[Milhouse]

Oh well. Thanks for the info. Was wishing this worked cause it's difficult to explain this stuff to OpenELEC users, but guess nothing can be done.

I've determined a solution for OpenELEC that allows any system library used by XBMC to be replaced by an alternative third party version - it's a pretty ugly hack, but it does work with an unmodified 3.1.x build without any problems, and given the only other alternative is a custom build this makes it a lot less trouble despite it's ugliness!

Frodo

With a Frodo-based build (OpenELEC 3.x.x) the solution involves using autostart.sh to halt the initial load of xbmc.bin, modifying LD_LIBRARY_PATH and then initiating a secondary load of xbmc.bin but now using the third party libraries (librtmp etc.). The hack will only be applied when the /storage/lib directory is present (exists), and when autostart.sh is being called during the boot sequence (when the parent process ID is 1), and when /storage/lib isn't detected at the beginning of LD_LIBRARY_PATH (and thus needs to be added). The check for PPID means it is possible to call autostart.sh without re-invoking xbmc.bin, which may be useful when testing/debugging other autostart.sh functionality...

Gotham Update

Gotham-based builds (OpenELEC 4.x.x+) totally change the boot process with the introduction of systemd, which actually makes this solution a lot less ugly, not to mention far simpler to achieve.

The latest version of hacklib will now detect when booting on a Gotham (also Helix) build and simply copy /etc/profile.d to a temporary location, then add an extra script to this new profile.d folder that fixes up LD_LIBRARY_PATH with our third-party library location. The profile.d folder with extra script from the temporary location is then substituted for the standard /etc/profile.d directory. From now on, new processes - including xbmc.bin - will reference the new profile.d folder and as a result will use the fixed up LD_LIBRARY_PATH that includes our third-party libraries.

Installation instructions: (See end of post for direct download instructions)

1. Create /storage/lib and populate with third-party libraries. Download the latest librtmp.so.0 for RasPi or Linux/x86 from Red Penguins Repo, and create the librtmp.so symbolic link:

Code:

mkdir -p /storage/lib
cd /storage/lib
<Download librtmp.so.0 from RedPenguin's "Repo">
chmod 755 librtmp.so.0
ln -s librtmp.so.0 librtmp.so

EDIT 11-Feb-2015: With OpenELEC 5.0.1, the version of librtmp.so is now librtmp.so.1 not librtmp.so.0. For OpenELEC 5.0.1 and higher, the following library configuration is required:

Code:

mkdir -p /storage/lib
cd /storage/lib
<Download librtmp.so.0 from RedPenguin's "Repo">
mv librtmp.so.0 librtmp.so.1
chmod 755 librtmp.so.1
ln -s librtmp.so.1 librtmp.so
ln -s librtmp.so.1 librtmp.so.0

2. Create /storage/.config/autostart.sh using vi or nano:

Code:

#!/bin/sh

# Hack for third-party libraries
[ $PPID -eq 1 -a -f /storage/.config/hacklib ] && . /storage/.config/hacklib

# Rest of autostart.sh goes here...

3. Create /storage/.config/hacklib (see download link)

4. Reboot.

Optional Extra
When mounting /storage across a network (eg. over NFS or SMB), there will be an increase in network activity as /storage/lib is checked for library files (99.9% of which won't be found) and this could result in reduced UI performance (slightly longer load times etc.). To eliminate any network overhead, you can instead host the thirdparty library files in memory backed storage.

To accomplish this, download the mktmplib file in /storage/.config/mktmplib - when present, it will be called by hacklib and transfer the third party libraries to memory back storage the location of which will then be prefixed to LD_LIBRARY_PATH.

Disabling 3rd Party Libraries
To disable the hack:

Code:

mv /storage/lib /storage/lib.bak && sync
reboot

Download instructions
Downloadable versions of autostart.sh, hacklib and mktmplib are available on Dropbox - use the following commands to download the files:

Code:

cd /storage/.config
curl -L http://is.gd/kBaTzY -o autostart.sh
curl -L http://is.gd/yQUqNm -o hacklib
curl -L http://is.gd/GJdaEY -o mktmplib