Asus Chromebox from OE to Libreelec

1st Official Post

    So I have an Asus chromebox M400U that is running openelec 6.0.98 Fritsch version in a standalone setup. It runs well but was wanting to upgrade to Libreelec. As I understand it I can't just manually update because the partition needs to be bigger for Libreelec when going from openelec. Is this correct? If so what is the easiest way to do this. Thanks in advance

    Quote from Fishman88


    So I have an Asus chromebox M400U that is running openelec 6.0.98 Fritsch version in a standalone setup. It runs well but was wanting to upgrade to Libreelec. As I understand it I can't just manually update because the partition needs to be bigger for Libreelec when going from openelec. Is this correct? If so what is the easiest way to do this. Thanks in advance

    I was in the same situation but all I did was place the update file in the update folder and restarted, no issues.

    Quote from Fishman88

    Thanks, worked perfectly

    I did the same thing and now it wont boot.

    I am at a black screen that says

    Booting from Hard Drisk...

    Syslinux 6.02 EDD 2013-10-13
    Booting Kernel failed: Invalid Argument
    Boot: _


    Any ideas?
    [hr]

    Edited once, last by Xsist (November 27, 2016 at 4:16 AM).

    • Official Post

    If you read the text on the download page, the bit where it says "For all other downloads (files to use with 3rd party SD creator tools, manual update files, NAND install files, noobs files, files to migrate you from OpenELEC, etc.) please select your hardware in the drop-list below:" .. and then click in the drop list you can navigate away from the Raspberry Pi downloads to the Generic AMD/Intel/nVidia image downloads.

    To recover an existing installation either create a new LE USB and attach a keyboard, then boot from the USB and CTRL+ALT+F3 to access a local console where you can mount the internal drive and download/extract/replace the KERNEL/SYSTEM files in the boot partition. Or create an Ubuntu LiveUSB and use GUI tools there to do the same thing.

    NB: LE has mechanisms to detect and abort updates when people load the wrong files, but when you first update from OE you're using OE's older update process and this has no protection.

    I did exactly the same thing after reading the migration guide.
    Seems I'm not the only one that has done it and it might be an idea to make it a bit clearer on the guide, which version should be selected.

    As said, best way to recover is to create a LE USB install stick and select the repair/upgrade option from there. Sorted out the issue in seconds.

    Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
    [hr]
    By the way, I'm not criticising the LE team here. I think you've all done a great job with this. I've not noticed any bugs or anything so fat. Keep up the good work.

    Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

    Edited once, last by frustrated_1 (November 27, 2016 at 7:57 AM).

    Thank for both for the replies.

    I have created a new USB stick with the generic build and have it plugged into the chromebox.

    I have attempted the CTRL+ALT+F3 and although the box thinks about it for a min... I still get the same text. It doesnt want to boot to the usb or give me an option it seems. I have tried it with 2 different keyboards and same result. Is there something else I am missing

    Thanks again

    Have you actually gone in to the bios while the USB stick is installed and changed the boot preference to USB?

    That was what I had to do in order to boot from the USB stick.

    Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

    Quote from frustrated_1


    Have you actually gone in to the bios while the USB stick is installed and changed the boot preference to USB?

    That was what I had to do in order to boot from the USB stick.

    Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

    How do I do I do that? I thought that hitting the cntl+alt+f3 would do that and I am not getting anywhere with that. I have tried hitting ESC several times on boot. That didnt work. I have tried 2 different keyboards with the same result. How do I access the bios on the chromebox? I know it may seem like I am a moron but pls trust me when I say I have read forums and searched google for hours and hours trying to resolve this issue. At this point I am completely lost and am truly at the mercy of the board. I cant not convey to you how grateful for your assistance .

    Edited once, last by Xsist (November 27, 2016 at 8:58 PM).

    After a Google Search, found this:

    USB Boot

    By default, USB booting is disabled. Once you are in Dev-mode and have a root shell (Ctrl-Alt-F2), you can run:

    sudo crossystem dev_boot_usb=1
    and reboot once to boot from USB drives with Ctrl-U.

    Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

    Quote from frustrated_1


    After a Google Search, found this:

    USB Boot

    By default, USB booting is disabled. Once you are in Dev-mode and have a root shell (Ctrl-Alt-F2), you can run:

    sudo crossystem dev_boot_usb=1
    and reboot once to boot from USB drives with Ctrl-U.

    Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

    I will try my best to be as detailed here as possible as I sense your frustration and disbelief in the time I have spent attempting to research and solve this issue.

    Up to this point I have been unsuccessful in accessing Dev Mode. I have tried all of the following with 2 different keyboards, and please keep in mind my box was not a dual boot box. I booted directly into Openelec.

    With the box off , I have pressed a paperclip into the box, then powered on, and then released the paperclip. ... didnt work

    Tried same as above but held the paperclip in the hole until I saw SeaBIOS at the top of the screen... didnt work

    The methods listed below here have been attempted with and without the paperclip method listed above.

    power on and hitting

    ctrl+Alt+f2.... or
    Ctrl+alt+f3.... or
    Ctrl+Alt+T.... or
    Ctrl+alt+D.....or
    Esc

    all gave me the same negative result . Here are pics of what I am seeing. I have also attempted to use the commands you suggest from this screen, and this was the result. I am trying everything I and find.

    im ridiculously stuck.

    Wish I could help further, but not sure how the Chrome box models work. It was a simple matter of hitting the del key on my keyboard that got me in to my bios to change the boot priority to USB. Seems like a completely different process with the Chrome box.

    Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

    Just wanted to update you or anyone else having the same issue. Before I gave up I tried a different USB drive to boot to. A DataTraveler g4 32Gb drive was loaded with the intel generic build and I was finally able to boot to it.

    All is again well with the world. Thanks again for all assistance.

    Hey all. Off the topic of the later part of this thread, I need help with the basics. I also have an Asus Chromebox that I just upgraded from 6.0.98 Fritsch to LibreELEC 8.0.0. After trying the img file which didn't work, I tried the tar file which did. The upgrade completed successfully.

    However, the LibreELEC system is nearly useless because the video has random color bands and display craziness. I can make out the basics, text, shapes, but the video is rendering in such a way that colors are splashed. Either the video driver is wrong or bad in some way, or I have some acceleration turned on that I shouldn't or the like.

    Any idea how to fix this messed up video on my LibreELEC 8.0.0 installation?
    [hr]

    Quote from cross


    I also have an Asus Chromebox that I just upgraded from 6.0.98 Fritsch to LibreELEC 8.0.0.

    However, the LibreELEC system is nearly useless because the video has random color bands and display craziness.


    Okay. Embarrassing to fix it myself only _after_ posting, but. So in Settings->System Settings->Display, I turned off both "Dithering" and "Colour management". Then, after a reboot, it all looked okay. I then turned one on at a time, and it has continued to display without the color defects. So, *shrug*.

    I can't say for _sure_, but IIRC there were only two options earlier for "Dither Depth" in that screen. 2 and 3. Now, after rebooting with it off et al, I see 8, 7, all the way down to 2. Left at the default of 8, all seems good. I'm guessing this dither depth setting was the problem, although I don't know what caused it. Maybe a bug report should be opened for whatever caused it to only give 2 and 3 as options? If it could be reproduced...

    Thanks, and good-day...

    Edited once, last by cross (March 11, 2017 at 3:56 PM).