(2017-01-06, 10:45)darkal1en Wrote: ... I have an M8S II that I bought from gearbest to try Libreelec, however I have been unable to find clear simple instructions on how to install LE on a micro sd card so I can boot LE from this. Can you advise me where I can find simple instructions easy for a noob like me to follow?
Simple instructions included with the build in opening post here -
https://forum.libreelec.tv/thread-3588.html
And as per post above, you can dual-boot by loading the LE on the SD Card and retaining Android on the NAND
Note: - 'Some' S905 (but NOT S905X) boxes have a freeze up on boot issue - kszaq has spent a LOT of time tracking this down and provided a work-around (there is an alternative version for those boxes affected by the boot freeze)
But the M8S II is a S905X, so will not have this problem - use the std file.
Also note that for S905X first time install, you do not even have to add the device tree as it will be loaded automatically. So you can actually ignore the step about finding/installing/renaming the device tree
The following is the process extracted from link above:
(the
red parts are superfluous; the
purple comments are added by me; i.e. just follow the
BOLD steps
Quote:SD card/USB drive:
Note: only 1 USB port is able to boot the box. You have to try them all. Some boxes are unable to boot from USB drive.[Ignore references to USB if using SD Card]
Look at the beginning of this post and find Downloads link. Download file with img.gz extension.
Burn the downloaded file to SD card or USB drive using Rufus. [https://rufus.akeo.ie/ note that you will be doing this off-line on a Windows machine]
Alternatively you can use LE tool but remember that you have to download the image manually: http://wiki.libreelec.tv/index.php?title=Installation
After this you will see that drive capacity is 512MB. This is OK as there is a second (hidden) partition on the drive for LE userdata! [Informational only]
Download a device tree, rename it to dtb.img and copy it to main folder of SD card/USB drive - replace the one that's already there. [Not required for S905X]
To boot the system for the first time you have to use one of the following:
toothpick method: disconnect the power supply, insert card/drive, push reset button and connect the power while holding the button. Wait until LibreELEC logo appears and release the button.[This one is the simplest]
menu button method (works with very few devices): disconnect the power supply, insert card/drive, push menu button on your remote control and connect the power while holding the button. Wait until LibreELEC logo appears and release the button.
recovery method: boot into Android, insert card/thumb drive and choose Reboot to recovery. Your box should boot into LibreELEC.
recovery method (2nd variant): if you have "Update" app pre-installed open it, insert SD card with LE/connect USB drive, and choose any ZIP file in the app for update. Your box should reboot to LE.
recovery method (3rd variant): if your box is rooted, use terminal emulator app and execute reboot update command
recovery method (4th variant): enable ADB (Google it) and issue adb reboot update command
Note that after the initial boot, you no longer have to use the reset button to boot - if SD Card is inserted it will boot automatically to LE; if ejected it will boot to Android.