[9.0.0] LibreELEC builds for MX2/G18

  • First of all, thanks so much for these builds as it's great to finally upgrade to Kodi 17 on my Matricom MX2. It actually runs pretty well, I've only had a few issues experienced so far. I don't know how many of these were fixed in the final 8.0.0 build as I don't have another LibreELEC device.

    Device: Matricom MX2

    Installation Method:
    Previously had Codesnake 6.0.3 OpenELEC build
    Did data wipe through Android recovery (toothpick method)
    Installed this build via recovery (toothpick method)

    Issues noticed:
    On reboot, main menu item appearance settings do not stick (i.e. if I hid Favorites or Movies for example, rebooting the device they will still appear)
    Sometimes on reboot, I am unable to access any network shares (error is Connection Timed Out) without first deleting the connection, rebooting, and re-entering my WiFi information (I am using a hidden SSID network if that helps)
    1080p interface is much choppier than 720p (this just may be the device being old and slow, but just in case)

    If more information would be helpful or you want me to test anything additional, let me know I'd be happy to help. Also, if any help is needed doing the builds, I could assist on that end as well, just let me know how best to do it and where to pull the source from. I did some previous builds from source on my own for Codesnake's OpenELEC 5.95.x series before he started doing them for 6.0.x series.

    Thanks again!

  • It ran once for me then after rebooting it hung up on the boot screen on my gbox mx2, tried reinstalling an older working version I had on previously and it does the same thing now. Really don't know what to attempt next.

    I got mine working had to do it from scratch couldn't use my backup
    [hr]

    I'm not sure what are you talking about but the apk file you mention is for Android. This is a LibreELEC build. It has nothing to do with Android. Are you trying to restore your Android backup in LibreELEC? This will not work. You can try to export your media library from Kodi in Android and import it in LibreELEC if needed.


    sorry I meant that version of kodi

    Edited once, last by piperider (February 27, 2017 at 3:27 AM).


  • Issues noticed:
    On reboot, main menu item appearance settings do not stick (i.e. if I hid Favorites or Movies for example, rebooting the device they will still appear)
    Sometimes on reboot, I am unable to access any network shares (error is Connection Timed Out) without first deleting the connection, rebooting, and re-entering my WiFi information (I am using a hidden SSID network if that helps)
    1080p interface is much choppier than 720p (this just may be the device being old and slow, but just in case)

    If more information would be helpful or you want me to test anything additional, let me know I'd be happy to help. Also, if any help is needed doing the builds, I could assist on that end as well, just let me know how best to do it and where to pull the source from. I did some previous builds from source on my own for Codesnake's OpenELEC 5.95.x series before he started doing them for 6.0.x series.

    Thanks again!

    I have no issues regarding appearance settings not being saved on reboot, however it may depend on how you reboot the device.

    Estuary really seems a bit slower in 1080p but when using Confluence it is about the same speed as it ever was. It might be possible to get some more performance by allocating more RAM for Mali graphics. I'll try to investigate this.

    I've added Amlogic_MX2 project sources to the OP. Haven't tested it yet but it should be possible to build 8.0.0 or even current master (Kodi 18) for MX2/G18 with it.

  • Are there instructions anywhere on how to use the "recovery method" to load this image onto an MX2? I haven't had LE on my MX2 before. I've recently been having great luck with LE on my s905x. I'm just trying to resurrect the MX2 now that this image is here!


  • Are there instructions anywhere on how to use the "recovery method" to load this image onto an MX2? I haven't had LE on my MX2 before. I've recently been having great luck with LE on my s905x. I'm just trying to resurrect the MX2 now that this image is here!

    Just do a quick Google search:
    install-openelec-xbmc-g-box-mx2

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    Edited once, last by KOPRajs (February 28, 2017 at 11:48 AM).

  • build sd card image, PROJECT=Amlogic_MX2 ARCH=arm make image to build
    write to sd,
    boot error -

    ***Error in prepare_sysroot: mount_common: Could not mount /flash/SYSTEM ***

    Edited once, last by zx_ (March 1, 2017 at 11:26 AM).


  • build sd card image, PROJECT=Amlogic_MX2 ARCH=arm make image to build
    write to sd,
    boot error -

    ***Error in prepare_sysroot: mount_common: Could not mount /flash/SYSTEM ***

    I'm not sure if I understand what you are trying to accomplish. Are you trying to create bootable LibreELEC SD card? This is not supported for now however if you want to try I would start by looking at the "projects/Amlogic_MX2/patches/linux/add_bootargs_to_device_tree.patch". Setting "boot=/dev/mmcblk0p1" and "disk=/dev/mmcblk0p2" might help.

  • I'm not sure if I understand what you are trying to accomplish. Are you trying to create bootable LibreELEC SD card? This is not supported for now however if you want to try I would start by looking at the "projects/Amlogic_MX2/patches/linux/add_bootargs_to_device_tree.patch". Setting "boot=/dev/mmcblk0p1" and "disk=/dev/mmcblk0p2" might help.

    TA-DA! LibreELEC working!
    Setting "boot=/dev/mmcblk0p1" and "disk=/dev/mmcblk0p2" and replaced bootloader.img on the original with android

    dualboot
    TV Headend running on AMLogic DVB-S2 "Android TV" box - Tvheadend

    tnx!

    wi-fi does not work(

    Edited once, last by zx_ (March 6, 2017 at 1:45 PM).

  • I've updated the build to 8.0.0 and added the ability to use SD card or USB drive as a storage partition for devices with broken NAND memory.

    Warning! The build now requires a storage partition with LIBREELEC_DISK label. Please read the installation instructions before updating!

    Updating exisiting installations:
    Run the following command on SSH before updating to 8.0.0 to set the label of your internal NAND storage partition. Then you can update from tar as usual.

    Code
    tune2fs -L LIBREELEC_DISK /dev/data

    Edited once, last by KOPRajs (March 7, 2017 at 10:24 AM).

  • 8.0.0 works well and I figured out my menu item issue. I needed to restart/shutdown using the menu option and not the power button on the remote.

    I still have the issue where I'll get "Connection timed out" immediately after trying to open my network share. It happens until I reboot and I just have to keep rebooting until it works (but it will stay working until the next reboot). I'm connecting to a hidden SSID with WPA2/AES if that helps any. The share is a Windows share. I have no idea what's causing that, but it's been happening since the Codesnake OpenELEC 5.x builds.

  • Hello guys,

    Iam on the Matricom MX and after installing v8 i get: can't access tty job control turned off

    However previous v7 booted fine.
    I did run this

    Code
    tune2fs -L LIBREELEC_DISK /dev/data


    but i have no idea what the output in ssh should look like.
    Just assuming it worked since it didnt return an error.

    Any ideas?


  • Hello guys,

    Iam on the Matricom MX and after installing v8 i get: can't access tty job control turned off

    However previous v7 booted fine.
    I did run this

    Code
    tune2fs -L LIBREELEC_DISK /dev/data


    but i have no idea what the output in ssh should look like.
    Just assuming it worked since it didnt return an error.

    Any ideas?

    Same issue here.

  • Same issue here.

    I've seen many MX boxes fail this way. In my experience its only a matter of time and this problem will show up.

    This problem might not be due to the software. The MX box is quite old (2013 is ancient history when it comes to mediaplayers) and a lot of them have been used extensively. There is a thing called NAND flash wear-out it means that due to a lot of read/write cycles the memory deteriorates. On top of this, I think that the NAND drivers do not contain the latest workarounds for this problem. Also these boxes were not made from the best quality NAND chips. I'm guessing that a lot carry NAND Flash memory which were cheaper because they were rejected by the NAND chip factory quality control requirements.

    The reason a reinstall triggers this problem is because this proces wipes the memory and rewrites a relative large percentage of the storage. The probability of encountering a bad part in this case is very high.

  • I've seen many MX boxes fail this way. In my experience its only a matter of time and this problem will show up.

    This problem might not be due to the software. The MX box is quite old (2013 is ancient history when it comes to mediaplayers) and a lot of them have been used extensively. There is a thing called NAND flash wear-out it means that due to a lot of read/write cycles the memory deteriorates. On top of this, I think that the NAND drivers do not contain the latest workarounds for this problem. Also these boxes were not made from the best quality NAND chips. I'm guessing that a lot carry NAND Flash memory which were cheaper because they were rejected by the NAND chip factory quality control requirements.

    The reason a reinstall triggers this problem is because this proces wipes the memory and rewrites a relative large percentage of the storage. The probability of encountering a bad part in this case is very high.

    That's why this build allows the usage of external device for storage instead of internal NAND. Install this build (version 8.0.0) and insert SD card or USB drive formated as ext3 with LIBREELEC_DISK label and you should be able to boot and use these devices with broken NAND again.

    Same issue here.

    This is what happens when no partition with LIBREELEC_DISK label was found. Either you did not correctly run the above command or you did the update from recovery (using zip) which also erased the label. Now you need to create the SD card or USB drive with ext3 and LIBREELEC_DISK label for the first boot. Then you can run the above command again if you want to use the internal NAND or you can continue to use the created external storage.

    Edited once, last by KOPRajs (March 14, 2017 at 1:00 PM).