Which Kodi & Libreelec version to install on S905 box? Complete newbie looking for help! :-(

chumbo · May 31, 2019 at 1:44 PM

This is all very new to me, I've never installed/run Libreelec.

I currently have a Venz V10 (Amlogic S905) Android box which can host Libreelec. Kodi never really worked well on Android but now it completely crapped out and I had to reinstall Kodi. Since of course only the latest version of Kodi (v18 Leia) was available on the Play store I tried that (previously was running v17 Krypton).

That was a disaster (videos stutter, completely freeze or stop) so when trying to solve the problem I discovered that Libreelec is maybe my best option for a smooth running Kodi box.

So what version would some of the more experienced users here recommend I install, both with regard to Kodi and Libreelec?

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,

Chumbo

PS on the Venz website, they recommend Libreelec firmware version 8.0.2 but I'm guessing as is often the case, that could just be old news that they've never bothered looking into update and maybe active users know of more recent versions working as well.

omicron · June 1, 2019 at 11:41 PM

Go here: [8.2.4.1] LibreELEC Kodi Krypton - S905 & S912 devices

Installation instructions are here: [HOWTO + FAQ] Install community builds on S905/S905D/S905W/S905X/S912 device

Follow the advise:
"I strongly recommend running from SD card/USB drive! Installing to internal memory might soft-brick your box and you will have to reinstall Android firmware to make it work again."

First try with its own dtb file. If not work try another dtb for the S905

chumbo · June 2, 2019 at 10:43 AM

Oh damn, I'm already getting discouraged!

This turning out to be a lot more complicated and geeky than I was hoping for.

The link you sent is for a 32bit system (mine is a Quad Core ARM 64-bit Cortex A53 2.0GHz) so I then read on a bit further down and this turns up:

Quote

The ARM 32bit C2 version above is NOT compatible with aarch64 - 64bit official LE C2 versions, but you can change to 32bit by SSH logging in and issuing this command before a .tar update:

touch /storage/.update/.nocompat

What the heck does all that mean!? And then you say this as well.....

Quote from omicron

First try with its own dtb file

What is a dtb file....

Oh man, I was just hoping for an easy sure & safe download link and simple install instructions....BTW, which is the latest compatible Kodi version for my system and where can I find older versions of Kodi?

Thanks for your help and patience!

bubblegum57 · June 2, 2019 at 1:42 PM

I think the best thing for you is to go to the Coreelec website, CoreELEC Forums these are newer versions of kodi than the links already given.

Very basically, You download the correct image for your device, use rufus Rufus to burn the image to a microsd or usb.

I think now on coreelec chosing your device from the list should mean you don't need to change the device tree CoreELEC

You then insert the card/usb, boot your device, you will need a usb keyboard to gothrough the initial setup, ie network connections.

Then reboot, your remote might not work, I'm not sure but there are guides to help you setup the remote, & guides for the installation.

So, go to the coreelec forum.