What "box" to buy ??

  • S0 my old medie center box died and a need a new one. So witch one to buy ?? Primary use is movie/series playback from my NAS and some plugins like Youtube, Twitch and Danish TV app.

    My old was an armlogic device and I would like one that is fully supported by LibreElec (primary build so updates are "fast"), able to do 4K playback because I have a 4K tv.

    I prefere something with new hardware so it will be supported longer by LibreElec.

    Thank you for the help.

    /Simon

  • RPi4 .. because while there are many technically superior hardware devices and RPi hardware always has compromises, the level of software support we get from the Pi Foundation developers is second to none; and they care deeply that Kodi runs well on their boards. There are still some feature gaps to plug, but now initial support for HBR audio and HDR are done the number is shrinking quickly and an RPi4 is a solid daily-driver. Or an Intel Tiger-Lake device, as that platform has massive commercial backing and is effectively the reference design for non-ARM things.

  • RPi4 .. because while there are many technically superior hardware devices and RPi hardware always has compromises, the level of software support we get from the Pi Foundation developers is second to none; and they care deeply that Kodi runs well on their boards. There are still some feature gaps to plug, but now initial support for HBR audio and HDR are done the number is shrinking quickly and an RPi4 is a solid daily-driver. Or an Intel Tiger-Lake device, as that platform has massive commercial backing and is effectively the reference design for non-ARM things.

    Thx for the reply.

    Regarding Tiger Lake, then how is the Intel NUC supported ny Libreelec -->

    Intel NUC11TNKi3 Tiger Canyon - Core i3-1115G4 - Barebone | Billig

    Intel NUC11TNKi5 Tiger Canyon - Core i5-1135G7 - Barebone | Billig

    And if they both are fully supported and good for LibreElec, then what is best for 4K. The I3 or I5 ??

    I am not a big fan on the PI hardware for mediacenter....

  • For LibreELEC it's looking like the RPi4 will be the way to go once the HDR functionality is polished up.

    But otherwise I'd still say you can't go far wrong with an Nvidia Shield TV, it's still by far the best all round media player on the market, and everything 'just works' with minimal fuss.

  • For LibreELEC it's looking like the RPi4 will be the way to go once the HDR functionality is polished up.

    But otherwise I'd still say you can't go far wrong with an Nvidia Shield TV, it's still by far the best all round media player on the market, and everything 'just works' with minimal fuss.

    I asked about that in a other post and was told that it was not supported by LibreElec at all but Kodi Android would support it.

    My plan was to get a nVidia Shield Pro but if not supported by LibreElec then that's no godd. :(

    RE: AMLogic device becoming unstable

  • RPi4 with the nightlies is great. Not quite feature complete but the list of missing features is shrinking quickly.

    For a more STB style build grab the Argon One case.

  • I asked about that in a other post and was told that it was not supported by LibreElec at all but Kodi Android would support it.

    My plan was to get a nVidia Shield Pro but if not supported by LibreElec then that's no godd. :(

    nVidia Shield / Shield Pro is the Team Kodi reference device for Android so in the past we've never bothered to investigate support, and in the future it becomes technically impossible (or complicated beyond the point where it's worthwhile) because the nVidia video driver stack isn't compatible with the GBM/V4L2 direction Kodi is taking for Linux. Android is not without occasional faults in Kodi, but the main issues are vendors not following Google API standards. The shield seems to have fewer quirks and is better maintained (has updates) compared to other devices.

  • Regarding Tiger Lake, then how is the Intel NUC supported ny Libreelec -->

    Intel NUC11TNKi3 Tiger Canyon - Core i3-1115G4 - Barebone | Billig

    Intel NUC11TNKi5 Tiger Canyon - Core i5-1135G7 - Barebone | Billig

    And if they both are fully supported and good for LibreElec, then what is best for 4K. The I3 or I5 ??

    I am not a big fan on the PI hardware for mediacenter....

    I have no opinion on which one as it's several years since I used Intel hardware. I'm basing the recommendation on the hardware I see being actively used and developed on by the Intel graphics devs who have access to the Kodi team chat. They also still work on Gemini Lake.

    I'm not a fan of older Pi hardware as compared to a previous Intel board (Xtreamer Ultra 2) and Amlogic hardware it always felt underpowered. I have no real complaints with RPi4 though.

  • I have run a NUC6 i5 for many years. And now transitioning to a NuC11 i7 - it is quick, but there are some graphics teething issues with the new device, expect they will be remediate in the near future with intel investing updates in linux and Iris Xe. There is a slight difference on the Iris Xe chips across the i3/5/7 - the difference in the chips is the number of EUs (Execution Units) 48,80,96 respectively. I Note that the i3 has the UHD chip.

    Some reading :

    Intel announces its new 11th Gen Tiger Lake CPUs, available on laptops this fall - The Verge

    Intel® Iris® Xe and Iris® Plus Graphics

  • And now transitioning to a NuC11 i7 - it is quick, but there are some graphics teething issues with the new device, expect they will be remediate in the near future with intel investing updates in linux and Iris Xe.

    For now, my Asrock J5005 Gemini Lake box does not display certain videos properly in LibreELEC's testbuilds as well as Kodi 19 under Ubuntu 20.04. For now I'm having to activate the older i965 driver as a fix. Wondering when/if Linux and/or Ubuntu will fix this one.

  • Are you getting occasional .5 sec black screen pauses - that’s my main issue (mostly with mpeg2 or h264)? Or something else. Did kernel 5.10.21 improve things? I’m running bleeding edge on Mesa/kernel/media driver with the tiger lake. The Skylake is running fine (same bleeding edge)

  • Klojum - haven’t identified the exact fix yet but with latest kernel/mesa/media-driver and config changes: i915.enable_guc=2, increase of CMA, gcc TARGET_CPU=tigerlake the black screen playback issues have not reoccurred in the last 2 days; so hoping I’m on the right track.

  • Are you getting occasional .5 sec black screen pauses - that’s my main issue (mostly with mpeg2 or h264)

    I don't think so, although > 95% is HEVC video in my collection.

    So far my box is working with a setting in the /storage/.config/kodi.conf file, containing: LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME="i965".

  • I stayed with using the iHD/i915 driver. Trying to nut it out :)

    Guess if in general use it is behaving better, it might be time to do a full test of all media types :)