Install LibreELEC on X96 S905X

  • Hello,

    Can someone please help me on the steps how I can install libreelec on my X96 S905X ?
    I tried those steps but nothing worked and really want to intall this instead of the original android 6.0 on the box.
    I tried with usb nothing happens ( there is no reset button either )

    I'm sorry if I made a wrong thread but would really like the help.

    Thank you so much.

    Edited once, last by Klojum (February 4, 2017 at 7:21 PM).


  • Hello,

    Can someone please help me on the steps how I can install libreelec on my X96 S905X ?
    I tried those steps but nothing worked and really want to intall this instead of the original android 6.0 on the box.
    I tried with usb nothing happens ( there is no reset button either )

    I'm sorry if I made a wrong thread but would really like the help.

    Thank you so much.

    Your reset button is in the AV port. You have to use the toothpick method. Use a wooden toothpick to push the button inside and hold while you power up the box. Follow the instructions under SD card/USB drive section on this page. There is a link to the USB drive/SD card preparation in that section as well.

    FWIW, The DTB you'll want to use is the gx1_p212 (1g or 2g, depending on how much ram your box has) from this link.

  • yeah did open the box and saw the reset button on the board.
    So I tried pressing the reset and put back on the power but nothing happens it just restarts into android ( sometimes it freezes at x96 )
    The gx1_p212 I change to dtb.img ( that's what I do right change the name from gx1_p212.dtb ) and than put it on the usb after I burned it to the usb.

    Will try another usb and see if that helps. ( any idea maybe on how long I should be holding the reset button ? )


  • yeah did open the box and saw the reset button on the board.
    So I tried pressing the reset and put back on the power but nothing happens it just restarts into android ( sometimes it freezes at x96 )
    The gx1_p212 I change to dtb.img ( that's what I do right change the name from gx1_p212.dtb ) and than put it on the usb after I burned it to the usb.

    Will try another usb and see if that helps. ( any idea maybe on how long I should be holding the reset button ? )


    AFAIK only 1 of the 2 usb ports will likely work. Honestly though, I've never tried to install on my box using a USB stick. I've always used the microSD.

  • I tried micro sd , tried 3 different usb and tried both ports.
    Nothing it just boots into android.

    What am I doing wrong that it's not doing what I want it to do.
    Its getting annoying :(
    [hr]
    when you don't do anything at all does the reset button do something at all?
    Maybe my reset button doesn't work? I tried pressing it without anything it's not rebooting or doing anything at all.

    This is getting frustrating. I want to change from the OS cause the android 1 isnt working that well.
    [hr]
    * UPDATE *

    ADDED an ZIP File than used the update app and now it worked.

    Thanks for the help.
    Much appreciated.

    Edited once, last by Fordius (February 4, 2017 at 9:47 PM).

  • Hi Guys,

    I hope you can help me too. My box is not the x96, but looks exactly the same and has the same specs. I can successfully boot using the default device tree and the gx1_p212 for 1Gb but when I try to use the device tree for 2Gb it freezes before I can see LibreElec logo.

    Do you have any Idea how can I solve this? Maybe recompile the 1gb device tree just changing the memory capacity would work?

    PS: I'm using a SD Card

  • In the past, we have seen multiple cases of boxes with less ram than advertised. The installed android would lie about the installed memory, and the error was seen only with libreelec.

    If you can extract the device tree file and post it here, maybe someone can check what your box is supposed to have. Sadly, I lack the knowledge to do so.

    The good news: libreelec runs perfectly fine with 1GB of ram.

  • The two gxl device trees differ only in memory capacity.

    If you can see 1GB memory with default device tree, your device has 1GB of RAM.

    Edited once, last by kszaq (May 11, 2017 at 3:22 PM).


  • The two gxl device trees differ only in memory capacity.

    If you can see 1GB memory with default device tree, your device has 1GB of RAM.

    Are you using these files to generate the device trees https://github.com/kszaq/linux/tr…oot/dts/amlogic? if yes, there are some differences other than memory capacity. They are related to cooling_devices. So I thought the could be the problem

    But as mmpp mentioned, fake advertise could be the case. Can anyone point me a way how to extract the device tree, so I can have peace of mind and give up?


  • Are you using these files to generate the device trees https://github.com/kszaq/linux/tr…oot/dts/amlogic? if yes, there are some differences other than memory capacity. They are related to cooling_devices. So I thought the could be the problem

    Not true:

    With default device tree that consists of 4 basic device trees, bootloader chooses device tree based on board name that is baked in.