[x86-64] Weird problem installing Libreelec 12.2.1 on an N100 BMAX B4 plus Mini PC

Hi,

I'm facing a weird behavior when installing Libreelec 12.2.1 on an N100 BMAX B4 plus Mini PC.

I created a bootable usb stick, ran the installer, and Libreelec was succesfully installed on the SSD drive.

Then I rebooted without the stick, and began to configure Libreelec through the first screens (language, hostname, etc...).

When I say "etc..", it's a way of speaking, since the pc suddenly get stuck (freezed) while I was typing the hostname, and I couldn't go further.

I did a hard shutdown (switch off), then I switched on again.

Same first steps, and freezed again within a minute.

I suspected my wireless keyboard (RF with dongle, not bluetooth), and plugged an usb keyboard after hard shutdown.

No way, same behavior : everything freezes after one minute.

I tried 1) a reinstall from the bootable usb stick, 2) changed the hdmi cable (since I found somewhere on the forum that it has caused problems to someone), 3) ran the os in live mode from the usb stick, and 4) burned and intalled the legacy version, all of this with the same freezing symptom after one minute.

I began to suspect my hardware, but I tried to install the previous libreelec version (12.0.2).

And it worked ! All the configuration steps went smooth, everything was working as expected. I performed two or three reboots, waited for the freeze to come, but it was rock steady.

Until I upgraded (through kodi settings) to 12.2.1. The "new" version was successfully downloaded, installed after reboot.

And freeze... Got the kodi main screen, but nothing responded after the reboot.

Then I ended up with re-installing 12.0.2 and forbidding automatic updates.

It works perfectly with this version, no problems at all.

Any clue of what's happenning ? Anywhere to look ?

And any help welcome

(If needed, I can upgrade to 12.2.1 to try to get some info on processes, journals, and perform some tests. Only if someone tells me how to roll back to the working version without reinstalling the whole thing.)

Thanks in advance

Thanks for replying

Quote from Da Flex

I agree. Latest kernel is on LE13 (a.k.a. nightly builds). Update from SSH terminal:

Code

cd /storage/.update
wget https://test.libreelec.tv/13.0/Generic/Generic/LibreELEC-Generic.x86_64-13.0-nightly-20260628-27a0c4c.img.gz
reboot

I can test this tonight. But can I roll back to 12.0.2 using the same commands ?

Such as :

cd /storage/.update
wget https://releases.libreelec.tv/LibreELEC-Generic.x86_64-12.0.2.img.gz
reboot

Will this work ?

And in the case LE13 still freezes, I don't know if ssh would still work (I've not tested this point).

In the "best" case (kodi freezes, but ssh works), are they other commands (apart from run journalctl) or files to look at. I'm a linux newbie, sorry...

Thanks for your help

Thanks a lot.

I have already saved the .kodi folder and subfolders, just in case. I don't want to lose all my settings and DB

I just hope I can access shh if kodi freezes.

Except I don't know if the freeze is only on kodi, or if it's more general. I was so surprised by the freeze that I didn't check if ssh still worked. BTW, I was suspecting the hardware more than the OS.

Thanks again.

Quote from chewitt

IMHO the three main causes of hardware lockups are power and thermal issues, and then software issues. For hardware like an Intel N100 device the software side is used at a large enough scale that hard lockup bugs in software are quite rare.

I agree. But hardware issues can be discarded here since 12.0.2 works like a charm, while 12.2.1 systematically freezes...

And I didn't imply it was a bug. Surely, something in the BMAX hardware implementation doesn't comply with standard N100 motherboards.

Anyway, I'd be happy to pinpoint the problem with this particular mini-pc, just to avoid possible future issues

Quote from Da Flex

Please provide a full debug log.

How to post a log (wiki)

1. Enable debugging in Settings>System Settings>Logging
2. Restart Kodi
3. Replicate the problem
4. Generate a log URL (do not post/upload logs to the forum)

use "Settings > LibreELEC > System > Paste system logs" or run "pastekodi" over SSH, then post the URL link

Thanks for the tips.

However, since the "freeze problem" forbids me to do anything (except maybe from an ssh console, but I have to test this), replicating the problem could be troublesome (at least for me).

Can you confirm that the following procedure would work :

1. on my current LE12.0.2, enable debugging in Settings>System Settings>Logging
2. enable upgrades through kodi, then apply the upgrade (I'll start with LE12.2.1, since I don't know if LE13 is prone to freeze)
3. reboot to perform upgrade and start Kodi
4. "Normally", I'll get a freezed Kodi
5. log in to the pc through ssh and run pastekodi (if ssh works)

The main concern here is that I don't know if the debug mode is conserved after reboot when upgrading LE ?

OK

I'll report tonight.

Thanks for your help.