[RPi4] OSMC Remote Intermittently Forgotten by KODI

    We've used an OSMC remote for many years mostly without issue.

    Recently though the remote is not always picked up at power on.

    Unplugging the OSMC's USB dongle for a while then re-inserting the dongle makes the remote work again but this is getting annoying.

    Anything I can do to diagnose the issue?

    • Are the two USB drives powered from the USB ports on the board or they have external PSU(s)?
    • What is 5V/?A spec of the PSU?
    • If you remove one of the drives does the remote appear reliably?
    • If you scan the bus with lsusb -tv is the remote USB dongle listed; and does the remote now work?

    If you have two drives powered from the board my hunch would be that when the board is booting and everything is in an active state the drives can pull enough power to result in the remote USB dongle not receiving enough to power on. This is probably a borderline case so it might still work occasionally. If you then remove/reconnect some time after boot the board is now in a less active and more power-stable state so the remote USB dongle reliably works.

    If the hunch is in the correct direction, perhaps using a higher rated PSU might work, e.g. the 5V/5A spec for an RPi5. Or connecting the drives to a powered USB hub, or if one of the drives has as USB 'Y' lead (to draw power from multiple USB ports) connect the non-data plug to an external USB phone charger to reduce power draw from the 4B board.

    Thank you for your advice.

    Quote from chewitt
    • Are the two USB drives powered from the USB ports on the board or they have external PSU(s)?

    Yes both getting power from Pi, one is a WD Passport 1TB, the other is an old SSD I had laying around at the time of setting up the Pi4.

    Quote from chewitt

    What is 5V/?A spec of the PSU?

    It's the official Pi4 PSU.


    I was going to get a Pi5 if / when the prices drop a bit. I'll get a Pi5 power supply now to try it out.

    Quote from ian_j

    Yes both getting power from Pi, one is a WD Passport 1TB, the other is an old SSD I had laying around at the time of setting up the Pi4.

    It's the official Pi4 PSU.


    Probably the reason to why you are having problems.

    Everything has been running fine for years with the same setup.

    We've never had a power issue warning (lightning bolt top right of screen) so maybe the power supply is failing.

    I've ordered a Pi5 PSU, fingers crossed that fixes the issue.

    While I wait for the new PSU I backed up the LibreELEC, removed the SSD and booted from a micro SD card, the OSMC didn't work and the dongle had to be removed / re-inserted.

    If you move the dongle/remote combo between RPi4/NUC systems does the problem follow the move? .. i.e. is it a specific dongle having the problem or all of them?

    On the current system; with one of the USB drives moved you can move the dongle from USB2 to USB3 ports. Any change?

    Quote from chewitt

    If you move the dongle/remote combo between RPi4/NUC systems does the problem follow the move? .. i.e. is it a specific dongle having the problem or all of them?

    On the current system; with one of the USB drives moved you can move the dongle from USB2 to USB3 ports. Any change?

    I've tried the dongle in different ports and on a short USB extension lead to get it away from any interference from the Pi but we still got the random failure to recognise it.

    The new PSU will be delivered some time this week I'll give that a go.

    I want to swap back to the SSD for booting anyway as with the MicroSD card the GUI feels much slower to respond.

    Quote from Da Flex

    Dongles can get weaker over the years. Try another one. I don't see a "throttled" warning at your log, so I don't think it's a PSU issue.

    Is there anything recommended that works out of the box.

    More buttons would be nice to avoid having to go through the keymap editor.