How to install LibreELEC Kodi on Venz V10 Pro around 10 mintutes using USB boot stick

[Sicilian]

For this guide and setup i'm using a 32GB USB 2.0 stick. The Android OS will remain intact in flash providing the guide is followed.

Developer build LibreELEC dated 2016-11-09. This build has Kodi 17.0-Beta 6.

Prerequisites:


USB 2.0 USB Stick, my recommendation would be a minimum of 8GB in size. Anything larger than 32GB may take a while resizing partitions during first boot.
LibreELEC USB-SD Creator.
https://libreelec.tv/downloads/
Filezilla
https://filezilla-project.org/
External USB Keyboard, RF Remote or Mini external USB RF keyboard will be required to obtain IP address from the unit during setup. Also to enable SSH during first setup wizard.
Remote.conf attached to this guide.
Toothpick / Cocktail stick to hold down reset in rear panel.


1) Download LibreELEC image file from here.

http://kszaq.libreelec.tv/s905/
For this guide i'm using latest devel-krypton branch, tested and found very stable.
The exact build I've is from branch 2016-11-09

http://kszaq.libreelec.tv/s905/devel-krypton/
Download the top file in link below, you must use the img.gz for fresh install. 09-Nov-2016 22:03 - 131861525.

http://kszaq.libreelec.tv/s905/devel-krypton/2016-11-09/

2) Connect the USB stick that you wish to us to your PC.

3) Open LibreELEC USB-SD Creator. Ignore Option 1. Option 2, click on Select file and select the img.gz file that you downloaded in step 1.
4) Option 3 select your USB stick if its not automatically selected.
5) Option 4, click on Write and wait for it to create your bootable LibreELEC stick. Click close once complete.

Now we move on to the Venz V10 Pro and boot from LibreELEC USB stick you've just created.

1) Ensure the V10 Pro is powered off.
2) Connect USB stick to the device.
3) On rear you will see a small hold for the reset button. Insert a toothpick or something similar to hold down the reset button.
4) Whilst holding down the reset button, connect power. This can be a little fiddly. Keep holding down reset until LibreELEC boot screen appears. Once LibreELEC bootscreen appears you can release the reset button.
5) Allow the 1st boot to complete.
6) At the first boot its likely the remote control supplied with the Venz V10 Pro will not work. Connect an external USB keyboard. Complete the first setup wizard. ENSURE YOU ENABLE SSH. navigate to Settings > System Information to obtain the IP address. Now we need to SFTP the attached 'remote.conf' to /storage/.config.
7) Open Filezilla. Host is IP of your device. Username = root, password = libreelec, port = 22. Click on Quickconnect.
8) Bottom right box click on the '..' directory to go up one level. Then go into 'Storage' and then into .'config'.
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9) Bottom left box navigate to where you've saved 'remote.conf' attached to this guide and drag across into '.config' directory.
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10) Reboot and enjoy fast lean Kodi through LibreELEC.
11) Optional, but I'd advise to set LibreELEC to wait for network before starting Kodi. Settings > LibreELEC > Network > Scroll down to Advanced Network Settings and set Wait for network before starting Kodi to on.
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[Sicilian]

If you wish to boot back in to Android OS, hit the Power button in Kodi and then select 'Reboot from Internal'.
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To boot back into LibreELEC you need to use the 'tooth pick' method in step 3 of the guide.

The V10 Pro will not boot back into Android unless to select 'Reboot from Internal'. Power off or reboot will not cause it to boot back into Android OS.

[borg]

Hi,
is there a kodi 16 build download? if so which one is the latest?

cheers

[Joe_90]

There is a Jarvis (Kodi 16) build -
http://kszaq.libreelec.tv/s905/7.0.2.009/

By the way, if you are using Kodi on the Venz 10 Pro on a USB stick or SD card, once the initial install is done subsequent boots will be from the USB stick or SD card - no toothpick needed. Perform a shutdown when leaving Kodi as suspend doesn't work reliably at this point in time. The reboot is quick. If there is no SD card or USB stick with a libreELEC image present, then the box will boot from internal flash.

[borg]

will give it a try, cheers

[Joe_90]

em yes - that's why I linked it! Do you have a query on it?

[Mr. Mister]

Its just a pity that you cant use any apks when you boot from libreELEC..

Thats the only reason why i wont use libreELEC.. I need the android side of things with minimal hassle..

[Joe_90]

That's the ideal - good balance of functional Kodi plus the android add-ons.

[borg]

gxl_p212_2g.dtb for Kodi 16.1
Seems to be the correct download for venz 10 pro, installed and working a treat.
http://kszaq.libreelec.tv/s905/7.0.2.009/device_trees/

[Joe_90]

It should work with the built-in device tree in the image on the V10 Pro. No need for specific dtb file but it doesn't do any harm to use the one you did.

[rossi2000]

im running krypton beta6 on my venz from usb stick. (im thinking to install it straight to flash, with the install2internal tool)

how easy is to update these betas from one to the next? are fresh installs always required?

[Joe_90]

Hi @rossi - just to confirm - are you running the LibreELEC builds? If so, the update mechanism for LibreELEC is to drop the .gz file into the Updates folder which you can see in Samba from your PC. After a reboot, LibreELEC will detect the update file, decompress and replace the System and Kernel. It's a bit slower on the USB stick, probably would be faster on the internal flash, but I haven't gone there yet. The update does not affect your Kodi settings, library etc. as they are held in a separate partition on the USB stick.

[rossi2000]

yo matey

yep running the libreelec krypton builds.
i installed beta6 to flash after running it on usb for a day or so :D
runs much quicker, I'm just dubious about how often updates come etc.

sounds easy enough to update then as/when new builds come, thats ok, :) just didn't want to fresh flash all the time.

trying to see if i can possibly build it myself.

[Joe_90]

Runs fine for me on the USB stick. I didn't want to install it to the internal flash as it would blow away the android build and I'm not sure if I could recover it subsequently. @kszak seems to build about once a week. He's working on stabilising the audio and video performance. I would imagine that once Krypton is out of beta, then LibreELEC will have formal builds and probably monthly updates.

[s2tephen]

Is there somewhere I can download a copy of the android OS system for the V10 Pro.
or at least a backup so i can reinstall.
I would prefer to delete the android OS and install kodi direct.

The Kodi version that came installed on the unit keeps crashing (stopping)

[Random_Hero]

Installed and running though USB perfect.

But I believe it will run quicker if installed directly on internal SD card. How do I do that? (dont need the android on this machine)

[s2tephen]

Maybe Sicilian can answer this.
Was the remote.conf file extracted from the Android Version of Venz V10 Pro and is it as orig.

Thanks

[rossi2000]

Installed and running though USB perfect.

But I believe it will run quicker if installed directly on internal SD card. How do I do that? (dont need the android on this machine)

there is a tool called. installtointernal put this on the box and run in it putty.

[Sicilian]

Maybe Sicilian can answer this.
Was the remote.conf file extracted from the Android Version of Venz V10 Pro and is it as orig.

Thanks

Yes sure it was.

[Sicilian]

Installed and running though USB perfect.

But I believe it will run quicker if installed directly on internal SD card. How do I do that? (dont need the android on this machine)

Using Putty, telnet into the unit. Send the command:


installtointernal

Answer yes to following questions you get.

[Retail]

Thanks for the guide used this to install it to an sd card.
The only problem I seem to have is that most of the remote buttons are different I put the remote.conf file in .config
This isnt too much of an issue though

[s2tephen]

Am getting hissing/cracking noises out of speaker when I stop streaming.
Audio is good while watching stream.
Have to start / Stop to get it to stop makeing the noise.
Have changed audio setting but that does not help.