Intel NUC (Kaby-Lake) and HDMI-CEC

  • I installed a Pulse-Eight CEC Adapter in my new NUC (Kaby-Lake) …
    My TV-remote is working and i can control libre-elec, but after 4-5 seconds the function is broken.
    With Win 10 and Kodi i got no problems with that.

    – Intel NUC Kit NUC7I3BNH
    – 8GB HyperX DDR4-2133
    – Intel SSD 600p 128GB
    – Pulse-Eight HDMI-CEC Adapter
    – Teufel Cinebar 11 Soundbar
    – LibreELEC (UEFI) 8.0.1

    Can anybody help me please ?
    I tried many settings in the config, but i can not fix this problem ?

  • Kabylake shouldn't need a pulse 8 cec adapter, check your bios settings to make sure the native cec is enabled and stop using the pulse 8 adapter.

    alternately, make sure the native cec is disabled if you do intend to use the pulse 8 adapter.


  • Kabylake shouldn't need a pulse 8 cec adapter, check your bios settings to make sure the native cec is enabled and stop using the pulse 8 adapter.

    alternately, make sure the native cec is disabled if you do intend to use the pulse 8 adapter.


    I don't think there are any drivers for the on board cec adapter yet.

  • I don't think there are any drivers for the on board cec adapter yet.

    Already tested.
    The native CEC-funtion is only for turning the NUC on and off.
    If you want to control kodi with your remote you need to have an external HDMI-CEC adapter.

    Hmmm - it is a bit strange the CEC-adapter works about 4-5 seconds after the libre-elec startup :-/

  • Already tested.
    The native CEC-funtion is only for turning the NUC on and off.
    If you want to control kodi with your remote you need to have an external HDMI-CEC adapter.

    Hmmm - it is a bit strange the CEC-adapter works about 4-5 seconds after the libre-elec startup :-/

    Did you disable the onboard CEC in the BIOS as required?


  • Yes - after installing the external CEC-adapter i've deactivated the BIOS function.

    Mmm ... guess I'm going to have a problem when the adapter for my Apollo Lake device arrives ...

    Is there any point reviewing the settings in Kodi?
    The adapter I have in my D54250WYK just worked and the settings were no more than fine tuning behaviour.

    What about checking lib-cec version and trying to revert to an earlier version.
    Anyone familiar with what to watch out for when doing that?

    Edited once, last by raven-au (March 26, 2017 at 4:37 AM).

  • Mmm ... guess I'm going to have a problem when the adapter for my Apollo Lake device arrives ...

    My adapter arrived and it appears to be working after installing it.

    AFAICS the board connectors are the same between the Apollo Lake and Kaby Lake devices and the Intel CEC page lists them together so I think yours should work.
    Perhaps you have a faulty device?

    One thing I noticed with my device is the USB 2.0 front panel connectors on the board are not the same as depicted in the published Intel specifications (at least for the NUC6CAYH). They are rotated through 180 degrees so trying to correctly match up the pins using the specification document (as I did) results in the card not working.
    Basically pin 1 of these two USB 2.0 connectors is on the left of the Molex connector, not the right, as you would be lead to believe from the specification document.

    For me plugging in the connector that comes with the CEC card and ignoring the specification document worked.

  • Nice 2 hear that :)

    I do not think thats my nuc or my adapter is faulty.
    It works flawless with win 10.

    The CEC-function stop working after initializing LibCEC - before i can use my TV-remote about 3 or 4 seconds.
    LibCEC shows me that my soundbar is connected and after this message, my TV-remote stop working.


  • Nice 2 hear that :)

    I do not think thats my nuc or my adapter is faulty.
    It works flawless with win 10.

    The CEC-function stop working after initializing LibCEC - before i can use my TV-remote about 3 or 4 seconds.
    LibCEC shows me that my soundbar is connected and after this message, my TV-remote stop working.

    I encounter exactly the same issue with a NUC6CAYH Apollo Lake NUC. I've also removed the internal Pulse Eight adapter and installed the external Pulse Eight USB adapter => same issue!

    Which gives me the idea that it has to do something with Libreelec + the newer NUC hardware since you confirmed you have no problem when using Kodi on Win10. I didn't try this yet myself.

    Maybe we can test ubuntu + Kodi or Openelec to see if this setup has the same behavior?


  • Nice 2 hear that :)

    I do not think thats my nuc or my adapter is faulty.
    It works flawless with win 10.

    The CEC-function stop working after initializing LibCEC - before i can use my TV-remote about 3 or 4 seconds.
    LibCEC shows me that my soundbar is connected and after this message, my TV-remote stop working.

    So how is the soundbar connected?
    Is the NUC connected to the soundbar or to the TV?


  • I encounter exactly the same issue with a NUC6CAYH Apollo Lake NUC. I've also removed the internal Pulse Eight adapter and installed the external Pulse Eight USB adapter => same issue!

    Which gives me the idea that it has to do something with Libreelec + the newer NUC hardware since you confirmed you have no problem when using Kodi on Win10. I didn't try this yet myself.

    Maybe we can test ubuntu + Kodi or Openelec to see if this setup has the same behavior?

    Sounds like a plan :)
    I will try to test this during the weekend.



    So how is the soundbar connected?
    Is the NUC connected to the soundbar or to the TV?

    HDMI 1 (Ultra HD Deep Colour - activated) -> NUC
    HDMI 2 (HDMI-CEC) -> Soundbar
    HDMI 3 -> XBOX One


    I've already connected the NUC to my Soundbar, but this do not solved the problem :dodgy:

  • BTW another remark: I replaced my previous KODI setup (just a mini PC running libreelec 7 with the external Pulse Eight USB adapter installed) with this new NUC setup. In the previous situation I've never encountered issues with the CEC functionality. Even the HDMI cables stayed the same :/


  • HDMI 1 (Ultra HD Deep Colour - activated) -> NUC
    HDMI 2 (HDMI-CEC) -> Soundbar
    HDMI 3 -> XBOX One


    I've already connected the NUC to my Soundbar, but this do not solved the problem :dodgy:

    Right, that's unusual, working in Windows but not in LE.

    The obvious difference between these is the version of libcec, v4.0.1 in LE and v3.0.0 (I believe) in Windows.
    Since it's working in Windows you'd have to think it's a libcec problem related to the equipment mix.

    Perhaps the best approach is to try and get the attention of the libcec maintainer.
    Not sure how to do that, perhaps the Kodi forum would work or maybe logging a github issue will get his attention.
    [hr]

    I encounter exactly the same issue with a NUC6CAYH Apollo Lake NUC. I've also removed the internal Pulse Eight adapter and installed the external Pulse Eight USB adapter => same issue!

    Which gives me the idea that it has to do something with Libreelec + the newer NUC hardware since you confirmed you have no problem when using Kodi on Win10. I didn't try this yet myself.

    Maybe we can test ubuntu + Kodi or Openelec to see if this setup has the same behavior?

    It gets stranger and stranger.

    I wonder what's different between our setups (since mine worked ok)?

    My device:
    BIOS: revision 29 at adapter install, 38 now.
    LE 8.0.1
    Connected to Denon AVR-X1200W => Sony KD-X8500C (ARC HDMI port)

    I wonder what the NUC is announcing itself as in Windows vs LE, a Recorder or Player device?
    In LE it announces as a Recorder device which should be fine, I think there can be 3 recording devices on the cec bus.
    Umm .. what's the limit on the total number of cec devices on the cec bus?
    I think it's 9, certainly at least 7, sounds like neither of you have that many cec devices.

    I know that when I put my old NUC in a setup as a fourth player it didn't work giving symptoms similar to what's described here, I changed it to a announce itself as a recording device and all was ok.

    I'm at a loss as to what's causing this, and you'd have to conclude it might not be the NUC hardware as mine is ok .....

    Edited once, last by raven-au (March 29, 2017 at 11:19 AM).

  • It's certainly not the NUC hardware as I tried it also with an external USB adapter from Pulse Eight which injects the CEC signal into the HDMI cable between the PC and the TV/AV Receiver. I got the same issue as with the internal Nuc adapter. That rules out some things I guess...