Posts by qUE_ARM

Quote from fragtion

Hi all

I've discovered that the WiFi driver we've been using for these builds (lwfinger/rtl8188eu) is causing serious instability with this media box. When streaming over WiFi, the media player is prone to lock-up / freeze. Further inspection of the kernel crash logs revealed that it was this wifi module causing the crashes...

So I switched to another driver instead (aircrack-ng/rtl8188eus), and now the WiFi seems not only more stable, but also faster (my speeds more than doubled)! But most importantly, the system no longer freezes up.

To swap the driver, simply change PKG_VERSION, PKG_SHA256, PKG_SITE and PKG_URL in packages/linux-drivers/RTL8188EU/package.mk as follows:

Code

PKG_VERSION="00b0e77e705decd2d0b633dfff7a23ce1fb9399c"
PKG_SHA256="2de882d5bda036d0b0aaf68bbefe9b42c776921bbfe2af0c8fab94e9abe9f195"


PKG_SITE="https://github.com/fragtion/rtl8188eus"
PKG_URL="https://github.com/fragtion/rtl8188eus/archive/$PKG_VERSION.tar.gz"

I've built LibreELEC-Amlogic_MX2.arm-9.2.8.16 with the aircrack-ng driver, as well as dtech's ADDON_SERVER_URL for binary repository support. You can download it here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/…8V6bxBFeQe41lDk

If your MX2's remote isn't working, download remote.conf to /storage/.config/remote.conf, and then execute the following command via ssh: remotecfg /storage/.config/remote.conf

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Weirdly I'm working on something unrelated to librelec which uses the RTL8188F, and I can confirm the official realtek driver is terrible, afaics it's a precarious stack of old driver code and patches. There has been some effort to reverse what the driver does, tidy it and implement it in to the linux kernel, but since the only developers with documentation are realtek it seems there hasn't been much attempt to figure out why everything is set the way it is, probably because lack of people around who know and possible compatibility breakage.

I use my STB wired, mainly because 2.4G routers tend to war (because about only 3 channels are used) and you'll have degraded performance from that happening.

Quote from dtech

Feel free to use my WeTek_Play binary repository from my server, you just need to change the end of the file in your projects/Amlogic_MX2/options source:

Code

  # Addon Server Url
    ADDON_SERVER_URL="http://libreelec.dtech.hu/packages"

  # set the addon dirs
    ADDON_PATH="$ADDON_VERSION/WeTek_Play/$TARGET_ARCH"
    ADDON_URL="$ADDON_SERVER_URL/$ADDON_PATH"

The inputstream.adaptive addon that you attached to the update file is already there...

Cheers dtech, I'll try and include it in the next rebuild with an updated project archive.

Quote from jackietran

The link is down, anyway you could reupload?

I want to to follow you're guide but I have also have the q18ref model, not the MX2. If I follow the original guide and install version 9.0.0, can I still use your files to update or will I need a fresh install? Also, are there any guides for backing up my firmware incase my device gets bricked.

Updated zip containing LibreELEC-AML 9.2.8.16 and inputstream adaptive addon (for youtube)

https://www.sendspace.com/file/ywr8f3

Summary of what you need to do;

Fresh install version 7.95 with 'toothpick AV port' boot.

reboot

'toothpick AV boot' the U-Boot environment patch, this will NOT show any 'patch done' just go to recovery menu (this is absolutely needed to update to the newest LibreELEC), you will only know if the patch hasn't taken when the latest LibreELEC refuses to boot, just redo the patch if this is the case.

reboot

SSH in to LibreELEC and label the data partition to LIBREELEC_DISK (again must be done for the newest LibreELEC)

copy the latest update .tar file to /storage/.update

reboot

As for the unlikely brick, you can only nearly brick the box by installing a version of a U-Boot binary that isn't compatible (not ARM or wrong ARM build). This can be reversed with an FTDI cable soldered to the jtag pads on the Amlogic board and by factory booting u-boot on an SD to manually patch the NAND with a working U-Boot. But you won't need to do any of this if you stick to the versions posted here.

The other thing that seems like a brick would be if you break the U-Boot environment (which will likely result in recovery menu), but that can easily be reversed by just reinstalling everything the same way as shown here.

Download links only stay up for 30 days, so grab it while you can.

Updated link for LibreELEC-AML 9.2.8.14 (built on 2024-06-06);

Link updated, see later post.

and for those of you wanting to build LibreELEC-AML yourself, the connman dependency is broken so the package.mk is attached to fix it. It should be copied to /packages/network/connman

Updated links for LibreELEC-AML 9.8.12 (built on 2023-11-30);

Update Image - see post #354

(will expire in 30 days after inactivity)

Modified Project - https://www.mediafire.com/file/nhywikc6f…231130.zip/file

Click here to go to post for instructions

I've made a change to the order of the actions to install Libreelec-AML in post RE: [9.0.0] LibreELEC builds for MX2/G18, I hadn't noticed 7.95 resets the u-boot environment. Patching should come post the 7.95 install. Sorry if this has caused any confusion. Basically, if libreelec keeps going to recovery, try patching the u-boot environment as it's likely the kernel load truncation issue.

Quote from vasiliskal

Can i use it on a TV box that now has android 4.2.2? (its called doping box)
It is the MBX reference motherboard q18ref

If yes i can use it, can i use it using the usb and not install it on the internal storage;

Also, i have not idea how can i install or boot a different operating system from usb or external sd card on a tv box, is there somewhere a guide how to for that box? Or someone can provide me a guide step by step to boot and use LibreELEC from USB?

Screenshot of the device model/specs:

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If the board/chipset is the same it may work, but the problem you have is the supporting peripheral chips like wired and wireless networking may be different, so you'll find those functions not working.

The box I have was an Android box and has an MX logo on the top, but I'm using MX2 firmware.

I'm not sure the boot process supports USB booting, SD booting is definitely supported, but like I said the modifications (based on work in this thread) I've made to get LibreElec-AML working do not touch the SD booting side and it'll likely still truncate the kernel binary load and then fail to boot.

Afaik, none of the images on this thread modify the u-boot bootloader, so theoretically you'll be safe from bricking the box. It's only if you run an official MX/MX2 bootloader mod script it'll break u-boot (which I have done), but as long as you can access the "JTAG" serial console it is reversible. I would just stick to trying Libreelec images and seeing what boots.

As long as you have the original firmware to roll back your box, it's worth trying images. Flashing the NAND (flash) isn't as destructive as I've heard several other places rant about. An SD will fail quicker than internal NAND, besides the NAND (flash) will get battered by any streaming you do anyway when it's used as cache by linux, so you have to accept it's wear either way.

Quote from Vitkov

Greetings, I can’t apply the u-boot patch, can I somehow check whether it worked or not, is there another way to install the patch?

Unfortunately there isn't a simple way to verify the patch has taken, it's a blind patch. The only way you can actually see the environment variables in u-boot is to solder to the jtag pads on the board and use a FTDI cable with a serial terminal utility like putty, at that point printenv lists the set environment at the prompt.

TBH, if you have a working version of libreelec installed (i.e. 7.95), and the toothpick AV boot with SD inserted, arrives at the recovery, it means it's definitely booted from the SD and the patch should have applied.

I should mention the next boot should a normal one, not another toothpick AV boot, otherwise you're just re-applying the patch.

It's really important the environment is changed, it won't effect any older version from booting, but not applying it will prevent any newer builds working. It's a massive short sight of the stock firmware that OS kernel sizes wouldn't exceed 1MB.

Little bit of detail on what is modified;

The environment variable that is changed is 'nandboot'. Basically where it loads the kernel is changed to 'nand read boot \${loadaddr} 0 800000' in it's sub-script. As you can see 0x800000 = 8MB, where as that would've been 0x100000 before the patch.

I would've added some kind of notice (text/screen) it's been applied if I could, but u-boot's capabilities are very very basic. So not possible.

To re-iterate what needs to be done to patch, unpack aml_autoscript from aml_autoscript.zip to a blank SD and toothpick AV boot with the SD inserted in the STB.

Edit: I should also note, this will only work for NAND booting, I've not messed about with the SD boot side as to be cautious not to mess that up.

Quote from fragtion

Thanks for your work. Unfortunately after applying this update using the .update folder method, my g18ref reboots into recovery.

I was using the latest 9.0 devel, but the same thing happens when updating from LibreELEC-Amlogic_MX2.arm-8.0.2-update.zip

The same thing also happens when following post #341 of reloading matricom_g18_1.2.zip, updating uboot, and loading LibreELEC-Amlogic_MX2.arm-7.95.3.zip, before updating to LibreELEC-Amlogic_MX2.arm-9.2.8.8-20230802.tar

LibreELEC-Amlogic_MX2.arm-9.2.8.8-20230802.tar Doesn't seem to work for me. It extracts and installs fine, but wont boot into LibreElec, only recovery. Any ideas?

I got it to boot by replacing KERNEL and KERNEL.md5 with ones from LibreELEC-Amlogic_MX2.arm-9.0-devel-20190424160004-aca1ab5.tar, but would prefer to use your kernel if possible

Sounds like you need to apply the u-boot environment patch, the kernel load bit in the boot script will crop the binary being loaded into memory if the patch hasn't been applied. see this post; RE: [9.0.0] LibreELEC builds for MX2/G18

Updated: 01/05/2023

For those of us that have no choice but to use the older BBC iPlayer add-on, like in my case support for the Matricom MX2 box has been dropped post Kodi Leia. I have quick patched version 3.0.52 iPlayerWWW add-on to enable video listings again (I'm not sure if the audio side is broken I don't use it).

I doubt this is any use to any of the main Kodi users as they'll all have cutting edge devices (and I CBA to sign up to their forum), which is why I've posted here and I'd thought I'd share.

I am not affiliated with the official add-on maintainers and this does not bring all the new features which come with version 4.x. Also all credit goes to the maintainers for the fixes in the functions borrowed.

This is simply a copy/replace of the functions ParseSingleJSON and ParseJSON in resources/lib/ipwww_video.py, in version 4 to 3.0.52, which appears to have gotten things rolling again.

In Kodi; install from zip in the add-ons section. If you see no change you may need to uninstall the old add-on and install this one (note: uninstalling may remove your Kodi iPlayer favourites, so be mindful).

Enjoy

qUE

LibreELEC-AML 9.2.8.8 (built 2nd March 2023) update for the Matricom G-Box MX/MX2 (AML8276-MX HD18 board)

See post #341 for instructions on how to clean install, otherwise update as normal through copying to .update

Post

RE: [9.0.0] LibreELEC builds for MX2/G18

This is intended for the Matricom G-Box MX/MX2 (HD18 board) boxes, trying this on other AML8276-MX systems YMMV.

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Thanks to the LibreELEC team, Codesnake, KOPRajs, dtech and of course anyone else connected with this project I've failed to mention.

- qUE

qUE_ARM

January 23, 2023 at 7:29 PM

Main fix I've added in this build is for the freezing on h264 (high) streams being interrupted by seeking or stop (which effects the Kodi BBC iPlayer add-on).

Credit goes to dtech for maintaining and supporting this fork of LibreELEC.

Update archive (copy to .update, as per instructions on first page);

[link expired]

Projects archive (for building LibreELEC-AML yourself, again see post #341);

[link expired]

Links will be solidified and updated once I've run it on my STB box for a while without issue, for now grab it while you can.

qUE

LibreELEC 9.2.8 didn't seem to fix the issue with certain streams crashing the Matricom MX set top box, so I decided to have a go at least finding a workaround and here it is.

Extract this patch into the related Amlogic AM8726MX projects sub folder, i.e. projects/Amlogic_MX2.

Clean the kodi folder from the build, i.e. PROJECT=Amlogic_MX2 ARCH=arm scripts/clean kodi

Rebuild, i.e. PROJECT=Amlogic_MX2 ARCH=arm make amlpkg -j2

This patch basically blocks h264 codec streams being processed by the amlogic hardware acceleration and causes kodi to fallback to software decoding. So expect HD content to struggle, but should be what's needed (for now) for things like BBC iPlayer.

qUE

This is intended for the Matricom G-Box MX/MX2 (HD18 board) boxes, trying this on other AML8276-MX systems YMMV.

Thanks to the LibreELEC team, Codesnake, KOPRajs, dtech and of course anyone else connected with this project I've failed to mention.

- qUE

Quote from dtech

As I see it, the problem here will be different. First, loading dhd is unnecessary if your device has Realtek wifi. The error also applies to this, the 8188eu module seems to be loaded, but cfg80211 is required for the wifi to work, but it crashes due to the incorrect dhd-config. The dhd is only required for Broadcom-based chips.

Question #1: Did you use my Wetek Play project directory as a base? Because then you have to delete this file:

LibreELEC-AML/projects/<YOURPROJECTNAME>/filesystem/usr/lib/modules-load.d/wireless.conf

This will force load dhd even if it is not needed. And that might be the problem for you.

Question #2: Which dtd file did you use in your project?

Code: options

  # Kernel extra targets to build
    KERNEL_UBOOT_EXTRA_TARGET="<filename>.dtd"

Deleting wireless.conf has worked afaics, thankyou dtech!

Will try and collate everything in the next post

Quote from dtech

The Realtek 8188* is a general USB chip, I also have an external one (TP-Link TL-WN722 v2).

I use an external module for this in my builds, instead of the integrated module of the kernel.

First, you need to check if it is enabled in your kernel configuration, because if it is, it should be disabled:

Code: linux.arm.conf

# CONFIG_RTL8188EU is not set

Next, add RTL8188EU-aml to the ADDITIONAL_DRIVERS variable in the options file in your project directory.

If that doesn't help either, then please send me a log file: journalctl | paste

'is not set' was already in place, added ADDITIONAL_DRIVERS and rebuilt, but no change. Here is the journal;

http://ix.io/4lVq

Not sure if the NULL dereference at 'kernel: wifi_setup_dt' is causing an issue?

Quote from dtech

If you think so, maybe I can help you with that.

Hi dtech,

I've got Libreelec-AML 9.2.8.7 to build and boot on the MX box, but I'm having an issue with the Realtek 8188ETV wireless.

Libreelec doesn't allow me to enable the 'wireless active' option. I've SSH'd and lsusb, the device is present so I assume the drivers are working.

Various places have mentioned Realtek wireless support is a bit of an issue of contention for the libreelec team, so I'm expecting some pain getting this working.

Unfortunately, this is my first outing in compiling the linux kernel so I'm really a n00b when it comes to this. Is there any recommendations in tackling this issue?

I can post dmesg dump if that would be any help.

- qUE

Quote from dookie

Hi @KOPRajs, I was wondering if you could look into an issue. I have a Matricom MX2 and with the 20190424 build, the fast forward (right arrow key) always causes the box to freeze. Has anyone also encountered this issue? I switched back to 8.0.2 and everything runs fine. Could you please take a look? Thanks.

Try disabling the hardware acceleration in settings > player. Some streams seem to crash the hardware decoding, although disabling this can make HD streams struggle.