Posts by chewitt

    Connection configuration data is stored in /storage/.cache/connman/ but you should change configs through connman (connmanctl) as it manages those files and will probably overwrite any changes that you make. If you do want to manually edit, stop connman.service first, edit, then restart. You'll discover that SSID and passphrase data are base64 encoded so you cannot simply type new details in.

    1. Correct, it changes the behaviour of firmware which results in more power draw (which increases heat).

    3. "mount -o remount/rw /flash" will remove the ro block on the boot partition. It and /storage are the only persistent writeable areas of the filesystem, as everything is inside a squashfs compressed file SYSTEM that's expanded on each boot, or the KERNEL file.

    We don't use /etc/fstab which is why it's blank and you cannot edit or override the file. It only exists because some other Linux plumbing looks for it and craps out when it doesn't (even if the file is blank). We use udevil for mounting and it's possible to override our default udev rules if you want to (use a file with the same name in /storage/udev.rules.d). I guess when all the upstream sources adopt noatime we'll acquire the same change. Until then, we'll stick to the accepted defaults.

    LE currently implements exFAT via FUSE which runs in userspace and so is rather slow. In the near-term future LE10 will probably bump to newer kernels which now have the new/official Microsoft exFAT driver implemented (Linux 5.7 IIRC) so the driver runs in-kernel and should be an order of magnitude faster to use; performance should be on-par with other in-kernel drivers like the VFAT drivers we use for FAT16/FAT32.

    ConnMan checks ipv4.connman.net on boot to see if it's online or not. If the network is online Kodi will then start and numerous Kodi add-ons will check for updates by making a request to a Kodi URL which will redirect to a mirror hosted by one of 30+ independent mirror sites. Kodi uses mirrorbits which will geolocate your IP and recommend a server near to you, but you have no control over which one. The LE settings add-on will also start and check our infra for updates. This request is fulfilled by our infrastructure but if you choose to update the request will be redirected to one of our mirror sites and mirrorbrain will redirect you - and you have no control over which one. Individual add-ons that you install may also check for stuff.

    Both LE and Kodi devs are quite security conscious, but we're also a simple client OS designed for watching TV so security is a deliberate and measured compromise around ease-of-use and we're not attempting to be the most seure device possible (as that OS is a pain in the arse for noob users to work with). TL/DR; If you don't trust LE/Kodi .. place it in a separate VLAN on youor network and implement firewall rules to prevent it reaching other devices.

    LE 9.0.2 is the latest official release. After this point we have abandoned all work on the legacy Amlogic 3.14 kernel and refocussed on mainline Linux support for LE10 (based on Kodi v19 which is still in a pre-Alpha state). This has some rough edges on playback but it otherwise in fairly good shape on Linux 5.6 .. I'm overdue to push a bump to Linux 5.7rcX to the master branch.

    Current test images are in Index of / .. use the AMLGX 'box' image from an SD card.

    NB: Kodi will always show under 1GB free because some RAM is reserved for system use (drivers and such) .. 775MB sounds about right/normal.

    1. RPi4 supports hardware decode of 4K HEVC, but not 4K VP9, and not H264 (which is not a standard).

    3. The TV should support a "Just scan" or auto mode. On a modern TV you should never need to calibrate the screen. And 1080p@60 is the best default resolution. Forcing the screen to run at 4K just adds load to the device. Kodi is already upscaling the 720p skin to 1080p, the TV will do a better job of scaling 1080p > 4K (native resolution of the panel) can Kodi does scaling 720p > 4k.

    4. The filesystem is read-only apart from the persistent /storage area - this cannot be changed Anything you need to configure can normally be done in /storage, but we can't advise what to do unless you explain what you're trying to change.

    5. Resolution determines the GUI (desktop) resolution. The whitelist determines the resolution/refresh rates to be used for playback if "adjust refresh rate to match video" is enabled. If the TV supports them, enable [email protected]/24/50/59.94/60 and [email protected]/24/25/29.95/30 (50/60 optional).

    6. It generates more heat and draws more power, and IMHO is completely unnecessary unless you actually have 4K60 media. So far I've only seen test media in this format so I don't have it enabled.

    I already have support for the C4 in my private git repo, but I need to clean some things related to Linux 5.7 up a little before I push support to the LE repo. Adding support for the C4 took a whole 30 mins as Dongjin had already prepared a device-tree file for Linux 5.4 that only needed a couple of minor updates for Linux 5.7 - and the device-tree is now submitted upstream.