LibreELEC - RockPi 4

#1

LibreELEC for RockPi 4

Update 03/08/2020

  • Update to latest LE code base

Download link: https://mega.nz/file/xZ0RDRAY#6R_qWSy8Wf8y6qUBvCadzHqNngUAXN_NYNEEGZbQWvQ

Update 10/05/2020

  • Updated to latest LE code base
  • Improvements to Netflix, Inputstream(highest quality used by default)

Download link:
https://mega.nz/file/cJ1CCaSR#ZexiWdQ2-4ReTyTZ0-IvGGRoK_By3agd2eF_gQN0-Lw

19/09/2019

  • Add H264 video aspect ratio zoom support
  • Add 3.5mm audio jack support
  • Some other small changes

Download link:
https://mega.nz/#!wA9hkY7D!UP5THE5wmhgJu1v28ChUVQ58JSrkpprdqa_KyerVYWY

  • Based on 08/09/2019 LibreELEC code
  • Upgraded to Kodi 18.4 base
  • Updated ffmpeg, mpp, rkbin, samba, addons
  • Enabled install addons from unknown sources by default
  • Enabled Expert Settings by default
  • Speed improvements
  • Added support for 1080p Netflix playback
  • Added RockPi logo on startup

Old Download Link:
https://mega.nz/#!MBMmkYLD!Xvl7XtTJPRJwVCwNQj-LCx08Q710zkh4K6e-o4bvI8Q

Write with Etcher to a micro-sd card and boot with the micro-sd card inserted to load LibreELEC.

To use Netflix 720p/1080p

  1. Download the Netflix addon repository
    https://github.com/castagnait/repository.castagnait/raw/master/repository.castagnait-1.0.1.zip
  2. In Kodi - Addons - Install from zip - Then install the repo
  3. In Kodi - Addons - Instal from Repo - Choose the new installed repo ‘CastagnaIT’ and install the Netflix addon from the video addons section
  4. Open the Netflix addon from the Addons - MyAddons screen and
    change the maximum quality from unknown to 1080p since 4K requires too much CPU power.
  5. In LibreELEC Settings, the last tile icon under Network enable the ‘Wait for network before starting Kodi’ setting and leave it on 10 seconds. It will help addons that load lots of settings on startup to work better and not give timeout errors when trying to stream.
    This is important to fix the Netflix addon to load correctly for some people.

image

  1. You will also need to install the Inputstream Adaptive addon for Netflix to work.
    Here is the link, just extract it to get the separate addon zip files.
    https://mega.nz/#!lI1hnKoZ!pOdQo1ruCk_3i7INmGXZxyB3BZjUGAz-udnljuD3W14
    It also includes TvHeadend and IPTV Simple PVR addons if you want to watch PVR Live TV with a USB DVB Dongle, just install the addons from zip.

  2. The first time you use the addon it will ask you to install a Chrome image to extract a file.
    Let it finish and afterwards restart LibreELEC to load the new files.
    Netflix should now play fine.

Since the Netflix addon is using CPU software decoding because DRM protected content can’t be hardware decoded on any Linux OS, it will cause some extra heat.
So it’s best to use the ecoPI Pro or ecoPi Starter + heatsink case from Allnet or put some extra fan or heatsink on the device.

This is based on the 4.4 stable kernel.
At the end of the year or early next year, LibreELEC will formally switch over to the 5.3 kernel then video playback and performance will be increased even more, but for now it’s better to use LE images still based on the stable, older 4.4 kernels.

If someone encounters any bug, please post your LibreELEC log so it can help.
PVR LiveTV is constantly being changed and improved by Kodi and is complicated, for some people it might work without any problems but for others they might have problems if they use DVB dongles that don’t have the right drivers or outdated drivers but in most cases it should just work well.

Also change Netflix’s Settings to use VP9 codec for reduced CPU usage.

4 Likes
[ROM] AndroidTV Pie Custom firmware by mo123
Plex server freezes every 5-10 minutes on android client
#2
#3

It would be great if someone can help with adding a power menu to LibreELEC to boot back to Android like here

image
image.jpg938×529 100 KB

So you boot with a micro-sd card in then if you power on the RockPi 4 it boots LibreELEC and then you can boot back to Android on EMMC without removing the micro-sd card which has first boot priority.

Maybe a kernel, u-boot change is needed or only power menu addon or Kodi script to run?

LibreELEC Code


Something like this
https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=303833
https://discourse.coreelec.org/t/command-to-reboot-to-emmc-nand-to-use-on-other-skins/1937/3

Advanced Power menu addon
Maybe this can be changed to add Reboot to Android on Rockchip, creating own reboottonand script to run?

#4

what is the difference from yours to the one from here

http://ftp.vim.org/pub/mediaplayer/libreelec/

#5

Basically 1080p Netflix support(not working in that build), faster UI and latest Kodi 18.4 instead of 18.3 base and some Linux packages like Samba, ffmpeg etc. updated.
All Kodi changes from 19 June - 31 Aug 2019 in the link are included in my build while the ftp.vim.org build’s last Kodi changes end at 17 June 2019. In a few days when LE also merges the 18.4 Kodi base then the nightly images will have the same Kodi base changes as mine.
https://github.com/Kwiboo/xbmc/commits/rockchip_18.4-Leia

1 Like
#6

Hi mo123.

I aprecated your work, nice done!
Before i put my RockPi4 back together with this LibreELEC version of yours. I want to know if you have a newer version?

Or i will go along with this one.

Best Regards.

#7

Hi

I looked and there is nothing extra for video playback or improvements to LE, only small package updates etc. that will make no difference. The LE nightly images will have no difference in extra bug fixes or improvements.
So you can use my image, it will work the best.

We will need to wait until the mainline 5.3.x kernel work is done to have lots of video playback improvements. At the moment the mainline LE images only have smooth mpeg2, h264 and VP8 video playback and H265, VP9, 10-bit color, HDR is still a problem which currently works on the 4.4 kernel image I made.

For example a simple way to look at it:
The 4.4 kernel --> Windows 7, runs stable
5.3.x kernel --> Windows 10 full of bugs, drivers not all supported yet.

#8

Thanks, for fast reply and the details.

If you need help with testing of your versions i will gladly help.

Best Regards.

#9

New image uploaded

  • Add support for H264 video aspect ratio zoom
  • Add 3.5mm audio jack support
  • A few other small changes

https://mega.nz/#!wA9hkY7D!UP5THE5wmhgJu1v28ChUVQ58JSrkpprdqa_KyerVYWY

I hear some people have problems with audio crackling or pops on different RK3399 LibreELEC devices. So it would be interesting if users can test stereo audio playback and if you experience any issues to please post LE logs.

2 Likes
#10

Thanks.
I will look into the problem later, i have also heard people talk about same problem.

But i have not had the problem myself.

#11

New image made by joern-p

Download and write to a micro-sd card
https://github.com/Joern-P/LibreELEC.tv/releases/download/beta9.2-rk3399-linux4.4.194/LibreELEC-RK3399.arm-9.1-devel-20191103105842-8de82dd-nanopct4.img.gz

Download the RockPi 4 dtb and copy it to the root of the LibreELEC partition on your miro-sd card.
Then edit the extlinux.conf file inside the folder on the micro-sd card and enter rk3399-rock-pi-4.dtb replacing the nanopi string.
https://github.com/Joern-P/LibreELEC.tv/releases/download/beta9.2-rk3399-linux4.4.194/rk3399-rock-pi-4.dtb

It fixes the HDMI sound problem.
I’ll try to improve it more and add the headphone jack support too for RockPi 4.
Netflix 1080p is also working nicely on this image.

#12

Hi

New RockPi 4 LE image I built
Please test if it works well.
https://mega.nz/#!oUdn0YwQ!0QMAME26a-y1CEsndxdplJGVia3IG3ML4latghPBnmE

#13

Hi

Anyone perhaps know how we can do this for Rockchip?
Add an extra menu to LibreELEC so if you booted LE from a micro-sd card then there is a menu you can boot back to Android on emmc.
If you use this menu then the boot process should skip checking OS on micro-sd card on startup but only for this one instance if using the menu setting. If device is powered or restarted on it must still use micro-sd card LE OS boot normally.

I see for Amlogic devices using CoreELEC they add the following 2 files to boot back to Android from CoreELEC.
The menu setting I can also add but also a rebootfromnand script(which will be different for RockPi 4) which I don’t know how to change.

Device always boot from micro-sd card if powered on.
You can boot to Android(emmc) from the power menu in CoreELEC without removing the micro-sd card with to boot Android again.

In Android you can issue a simple reboot command to automatically boot from micro-sd card again to run LibreELEC.
It works well and is simple.

Can such a simple script also be made for Rockchip, rebootfromnand that can skip booting from micro-sd card only if using that command in the script, it loads Android from emmc instead that users manually execute from the power menu of LibreELEC?

In all other cases or if a device is powered on, it still boots from micro-sd card(LibreELEC).

The ultimate way is to have both Android and LibreELEC dual-booting on emmc or both booting on micro-sd card.

I found these Android Marshmallow patches for RK3368 that allowed dual-boot Android and Lubuntu Linux both installed on emmc.

Maybe it can be adopted for Android Pie?

It seems a new partition is created and allows u-boot to boot from it instead to load Linux ramdisk and not Android’s one.

frameworks - base


u-boot

kernel

This second method, Android is always booted but with eg. an extra Android power off menu item, users can choose to boot LibreELEC(Linux OS) easily and in LibreELEC when device is turned off, Android always boots. Users then just manually activate to boot to LibreELEC(or a different Linux OS) from Android. If users issue a reboot command or reboots, it still functions like a normal reboot and loads Android.
This will be the best way.

If a way can be found to dual-boot Android and LibreELEC(or another Linux OS) it will turn the RockPi 4 into a very interesting multimedia center device.

I hope someone has some ideas how to implement something like this.

@jack @Lili

#14

Hi mo123.

I have downloaded your latest libreelec image…
Just now i have only tried on emmc, but no signal to screen. Maybe i have overseen a post or something, or is it only to flash on micro sd?

Best Regards.

#15

Please try this new image.
https://mega.nz/#!BFkGCCLL!mFbDlClLGJlqpuQZuBfqcl3k0noyRiysDCK82g6vK2g

I used it for several hours to watch 1080p Netflix and IPTV.
After it loads, go to the settings and change the display to 1080p instead of 4K if using a 4K tv.

The UI will now also stay at 1080p when videos switch to 4K resolution, so should work better, was missing previously.
The first startup resolution was also changed to 720p instead of the 1024x768 PC resolution that didn’t work well for tv’s.
Also fixed DVB-T2 with multiple aac_latm streams to work.
Fix popping, crackling sound on hdmi
Fix headphone jack
Added crazycat
Kodi 18.5 base used
Updated mpp codecs

#16

Thanks, mo123.
I will try it out later tonight.
Have you tryed out skin ‘Titan MOD - Netflix style’ or ‘Bingie’ with the RockPi4?
It is a little heavy skin, but pretty sure it will run just fine.
I will try it on your build later also.

Best Regards.

#17

I am not 100% sure, i can have a defect in one place.

mo123 can you confrim that the image work on emmc? If you write it direct on emmc witg etcher?

I was not able to get picture on the TV.

Best Regards.

**Edit
Runs just fine on micro sd card.

#18

Hi

Yes, it should be run from a micro-sd card.

There are new LibreELEC images using the v5.4 Linux kernel that has an option to install to EMMC and actually boot but the 5.4 kernel has lots of drivers missing and still work in progress for Rockchip devices so it doesn’t work well now, maybe in 6-12 months it will work great.
The 4.4 kernel which my images are based on has 99% of things working.

Mainline 5.3x LibreELEC currently has the following bugs

  • Only mpeg2, h264, VP8 h/w decoding works.
    H265, VP9 not working at this stage
  • No fractional frame-rates 23.976/59.94/29.97hz available
  • 10-Bit Color not supported
  • No HDR
  • No wifi, but there are drivers, so it’s possible to fix this already

If you want to test on a spare micro-sd card, thanks to balbes150.

#19

Yeah runs very well on the Micro sd. I have not been knowing about the change, your images has been running fine from emmc a little while ago. But thanks it runs very nice on micro sd.

Im at my parrents home, it runs on a 1080p ‘Sandstrøm’ TV. I can see it can switch rate nicely.

Thanks.

#20

The first tests with kernel 5 + KODI-19 + Python3 show good prospects. It would be interesting to test the performance of the new core 5 on the ROCK Pi 4.

I am also interested to check the possibility of direct booting the system from USB.

p.s. it Seems my provider has given permission for me to access the forum … :slight_smile: