[sow07]

Which faq?  Yours doesn't mention it.  There's the LibreElec FAQ but don't see anything there.  Or the Kodi FAQ/Linux FAQ.  

I ask because I believe I'm seeing this issue and am anxious to work around it but can't find information about it anywhere I've looked.  Can you provide a link?

I misspoke, I should have said Kodi Chromebox wiki page (the one linked in my sig) rather than FAQ 

 Hmm, I didn't see it there either, but maybe it's hidden or I'm being dumb.  Ultimately, I found the discussion and workaround for this severe network performance issue in the Kodi LibreELEC test builds thread.  Workaround posted here.  Thread pages 315-320 have the details.

Note, I didn't have a syslinux.cfg file in my /flash folder, just an extlinux.conf, but I added the "pci=nomsi" after the quiet parameter and voila, network performance shot back up from 1.5MB/s to 60MB/s.  Crazy!  I'm surprised more people are not complaining since 1.5MB/s is slow enough to be noticed when playing certain files off the network (you get the timer clock loading repeatedly).  Maybe as people upgrade to v9.0 just released it will heat up...hopefully a proper fix will come sooner than later.

[Rrrr]

Hi Matt,

After years and years of happily using my CN60, I decided to upgrade Kodi and look for how this is done.
I went back to your original web pages and was gladly surprised you are still there!
Thank you so much for your years of amazing support on this.

Using EZ script, I wanted to install LE 9.0, but was offered LE 9.0 beta version (8.95.001) or 8.0 (Kodi 17.6).

I chose LE 9.0 beta, but the download failed to extract (twice). 
Downloading 8.0 worked fine, so that's what I have now.

Do you plan to upload 9.0 final version ?
Best,

  
I don't upload anything, my script just points to current LibreELEC release. I've just now updated it for the 9.0 release, so new installs should work, and you can of course upgrade manually as usual. There is a LAN performance bug in the kernel used for 9.0.0 (and the 8.9x betas) that needs to be worked around, info on the FAQ  

I booted with CRTL-D then CTRL+ALT+F2
Downloading the E-Z script was not easy and required several tries:

curl: failed to connect to mrchromebox. tech port 443: Connection timed out

In the script I selected 2 for dual boot update.

After repartitioning and Updating bootloader, I get this:

Error: failed to download syslinux: check your internet connection and try again.

My internet connection seems fine. Is this the LAN bug or is your server offline?

I am unsure if I can reboot now and will have access again or if the repartitioning has damaged the boot process.

Info:
* ifconfig gives me the IP;
* SSH to IP fails.

[Leclair]

Hi everyone,

I have an ASUS CN60 that was previously setup in dual-boot mode (ChromeOS + LibreElec).

Two days ago, it froze on the Kodi Krypton screen. So I decided to factory reset and try updating to Matt's UEFI firmware and going standalone. 

At this point, I've used the LibreElec USB-CD Creator to write 'Generic x86_64' version of LibreElec to a USB.

With the USB in the Chromebox, it is not booting from USB. It keeps going to this screen:



If I press ESC before this screen it brings me to the Boot Options Settings. From there I can get to this screen:



I follow the onscreen instructions to install LibreElec to my Chromebox. Unfortunately, once I reboot, I'm back to the UEFI Interactive Shell v.2.2 screen.

I'm obviously doing something wrong. I've tried 3 different USB sticks in every different USB port on my Chromebox. Still nothing.

Thanks for any help you can provide.
 

---

[Matt Devo]

I booted with CRTL-D then CTRL+ALT+F2
Downloading the E-Z script was not easy and required several tries:

curl: failed to connect to mrchromebox. tech port 443: Connection timed out

In the script I selected 2 for dual boot update.

After repartitioning and Updating bootloader, I get this:

Error: failed to download syslinux: check your internet connection and try again.

My internet connection seems fine. Is this the LAN bug or is your server offline?

I am unsure if I can reboot now and will have access again or if the repartitioning has damaged the boot process.

Info:
* ifconfig gives me the IP;
* SSH to IP fails. 

  
my server isn't showing any issues, can't really control the vast swath of internet between it and everyone else though.

the LAN issue affects Linux kernel 4.19+, so not ChromeOS.

rebooting would leave you in the same state you are now, You simply need to reinstall LE until it works

[Matt Devo]

Hi everyone,

I have an ASUS CN60 that was previously setup in dual-boot mode (ChromeOS + LibreElec).

Two days ago, it froze on the Kodi Krypton screen. So I decided to factory reset and try updating to Matt's UEFI firmware and going standalone. 

At this point, I've used the LibreElec USB-CD Creator to write 'Generic x86_64' version of LibreElec to a USB.

With the USB in the Chromebox, it is not booting from USB. It keeps going to this screen:

If I press ESC before this screen it brings me to the Boot Options Settings. From there I can get to this screen:

I follow the onscreen instructions to install LibreElec to my Chromebox. Unfortunately, once I reboot, I'm back to the UEFI Interactive Shell v.2.2 screen.

I'm obviously doing something wrong. I've tried 3 different USB sticks in every different USB port on my Chromebox. Still nothing.

Thanks for any help you can provide.
 

---

 

 
Sounds like the bootorder on your device got messed up and has the EFI shell as highest priority. From the shell, type exit / hit enter (or hit ESC at boot), which will return you to UEFI settings. Go to Boot Manager, and see where the Hard Disk is listed in terms of order. If it's behind/below the EFI shell, then you need to use the Boot Maintenance Manager to reorder the boot devices (putting the Hard Drive first). Normally after an OS install the internal SSD will be the primary, but it seems that didn't happen here.

If your internal drive is listed first and it's still dumping you to the EFI shell, means that booting from the internal drive is failing and it's falling over to the EFI shell

[Leclair]

If your internal drive is listed first and it's still dumping you to the EFI shell, means that booting from the internal drive is failing and it's falling over to the EFI shell 

Thanks Matt,

I followed your instructions and the Internal Hard Drive is listed first. Does that mean my internal drive is toast and maybe the reason it froze in the first place?

When the USB with LibreElec installer is plugged in, it will run and I can use Kodi. I don't know how to get it to install on the internal hard drive.

[Matt Devo]

Thanks Matt,

I followed your instructions and the Internal Hard Drive is listed first. Does that mean my internal drive is toast and maybe the reason it froze in the first place?

When the USB with LibreElec installer is plugged in, it will run and I can use Kodi. I don't know how to get it to install on the internal hard drive. 

  
if the installer is able to install to the internal SSD, and that completes successfully, I don't see any reason to suspect an issue with the internal drive.

I haven't done a clean install in ages, let me try that here and see if I can reproduce the issue

Edit: just did a clean firmware flash + LibreELEC install on a Haswell Chromebox, and only issue was a hiccup on the first reboot where it still tried to boot the (now removed) USB.  What happens when you select the internal Hard Disk from the Boot Manager menu?

[Leclair]

Edit: just did a clean firmware flash + LibreELEC install on a Haswell Chromebox, and only issue was a hiccup on the first reboot where it still tried to boot the (now removed) USB.  What happens when you select the internal Hard Disk from the Boot Manager menu? 

 It goes back to the main Boot Settings screen.

[Matt Devo]

Edit: just did a clean firmware flash + LibreELEC install on a Haswell Chromebox, and only issue was a hiccup on the first reboot where it still tried to boot the (now removed) USB.  What happens when you select the internal Hard Disk from the Boot Manager menu? 

 It goes back to the main Boot Settings screen.  

can you manually boot from the internal SSD via Boot Maintenance Manager -> Boot From File -> <first SATA partition> -> EFI -> BOOT -> bootx64.efi ?

If not, that would indicate a bad install somehow - but you said the installer succeeds?

[Rrrr]

I booted with CRTL-D then CTRL+ALT+F2
Downloading the E-Z script was not easy and required several tries:

curl: failed to connect to mrchromebox. tech port 443: Connection timed out

In the script I selected 2 for dual boot update.

After repartitioning and Updating bootloader, I get this:

Error: failed to download syslinux: check your internet connection and try again.

My internet connection seems fine. Is this the LAN bug or is your server offline?

I am unsure if I can reboot now and will have access again or if the repartitioning has damaged the boot process.

Info:
* ifconfig gives me the IP;
* SSH to IP fails. 

  
my server isn't showing any issues, can't really control the vast swath of internet between it and everyone else though.

the LAN issue affects Linux kernel 4.19+, so not ChromeOS.

rebooting would leave you in the same state you are now, You simply need to reinstall LE until it works   

Thank you. I tried many times...then thought it would not hurt to factory reset the system which I also failed with (see below).

Chromebook Recovery Utility (CRU)
I got into more trouble: CRU does not manage to finish installing the image on the memory device:
a) on 2 Windows 10 devices the write operation keeps looping. I also tried safe boot with networking, etc;
b) on the Chromebox: Getting "Unable to unzip file. Please try again.".

===CORRECTION OF THE ABOVE===
a) the 'looping' on W10 machines is not what I thought. The tool is just writing a number of partitions to the USB flash drive.
b) my chromebox only has 1.1Gb available storage and could therefore not finish creating the image to the USB flash drive. In this case, use another machine.
===END OF CORRECTION=======

Recovery image
Following the instructions here, I downloaded the image for my CN60 (panther-f5u-a4a-a5c) from My Chrome Home.
After unzipping with 7zip I wrote the .bin image with chromeosimagecreatorV2.exe directly to my memory devices (after erasing the recovery media first).

===CORRECTION OF THE ABOVE===
My experience is that this .bin image  is not accepted (anymore) by Chromeos.
You are better off using the CRU (above)
===END OF CORRECTION=======

Loading ChromeOS
With 2 different USB memory keys and an SD card I did not manage to have CN60 ChromeOs recognise there is an O/S on the memory device upon insertion.

===CORRECTION OF THE ABOVE===
I now succeeded with three 8GB USB sticks: Sandisk Cruzer, Kingston and unbranded. 
The trick is to wait until the CRU tool is completely done wiriting each partition.
===END OF CORRECTION=======

The next day back to EZ script
As per your reply, this time I managed to download LibreElec after selecting 2 for dual boot update:
LibreElec download complete: installing...
cp: error writing '/tmp/System/SYSTEM': No space left on device.

Please can you confirm what this means? My understanding is my partitions may be too small so I have to:
1. Perform a factory reset (I'll have to try again, any tips?);
2. Reinstall EZ script and run it again (is there another way?).

[Matt Devo]

Loading ChromeOS
With 2 different USB memory keys and an SD card I did not manage to have CN60 ChromeOs recognise there is an O/S on the memory device upon insertion.
 

Recovery Mode is just picky about USB media and port used, that's all there is to it.

 

The next day back to EZ script
As per your reply, this time I managed to download LibreElec after selecting 2 for dual boot update:
LibreElec download complete: installing...
cp: error writing '/tmp/System/SYSTEM': No space left on device.

Please can you confirm what this means? My understanding is my partitions may be too small so I have to:
1. Perform a factory reset (I'll have to try again, any tips?);
2. Reinstall EZ script and run it again (is there another way?). 

  
the error means what it says, not enough room for ChromeOS to download/extract the LibreELEC image before copying to the partitions set up for it. Whatever value you used for the LibreELEC partition last time, go 2GB less this time. You will have to do a factory reset (to reset the partitions to stock) and then re-run the EZ-setup script (resize them). I'm baffled as to why you are having some much trouble with this.

[Leclair]

can you manually boot from the internal SSD via Boot Maintenance Manager -> Boot From File -> <first SATA partition> -> EFI -> BOOT -> bootx64.efi ?

If not, that would indicate a bad install somehow - but you said the installer succeeds?

When I try that, there is nothing in the SATA partition. 

At first I thought the install succeeded, but I've now realized that it installed on the USB stick and is running from there. And every time I reboot, LibreElec re-installs on the USB and I start from scratch again. 

I've tried with Ubuntu installer as well. Same thing happens. Runs from the USB stick. Tried with ChromeOS recovery, but it crashes every time, but I believe I read somewhere that ChromeOS wouldn't work anyway.

When I boot with the USB stick in, I get the screen that says to type 'live or run' or wait for installer to begin. I've done all 3 and the same thing happens every time. LibreElec installs and then runs from the USB.

[Matt Devo]

When I try that, there is nothing in the SATA partition. 

meaning no files/folders are listed? Then you're not installing to the internal drive

At first I thought the install succeeded, but I've now realized that it installed on the USB stick and is running from there. And every time I reboot, LibreElec re-installs on the USB and I start from scratch again. 

 are you not selecting the internal storage as the install target?

  I've tried with Ubuntu installer as well. Same thing happens. Runs from the USB stick. Tried with ChromeOS recovery, but it crashes every time, but I believe I read somewhere that ChromeOS wouldn't work anyway.

ChromeOS Recovery does nothing at all without ChromeOS firmware

When I boot with the USB stick in, I get the screen that says to type 'live or run' or wait for installer to begin. I've done all 3 and the same thing happens every time. LibreElec installs and then runs from the USB. 

The installer USB remembers your last choice, so you need to type 'installer' at the boot: prompt, the select install, and choose the internal SATA SSD. if you're not being prompted for that, then something is up.

[Leclair]

meaning no files/folders are listed? Then you're not installing to the internal drive

That's correct. I click on the internal drive and there are no files.
 

 are you not selecting the internal storage as the install target?

This is the only option I get as an install location.





After the install is completed, it asks me to remove the installer media and reboot. 

After the 1st reboot, it boots to the shell screen. When I type 'exit' and go to 'boot from file', the internal hard drive is not even listed. 

After a 2nd reboot, again to the shell, this time when I go to 'boot from file', the internal hard drive is there, but empty, no files.

[Rrrr]

Loading ChromeOS
With 2 different USB memory keys and an SD card I did not manage to have CN60 ChromeOs recognise there is an O/S on the memory device upon insertion.

Recovery Mode is just picky about USB media and port used, that's all there is to it.

I've updated my previous message with corrections after gaining more experience (many hours!): I hope my mistakes will help others avoid this waste of time.
My Chromeos storage manager showed only 1.1GB free, so that's why the Chromebook Recovery Utility (CRU) could not write the image to the USB flash drive.
Using the CRU on a W10 machine worked for me now for all USB flash drives.
...just had to wait much longer letting the CRU write several partitions to the USB flash drive.

The next day back to EZ script
As per your reply, this time I managed to download LibreElec after selecting 2 for dual boot update:
LibreElec download complete: installing...
cp: error writing '/tmp/System/SYSTEM': No space left on device.

Please can you confirm what this means? My understanding is my partitions may be too small so I have to:
1. Perform a factory reset (I'll have to try again, any tips?);
2. Reinstall EZ script and run it again (is there another way?). 

  

the error means what it says, not enough room for ChromeOS to download/extract the LibreELEC image before copying to the partitions set up for it. Whatever value you used for the LibreELEC partition last time, go 2GB less this time. You will have to do a factory reset (to reset the partitions to stock) and then re-run the EZ-setup script (resize them). I'm baffled as to why you are having some much trouble with this.

The sun is shining today.
I reset the partitions: Chromeos showed 10GB (why not 16GB?) before I reinstalled the dual boot with LibreElec (LE).
I gave 6GB to LE, 4GB to Chromeos.

Thank you so much for your quick and precise comments. It helped me persist.