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START HERE - Pick the Right Kodi Box (updated Dec 2020)
(2019-05-29, 01:40)wrxtasy Wrote: I believe the new AML S922X ODROID N2 can be USB powered via a micro USB2.0 OTG port. I would have to check.

Odroid N2 needs 12V power to work properly, so I don't think that any USB port will suffice.
(2019-05-29, 10:18)Jeffers24 Wrote: Can the ODROID N2 be dual boot, between Android and CoreElec?

Yes, you can have Android on eMMC and CoreElec on SD. When SD is inserted it will boot to CoreElec. To boot to Android you have to take the SD card out.
(2019-05-29, 14:09)Sholander Wrote:
(2019-05-29, 10:18)Jeffers24 Wrote: Can the ODROID N2 be dual boot, between Android and CoreElec?

Yes, you can have Android on eMMC and CoreElec on SD. When SD is inserted it will boot to CoreElec. To boot to Android you have to take the SD card out. 
Good news about being able dual boot capability.

When I dabbled with LibeElec on Android, I was able to use an Android App to boot into LibreElec and when in LibreElec Kodi I was able to set up an option in Kodi  to reboot into Android. Would this still be possible with ODROID N2 Android and CoreElec?
(2019-05-29, 14:59)Jeffers24 Wrote:
(2019-05-29, 14:09)Sholander Wrote:
(2019-05-29, 10:18)Jeffers24 Wrote: Can the ODROID N2 be dual boot, between Android and CoreElec?

Yes, you can have Android on eMMC and CoreElec on SD. When SD is inserted it will boot to CoreElec. To boot to Android you have to take the SD card out.    
Good news about being able dual boot capability.

When I dabbled with LibeElec on Android, I was able to use an Android App to boot into LibreElec and when in LibreElec Kodi I was able to set up an option in Kodi  to reboot into Android. Would this still be possible with ODROID N2 Android and CoreElec?   

Sorry for wrong information above. I just tried it but on N2 it works different than on all my other boxes.
If you have CoreElec on SD card and on internal eMMC then it will behave as I have written above, SD card is first boot choice.
But, if you have Android on eMMC and CE on SD then it will (at least at present CE state) always boot to Android on eMMC. In this case to boot to CE on SD card you have to remove eMMC module; not very convenient.
So at present there is no option to reboot to Android from running CoreElec, as you can do on older S905/S912 Android dual boot boxes...
They changed the boot order with Android on the N2 to prioritize the eMMC.  When you run CoreELEC on eMMC they do some magic to put the priority back to SD.  I don't know though, maybe you can run Android on the SD and run CoreELEC on eMMC, no idea if that would work though.

I know nothing about Android, but maybe possible to run a custom u-boot to put the priority back on SD.  Or, possibly use a custom petitboot from SPI which is available on the N2.
Is there any Android TV box (chromecast, kodi, netflix...) with refresh rate working and good upscaler for SD /720p content ? (1080p output tv)

Guess the best solution for now is to keep Kodi running on my rpi, and buy a cheap MiBox for Netflix, MyCanal and chromecast (with the refresh rate by application utility)
(2019-06-15, 09:41)mika91 Wrote: Is there any Android TV box (chromecast, kodi, netflix...) with refresh rate working and good upscaler for SD /720p content ? (1080p output tv)
Kodi High quality upscaling needs one of three things:

1) A media player that has working, reliable auto Resolution Switching AND a TV that has inbuilt high quality Hardware upscaling, for non 1080p content... OR

2) A media player that has the CPU ponies to CPU Software decode non 1080p content AND has CPU Upscaling like Lanczsos3-optimized working... OR

3) Media player hardware that already does high quality hardware upscaling of non 1080p content.

If you only want cheap DRM copy protected Netflix streaming get something like Mi Box or a FireTV Stick 4K.
Chromecasting may or may not work properly, results may vary.
Android TV Chromecasting is Not as reliable vs using actual Chromecast hardware.

Be aware the Mi Box has DD+ audio dropouts when using the Netflix App. 2.0 audio is OK with that combo.

If MyCanal works on a FireTV Stick 4K, it will be a more reliable combo for Netflix and Dolby audio, a more powerful Chipset as well.

Android Kodi is a convoluted mess if you want to access CPU software decoding AND CPU Software upscaling.
It really is not user friendly at all vs Linux / LibreELEC / OSMC / CoreELEC Kodi Leia.

Auto resolution switching (1080p > 720p) does Not work at all on a Mi Box. It can only go up 720p > 1080p for Kodi Leia.
There is a bug with Kodi Leia auto Refresh switching on the Mi Box, it always switches to the highest Resolution the TV can output when also Refresh switching.

Personally if you already have auto resolution switching working (SD/720p <<-->> 1080p) when using Kodi on a RPi, on a 1080p TV - stick with that and let the 1080p TV do the upscaling. You then meet Option (1) above.

(2019-06-16, 06:01)wrxtasy Wrote:
(2019-06-15, 09:41)mika91 Wrote: Is there any Android TV box (chromecast, kodi, netflix...) with refresh rate working and good upscaler for SD /720p content ? (1080p output tv)
...

Personally if you already have auto resolution switching working (SD/720p <<-->> 1080p) when using Kodi on a RPi, on a 1080p TV - stick with that and let the 1080p TV do the upscaling. You then meet Option (1) above. 
I don't use TV upscaler for now, for different reasons:
  • not all resolutions are supported in kodi whitelist, depending on kodi hardware (odroid c2 misses 720/24p, ShieldTV misses 480p and 576i, ...)
  • sound is not synchronized perfectly whatever resolution is used
  • upscaling is not as good as Raspberry one. By default, too soft, and if I increase sharpeness in tv settings, too 'heavy' with lot of artifacts
I personally really like both the N2 and Khadas VIM 3, but why isn't there much hype around the VIM 3 here?

Also, does the Odroid N2 need the module writer to overwrite the eMMC OS, as far as I can tell eMMC could've been overwritten before without this add-on?
Of which eMMC are you talking as "before" ? Are those detachable ?
eMMC module on N2 is detachable, and needs a module writer to overwrite it on a PC. You can overwrite the OS on eMMC when it's attached to the box, without the need for an extra module.
(2019-06-16, 15:59)Sholander Wrote: Of which eMMC are you talking as "before" ? Are those detachable ?
eMMC module on N2 is detachable, and needs a module writer to overwrite it on a PC. You can overwrite the OS on eMMC when it's attached to the box, without the need for an extra module.

So basically a module writer is needed if you don't have an additional SD card where from the overwriting process is only possible to happen (because you cannot rewrite something itself without a second deivce)?
When eMMC memory module is inserted on the board N2 behaves like any other box with internal memory. You can then write to eMMC via uSD card or ADB Shell.
You need additional module to use eMMC on PC the same way as you need an additional module to use any uSD card on PC...
(2019-06-16, 08:47)mika91 Wrote: I don't use TV upscaler for now, for different reasons:
  • not all resolutions are supported in kodi whitelist, depending on kodi hardware (odroid c2 misses 720/24p, ShieldTV misses 480p and 576i, ...)
  • sound is not synchronized perfectly whatever resolution is used
  • upscaling is not as good as Raspberry one. By default, too soft, and if I increase sharpeness in tv settings, too 'heavy' with lot of artifacts

Kodi Leia 18.3-rc1 has the following fix for GLES HQ scalers for SW decoding - done by kszaq (click)

If you have an ODROID C2 I will see if I can get the CoreELEC guys to bump Kodi to 18.3-rc1 to include that fix.

Then in CE Kodi Settings > Player > Videos ....

You can change the SD/HD mpeg2, mpeg4, h264 - content - Software/Hardware decode options and then fiddle with GLES HQ scaler options in On Screen Display settings whilst SW decoding and video is playing.

ok.
This fix is for Odroid C2 only?
So if I well understand, SW upscaling was never used on S905x, because a variable was wrongly set?
(2019-06-17, 08:37)mika91 Wrote: ok.
This fix is for Odroid C2 only?
So if I well understand, SW upscaling was never used on S905x, because a variable was wrongly set?

I only mention the Linux Kodi based OS's - like CoreELEC because it has easy to use Kodi settings for user config of SW/HW decoding, which can be very easily set for SD or HD video content as well.
That also applies to LibreELEC Kodi 18.3-rc1. The old SPMC Kodi has these easy to use - user configurable SW/HW decode options as well.

And you need to be SW decoding of SD video content to access the GLES HQ upscalers.

Android Kodi does not have those easy to use Kodi GUI settings, even though I pushed hard for them to be included in Kodi Leia.

Frankly it's bullshit the excuses the Kodi devs. came up with for not adding minimal lines of code, they do not want to make it easy for Android Kodi users at all !!!

Consequently with Android Kodi you are left with a convoluted, right royal PITA thing called decodefilter.xml (click)

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