[Stildawn]

That might be an option but I assume I lose all the other Android TV features correct?

I'll get another replacement one sent out to test if any change as they are supposed to run Kodi out of the box. But will probably go down the CoreElec route if still not working.

Another question, I've been looking at the Nvidia Shield, they are around $350-$400 in NZ so quite pricey (almost to the point where I could almost build a proper HTPC). Are they really thst much better for the increased price? I read they run a Nvidia chip so surely a lot more powerful? Worth it?

[clarkss12]

Looking at the link you provided, as you stated, it shows an Amlogic S912, but in reality, the SoC is an Amlogic S905W.
"Main Features
Voice Remote
Amlogic S912 Quad core (4 Core Processor)
2GB RAM + 16GB eMMC ROM
Google Android TV 7.1 OS 
Latest Kodi 17.6 ((TV Center)
H.265 decoder, 4k2k full HD output
Support USB/MicroSD/TF/AV ports
2.4GHz 
Support DLNA 

Nothing wrong with that device, but it is a different SoC than they stated.  Download the Aida64 app and install it.  It will tell you which board you have.

[clarkss12]

Further down on the description on the link you provided, it shows a Mecool M8S Pro L

Package includes: 
M8S Pro L TV Box
Remote control 
HDMI Cable 
Power Charger

[Stildawn]

Ran that tool and got the below:






I think I have narrowed down the Kodi freezing issue, seems to be related to hardware decoding, if I turn off the below settings in Kodi:

Allow hardware acceleration - MediaCodec (Surface)
Allow hardware acceleration - MediaCodec

With these turned off the movies play, but they are laggy as hell (I assume because the Software decoding/CPU isn't powerful enough), but when enabled the movies always freeze and crash the whole box.

[Sholander]

That might be an option but I assume I lose all the other Android TV features correct?
 

You don't lose anything, your Android stays untouched.
When running CoreElec from SD card you have two independent operating systems on your box.

[starkman]

That might be an option but I assume I lose all the other Android TV features correct?

It's what @wrxtasy says.
Cheap Android TV Boxes do not work well with Android Kodi because of their crappy firmware.
You can follow his advice and burn CoreElec to a microSD card (at least Class 10, >= 16GB). This is what I've done and I have a perfectly working tv box, including HW/GPU acceleration, etc.
As other people said, the default KODI skin (Estuary) has an option to Reboot to Android and this can also be implemented on other skins, too (e.g. Eminence, etc).
Furthermore, you could download this android app to create a shortcut / icon to simplify the "Reboot to CoreElec" procedure (it says "Reboot to LibreElec" but works with CoreElec, too), for when you are on Android and want to get into CoreElec.
With CoreElec you can also have (among other add-ons) YouTube and Netflix (Netflix I think is up to 720p, though, which is fine for most people) and you would only miss a browser (but are you really going to use a browser on your ...TV? Of course you will always have the option to boot to Android, so no big deal.).
IF you have a cheap AMLogic box, IMHO CoreElec is by far your best option.

[Stildawn]

That might be an option but I assume I lose all the other Android TV features correct?

It's what @wrxtasy says.
Cheap Android TV Boxes do not work well with Android Kodi because of their crappy firmware.
You can follow his advice and burn CoreElec to a microSD card (at least Class 10, >= 16GB). This is what I've done and I have a perfectly working tv box, including HW/GPU acceleration, etc.
As other people said, the default KODI skin (Estuary) has an option to Reboot to Android and this can also be implemented on other skins, too (e.g. Eminence, etc).
Furthermore, you could download this android app to create a shortcut / icon to simplify the "Reboot to CoreElec" procedure (it says "Reboot to LibreElec" but works with CoreElec, too), for when you are on Android and want to get into CoreElec.
With CoreElec you can also have (among other add-ons) YouTube and Netflix (Netflix I think is up to 720p, though, which is fine for most people) and you would only miss a browser (but are you really going to use a browser on your ...TV? Of course you will always have the option to boot to Android, so no big deal.).
IF you have a cheap AMLogic box, IMHO CoreElec is by far your best option. 

That is what I'll do if I have to, my issue with the above is the reboot times, the box I have takes ages to boot, will be painful to reboot between them.

But yeah I'll certainly do that if I need to.


Anyone have a Nvidia Shield? Any thoughts on them?

[wrxtasy]

CoreELEC on AMLogic devices runs a minimal Linux OS optimised to specifically run Kodi Leia as bug free and fast as possible.
It will be noticeably faster vs Android Kodi on cheap hardware, especially with a GPU clock tickle !

It really does work nicely indeed with the amount of work put into it over the last year by the developers.

The Shield is a completely different beast, far more powerful for running Android Apps vs anything else. You pay for that.
CoreELEC will still be better for Kodi Leia.

[Stildawn]

Would the Nvidia Shield run Kodi out of the box or is CoreELEC still required?

[wrxtasy]

The is no Linux based OS release like CoreELEC or LibreELEC available on the Shield.
You simply install the Android Kodi Leia App from the Playstore.

Suggestion, grab a USB stick and install CoreELEC on to it.
It's free, it works and will give you a great Kodi Leia experience without even messing with the internal Android you already have on the device.

[Stildawn]

I've got CoreElec running on it now and so far so good, had to make a coreelec user account on my HTPC for it to be able to access my network sources but that was ok.

My next question, regarding the Nvidia Shield which I might be getting for a mate, he likes to watch pay per view UFC fights, so dose the Nvidia Sheild support a good browser (chrome I'm guess) to watch the fights?