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Linux 6.19 Release – Main changes, Arm, RISC-V, and MIPS architectures

Linux 6.19

Linus Torvalds has just released Linux 6.19 on the Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML): No big surprises anywhere last week, so 6.19 is out as expected – just as the US prepares to come to a complete standstill later today watching the latest batch of televised commercials. The betting man would expect them all to be AI-generated, but maybe some enterprising company decides to buck the trend? Doubtful, but there’s always a slight chance. But for anybody outside the US, maybe taking the newest kernel out for a spin instead is an option? I have more than three dozen pull requests for when the merge window opens tomorrow – thank you to all the early maintainers. And as people have mostly figured out, I’m getting to the point where I’m being confused by large numbers (almost running out of fingers and toes again), so the next kernel is going to […]

LibreELEC 12 released with Kodi 21, 64-bit Arm support for Raspberry Pi 4/5, and platforms

LibreELEC 12 Raspberry Pi 64-bit

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 […]

Upcoming RTD1619 Media Players – Dune HD Pro 4K II, Zidoo Z9X, and Zidoo X

Zidoo X

Realtek RTD1619 hexa-core Cortex-A55 media SoC was first spotted in 2018 in the Linux source code. Since no products had been launched based on RTD1619, I had mostly forgotten about the processor until I wrote about RTD1395 powered Dune HD RealBox 4K. I was then informed about the upcoming Dune HD Pro 4K II, and a quick search reveals Zidoo is also working on its own RTD1619 media players with Zidoo Z9X and Zidoo X models. Dune HD Pro4K II Specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1619 hexa-core Cortex-A55 processor with Mali-G51 Bifrost GPU System Memory – 4 GB RAM Storage – 32 GB flash, MicroSD slot, external SATA HDD (data + power) Video Output – HDMI 2.0b up to 4Kp60 HDR, 3.5mm A/V connector for composite Video Input – HDMI 2.0 input for PiP or recording Audio Output – optical S/PDIF, digital audio via HDMI, analog stereo audio via A/V connector […]