You definately shouldn't worry about it.
You probably should remove it.
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Well first of all I would not use LG anything.
If it's really just USB then it's like any USB mic, and you can probably disable it pretty thoroughly in Linux.
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The magic remotes work on Linux without an lg tv but require an lg tv if you’re not hooking them to Linux. That means you won’t have the gyroscopic cursor control if the remote is communicating directly with the non lg tv but if it’s communicating directly with your Linux computer then you will have gyroscopic cursor control.
If you don’t understand that distinction or how to handle it I recommend you don’t bet on having that feature.
You can’t remove or destroy the mic without taking the remote apart. Often remotes use many mics because it’s cheaper to use four shitty ones and run them into unused dsp channels than to use one good one, so you don’t even know if you got em all. The other benefit of many mics is that they work even when one is not in the optimal position to receive inputs like left handed holding or in a bin of other remotes.
Even if you did take the remote apart there’s no guarantee you would correctly recognize the microphones. On this very site is a highly upvoted post of a person triumphantly holding a resistor network and proclaiming they removed the mic from their remote. Next to the populated component labeled “m3”. M for microphone. 3 for the third one…
That person isn’t stupid and I’m not making fun of them. That resistor network may have been connected to the mic and removing it may have achieved what they wanted. My point is that it’s hard to read and interpret a pcb and it’s silkscreen especially when you don’t have specialized experience.
What you may have overlooked is the appletv4k. It’s really cheap and very functional. It is generally considered the most privacy respecting off the shelf streaming device. It doesn’t require any fucking around.
However you’d have to have your own jellyfin or plex server. Not that that’s hard, I got a sixteen year old pc in a closet that serves multiple streams very easily.
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Are you looking for a TV remote without mic, or a remote for the media pc? There are several on Amazon designed for use on a PC without mics they also have learning ir so you could use it for the TV too.
The lg magic remote doesn't work on other TVs.
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The bigger picture question: why do you need a remote?
Since Mini PCs have WiFi and Bluetooth, you can just use an app on everyone’s phones who uses the TV.
Make it a PWA and host it on the Mini PC. Then anyone on the network can just point their phone browser at it and have an instant remote that does exactly what you want and nothing more.
You could even put a QR code somewhere visible that points the phones at the pwa page.
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Can you look harder for remotes without mics?
I've gotten used remotes at goodwill before
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Get an IR blaster and record the commands you care about. Then hook that up to esphome/home assistant for automations. Unpower remote once you record all the commands you need.
If you still want a physical remote make one with buttons and an esp32 + 3d printing hooked up to esphome/home assistant.
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https://lemmy.world/post/51876426 - linking this here :)
Just buy one without a microphonemicrophone from AliExpress? Cheaper and easier than worrying about it. Usually the third or fourth option will be a mic-less version
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