[Matt Devo]

I tried to install kodi to my chromebox and when I got to the step to reboot it got stuck on the "Booting from Hard Disk" screen. Any way I can fix this?

please read the OP on what information is needed when reporting an issue, and also troubleshooting section of the wiki which addresses the exact issue you are having.

[TychoCaine]

Hi Matt,

I'd like to convert my Asus chromebox running standalone OE to a full Linux build so I can play around with some emulators, apps and moonlight streaming... I noticed in the 2016-03-07 update notes you removed Kodibuntu because it's not recommended and I saw a mention of GalliumOS in there somewhere. Just wondered what is the recommended linux distro for install on the Chromebox? (ie - which one does the script now use?). I want to go as lightweight as possible because I've gotten so used to the OE startup time of a couple of seconds and then I'm already in Kodi. I would use the script and just re-do it but I want to test whatever the distro is from a USB first to make sure it's worth swapping across before I re-do my box.

Appreciate any suggestions you might have..

EDIT - really hoping it's not Ubuntu standard... just had a play with the 14.04 live CD and it makes my skin crawl... runs really slowly and comes pre-bloated with a bunch of junk I don't want and can't seem to uninstall.

TC

[Aenima99x]

Hi Matt,

I'd like to convert my Asus chromebox running standalone OE to a full Linux build so I can play around with some emulators, apps and moonlight streaming... I noticed in the 2016-03-07 update notes you removed Kodibuntu because it's not recommended and I saw a mention of GalliumOS in there somewhere. Just wondered what is the recommended linux distro for install on the Chromebox? (ie - which one does the script now use?). I want to go as lightweight as possible because I've gotten so used to the OE startup time of a couple of seconds and then I'm already in Kodi. I would use the script and just re-do it but I want to test whatever the distro is from a USB first to make sure it's worth swapping across before I re-do my box.

Appreciate any suggestions you might have..

EDIT - really hoping it's not Ubuntu standard... just had a play with the 14.04 live CD and it makes my skin crawl... runs really slowly and comes pre-bloated with a bunch of junk I don't want and can't seem to uninstall.

TC

Have a look at Lubuntu.....it's a light ui that's very functional and fast boot. I use it on all 6 of my chromeboxes. You could also install just ubuntu server and then put openbox on top of that.
Have a look at Fritsch's guide here - http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=247152

[Matt Devo]

Hi Matt,

I'd like to convert my Asus chromebox running standalone OE to a full Linux build so I can play around with some emulators, apps and moonlight streaming... I noticed in the 2016-03-07 update notes you removed Kodibuntu because it's not recommended and I saw a mention of GalliumOS in there somewhere. Just wondered what is the recommended linux distro for install on the Chromebox? (ie - which one does the script now use?). I want to go as lightweight as possible because I've gotten so used to the OE startup time of a couple of seconds and then I'm already in Kodi. I would use the script and just re-do it but I want to test whatever the distro is from a USB first to make sure it's worth swapping across before I re-do my box.

Appreciate any suggestions you might have..

EDIT - really hoping it's not Ubuntu standard... just had a play with the 14.04 live CD and it makes my skin crawl... runs really slowly and comes pre-bloated with a bunch of junk I don't want and can't seem to uninstall.

TC

The hardware on the Chromebox is standard enough that it's fully supported by any Linux distro using a up-to-date kernel (4.3+ recommended).

GalliumOS is a Ubuntu derivative that is optimized for ChromeOS devices (boxes and books) and uses lxde I believe; it's quite light and fast, and can be themed if you don't like the default look. It's what I'd recommend if you want a good general purpose distro, but I haven't tested everything, and my focus as a developer (outside of firmware stuffs) is on OpenELEC.

Also, fwiw emulators work very well via the retroarch addon in OpenELEC.

[tate16t]

Good day all,

New to the forum and Kodi. I've been reading a bit and I'm considering purchasing the Chromebox. My use case is primarily to gain access to programming and movies. I have a few questions;

1. To enable dual boot with Windows, would I install Windows on top of the ChromeOS?
2. Does the Chromebox support Windows 10?
3. To get the most out of Kodi would a standalone boot with OpenELEC be recommended? If yes, with dual boot what would I miss?
4. I currently own an older Netgear NeoTV media player and connect to my Netgear Nas where I have a few movies and videos. Would I be able to use the Chromebox to do this?
5. Can I connect to the Chromebox remotely via my Mac to access Windows?
6. I have a Harmony 700 universal remote. Is anyone using this remote to manage the Chromebox?

I will likely have more questions but will stop here.
Thanks

[Matt Devo]

Good day all,

New to the forum and Kodi. I've been reading a bit and I'm considering purchasing the Chromebox. My use case is primarily to gain access to programming and movies. I have a few questions;

1. To enable dual boot with Windows, would I install Windows on top of the ChromeOS?

dual booting Windows and ChromeOS from the internal ssd would be difficult, even with a larger ssd, because Windows would try to overwrite the boot sector, which breaks ChromeOS. Most people install Windows to a USB-attached SSD or flash drive if dual booting, or use it as their primary OS on the internal SSD.

2. Does the Chromebox support Windows 10?

yes, everything works OOTB except for HDMI audio. You can either use the older Windows 8 audio/video drivers, or you can use coolstar's HDMI audio enabler app, which requires you to boot linux and capture the EDID from whatever device you'll be connected to. See the Chromebox Windows support thread here and coolstar's subreddit for Windows on ChromeOS devices. You can also use a USB SPDIF adapter if you don't need HDMI audio and not worry about any of that.

3. To get the most out of Kodi would a standalone boot with OpenELEC be recommended? If yes, with dual boot what would I miss?

absolutely, OpenELEC turns the Chromebox (or any device) into a Kodi appliance. The main thing you lose out on is the ability to install arbitrary programs (though lots of addons are available), and a full-fledged web browser (there's a Chromium addon, but doesn't support stuff like flash)

4. I currently own an older Netgear NeoTV media player and connect to my Netgear Nas where I have a few movies and videos. Would I be able to use the Chromebox to do this?

yes, the Chromebox can access any content on your NAS via SMB or NFS. That functionality is built-in to Kodi regardless of which platform you run it on.

5. Can I connect to the Chromebox remotely via my Mac to access Windows?

if you install a version of Windows which allows remote desktop, or install a VNC app, then sure. There's nothing different about Windows on a Chromebox vs a "regular PC" outside of the HDMI audio workaround required.

6. I have a Harmony 700 universal remote. Is anyone using this remote to manage the Chromebox?

yes, you'll just need a USB MCE IR receiver (I use/recommend this one on ebay) and to program the Harmony as a Microsoft Media Center extender (not a MCE keyboard)

[tate16t]

Thanks. The best Kodi experience is what I'm after. So I would purchase the Chromebox and follow your steps to wipe it and configure OpenELEC, correct?

I believe I saw a post stating the 2GB Chromebox is more than enough or should I go with the 4GB box? Any preference, Asus/HP/Acer/Dell ChromeBox?

[Matt Devo]

Thanks. The best Kodi experience is what I'm after. So I would purchase the Chromebox and follow your steps to wipe it and configure OpenELEC, correct?

yes

I believe I saw a post stating the 2GB Chromebox is more than enough or should I go with the 4GB box? Any preference, Asus/HP/Acer/Dell ChromeBox?

2GB is more than enough - 1GB is plenty even. Upgrading to 4GB (2x2GB) buys you a little additional memory bandwidth b/c you're running in dual channel mode, which can help with software decoded formats like Hi-10p and HEVC, but for the majority of OE users it's unnecessary.

The Asus box (M004U/M006U in USA) is my preference because it's the quietest and easiest to open up (4 screws), but the HP is really the only one I caution against as it's noticeably louder than the rest, and only has a single sodimm slot so no option for dual channel memory. OE/Kodi performance is identical on all of them so if one is significantly cheaper I'd go for that. Eg, there's a refurb Acer on ebay right now (from Acer) for $99 shipped - hard to beat that.

[redking]

I've tried updating the coreboot firmware but i keep getting "Failure reading current firmware; cannot proceed." on both of my boxes.

http://paste.ubuntu.com/15432507/
http://paste.ubuntu.com/15432548/

Any suggestions on how i can update?

[Matt Devo]

I've tried updating the coreboot firmware but i keep getting "Failure reading current firmware; cannot proceed." on both of my boxes.

http://paste.ubuntu.com/15432507/
http://paste.ubuntu.com/15432548/

Any suggestions on how i can update?

which script are you using to update - the EZ setup script, or the dedicated/OE firmware update script? Ubuntu version? 32/64-bit?

might be easiest if you just hit me up on google hangouts ([email protected]) or on Freenode IRC (MattDevo)

[TychoCaine]

The hardware on the Chromebox is standard enough that it's fully supported by any Linux distro using a up-to-date kernel (4.3+ recommended).

GalliumOS is a Ubuntu derivative that is optimized for ChromeOS devices (boxes and books) and uses lxde I believe; it's quite light and fast, and can be themed if you don't like the default look. It's what I'd recommend if you want a good general purpose distro, but I haven't tested everything, and my focus as a developer (outside of firmware stuffs) is on OpenELEC.

Also, fwiw emulators work very well via the retroarch addon in OpenELEC.

Thanks for the feedback Matt.. I played w/ Gallium and Ubuntu last night.. Gallium looks really promising but I just love the speed and convenience of OE so I think I will stay with it for the time being.
I just read up on the work done by tssemek w/ Retroarch so I am guessing it's well improved since the last time I tried to use it and I also found some forum posts where someone got moonlight working on a Raspberry Pi w/ OE so I might just approach it from the angle of trying to make the things I want to work work under OpenElec... at least that way if it works I can give something back to the OE community.

Does anyone know if there's a more recent replacement or alternative to this old (deleted) page:
http://wiki.openelec.tv/index.php?title=...DVB_sample

Cheers,

TC

[Matt Devo]

Thanks for the feedback Matt.. I played w/ Gallium and Ubuntu last night.. Gallium looks really promising but I just love the speed and convenience of OE so I think I will stay with it for the time being.
I just read up on the work done by tssemek w/ Retroarch so I am guessing it's well improved since the last time I tried to use it and I also found some forum posts where someone got moonlight working on a Raspberry Pi w/ OE so I might just approach it from the angle of trying to make the things I want to work work under OpenElec... at least that way if it works I can give something back to the OE community.

Does anyone know if there's a more recent replacement or alternative to this old (deleted) page:
http://wiki.openelec.tv/index.php?title=...DVB_sample

Cheers,

TC

unfortunately I haven't seen and can't find an updated tutorial on creating an OE addon. Looking at the moonlight-embedded version that works on the rPi, seems like you're going to need to bundle a large amount of libraries (pulled from another Linux distro with same kernel version I'd assume) and do some redirection, but it should in theory work...

edit: maybe start with https://github.com/dead/moonlight-openelec-rpi2

[tate16t]

Thanks. The best Kodi experience is what I'm after. So I would purchase the Chromebox and follow your steps to wipe it and configure OpenELEC, correct?

yes

I believe I saw a post stating the 2GB Chromebox is more than enough or should I go with the 4GB box? Any preference, Asus/HP/Acer/Dell ChromeBox?

2GB is more than enough - 1GB is plenty even. Upgrading to 4GB (2x2GB) buys you a little additional memory bandwidth b/c you're running in dual channel mode, which can help with software decoded formats like Hi-10p and HEVC, but for the majority of OE users it's unnecessary.

The Asus box (M004U/M006U in USA) is my preference because it's the quietest and easiest to open up (4 screws), but the HP is really the only one I caution against as it's noticeably louder than the rest, and only has a single sodimm slot so no option for dual channel memory. OE/Kodi performance is identical on all of them so if one is significantly cheaper I'd go for that. Eg, there's a refurb Acer on ebay right now (from Acer) for $99 shipped - hard to beat that.

Thanks so much.

Has anyone setup VPN on OpenELEC with PIA successfully using this process,

http://www.kodipiguide.com/guides/setup-...lec-addon/

[redking]

which script are you using to update - the EZ setup script, or the dedicated/OE firmware update script? Ubuntu version? 32/64-bit?

might be easiest if you just hit me up on google hangouts ([email protected]) or on Freenode IRC (MattDevo)

I've tried using both the EZ script and the dedicated script on both boxes. Both boxes are running ubuntu 14.04 LTS 32bit. One box does have the latest kernel 4.4.6. The other is 4.1.X

[Neil123]

Please can someone help me. After having problems with a black screen on start up, hdmi handshake problems. I bought new cables and inputed a autostart.sh that goes

#!/bin/sh
xrandr --output HDMI1 --mode 1920x1080 -r 60

as i was told to do by Mr.Chromebox. Everything has been ok ish. I have to start my avr my chromebox and then restart the chromebox to get a picture up. But for some reason the problem has come back. Now I have to use around 20mins of restarting etc to get things up and running. Any ideas what I can try next to fix this problem its driving me crazy..