As one should have expected after the Kodi 21 “Omega” release last month, the LibreELEC 12 lightweight Linux media center distribution is now out with many devices updated to 64-bit, including the Rasberry Pi 4 and 5 SBCs.
LibreELEC 11 was released last year based on Kodi 20 “Nexus” and bringing back support for Amlogic devices. LibreELEC 12 builds on that and benefits from the new features added to Kodi 21 such as FFmpeg 6 and works on Arm platforms based on Allwinner, Amlogic, Broadcom (Raspberry Pi), and Rockchip processors, as well as generic x86 computers.
It’s an easy option to create a dedicated HTPC based on a range of hardware with all the features brought by Kodi 21 media center. Since so many platforms are supported there are always some limitations for each and known problems:
- Raspberry Pi – 50/60fps H.264 HW decoding may need force_turbo=1 or core_freq_min=500 in config.txt to avoid AV-sync-issues/skipping
- Several Amlogic devices are well supported – compared to Allwinner/Rockchip, see below – but with a range of missing features
- No support for updates from older LibreELEC releases (clean install is mandatory)
- No support for internal eMMC installs except WeTek Hub/Play2 and SBC boards
- No support for SSV6501 and S908CS WiFi chips
- No drivers for in-box DVB tuners
- No hardware deinterlacing
- No HDR to SDR tone mapping
- No formal support for newer S905X2/D2/Y2, S905X3, S922X, and A312D devices (Android is recommended for those due to a complex situation concerning Linux drivers. Note: CoreELEC is also another option)
- Known problems:
- Allwinner OrangePi Win does not work properly
- Allwinner and Rockchip devices are not widely tested, and there may be issues
- Rockchip RK3328 devices such as the Rock64 SBC are currently not working.
You can check whether your device is supported and get an OS image on the Downloads page. If going the upgrade path from LibreELEC 11 to LibreELEC 12, note that Widevine DRM will need to be reinstalled for those Arm platforms that switch from 32-bit to 64-bit. Further details, notably about the Amlogic Linux drivers situation, can be found in the announcement.
Thanks to Anonymous for the tip.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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