[geekmiki]

Hi,

I have the following equipment:
-Asus Chromebox CN62 (Celeron)
-Pioneer VSX-923 receiver
-Samsung UE65KS8000 TV

Chromebox is connected to receiver and receiver to TV via ARC port.

Libreelec 7.0.2 is installed in dual boot mode through EZ script.

Issue:
When powering on the Chromebox, the HDMI handshake seems to fail and the boot process stops, leaving me with a black screen. The only way I've found to boot into Kodi is to unplug the HDMI cable, power on the Chromebox and then insert the HDMI cable.

What I've tried, without success:
-Different HDMI cables
-Plugging the Chromebox directly to the TV (bypassing the AVR)
-Upgrading SeaBIOS to the latest version

I've read there have been quite a few issues with the Intel/Pioneer combo, but the Chromebox has the same behaviour when it's directly connected to the TV, so I've discarded that issue.

Is there anything else I can try?

Thank you in advance for your help/tips.

[Matt Devo]

does this happen only when booting LibreELEC, or when booting ChromeOS as well? I assume your AVR is already on when powering on the Chromebox?

[geekmiki]

This happens when I boot the Chromebox, before any OS loads. I guess the chromebox stops the boot process since no display is detected.
AVR is of course on and other sources are working properly.

[Matt Devo]

well, it's highly suspect that both your TV and AVR are showing the same issue. SeaBIOS/Legacy Boot isn't even in play here yet, since the ChromeOS payload is the one running the VBIOS to init the display (SeaBIOS then re-runs the VBIOS when booting in Legacy Mode).

Have you tried the Chromebox on another display/monitor to see if the issue is restricted to your TV/AVR?

[geekmiki]

Thanks for your replies and help.

Yes, I've tested the Chromebox with my PC monitor HDMI and there it works as it should.

EDIT:
I came a step closer, I have to activate "UHD HDMI Color" in order to boot correctly into Libreelec.
Very similar to the problem encountered in this post: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=...pid2187260

The problem is that this option aparently degrades regular 1080p content and is only meant for 4K content.
As it was asked in this post in 2015 (maybe we came a step closer now), is it possible to limit the Chromebox to boot in 1080p and not try to handshake at 2160p upon boot (all this is of course happening before Libreelec kicks in, during the boot process)

[Matt Devo]

Thanks for your replies and help.

Yes, I've tested the Chromebox with my PC monitor HDMI and there it works as it should.

EDIT:
I came a step closer, I have to activate "UHD HDMI Color" in order to boot correctly into Libreelec.
Very similar to the problem encountered in this post: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=...pid2187260

The problem is that this option aparently degrades regular 1080p content and is only meant for 4K content.
As it was asked in this post in 2015 (maybe we came a step closer now), is it possible to limit the Chromebox to boot in 1080p and not try to handshake at 2160p upon boot (all this is of course happening before Libreelec kicks in, during the boot process)

that explanation for that setting doesn't make sense - are owners of 4K displays supposed to toggle it on/off as needed, based on resolution and color space? All of that is (read: should be as per the spec) handled automatically via HDMI. If there is some degradation with 1080p content (or non-HDR color space content) then it's for sure an issue with the display's firmware (Samsung's early UHD sets were notoriously buggy - see the AVS forum if you haven't already).

that said, it's hard to determine if your TV Is reporting bad EDID data during the handshake, or the Chromebox's VBIOS isn't doing something correctly with the EDID data it's receiving. The HDR setting fixing the issue would imply it's likely the display's fault, but it's hardly conclusive.

it might be possible to prevent the Chromebox from attempting to set/use 2160p on boot, but that would require injecting a modified VBIOS, which isn't itself problematic, but would likely require a bit of trial and error. Another method would be to use a device which stores/tweaks the EDID from your display/AVR, since it does boot when the cable is removed/inserted.

[geekmiki]

it might be possible to prevent the Chromebox from attempting to set/use 2160p on boot, but that would require injecting a modified VBIOS, which isn't itself problematic, but would likely require a bit of trial and error. Another method would be to use a device which stores/tweaks the EDID from your display/AVR, since it does boot when the cable is removed/inserted.

Thanks again for the info Matt.

Any hints on how I could implement one of those two methods and which one would be the easiest/most effective?

I guess an EDID tweaking device is something like this? http://www.aten.com/global/en/products/p...ers/vc080/

[Matt Devo]

Thanks again for the info Matt.

Any hints on how I could implement one of those two methods and which one would be the easiest/most effective?

I guess an EDID tweaking device is something like this? http://www.aten.com/global/en/products/p...ers/vc080/

an EDID emulator/tweaker like that or Dr HDMI would work fine I'd suspect (I've never had occasion to use one), but I have a hard time recommending a solution that costs as much as the Chromebox itself; I'd be inclined to try do the VBIOS hacking, and if you'd like to try that, shoot me a PM/email and we can give it a go.

[Diodato]

My setup:
-Asus Chromebox CN60
-Samsung UE55KS8000 TV

So the TV's electronics are the same (differ only in the size of the LCD panel) and an older ASUS Chromebox model.
My Chromebox is directly connected to HDMI1 (no ARC) with a v1.4a HDMI cable. But...
I was doing some testing with Windows on my Chromebox so I installed the UEFI firmware and use it ever since.
The Chromebox always boots without any HDMI handshake problems.
How about giving the UEFI firmware a try?

[Matt Devo]

My setup:
-Asus Chromebox CN60
-Samsung UE55KS8000 TV

So the TV's electronics are the same (differ only in the size of the LCD panel) and an older ASUS Chromebox model.
My Chromebox is directly connected to HDMI1 (no ARC) with a v1.4a HDMI cable. But...
I was doing some testing with Windows on my Chromebox so I installed the UEFI firmware and use it ever since.
The Chromebox always boots without any HDMI handshake problems.
How about giving the UEFI firmware a try?

the UEFI firmware uses a native EFI GOP driver to init the display, rather than the legacy VBIOS, so it could very well solve the OP's issue, but currently it does not boot/run ChromeOS properly, so the OP couldn't continue dual booting to which they expressed preference

[geekmiki]

Thanks for your replies.

ChromeOS dualboot is actually not mandatory. When I set up the Chromebox I thought I would be using ChromeOS, but it's not the case. The box is 100% dedicated to Kodi use.

That means that installing the UEFI firmware is a possibility.

Is there a way to remove ChromeOS, keep the current Libreelec and update to UEFI? Or does the process require to start from scratch by removing all previous OSes?

EDIT:
I've read the wiki and I think I got it in order to move from dual boot to standalone with a UEFI firmware... Tell me if I'm wrong:
1. Backup LibreElec config+library
2. EZ Script: Install/Update Custom coreboot firmware
3. EZ Script: Create LibreELEC install media (only for standalone setups)
4. Firmware utility script: Install/Update a full custom firmware image (Full ROM)
5. Install Libreelec from USB install media
6. Restore LibreElec configuration backup

[Soli]

What uefi firmware? Did I miss anything?

[Matt Devo]

Thanks for your replies.

ChromeOS dualboot is actually not mandatory. When I set up the Chromebox I thought I would be using ChromeOS, but it's not the case. The box is 100% dedicated to Kodi use.

That means that installing the UEFI firmware is a possibility.

Is there a way to remove ChromeOS, keep the current Libreelec and update to UEFI? Or does the process require to start from scratch by removing all previous OSes?

EDIT:
I've read the wiki and I think I got it in order to move from dual boot to standalone with a UEFI firmware... Tell me if I'm wrong:
1. Backup LibreElec config+library
2. EZ Script: Install/Update Custom coreboot firmware
3. EZ Script: Create LibreELEC install media (only for standalone setups)
4. Firmware utility script: Install/Update a full custom firmware image (Full ROM)
5. Install Libreelec from USB install media
6. Restore LibreElec configuration backup

no need for step 2, since it's overwritten completely by 4. You can also skip 3 and just create the install media from another machine if you'd like, using the LibreELEC USB/SD creator tool.

What uefi firmware? Did I miss anything?

maybe? I offer UEFI boot compatible firmware for all Haswell/Broadwell ChromeOS devices, but don't offer it via the EZ Setup Script since there's no need for it, and offering the choice would likely lead to more support headaches. The firmware isn't 100% UEFI compliant, but it's functional for most users. See https://mrchromebox.tech

[geekmiki]

Success! After upgrading to custome firmware handshake is happening as it should and Chromebox is booting into LibreElec as expected.
Thanks Matt for your time and help!