Req Asus Chromebox models supported
#1
Hi,

I'm considering buying an 'Asus ChromeBox' to run LibreELEC. I have searched and read the following wiki page on Chromebox hardware (https://kodi.wiki/view/Chromebox).
However, this wiki link seems to be quite old as it references Asus Chromebox Model CN62 with the following CPU/GPU spec (which are no longer available to purchase).
  • Celeron 3205U (HD Graphics / GT1)
  • Core i3-5005U (HD Graphics 5500 / GT2)
The model I am considering purchasing is the following:- https://www.mwave.com.au/product/asus-ch...os-ac05087
Specs = 
  • ASUS Chromebox CN62 CHROMEBOX2-G089U PC
  • Intel Celeron 3215U 1.70 GHz CPU
  • 2x2GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz
  • 16GB SSD M.2
  • Intel HD Graphics 5500 Intel HD Graphics
  • 2x USB 3.0, 1x HDMI, 1x RJ45 LAN, 1x DC-in, 1x DisplayPort, 1x Audio Jack
  • Dual Band 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wireless, Bluetooth V4.0, Gigabit LAN
  • VESA Mount Kit
  • Chrome OS
  • 12 Months Limited Warranty
So my questions are as follows:-
  1. Is the above Asus suitable/supported with LibreELEC ?
  2. Based on the specs listed, would I need anything else (except an USB connected IR remote control) ?
    1. Power Supply/adapter/cable ?
  3. In relation to the remote control - again the link for suggested/recommended remote controls (https://kodi.wiki/view/List_of_MCE_remote_controls) appears that any of them listed are unable to be found/purchased. Any recent suggestions would be appreciated.
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#2
the 3215U is a minor spec bump to the 3205U, it changes nothing in terms of support (it's a CN62, it's supported).  I can't say I'd recommend buying a CN62 these days though, given its lack of support for HEVC/VP9 and 4K output. The CN65 would be better, but now you're at $200+ USD and have no HDR and no HD audio with 4Kp60 output (via USB-C).

Any MCE IR remote is going to work at this point, I think even the ones listed as non-working do now.  But I'd recommend a BT remote instead, much faster response. Plenty of suggestions for that in this forum, nothing specific to the Chromebox.
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#3
I wouldn't bother starting a new chromebox kodi project at this point.  I had one ages ago but the Odroid C2 is a much better experience and quite a bit cheaper.  Next on my purchase list is probably the ODroid N2.
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#4
(2019-05-03, 03:00)Geekzilla Wrote: I wouldn't bother starting a new chromebox kodi project at this point.  I had one ages ago but the Odroid C2 is a much better experience and quite a bit cheaper.  Next on my purchase list is probably the ODroid N2.

how is the C2 a much better experience? from a UI/CPU standpoint, it's significantly slower.  The N2 is probably still not as quick, but obv has a more complete feature set.
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#5
(2019-05-03, 05:19)Matt Devo Wrote:
(2019-05-03, 03:00)Geekzilla Wrote: I wouldn't bother starting a new chromebox kodi project at this point.  I had one ages ago but the Odroid C2 is a much better experience and quite a bit cheaper.  Next on my purchase list is probably the ODroid N2.

how is the C2 a much better experience? from a UI/CPU standpoint, it's significantly slower.  The N2 is probably still not as quick, but obv has a more complete feature set.  
Matt,
First of all thanks for all your work supporting the chromebox over the years.  It was SUPER helpful to me when I was all in on kodi chromeboxes in my house.  This was psbromley's first post here and I was just trying to give him/her another option.  I recently had an IRL friend who was also just getting into kodi and steered him towards a modern board and away from a solution that is several years old.  If there was an unused system that was going to be repurposed that would be one thing.  Psbromley is talking about buying a chromebox expressly for kodi which I feel is a mistake in 2019.

Admittedly, I haven't stayed current on chromebox developments but off the top of my head the differentiators are: Full 4k 60p support (C2 doesn't support HDR but N2 does), easier to setup, less power usage, cheaper.  I wouldn't doubt the benchmarks favor an Intel based chromebox, but I've never noticed a difference in speed between the systems.
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#6
(2019-05-03, 17:00)Geekzilla Wrote: Matt,
First of all thanks for all your work supporting the chromebox over the years.  It was SUPER helpful to me when I was all in on kodi chromeboxes in my house.  This was psbromley's first post here and I was just trying to give him/her another option.  I recently had an IRL friend who was also just getting into kodi and steered him towards a modern board and away from a solution that is several years old.  If there was an unused system that was going to be repurposed that would be one thing.  Psbromley is talking about buying a chromebox expressly for kodi which I feel is a mistake in 2019.

Admittedly, I haven't stayed current on chromebox developments but off the top of my head the differentiators are: Full 4k 60p support (C2 doesn't support HDR but N2 does), easier to setup, less power usage, cheaper.  I wouldn't doubt the benchmarks favor an Intel based chromebox, but I've never noticed a difference in speed between the systems. 

 I agree, and I recommended against them purchasing that model as well Smile

I'm used to Intel-based boxes, so all of the ARM-based ones feel slow to me, esp with heavier skins. I have an N2 en route though and have high hopes for it.
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#7
I really hope they come up with a Chromebox-type solution for 4K HDR stuff. The old box was super snappy and the best purchase I could have made for AVC material, especially with Matt's support. Apple TV 4K comes close but it has its own problems, the biggest irk being in Apple itself.
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#8
(2019-05-04, 12:41)Boulder Wrote: I really hope they come up with a Chromebox-type solution for 4K HDR stuff. The old box was super snappy and the best purchase I could have made for AVC material, especially with Matt's support. Apple TV 4K comes close but it has its own problems, the biggest irk being in Apple itself.

it's not going to be a Chromebox / be Intel-based, as they have their heads up their asses when it comes to HDR, esp under Linux.

The Odroid N2 looks pretty promising, just picked one up myself to play with. Early CoreELEC builds are highly functional already
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#9
(2019-05-02, 19:06)Matt Devo Wrote: the 3215U is a minor spec bump to the 3205U, it changes nothing in terms of support (it's a CN62, it's supported).  I can't say I'd recommend buying a CN62 these days though, given its lack of support for HEVC/VP9 and 4K output. The CN65 would be better, but now you're at $200+ USD and have no HDR and no HD audio with 4Kp60 output (via USB-C).

Any MCE IR remote is going to work at this point, I think even the ones listed as non-working do now.  But I'd recommend a BT remote instead, much faster response. Plenty of suggestions for that in this forum, nothing specific to the Chromebox.
Thanks Matt, seems like I've started a interesting debate. To add some additional info, I don't have a 4K TV and don't have any immediate plans either, so not sure this is on my requirements list at this point in time. I did notice that the CN65 was considerable more $$$s the CN62. 
Excluding the increased costs, are there negatives of the CN65 over the older CN62 ?
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#10
(2019-05-08, 01:56)psbromley Wrote: Thanks Matt, seems like I've started a interesting debate. To add some additional info, I don't have a 4K TV and don't have any immediate plans either, so not sure this is on my requirements list at this point in time. I did notice that the CN65 was considerable more $$$s the CN62. 
Excluding the increased costs, are there negatives of the CN65 over the older CN62 ? 

It's hard to recommend the CN62 at all. It's virtually identical in speed and capability to the CN60, so unless you're getting it for the same price, there's no reason to recommend it over the CN60.

The CN65 adds HEVC/VP9 support and 4Kp60 output, but gives up dual boot capability with ChromeOS (until Google fixes their firmware), and can't pass HD audio out via USB-C (which is required for 4Kp60) due to Linux driver issues (LPSCONs suck). If you're using the HDMI 1.4 output then no issues with HD audio. And because Intel has their heads up their asses, HDR support under Linux is not likely anytime soon.

while I'm using a CN65 at the moment, I plan on moving to an Odroid N2 as soon as I get an HDMI 2.0-capable AVR, since I want 4Kp60/HDR/HD audio (and decent UI speed / handing of heavy skins)
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#11
Odroid-N2 really seems to be a good option to replace the trusty Chromebox. I think I'll just sell the ATV 4K and get one instead, thanks for the heads up Smile
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#12
(2019-05-08, 17:31)Boulder Wrote: Odroid-N2 really seems to be a good option to replace the trusty Chromebox. I think I'll just sell the ATV 4K and get one instead, thanks for the heads up Smile

Just be aware the N2 running CoreELEC Leia has bugs. Such as issues with various Chroma output modes like 4:2:2.
Which means black screens for 4K video when used with various 4K TV's and AVR's like Yamaha's. Colorspace switching is not fully sorted out yet.

There is also No working multichannel LPCM audio output, which causes issues with video content that has accompanying multichannel aac audio.

I would think of it as more of a companion Kodi device to the ATV 4K. Not a replacement. The ATV 4K is a way more stable platform at this point in time. All it's really missing is lossless Atmos audio passthrough and Kodi of course.

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#13
Well, the true 24 fps playback in ATV 4K bothers me quite a lot. From what I could gather from the CE thread, it looks like the audio bug is the biggest one and that's just because no one is working on it. As everything works on S912, I'd expect them to find a solution to the issue sooner or later.

Still, it would be nice if they kept a log of known issues in the first post there.
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#14
(2019-05-08, 05:36)Matt Devo Wrote:
(2019-05-08, 01:56)psbromley Wrote: Thanks Matt, seems like I've started a interesting debate. To add some additional info, I don't have a 4K TV and don't have any immediate plans either, so not sure this is on my requirements list at this point in time. I did notice that the CN65 was considerable more $$$s the CN62. 
Excluding the increased costs, are there negatives of the CN65 over the older CN62 ? 

It's hard to recommend the CN62 at all. It's virtually identical in speed and capability to the CN60, so unless you're getting it for the same price, there's no reason to recommend it over the CN60.

The CN65 adds HEVC/VP9 support and 4Kp60 output, but gives up dual boot capability with ChromeOS (until Google fixes their firmware), and can't pass HD audio out via USB-C (which is required for 4Kp60) due to Linux driver issues (LPSCONs suck). If you're using the HDMI 1.4 output then no issues with HD audio. And because Intel has their heads up their asses, HDR support under Linux is not likely anytime soon.

while I'm using a CN65 at the moment, I plan on moving to an Odroid N2 as soon as I get an HDMI 2.0-capable AVR, since I want 4Kp60/HDR/HD audio (and decent UI speed / handing of heavy skins) 

Matt, I'm looking to upgrade from my ASUS Chromebox also. It's been a few months since you posted that you were moving on to the Odriod N2. How did that work out? Any other recommendations? Are you still taking donations though Paypal?
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#15
Matt, I'm willing to spend a few hundred on a good solution. Thanks
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