LibreELEC (Leia) 9.2 ALPHA1 with Raspberry Pi 4B Support

**LibreELEC** · June 24, 2019 at 7:00 AM Official Post

Quote from LibreELEC News

4B is not a typo! For the last six months a small group of LibreELEC developers have been collaborating with Pi Foundation staff and fellow ‘Alpha team’ members on initial software support for the new board. The 4B has faster memory, faster CPUs, faster Ethernet, faster USB, and more native codecs than previous generations. It’s a comprehensive hardware refresh that will please many users seeking a 4K capable device for LibreELEC and Kodi – here’s the new specification:

1.5GHz Quad A72 (BCM2711) with 1MB L2 cache, 32KB L1

3200-LPDDR4 (1GB, 2GB or 4GB)

HEVC decode to 4K@60 (with HDR)

H.264 decode to 1080p@60

2x 4K micro-HDMI (LE/Kodi outputs to 1x screen)

HBR audio (TrueHD/DTS-HD)

2x USB 3.0 ports

2x USB 2.0 ports

Analogue 2.0 audio and Composite video port

Gigabit Ethernet (not over USB!)

2.4GHz/5.0GHz 802.11 b/g/n/ac WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0

5V/3A USB-C power input

Micro-SD card slot

Initial demand for the Raspberry Pi 4 is going to be massive and it will be a couple of days before get their hands on boards. To answer some of your questions we posted a short video review to our YouTube channel that explains some of the new capabilities and shows the new LibreELEC 9.2 ALPHA release running on the board:

HARDWARE

The 0.1Hz CPU bump to 1.5GHz appears modest (3B+ is 1.4GHz) but switching from quad A53 to an A72 chip results in a large gain in overall processing power and multimedia performance. Gigabit Ethernet that runs at full speed and USB 3.0 ports boosts bandwidth and playback from a NAS or USB 3.0 storage device is noticeably quicker. WiFi and Bluetooth performance is essentially the same as the previous model – only a minor change from Bluetooth 4.2 to 5.0.

The 4B continues to boot from a micro SD card to save $$ and maintain the famous $35 price-point for the 1GB RAM board, and new 2GB ($45) and 4GB ($55) board options have been added. Extra RAM boosts the number of use-cases for the 4B and makes Raspbian a usable Desktop OS. That’s not particularly relevant to our use-case with Kodi, but we can see the 4B playing a wider role in schools in the future, which will be great for the Pi Foundation.

SOFTWARE

It would be nice to have the 4B running the same kernel as other devices in LibreELEC 9.2, but adding support for an entirely new SoC chipset is a huge effort and the Pi Foundation needed to align initial 4B software support with the current Raspbian release to keep the workload sensible and maximise compatibility with existing software. So while Raspberry Pi 0/1/2/3 devices (and Intel x86/64) in LibreELEC 9.2 are running Linux 5.1, the 4B is using Linux 4.19 with lots of new/extra code. LibreELEC 9.2 also bumps Kodi to v18.3 which was timed for release ahead of the launch (thanks @spiff). In the next 24h all the sources for our new “RPi4” image will be made available via our GitHub repository.

In this initial release 1080p playback behaviour and performance on the 4B are broadly on-par with the previous 3B/3B+ model – with the exception of HEVC media which is now hardware decoded and massively improved. New 4K video capabilities still have plenty of rough edges to be smoothed out, but the Pi Foundation developers have been pushing fixes to the Alpha test team at a phenomenal rate over the last month and that will continue as the userbase expands.

The 4B now uses SPI flash for the bootloader. Current firmware supports SD card boot only – Network and USB booting are still on the Pi Foundation to-do list. Also on the list is HBR audio (current audio capabilities are the same as the 3B) and 3D video. The 4B hardware is HDR capable but software support has a dependency on the new Linux kernel frameworks merged by Intel developers (with help from Team LibreELEC/Kodi) in Linux 5.2 os a kernel bump is needed to use them. Once the initial excitement and activity from the 4B launch calms down some serious work on HDR and transitioning Raspberry Pi over to the new GBM/V4L2 video pipeline can start.

ACCESSORIES

Raspberry Pi 4B needs a 5V/3A power supply with a USB-C connector. If you are using USB devices with more than 500mA power draw the 5V/3A spec is a firm requirement. If you are using simple peripherals you should be able to reuse an existing 5V/2.5A PSU with a small micro-USB to USB-C adaptor. Users with 5V/2A or lower spec PSU’s should invest in a higher rated 5V/3A PSU.

Everyone will need a new case – the board layout is different to previous models. The 4B has two micro-HDMI sockets instead of one full-size HDMI socket, and the USB ports and Ethernet swap positions. On launch day the official Pi Foundation case is available, but Kodi fans might prefer an updated version of the Flirc “Kodi Edition” case which is available for pre-order at USD $11.20 (normal price $15.95) until the cases come into stock, making it an absolute steal. The Kodi Foundation receives a royalty on each case sold to help fund the project, and percentage goes towards Cancer research at the USC Norris . The updated cases will ship in late July.

ROCKCHIP

LibreELEC 9.2 is not all about Rasberry Pi. Rockchip releases will continue in long-term ‘Alpha’ state with some minor nip/tuck changes to the kernel and to add more support for HDR infoframe data. We are still using the Linux 4.4 kernel in these images. In the near future we will make a longer ‘development update’ blog post to outline the plan to move Rockchip images to mainline kernels.

ALLWINNER / AMLOGIC

Our original goal was to announce Allwinner and Amlogic images alongside Rockchip and the 4B as part of the LibreELEC 9.2 release, but while overall readiness has greatly improved in recent months – each has specific technical challenges to overcome before they meet our basic critera for a public release. On the human side of the project several maintainers also have reduced availability for support due to work and family commitments, and the summer vacation season is about to start. Combining these factors together, the team felt it was better to be patient and not rush releases.

So instead of releasing LibreELEC 9.2 alpha images we are announcing the start of official nightly images from our master development branch. At the moment the master branch uses Linux 5.1 and Kodi v18 so nightlies mirror LibreELEC 9.2, but in the near future we will start moving master towards Linux 5.3 and Kodi v19. NB: Users of the new Amlogic A311D based Khadas VIM3 board (which also lauches today) will be able to use the master-branch nightly images – we have a device-tree prepared.

BETA NOTES

LibreELEC 9.2 for Generic x86/64 and Raspberry Pi 0/1/2/3 devices is a solid beta quality release. Raspberry Pi 4B images are more “late stage Alpha” and are not feature complete or perfect. Normal LibreELEC testing rules apply; if you do not want to experiment on your family’s primary entertainment system – please stick with your current version and wait for the final/stable release. If you do want to experiment – please be prepared to submit log files and work with developers to hunt down problems and test solutions.

Enjoy 🙂

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Source: LibreELEC (Leia) 9.2 ALPHA1 with Raspberry Pi 4B Support – LibreELEC

cheungie · June 24, 2019 at 7:44 AM

Incredibly exciting news. I wonder whether the device would support things such as Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision.

**chewitt** · June 24, 2019 at 8:17 AM Official Post

I've been told that RPi4 will support open "static" metadata standards (HDR/HLG) not the commercial "dynamic" ones like Dolby Vision which would require a license fee to be paid on every board sold. Not sure about Atmos audio, but if it requires fees I'd expect the position to be the same. I've asked for a clarification.

**sparklyballs** · June 24, 2019 at 8:29 AM

saw the news in my feed and brushed the sleep from my eyes and popped in an order for a 4b, case and (trying so hard not to call it a dongle, lol) the usb-c power adapter thing.

should have had some coffee first as didn't see that there were ram options and went with the 1GB

**HiassofT** · June 24, 2019 at 8:33 AM

A quick heads up: to get 4kp60 output on RPi4 you need to add

Code

hdmi_enable_4k=1

to config.txt as by default 4k output is limited to 30fps in the firmware.

so long,

Hias

mcallegari · June 24, 2019 at 8:46 AM

Is the 1GB model enough for 4Kp60 decoding? My ODROID-C2 seems to be fine with 1GB @4K.

In general, what's the meaning of 2GB/4GB models apart for desktop applications usages?

**HiassofT** · June 24, 2019 at 9:01 AM

I'd recommend getting the 2GB model for 4k, with 1GB memory is a bit tight ATM (this may change in the future with further improvements to the firmware and video driver).

so long,

Hias

Hans Gruber · June 24, 2019 at 9:43 AM

Does anyone know if the RPi4 can decode VP9 at 4k?

**chewitt** · June 24, 2019 at 9:47 AM Official Post

Quote from cheungie

Incredibly exciting news. I wonder whether the device would support things such as Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision.

I'm told Atmos should be okay. If you aren't using pass-through you'll only get the DTS core (5.1) anyway and if it is being passed through it's not being decoded and thus a license isn't needed. Or something like that .. IANAL

**chewitt** · June 24, 2019 at 9:55 AM Official Post

VP9: "Currently software decode only. There is a hardware block that can do vp9 bitstream (cabac style) acceleration but the pixel operations need software decode which is the majority of the work." .. my 2c is that VP9 is never seen beyond YouTube which almost always has other (hardware decode supported) streams so it's probably not high on the list of things to spend time upon.

Hans Gruber · June 24, 2019 at 9:59 AM

Quote from chewitt

VP9: "Currently software decode only. There is a hardware block that can do vp9 bitstream (cabac style) acceleration but the pixel operations need software decode which is the majority of the work." .. my 2c is that VP9 is never seen beyond YouTube which almost always has other (hardware decode supported) streams so it's probably not high on the list of things to spend time upon.

Thanks, yeah it's videos from youtube where I'd need it. I think I'll hold out for a bit and see how things go. Sounds like a great device otherwise.

Mister XY · June 24, 2019 at 10:00 AM

Is it possible to start the Pi 4 via HDMI-CEC looks like Odroid-C2/N2?

powerarmour · June 24, 2019 at 10:10 AM

Great stuff, what we've all been waiting for really this.

**sparklyballs** · June 24, 2019 at 10:14 AM

they've somewhat stolen the thunder from khadas and the vim3 launch today...

Monie · June 24, 2019 at 10:20 AM

I understand it has hardware decoding for HEVC content but what about 10 bit? Will it smoothly run 1080 and 4K x265 10 bit content?

psysfaction · June 24, 2019 at 10:33 AM

Super excited about this release.

Hoping for bit streaming HD surround and the USB3 and Ethernet port are a great add.
Will make it much more feasible to use a Pi to share files from a external HDD on the local network.

Good for installations where a dedicated NAS would be too pricy

Monie · June 24, 2019 at 10:33 AM

Quote from Mister XY

Is it possible to start the Pi 4 via HDMI-CEC looks like Odroid-C2/N2?

I'd like to know this as well. CEC is one of the best features of the Raspberry Pi 3B for media consumption, and I assume the 4B should have it as well. I'm not finding it in the tech specs though.

Multisaft7 · June 24, 2019 at 10:33 AM

I asked myself if i should buy the 4gb or if the 2gb is enough till the next raspberry pi release in the next years?