-masculine hero seem to be trying very hard to be adult, but end up seeming juvenile. It didn’t need to be an 18.

The combat is, however, is still engaging and well-designed. Carelessness leads quickly to failure and most battles seem fair; you need to pay close attention to which kind of enemy you are fighting and their attack patterns.

Other games beckon, so I will put this on pause for now, eight hours in. ★★★☆☆

(Played on the PCSX2 emulator, which seemed flawless to me.)

(dir. Alexandre Espigares) This is a breath of fresh Yukon air compared to most animated films for children–no rushed plotting, comic-relief characters, talking animals, or mediocre songs. It’s beautifully animated, tells an interesting historical tale, and is a perfect eighty-five minutes long. After suffering through the entirely unnecessary Mufasa in the cinema yesterday, watching this with my five year-old today was sweet relief. ★★★★☆

Yes, Zuckerberg’s Meta has proved deleterious to the Internet and society in general, but their hardware team does deserve credit for producing the best value VR headset out there. I upgraded from a Quest 2, mainly to play Batman: Arkham Shadow and to see how much a difference pancake lenses make, but the “killer feature” for me is something I didn’t expect: good passthrough.

Apple were right when they added a dial to control passthrough to the Vision Pro (though calling it the “digital crown” is obnoxious). VR headsets’ chief advantage is hiding the real world; but that’s their chief disadvantage as well. However, when I turn on the Quest 3 it immediately shows a good-enough colour passthrough that I don’t feel like I am being cut off entirely from reality. This makes putting on the headset feel significantly less disconcerting.

Since I’ve got the Quest 3, then, I’ve spent less time in full-VR experiences, but more in mixed-reality scenarios. Using Virtual Desktop to bring up a multi-monitor setup while sitting on the sofa, and being able to see people come in and out of the room (and where my mug of tea is). Punching targets flying out of my walls in Les Mills Bodycombat (and not worrying about hitting my inquisitive five year-old by mistake). Watching the 3D version of Tron: Legacy on a giant screen while in bed (and feeling only moderately anti-social). Having the passthrough there as an anchor to what’s going on around me makes me feel comfortable.

And when I’m feeling braver, I still also have the option of turning off the passthrough, clenching my jaw, feeling the rage, and punching goons in Gotham. I’m enjoying Arkham Shadow, too.

2025-01-02 It turns out my realisation that passthrough is important is shared by users of the Quest 3: this post by Meta’s Andrew Bosworth notes that “[o]ne of the first trends that we discovered after the launch of Quest 3 last year was people using mixed reality to watch videos while multitasking in their home—doing the dishes or vacuuming their living rooms”.

(by Gene Wolfe, published 1980-1983)

I read the four main volumes of the series: The Shadow of the Torturer, The Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword of the Lictor, and The Citadel of the Autarch. Particularly impressive is that the four novels are quite different, and that the Severian of Citadel feels a long way from the protagonist of Shadow.

Wolfe’s use of first-person narration to control what we understand about “Urth” of the far future is excellent, with Severian at points taking things we do not understand for granted, and at others not understanding things that seem obvious to a reader. This creates a constant interpretative puzzle for the reader–and even with the help of the sleuths of the Internet I’m afraid you will still have to make decisions about what you think is happening (or has happened, or will happen) to this world.

I don’t generally much enjoy fantasy, so when I give this only four stars it is a testament to how much better I think it is then most in the genre (Pullman’s celebrated His Dark Materials would get three stars from me, for example). I’ll admit to being a bit baffled by those who hold it as literary masterpiece of the twentieth century, though. ★★★★☆

(dir. Takashi Yamazaki) This is a reboot of the Godzilla story, and certainly succeeds in creating some impressive moments of monster destruction. The postwar Tokyo setting allows the writers to explore themes of trauma and sacrifice, but unfortunately I found the dialogue a bit heavy-handed and the resolution too neat to satisfy. That said, Godzilla looks great and if you are a fan of kaiju 怪獣 you will enjoy this. ★★★☆☆

(dir. Joseph Kosinski) This is better than I remembered–at least until the last act. The cinematography–even in the real world sections–is all cold shiny symmetries, and together with Daft Punk’s electronic score it works to create a unique style for the film. The main problems, though, are with the characters: Garrett Hedlund’s protagonist lacks charisma; Jeff Bridges is a hokey The-Dude-in-Cyberspace; and every female character is a robotic cipher. The dialogue in the final third is also atrocious (the “warm, radiant, beautiful” line about the sun must rank up there with Anakin Skywalker’s musings on sand).

I watched in 3D on a VR headset thanks a MakeMKV rip processed with BD3D2MK3D. The 3D looks good but is not transformative. ★★★☆☆

(dir. Jean-Pierre Melville) This film was not well-received at the time of its release, but its rerelease in 2006 led to it being widely hailed as a classic of cinema. Melville (Le Samouraï) creates a grim tale of Resistance members in occupied France. Pierre Lhomme’s cinematography is striking, and he was involved in the absolutely gorgeous remaster available on Bluray. As gripping as any spy thriller I’ve seen. ★★★★★

I played Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora when it came out, got about twenty hours in and then moved on to something else. I was wondering last week if I given it short shrift, so reinstalled and played five or so more hours.

It’s certainly beautiful. It’s fun to fly around Pandora. The story is fine. Shooting mech-suited bad humans with a bow is satisfying. When I looked at HowLongToBeat, however, and realised I had at least a dozen more hours to complete the game at my typical slow pace, I realised that I didn’t want to do it anymore. I didn’t want to search for the right ingredient in the forest to craft a better bow. I didn’t want to spend more time get better trousers, or a better harness for my flying buddy, or unlock another research station the same way I unlocked the last five.

It’s not a problem unique to Avatar, as I remember feeling that Horizon: Zero Dawn had outstayed its welcome by about 15-20 hours–although I found that game’s story considerably more interesting so I did push through to finish it. I will not finish Avatar, and so I happily assign it to the never-to-be-finished pile. ★★★☆☆

Age has withered my interest in online multiplayer, so it was the talk of this game’s single-player campaign that attracted my attention. Credit to the designers for aiming to bring in some brief open-world elements to change up the pacing, and even greater credit to them for the Control-influenced supernatural horror sections. It’s not quite as inventive as its influence, but the production design is impeccable and the game is always fun to play (thanks, too, frequent save-points!). This is the game-equivalent of a good Mission Impossible film. Silly, but entertaining. ★★★★☆

A road trip movie in an America fallen apart. The lead performances are very different but all work together to show how the horror of war leaves its scars. Slow sometimes and breakneck at others, it builds to a ruthless climax that regrettably makes great sense.

The sound is very well designed, veering between near silence, music tracks, and gunfire. The cinematography is sometimes gorgeous, and sometimes shocking.

Well worth your time. ★★★★★

I played this in VR (Luke Ross mod) all the way through with the Phantom Liberty DLC.

This beats Half-Life Alyx for me as the best VR experience to be had. Night City’s size and complexity makes Alyx seem a very linear and restricted game in comparison. I don’t care that Cyberpunk doesn’t have VR controls–using a controller with the mod’s gaze-aiming works perfectly.

The main story is, as every one points out, not quite as good as the DLC, but it’s still full of plenty of cool set-pieces and some genuinely different endings. The DLC in VR is just phenomenal.

There is nothing else like this. CD Projekt may have messed up the launch but right now it’s one of the best games ever made. ★★★★★

This is a fantastic game. Tight design means you never feel your time is wasted and you are always learning from each encounter. It is difficult (I played on normal) but fair. The sound is terrifying. The graphics and animation are high-quality throughout, dark but never obscure. Play it. ★★★★★

Yes, it’s long, but the endless sewing and rate negotiations do give a sense of what life is like for the people working in the clothing workshops in Zhejiang. It will make you look differently at any Chinese-made clothing you have in your wardrobe! ★★★★☆