[MrBuyakah]

LibreELEC (Leia) v8.90.008 ALPHA is still exhibiting the SMB performance issue but now I am am seeing high CPU use on video playback with my Chromebox, even with hardware decoding on.  Sticking with LibreELEC (Leia) v8.90.006 ALPHA at this time until the next version comes out.

 it's a 4.19+ kernel bug, current work around is to add 'pci=nomsi' to kernel parameters in /flash/syslinux.cfg 

Hey Matt, there is no, "syslinux.cfg", file in the,"flash", directory.  Do I create one?  Do you mind posting the modified syslinux.cfg file here and where to put it? I am running Dual Boot on a Haswell Chromebox.

[Matt Devo]

Hey Matt, there is no, "syslinux.cfg", file in the,"flash", directory.  Do I create one?  Do you mind posting the modified syslinux.cfg file here and where to put it? I am running Dual Boot on a Haswell Chromebox. 

I don't have a box configured for dual boot handy, so these instructions may need some massaging:

- boot ChromeOS, open shell
- mount LE system partition:
  -- mkdir /tmp/system
  -- sudo mount /dev/sda6 /tmp/system
- edit file:
  -- sudo vi /tmp/system/syslinux.config 
  -- go to end of file (should end in 'quiet'), hit i for insert, then type ' pci=nomsi', then ESC, then !wq <enter>
- unmount partition
  -- sudo umount /tmp/system
  -- note: umount, not unmount
- reboot into LE

[MrBuyakah]

Hey Matt, there is no, "syslinux.cfg", file in the,"flash", directory.  Do I create one?  Do you mind posting the modified syslinux.cfg file here and where to put it? I am running Dual Boot on a Haswell Chromebox. 

I don't have a box configured for dual boot handy, so these instructions may need some massaging:

- boot ChromeOS, open shell
- mount LE system partition:
  -- mkdir /tmp/system
  -- sudo mount /dev/sda6 /tmp/system
- edit file:
  -- sudo vi /tmp/system/syslinux.config 
  -- go to end of file (should end in 'quiet'), hit i for insert, then type ' pci=nomsi', then ESC, then !wq <enter>
- unmount partition
  -- sudo umount /tmp/system
  -- note: umount, not unmount
- reboot into LE 

Thumbs up, Matt! The only change in your instruction, for me, is my file is called, "extlinux.conf", rather than, "syslinux.cfg", on my system.  Here are the contents of that file:

DEFAULT linux
PROMPT 0
LABEL linux
KERNEL /KERNEL
APPEND boot=LABEL=KERN-C disk=LABEL=ROOT-C tty quiet pci=nomsi

Thanks again for your help.

[nokio]

Hi all, 

I have been using the CN60 for the past3 and a half year. Great device! I am using it as a full desktop with galliumos because i run other small thing that just pure kodi.
Lately I buyed a 4k TV(at 65inch there is no more 1080p(that I found)) with a soundbar that does up to 5.1. The tv is 4k but my media are 1080p so i have kodi at 1080p. Enabled passthrough and I am really happy with the soundbar.

Where I am getting at is that for some media source, for instance youtube/twitch or other web browser based media. It is starting to feel slow/old on that side of thing. Even though under kodi all my media work really great.

I was looking for an upgrade and started to read about the nvidia shield tv which i almost buyed. But then, I saw the chromebox3 cn65 which seems to be a pretty nice upgrade and even more so now that kabylake is supported from what I can read here :
https://mrchromebox.tech/#home
https://mrchromebox.tech/#devices

From what I read. Audio passthrough for dts/dolby would work like it does right now with my soundbar. I am not going to do much 4k if any (may give it a go since the device seems to be able to support it using usb-c to hdmi2.0 for 4k/60hz(but then I think I would loose the audio passthrough?)). Otherwise I will be at 1080p resolution with standard hdmi cable to also get that audio passthrough.

Which leads me to my question. Anyone has tried or is using the chromebox CN65? https://www.amazon.ca/CHROMEBOX-3-N017U-...=chromebox
Would that be a good upgrade or would there not be a big difference or anything else to keep in mind?

One last question, I have been using galliumos for the past few year as it seemed to be the best option for that piece of equipement. Is it still the case? Could a plain Xubuntu or linuxmint work just as well?

[Matt Devo]

Which leads me to my question. Anyone has tried or is using the chromebox CN65? https://www.amazon.ca/CHROMEBOX-3-N017U-...=chromebox
Would that be a good upgrade or would there not be a big difference or anything else to keep in mind?

I'm running one as my main Kodi device right now, running Milhouse's latest Kodi 18/LE nightly builds; I really do need to update this thread and wiki page to reflect support for the Kabylake-based Chromeboxes. But it's a nice speed bump over the older Haswell/Broadwell boxes, and the addition of HEVC/VP9 decoding is a huge plus. 4Kp60 works via USB-C/DisplayPort Alt Mode, but HD audio passthu working depends on the LSPCON chip used in the dongle (I've not found one that works yet). HDMI output is 1.4b, so limited to 4Kp30, but passthru etc works fine. You could always connect to your TV via USB-C and then to the sound bar via HDMI, if it supports input switching.

Legacy Boot mode / dual booting works thru ChromeOS v68; something in v69 broke it - not sure if AP/EC firmware update, or something else. UEFI/Full ROM firmware works fine.

One last question, I have been using galliumos for the past few year as it seemed to be the best option for that piece of equipement. Is it still the case? Could a plain Xubuntu or linuxmint work just as well?

Chromeboxes have always worked perfectly with any distro, the advantages of GalliumOS are mostly for Chromebooks. The new Chromeboxes should work perfectly with whatever you want to run, though I'd expect analog audio output (headphone jack) to be broken just like every other Kabylake-based ChromeOS device running a mainline kernel.

[Walrus]

I needed to change the subnet my home network is on (was 192.168.1.xxx, now changed to 192.168.0.xxx), and my main HTPC runs mysql to keep status between it and a chromebox I have in our bedroom. I can't remotely access the chromebox to update the advancedsettings.xml file for some reason. I have been able to access it in the past, eg to dump an update in the update folder. Is there an easy way to directly connect? It's flashed as standalone Libreelec, not dual boot. I've rebooted it, and it's picked up an IP on the new subnet (192.168.0.113). Edit: putting //192.168.0.113 in windows explorer on my desktop computer doesn't access the chromebox folders like it used to.. nothing happens. Any ideas for me?

[nokio]

Hi Mr. ChromeBox,

Thanks you for taking the time to answer my question. Really appreciated.
Just ordered the chromebox3-N017U. It will be fun to play with and upgrade my current setup.

I am going to use UEFI/Full ROM firmware linux only. No need to dual boot but thanks for the heads up on the fact that Legacy Boot mode / dual booting has problem right now.

For the OS, I mean galliumos has always worked really great. It is a xubuntu after all with a few change for the chromebox/chromebook. But like you said since most of the optimization are for chromebook I was wondering If I should go with galliumos3.0Alpha or directly use xubuntu. If only the headphone jack will not work with everything else working perfectly, I might go directly with xubuntu18.04.

Maybe two last quetion if I may.
Since all my media are 1080p, is there an advantage to run my desktop and kodi at 4k instead of directly at 1080p. I know it is not really chromebox nor kodi related, I am just curius and want to learn a bit more on that.
When you say 4Kp60 works via USB-C/DisplayPort Alt Mode and that HD audio passthu working depends on the LSPCON. Is it something that is likely going to be available in the future?

[Matt Devo]

For the OS, I mean galliumos has always worked really great. It is a xubuntu after all with a few change for the chromebox/chromebook. But like you said since most of the optimization are for chromebook I was wondering If I should go with galliumos3.0Alpha or directly use xubuntu. If only the headphone jack will not work with everything else working perfectly, I might go directly with xubuntu18.04.

I'd run Xubuntu most likely, but haven't tested it myself.  I run LibreELEC on all my boxes

Maybe two last quetion if I may.
Since all my media are 1080p, is there an advantage to run my desktop and kodi at 4k instead of directly at 1080p. I know it is not really chromebox nor kodi related, I am just curius and want to learn a bit more on that.

depends on how good the scaler is on your TV. Running 4K with 200% DPI scaling may look better than feeding it 1080p and letting the display scale to 4K.

When you say 4Kp60 works via USB-C/DisplayPort Alt Mode and that HD audio passthu working depends on the LSPCON. Is it something that is likely going to be available in the future?

that's a kernel/driver issue, I'm not sure if that's something being actively worked on or not. I know it works for 7th/8th-gen NUCs which have an onboard LSPCON, but using external ones has been problematic. It's also not something I've been tracking, so might have been improved in recent kernels. I'd boot/test the latest LibreELEC build and see how things work there, that's a good bellweather.

[Matt Devo]

I needed to change the subnet my home network is on (was 192.168.1.xxx, now changed to 192.168.0.xxx), and my main HTPC runs mysql to keep status between it and a chromebox I have in our bedroom. I can't remotely access the chromebox to update the advancedsettings.xml file for some reason. I have been able to access it in the past, eg to dump an update in the update folder. Is there an easy way to directly connect? It's flashed as standalone Libreelec, not dual boot. I've rebooted it, and it's picked up an IP on the new subnet (192.168.0.113). Edit: putting //192.168.0.113 in windows explorer on my desktop computer doesn't access the chromebox folders like it used to.. nothing happens. Any ideas for me?

 sounds like something is screwed up with your network config, since SMB access worked before and should still work now.

Also, your library is likely invalidated since all the content paths are stored with the IP address (assuming you added your sources by IP and not machine name), so might be easiest to just start fresh

[nokio]

 

When you say 4Kp60 works via USB-C/DisplayPort Alt Mode and that HD audio passthu working depends on the LSPCON. Is it something that is likely going to be available in the future?

that's a kernel/driver issue, I'm not sure if that's something being actively worked on or not. I know it works for 7th/8th-gen NUCs which have an onboard LSPCON, but using external ones has been problematic. It's also not something I've been tracking, so might have been improved in recent kernels. I'd boot/test the latest LibreELEC build and see how things work there, that's a good bellweather. 

Reading into this right now. It seems that 4k60hz is preferred for sport and gaming. Would that statement be true? If so, for media through kodi or netflix using a web browser or youtube or other web media, there would not be a perceivable difference.
If we look into the spec, hdr is supported through hdmi2.0 and I would Loose that. But again for someone that has no 4k content that would not matter much?
If so, it might be fun to give it a try on my side and see if I like more 1080p60hz or 4k30hz in term of natif vs upscaling.

[Matt Devo]

Reading into this right now. It seems that 4k60hz is preferred for sport and gaming. Would that statement be true? If so, for media through kodi or netflix using a web browser or youtube or other web media, there would not be a perceivable difference.
If we look into the spec, hdr is supported through hdmi2.0 and I would Loose that. But again for someone that has no 4k content that would not matter much?
If so, it might be fun to give it a try on my side and see if I like more 1080p60hz or 4k30hz in term of natif vs upscaling. 

  
unless you have any 4k content, there will be a negligible difference between 4kp60 and 1080p60. There's no HDR support for Intel GPUs under Linux currently, so not losing anything there.

[nokio]

unless you have any 4k content, there will be a negligible difference between 4kp60 and 1080p60. There's no HDR support for Intel GPUs under Linux currently, so not losing anything there. 

 Just want to say thanks again for taking the time to answer on those last few question I had even though they were not related to kodi/chromebox per say.
Have a great day !

[nokio]

Hello again,

I just received my chromebox3 and started to play with it now that the kids are sleeping.
Is it possible that there is no write-protection screw? I opened the case and I "see" the place that i think is the protection screw.
At least it seems to be the same spot than my chromebox cn60 used to be. But there is no screw. Can it be a jump or something?

Bst Regards

[Matt Devo]

Hello again,

I just received my chromebox3 and started to play with it now that the kids are sleeping.
Is it possible that there is no write-protection screw? I opened the case and I "see" the place that i think is the protection screw.
At least it seems to be the same spot than my chromebox cn60 used to be. But there is no screw. Can it be a jump or something?

Bst Regards

it's the screw to the lower left of the sodimm sockets (when viewed with them at the bottom), it's flat and pretty obviously not like any other screws on the board.  I'll add a pic to the wiki at some point

[nokio]

 

it's the screw to the lower left of the sodimm sockets (when viewed with them at the bottom), it's flat and pretty obviously not like any other screws on the board.  I'll add a pic to the wiki at some point   

Thanks for that. For some reason I though it was the empty slot at the other end of the board. That made it and starting your firmware-util.sh shows that the WP is disabled.

When I start the scrit and select 3 to Install/Update Full Rom Firmware. It does not seems to work. I created a backup and then I get the following error in the image : https://pasteboard.co/HRxjP99.jpg