[HomerJau]

My experience with Kodi is that it is a pain to add new sources and movies regardless of the hardware. The new version 17 is a bit easier but you should be a little careful if you are expecting a pain-free remote support experience with your Dad. I know mine could not deal with right-clicks, moving to an 'invisible' side menu, having to find settings etc. It would be a nightmare.

Kodi really needs a 'simple user' option. Plug a USB drive and it just appears with options to scan for new content etc.

[wrxtasy]

Hi. I've only just started learning about Kodi hardware, so apologies if I make any basic mistakes.

I was about to buy an OpenElec Kodi box (which I understand is a Wetek Play without a tuner) which currently costs £79 in the UK, but it seems that the Wetek Hub is released this month, costs the same (or slightly less) and is markedly more powerful.

The main function I need is a Kodi front end to a USB-powered external hard drive full of HD video content. Streaming is a nice bonus. This is for my elderly father, who lives a long way from me, so it needs to be work out of the box and not require tweaking to function reliably. I can help him set it up over Skype, but I don't want to spend an hour troubleshooting every weekend.

My questions are:
(1) Am I right that the Hub is better than the OpenElec box for the same price?
(2) I understand that it's not guaranteed that a USB-powered HDD will work with this sort of Android device. However, is the Hub more likely to have problems powering this sort of USB device than the OpenElec box?
(3) If I can't run the external HDD off the Hub, will a powered USB hub solve this problem easily?
(4) Am I missing anything else - is there any reason the Hub might not be right for me or is there a better option I am unaware of?

The old WeTek Play is two CPU/GPU/VPU aka SoC (System on a Chip) generations behind soon to be released Hub and WeTek Play2.

1) Yes far far more powerful than the WeTek Play. Decodes 10bit HEVC and a whole lot more.
2) ALL ARM based devices, like RPi's, WeTek's etc really should be using either externally powered HDD's or running USB2 2.5" HDD's from a powered USB Hub for reliability. You may get away with using only very power efficient USB3 2.5" HDD's but only with certain models, even then it's hit and miss.
3) See above
4) You can boot straight into Kodi with the custom WeTek Android launcher used on the WeTek Hub. It can be easily set up to do this. Personally if using Kodi only I would be booting straight into LibreELEC. That OS can be flashed onto a Sandisk or Samsung EVO+ Class 10 UHS micro SDHC card and setup quickly. Set and forget.

The other option worth looking at is the 8bit WeTek Core, it has a far nicer remote control than the Hub and 2 USB2 ports. Same HDD power requirements still apply.

[wrxtasy]

The cat is out of the bag so I may as well repost this....

WeTek Hub Amlogic S905 TV Box Gets Android 6.0 Marshmallow Firmware

Expect all the Asian AMLogic clone manufacturers to release new Hardware and abandon there recently released "old" S905 devices, just to upgrade to Marshmallow. This is exactly how they make their money.
Not sure what MINIX are doing with their S905 U1.

[Loki69]

what remote would you recommend wrxtasy as a good replacement that has all the functions required? if i get a hub.

also where is the best place to order from inside Australia for this device.

[HomerJau]

The cat is out of the bag so I may as well repost this....

WeTek Hub Amlogic S905 TV Box Gets Android 6.0 Marshmallow Firmware

Thanks for the repost!

Someone from WETEK mentioned Android 6.0 but didn't reply to my post asking when. I was hoping it would be sooner than later but didn't really think it would come so soon. Great news!

Can one of the beta testers please re-test the multichannel 192kHz/24 bit FLAC test file I provided last week with Marshmellow. It's the last 'missing' piece to make the Hub a perfect high resolution audio player.

[HomerJau]

The Hub goes on sale tomorrow (8th July). Shipping from 16th. Info from a WETEK email I received early today.

[nickr]

1. Not necessarily better. Hub can do Android or OpenELEC or LibreELEC. It is versatile
2. Don't see why you'd have any issue with USB HDD's under Android or OpenELEC/LibreELEC
3. Powered can help; depends on type of external HDD. Some work just fine with power via media player's USB
4. Honestly, depends how old and tech saavy you dad is (not saying he needs to be, but every bit helps). My dad is 80, and he has trouble with anything that doesn't involve a simple channel up/down type functionality. I set-up a non-Kodi WD TV box for him with movies on an attached USB HDD, and that turned out fine. Used movie posters view for navigation. That's it. With Hub, if your dad is okay using remote to open WeTek Media Player and navigating to 'Movies' you set-up for him, that would work

Thoroughly disagree with your 1. Hub hardware is far superior to the Play.

[JoNoJo]

HDMKV - Thanks a lot for the reply. I think there's one slight confusion - when I write about the OpenElec box, I'm referring to this specific piece of hardware (not boxes running OpenElec in general): http://openelec.tv/openelec-box

HomerJau - Thanks. Agreed. I'm not expecting it to be painless, just as pain-free as possible! He copes OK with his Chromecast, so he can learn a new UI. Tinkering is not his thing, though.

wrxtasy - Thanks, that's reassuring. I'll take a risk on the USB power and buy a powered hub if it doesn't work. The Core seemed to be 25% more expensive than the Hub when I was shopping around, but the remote might be worth that.

Thanks again to you all! This is a very helpful forum...

[Draghmar]

The Hub goes on sale tomorrow (8th July). Shipping from 16th. Info from a WETEK email I received early today.

I would really like to know when exactly they are going to release Play2 because it's really hard to wait for me when they open Hub for ordering...

[JonSnow88]

wrxtasy or hdmkv can you please confirm if the hub can be powered off/on over hdmi-cec?

Turn TV on > AVR turns on > Hub?
Turn TV off > AVR turns off > Hub?

Most devices I've used can be turned off with cec but do not turn back on.

Second scenario:

With everything powered off if I turn the hub on will it turn on the TV?

Currently if I plug in my Pi2 (rarely since the pi is on 24/7) with everything powered off it will turn everything on as expected.

I'm trying to avoid turning things on or off with different remotes and hoping I can continue to use my LG magic remote for everything as I do with the pi.

[LeFaisal]

Guys should i buy the hub or core ? It there any real difference between them.

[wrxtasy]

what remote would you recommend wrxtasy as a good replacement that has all the functions required? if i get a hub.

also where is the best place to order from inside Australia for this device.

That needs to be answered by WeTek. I'm not happy with the remote control supplied at all.
I also want a LIRC Linux Kernel support option for LibreELEC so a wide range of IR remote controls can be used out of the box.

@jebise,
There is currently no Kodi libCEC options for HDMI CEC in LibreELEC for the functions you want, Hub Linux Kernel support is currently lacking the required patches. (Its coming soonish). There is just basic HDMI CEC playback control currently with LE.

I'm not sure about Android and CEC with AVR's. hdmkv would be the guy with that answer.

WeTek need to provide answers for what they intend to do about both Android and OpenELEC / LibreELEC 3rd party remote control support !
Currently I see no options listed anywhere for a WeTek supplied and properly supported Air Mouse for the Hub.

[Ned Scott]

Outside of LIRC on Linux, I'm not sure what is specific to WeTek for remotes. Most popular air mice, and all past WeTek remotes, are seen as generic keyboards/mice via USB dongles or using bluetooth. WeTek will have a WeTek branded airmouse remote available in the future, but nearly anything on the market will work.

Personally, I hate air mice for mouse functions, but I found something the other day that might be much better and more accurate: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HZWEB74/ (maybe a bit overkill)

[wrxtasy]

The trouble is Ned, even if I use the Core's remote control, not all the buttons work properly, this will be the case with any 3rd party Air mice / Keyboards.
An integrated WeTek solution really is preferred, EXACTLY the same options as MINIX offer. Users will pay for this superior integrated solution.

After all WeTek have gone to the trouble and expense of getting proper Android DRM and Netflix support. To only implement a very basic D-PAD solution for Android App control makes very little sense and seems like a complete waste of time and effort.
In the end its the users that are paying for this DRM support.

Yes I'm banging on about this repeatedly, but I really expect better support from WeTek BEFORE the device goes on sale to the public.
See what happens when you set such a high support standard !

[HomerJau]

An integrated WeTek solution really is preferred, EXACTLY the same options as MINIX offer. Users will pay for this superior integrated solution.

...

Yes I'm banging on about this repeatedly...

Totally agree!