Leia on x86 to Matrix on RPi4 transition

1st Official Post

    I'm currently running all my LibreELEC devices at home on X86 devices but as needs changed I need to re-purpose some to other tasks...

    I just ordered three RPi 4's (4GB model, the price difference was just negligible9.

    So my question is;

    If I backup my LE 9.2.6 based X86 devices with LE Backup can I restore that to RPi 9.9.x (or 10.x if that's released when time comes...)?

    Any risks with that?

    I'm mostly interested in add-on data/configs, I'm aware of that the add-ons aren't always architecture-wise compatible.

    Thumbs aren't that important.

    Thanks in advance!

    LibreELEC (Matrix) 10.0 RC1 – LibreELEC

    "

    ** DO NOT UPGRADE! **

    Yes, we mean that. The team are super keen for you to run the latest LibreELEC release but we recommend you clean install not upgrade an existing installation – unless you are upgrading from a recent nightly image, i.e. you are already using Kodi 19.

    The two simple (but complex) reasons for this advice are:

    a) Python3 changes in Kodi v19 mean 99.99% of add-ons stop working. Most official Kodi add-ons now have Matrix compatible versions in the Kodi repo, but the transtion to them is not always smooth. Incompatible Python2 add-ons are disabled automatically on upgrade and users need to find/update add-ons to Python3 versions before re-enabling them. Banned/piracy add-ons are heavily impacted by the Python3 change, and while we don’t care about them breaking, we do care about the abuse that’s often hurled at staff when we refuse sympathy or support to that subset of users.

    b) Kernel changes for RPi4 users combined with no release for RPi2/3 users and discontinued support for RPi0/1 users means signifant changes in the user experience (Raspberry Pi users are a combined 80% of our active installed base). We are pretty confident RPi4 users will like the update since it brings HBR audio and initial HDR video support, but it’s still a big change. Generic (where there is a lower level of change) and Allwinner/Rockchip (which already run on modern kernels) are less impacted."

    No, I'm NOT upgrading as I wrote above!!

    I'm mainly interested to preserve as much settings for add-ons as possible!

    I'm doing a clean install on all RPi's (as they are brand new) but I'm interested in risks when restoring (add-on) data (NOT LE itself).

    Yes, that might be an issue. I've seen those warnings and I'm aware of Python upgrades so that part is fine.

    And most of add-ons I use are either updated or in progress anyway.

    Rest can wait or replaced if necessary.

    What I'm curious about if the add-on data backup/restore with LE build in backup tool is usable for add-ons in v10 or if I need to re-config all affected add-ons manually and if there are any side effects by restoring from old-ish version.

    You change the System why or for what have you worry?

    Make a Backup on your x86 Device

    - save local

    Install LibreElec on your RPI

    Install the Backup

    and then watching self and control all ...

    Hi Jocke.Sve

    I recently migrated my x86 to RPi4 for testing purpose. I wrote a script to copy the data to the RPi

    it looks like this:

    I did select only the preferred addons. You can copy addon_data 1:1 to get all of your addons. It worked perfectly for TVheadend which I was most scared of to migrate. Not sure how complicated your LE setup is, but it might work for you as well.

    I started the script and copied the data to a fresh LE10 installation. After the job is done restart your RPi and install the addons from the repositories. LE will take care that all missing dependencies get installed.

    • Official Post

    Assuming you're okay at the SSH console and can read internet HOWTO posts on uncompressing a tar file (the backup). You can take a backup on LE 9.2.6 (using the settings add-on) and make a manual/selective restore of the following from the backup:

    /storage/.kodi/userdata/sources.xml

    /storage/.kodi/userdata/addon_data

    /storage/.kodi/userdata/Databases

    /storage/.kodi/userdata/Thumbnails

    The Python 2>3 changes (and arch change) mean you need to reinstall add-ons anyway .. consider it an opportunity for spring cleaning. The scrapers are also different in Matrix so you can either take the highest numbered DB files and existing Thumbs cache and use it again or only copy sources.xml and then rescrape. The guisettings.xml file has other config, but some will be x86 specific so it's always 50/50 how that turns out when swapping arches. With practice it takes 5 mins to reconfig everything in Kodi settings so it's not a big deal.