Matricom G-Box Q LibreElec issues (remote, overheating, ect)

Wasn't fully sure where to post this cause I am having multiple issues getting this to run right so figured I would post a full thread to see who has any experience on these matters with the Matricom G-Box Q and installing drieschel's version of the M8 7.0.2 port. I have seen some of these issues covered in numerous threads so please forgive me for reposting some of this here but some of the usual fixes just aren't seeming to work on my end so I didn't want to bombard older threads with similar repetitive questions.

So here is what I have going on:

First I have been running Codesnakes OPENELEC 6.0.3 M8 2GB with no issues for about a year now...well 6.0.1 on up over the course of the year with manual updates. Reason I want to run LibreElec like most of you is due to the fact I have been constantly and patiently waiting on a JARVIS update for a very long time but just recently found out about the fork off to LibreElec which from what I seen so far might be a better system once the quirks are flattened out.

The last few days I have been tinkering with this like a madman and ran all over the place with Google searches. Good news is I am more deeply experienced with the inner workings of these ports now lol but some things I just can't get to work out like others seem to have.

1. Issue: I started this project by stumbling on Kerber's port of 7.0.2....after install the remote works out of the box, wifi works but seems to run hot 165 degrees to the 180 degree mark on idle. Now I am unsure what the limits in this area is due to the fact the CPU TEMP gauge on Codesnakes OPENELEC never gave me a read out but I would like to know for future reference if this range is too much on the Matricom G-Box Q which I suspect probably is. Had a few occasional freezes on Kerber's when I use more heavy load skins but with Amber which I mainly use it seemed to not do that. (note: I am aware Kerber is not affiliated with drieschel on his port I am only referencing this point cause after finding drieschel's port I noticed with that install its running about the same amount of heat on my system)

2. After finding out about drieschel's port which is more involved with LibreElec as I gather due to being directly on the LibreElec site and forums, I decided to move on to this as the port of choice but running into the main issues I need covered here as follows:

a. Remote is simply a mess for me after install. I did see the posts about the remote.config file so went to the CODESNAKE page on the FREAKTAB forum and downloaded the MATRICOM Q (s802) (s802) patch. I used WinSCP to move the remote.config file to /storage/.config folder and also executed it from the terminal in WinSCP. I can get the remote to use the left/right buttons after that...it will also use the MUTE button, power Off but the OK button is completely lacking...which makes loading a movie completely obsolete with the remote. I decided to try all the patches CODESNAKE had available but every last one seems to lack the OK button for my Matricom G-Box Q and each one has extra missing features on the remote. Not sure how to correct this, figure its either missing drivers in the kernal on drieschel's port because Kerber's works 100% out of the box but after looking into Kerber's version via keymaps, ect....can't find any differences.

b. With use of a pc keyboard hooked up to the box I can load a movie but I have noticed also that I get random Audio drop outs with movies played and I can't pinpoint if its the system or a setting causing this one. I have a large collection of my blurays on multiple drives...full bitrate, untouched m2ts files and OPENELEC never had issues with playbacks so unsure if maybe Jarvis or LibreElec is the issue. These audio drop outs are very short...just a slight mute for about 1-2 seconds but the video side doesn't skip a beat nor stutters ever. I have tinkered with the Adjust auto refresh to make the display play at 24hz but this drop out still happens whether that is on or off.

c. Finally this is a more general question for users of the OPENELEC and LIBREELEC with Matricom G-Box Q that I never asked before. Has anyone had issues with using skins. I seem to notice the only 2 I can get to run and not stutter movies is AMBER and the default CONFLUENCE but when I try out other more taxing skins like AEON MQ 7 and down, I seem to have issues with the movie playback having a slight stutter which is I take from too much overhead on the CPU due to the skins. I am just curious though if there is a way to make any skin work correctly on the G-Box Q with high bitrate blurays or am I stuck with only 2 skin options as I have been over the last year?

Overall I do like the LibreElec direction, seems once I sort the bugs out this will be my new home with any device I get in the future. Sorry for the long post but figured its best to really give the dynamics of the problems so either I get a reasonable solution or others dealing with the Matricom box I am working with. Thanks for those that read my post completely and any help is very appreciated.

UPDATE {SOLVED}

Found the fix finally here in the forums for the remote issue I was having, turned out I was using the wrong config file and ran across one CODESNAKE used for the OPENELEC amremote config file that worked perfect. All my keys are running so I guess for anyone with remote issues you just gotta tinker till you find the right match.

Still seeing a slight audio drop issue but I am thinking this is due to settings or just the fact the Matricom G-Box Q is getting a little dated maybe, not sure. I will post again if I sort that one out.

Still curious though what Matricom G-Box Q owners have experienced with different skins. Gonna stick with Amber for now seeing it doesn't cause videos to stutter on my set up but if anyone out there uses more resource hungry skins and they work fine let me know...gonna take a break from tweaking this box for the moment but if any suggestions on how to get more out of it and possibly get my system running more smooth for something like the AEON MQ 7 skin let me know...like the setup of that one from what I seen.

Quote from DoritosVodka

I also have the Matricom G-Box Q. I've tried both drieschel's and Kerber's (aka. surkovalex) builds and source.

Your temp's are about the same as my unit. Both of these builds are set to use the Performance CPU Freq Scaling Governor. So, the CPU is pretty much running at Max speed all the time. Kerber/surkovalex actually sets this in the Kernel Boot command line too.

As for the remote issue, the 7.0.2 ZIP from drieschel has the correct remote file in /etc/amremote , it's just the wrong filename. He corrected this in latest GIT source. You could just copy /etc/amremote/amremote.conf to /storage/.config/remote.conf with drieschel's current 7.0.2 ZIP install.

I've also had issue with Kodi locking or crashing randomly using both builds.

I had issues resuming from suspend mode with both builds, mainly bluetooth and wifi functionality. As you know neither actually PowerOff, they suspend since PowerOff just reboots the unit.

I've used the GIT source from drieschel, Kerber and latest from kszaq.

I've kind of created my own using Kerber/surkovalex source for the Amlogic/M8 project with kszaq's latest linux and kodi patches for S805 and S905 and modified what was needed for the meson8 linux kernel build. I'm still load testing it...

I prefer surkovalex's project since it had HDMI Audio for passthru support right away.

So far the Power off is working now (does not cause a reboot).
Still testing some things to try and get suspend/resume stable and functional.

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Really appreciate the feedback DoritosVodka...helps a lot.

I am guessing the CODESNAKE remote.config I am using must be similar if not the same as the one from drieschel's GIT you mentioned...as of right now that one I grabbed seems to have done the trick but if you can point me towards the GIT I will compare and see about adding that one. I did try to create my own amremote.conf from the one CODESNAKE made but when I used WinSCP to put the new one in and overwrite it, I got a message it couldn't be done, figured it means that was a read only file base in that section so did the remote.cfg file which worked.

I am pretty computer saavy in way I can tinker some and gradually build on stuff but I wouldn't even know where to begin with modifying the s805 and s905 patches you mentioned, either I may try to learn or be lazy and just hope drieschel iron's out the issues and wait on an update to come out.

Our CPU temps, do you think they are safe enough to the box for average use? I actually have been trying for months to figure a way to kind of mini overclock my box. As you know being an owner of the G-Box Q its kind of on the low end now a days and frankly money is tight for me to upgrade. So honestly the performance upgrade drieschel implemented might be a help if its a safe range with temps. I haven't been even remotely close to getting the AEON MQ 7 skin to work with OPENELEC, been stuck with AMBER but found out last night the CPU hasn't overloaded with MQ7 and could not only use the skin but also it played my high bitrate m2ts files that are untouched bluray rips with not one hiccup. Only fear is wearing the box down if its so hot...I believe if I remember reading that when it crashes its more a fail safe with the chip to prevent damage but not fully clear if that is truly the case.

Far as Passthrough, I am just straight HDMI lined from the box to my TV...passthrough for now isn't a deal breaker for me but I get for you that probably is a must. Odd though that with drieschel's version the audio options all go through my HDMI...course we don't have Analog anyways lol but its strange to me all options will use just the HDMI device anyways...least on my end it does.

Power off...can be an issue but for now I got the MQ7 making the shutdown suspend, I carefully switch off my usb hub....then just simply unplug the box when we are done using it, kind of a hassle but honestly overall LIBREelec to me seems better running than OPENELEC for this box so I guess I will be patient and keep tabs on what future updates will do. I am a little concerned mostly about the heat issue, but if you think its safe to run here and there then I guess I will try to put it out of mind. I mainly keep my box off when not using it...we may sometimes sit and watch a couple movies at a time but usually one then power it off so I believe it shouldn't harm it for the time being.

Thanks again for the help....if you get a moment and maybe can point me about the GIT and maybe a slight beginners idea how to incorporate the fixes you have done I am all ears but if its too much I also understand.

OH AND TO ADD...FORGOT THIS ONE, lol Yesterday I did have a strange occurrence after leaving the box on for a few hours when I added in my movies and changed covers...some odd reason I lost all my drives...didn't get an alert it just unmounted them at random. A few reboots didn't bring them back and mount but once I unplugged my usb hub directly and plugged it back in while I was troubleshooting they all remounted...didn't dismount again but wondering if they went into a sleep mode and LibreElec just lost em somehow. Never seen that happen with OPENELEC before

Quote from DoritosVodka

I just noticed surkovalex updated their Git Source libreelec-7.0-S8xx Branch about an hour ago.

New Linux Kernel and G_Box Device also looks to be using the hotplug Scaling governor instead of performance. Downloading now and will compile to check out.

The PowerOff "fix" I used was a Linux Kernel patch from kszaq's S805 source (add_meson8b_power_off.patch). Modified for the meson8 and it seemed to work.. So, it's a source code modification to the Linux Kernel build. No "easy" way to implement without building from source.

I did a test last night and downloaded and used the AEON MQ 7 skin on my unit. Temps did run a little higher then the default Confluence skin. But, I was able to run it without any issues.

I'll update with the results from surkovalex's latest source...

Sounds very promising....

how does hotplug scaling work? Is this basically a cpu setting to regulate the frequency range a tad lower than performance? If so I truly wonder if we will be able to use the MQ7 skin still...I know my GBOXQ was struggling for a long time to get the MQ6 running with OpenElec from CODESNAKES port...all I could ever get to work well was Amber or the default Confluence.

Tell you this, kind of kicking myself a slight bit for getting the GBOXQ last year...specially the s802...paid about $149 for it and no longer than I say a couple weeks later the GBOXQ2 came out...top that off, I lately seen the prices now on other boxes with the 900 series being on average $50-$70 range lol. I am thankful though that OpenElec and now LibreElec came about...hated the original firmware immediately on unboxing...and they seem to at least get us some room to use Kodi correctly which is why I got the box anyways.

I really do need to iron out this system for now...I actually run a pretty popular horror community on Facebook and I created a video streaming addon for Kodi that I regularly update and check a lot for bugs so its useful to have my system clean so I know a bug is actually the addon and not the system.

I will warn you about the MQ7 on my end, maybe not yours because you have done some more overhauling fixes but I have had some freezing happen a couple times....not during any movie playback thankfully but a few times during these operations: First when I decided to auto download Clear Art for my collection it froze around 59% into the download....had to reboot via unplug replug. It was fine when I did them one by one but something with the wifi being taxed I guess caused it. Doesn't ever freeze at idle or movie playing like I said but I did have one issue also when I was going through my collection and updating my covers..once again through a download wifi action so I am guessing something in the skin with the system with wifi quirked out for me. Hard to reproduce but it has happened at random numerous times. I haven't streamed much yet but concerned that maybe affected at some point in that area seeing its networking issues I am maybe seeing.

Honestly I am clueless how I would implement your work arounds and fixes but I am very curious how this new GIT source by surkovalex pans out for you...can't expect you to hold class for me to get all these work arounds into my system but I do have a slight grasp on whats going on by your info and maybe by trial and error I can sort how to work with sources and figure what can and can't be done. I gather though drieschel and kerber are still on this I hope? From what I gather Jarvis will probably be our last usable version of Kodi for our boxes cause Krypton from what I read is too monstrous for our chipset. Fear that everyone will move on before all is tightened up but seems to me here there is still a lot of activity on this project.

If you can please keep me in the loop and in turn if I possibly come across any new things to toss your way I will. I spent a lot of time already reading a lot about getting this working so may come across something along the way as I don't plan on giving up on this box anytime soon lol. Thanks again for all the help...glad to see I am not alone with this thing.

Quote from DoritosVodka

OK, compiled surkovalex latest from this morning Amlogic Project, G_Box Device. He has it version stamped as 7.0.3...

I see it has a bunch of the Kodi and Linux Patches from kszaq's builds...

But, it has some missing items from others...

CPU Temp is broke (not using the patch for the AMLogic changes).
Poweroff/Shutdown still Reboots the unit (does not have the modified patch from kszaq's S805 meson8b).
Suspend/Resume breaks Bluetooth, have to restart the bluetooth service.
Does not have a separate HDMI Audio output for passthru selection. Uses the SPDIF output which internally goes out the HDMI anyway.

Let me see what I can do with this and I'll post an update zip when I get it all worked in. It'll be something you can try and test for now.

You will definitely need to keep an eye on that temp as you test so hopefully you can patch that in. Wish I personally knew more about this stuff where I could help compile and test with you seeing we both seem to be wanting to get our boxes smoothed out pretty much the same ways but I am just so clueless as to where to even begin or if I would be just taking things backwards. I don't mind testing what you come up though and kind of side help you with checking for bugs and what not. I have bounced between Kerber and Drieschels versions a lot lately and did a few minor usual Kodi tweaks to test things...also played around with SSH a lot as far as adding minor tweaks I read about but most was not too affective on my setup. Working with the source and how you actually compile it is beyond me at this stage sadly.

In your opinion...as of right now I only added the remote.cfg file someone pointed me to that came from CODESNAKES OpenElec that seems to work. Other than that I am using pretty much the stock of drieschels M8 7.0.2-2. You think my temps as of right now will be safe to use or am I risking doing some damage. I am running about an average of 160 degrees F to 175 degrees F at the moment around idle but temp doesn't seem to go past that even with movie playing as far as I seen.