[8.90.6] LibreELEC 9.0 Alpha for S905/S912 devices

  • Since I'm a sucker for punishment, I also picked up a S912 box, a HONGYU T95Z Plus. I took the DTB file from this post - which was purposely built for fixing some LCD issues on another user's T95Z Plus box. I began using it with my build, and now the LCD panel works, so I know I'm on the right track.

    However, the LAN still does not work - I can only get a 169.154.x.x IP address. The Wifi adapter works fine. Some googling suggests this may be an issue with the DTB file. Can anyone help with this? Please let me know which log files to provide, thanks!

    EDIT: ifconfig shows that no data is being received, so there's probably a pin mapped incorrectly in the DTB. Can someone show me how to create a modified DTB for this?

    eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr C4:2A:FE:11:83:72

    inet addr:169.254.1.118 Bcast:169.254.255.255 Mask:255.255.0.0

    UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1

    RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0

    TX packets:2081 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0

    collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000

    RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:408386 (398.8 KiB)

    Interrupt:40

    Edited once, last by dapharsyde (February 20, 2018 at 7:23 AM).

  • previously there was a script to download it, but it looks like it's not valid anymore for 8.90.4. not sure if somebody can update how to get the widevine after installing netflix addon. since one the major reason to move to LE9 was because of netflix.

    I've been using the sandmann repository for Amazon VOD - Releases · Sandmann79/xbmc · GitHub

    When you try and watch a video, it will trigger the installation of widewine CDM. Worked for me as recently as a few hours ago.

    EDIT: FWIW, I've found that so far, my S905W and S912 boxes are both incapable of streaming Netflix or Amazon VOD reliably. 1080p is definitely a no-go. 720p is barely watchable - jittery frames, audio in and out of sync, etc. Meanwhile, I have an Asus Chromebox CN60 that I just updated to LE 9.0, and it has no problems with 1080p Amazon and Netflix using the x86_64 library. It seems that the widevine library for ARM will need more optimization to run on these devices. I'd be interested to hear your experiences with it once you have it working.

    Edited once, last by dapharsyde (February 20, 2018 at 6:05 AM).

  • Here you go, again:

    lib-ARM-widevine.zip

    Can't say whether it works on 8.90.4, did not upgrade...

    You have to put them in place manually.

    Amazon VOD (newer versions) use inputstream helper, which installs these libs in addon_data subfolder and creates symbolic links in cdm...

    And for some reason Sandmann's Amazon VOD stopped working (Neflix is OK) for me on all platforms - Win/Lin/LE... Don't have time to debug now...

    Attached is the script used to obtain these libs - getwidevine-armV7.zip

    Edited once, last by ChimeyJimmey (February 20, 2018 at 6:25 AM).

  • EDIT: FWIW, I've found that so far, my S905W and S912 boxes are both incapable of streaming Netflix or Amazon VOD reliably. 1080p is definitely a no-go. 720p is barely watchable - jittery frames, audio in and out of sync, etc.

    Let's say S905 is just too weak for 1080p widevine software decoding, but 720p jittery frames and audio problems are just bugs. The same movie with such troubles after a reboot and toggled amazon VOD 'DRM check' on and off is suddenly playing very well. Just a little bit of luck is needed.

  • New devel version LibreELEC-S905.arm-9.0-devel-20180218093359-r28165-gec88b52.tar

    I would appreciate some feedback from anybody with a S905W box with issues with interlaced content, I have added an option to disable aml deinterlacing to Kodi under Settings>System>Display, just enable the option at the bottom and reboot and then test the content.

    No need for autostart.sh anymore so remove it if you have one.

    I can confirm that I don't have any more artifacts with this version.

    Please add this option in the normal Version.

    Tested on MXQ PRO Plus S905W 2GB

  • Having recently purchased my second Android box, a M9C max (S905X, 2/16GB), I can report that Netflix runs great at 720p with the 8.90.4 alpha.

    Apart from installing the Netflix plugin and widevine.sh, importing Cryptodome seemed also needed to fix a dependency error.

    After this, Netflix ran at 720p, but barely watchable. Thankfully, I read a tip from Gismo112 in the Kodinerds forum on cache settings in advancedsettings.xml. With these, there hasn't been a single hiccup so far (with HEVC disabled in the Netflix settings)!

    I have tried all sorts of movies and TV shows, with various frame and refresh rates, and am impressed with picture quality.

    The quality is really much better compared to the Netflix app running on stock Android 6.0.1 that came with the box.

    It is connected to a rather old 1080p Samsung 5-series TV. Dependent on the Netflix movie, it always displays 1080p, but at various refresh rates like 24, 50 or 60 Hz. Typing "o" on the wireless keyboard shows Netflix streaming at 720p. CPU usage is pretty high though, with one or more of the cores hitting 100% at times. Still, the picture plays flawlessly :)

    Below's a log of what I did to get it working :

    LibreELEC2:~ # wget getwidevine.sh

    Connecting to nmacleod.com (212.23.8.80:80)

    getwidevine.sh 100% |*******************************| 2130 0:00:00 ETA

    LibreELEC2:~ # sh getwidevine.sh

    Detected ARCH: arm

    Download directory: /storage/.kodi/cdm

    Downloading: libwidevinecdm.so for arm...

    ######################################################################### 100.0%

    Successfully installed libwidevinecdm.so!

    LibreELEC2:~ #

    LibreELEC2:~ # python

    Python 2.7.14 (default, Feb 13 2018, 01:44:00)

    [GCC 7.3.0] on linux2

    Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.

    >>> import Cryptodome

    >>>

    Add below data to the advancedsettings.xml in /storage/.kodi/userdata:

    advancedsettings.xml:

    <advancedsettings>

    <cache>

    <buffermode>1</buffermode>

    <memorysize>157286400</memorysize>

    <readfactor>20</readfactor>

    </cache>

    <loglevel>1</loglevel>

    </advancedsettings>


    LibreELEC2:~ # reboot

    Edited once, last by hansje (February 20, 2018 at 11:04 PM).

  • Is netflix using inputstream adaptive? If yes, then this could only be a placebo since these buffersettings are technically ignored by inputstream adative. At that moment there is only a 8 seconds hardcoded buffer.

  • Afaik netflix uses indeed inputstream adaptive.

    But without the cache settings in advanced settings, many movies are unwatchable as the video freezes all the time while sound remains ok. The difference really is night and day here. Same freezing behavior is observed when requesting HEVC in the netflix plugin.

    Koboltzz, I hear you, and would be more then happy to do some tests or traces tomorrow to find out more (late here, am in bed right now).

    Just let me know what you think makes sence to check.

  • Upgraded 2 of my boxes to 8.90.4

    and kept almost all settings and installed addons "as is", with a bit of magic.

    Had to re-create from scratch the remote config for one of the boxes, but everything's cool, for now.

    The only problem remaining is Amazon VOD, Netflix is fine, as good as it gets. :)

    Cheers!:thumbup:

  • Had same issue with ethernet. Forcing interface speed to 100 mbit helped for me. Try this:
    ethtool -s eth0 speed 100 duplex full

  • Had same issue with ethernet. Forcing interface speed to 100 mbit helped for me. Try this:
    ethtool -s eth0 speed 100 duplex full

    This sort of problem could also be due to a bad Ethernet cable, have you tried a different cable?

    What box do you have? Is it a T95Z as well or something else? I wonder, could the T95Z contain a 100mbps chip, while being advertised as having 1Gbit?