Love OSMC was wonder if a i.MX6 build is possible in the future for the CuboxTV player
Would be neat to replace OE
Eventually it will be on this
Yeah i know but thats Cortex not i.MX6
got my i.mx6 hardware ready and willing to beta test 
Same here, I have a Cubox-i2. Thus far Iâve been disappointed with it but I am hoping OSMC can change that.
I am also keen for an imx6 build, beta or RC3. I have a cubox i4, and have put off buying a new RPi2 (~$90AUD) because I was hoping OSMC would be out for the Cubox. Sam said on twitter that weâd get a beta in August last year, but weâve got nothing but âwhen itâs readyâ since then. Not complaining, just would like to know so I can make informed decisions.
I feel bad writing in an IMX.6 topic.
I know Sam and the team are doing a lot of work to make OSMC a fantastic media center solution and even an alternative for linux distributions.
I bought a Cubox-i4 Pro last year November. The RPi2 had not yet been announced. I needed something faster than the RPi1. With its sleek design and powerful SOC and even SATA support and Bluetooth internally, theoretically it should be able to turn any audio system into a Bluetooth receiver, I thought it was worth the investment.
I was convinced XBian would be fully supported as the first build was already out for Cubox and the guy from GeeXbox was keen on helping to get Flexget installed in GeeXBox. I even donated âŹ50 to XBian.
Then I also bought a Cubox for one of my parents.
Now, nearly 10 months later, GeeXbox has basically died. A working, stable XBian for Cubox is further than ever. Archlinux used to work, but installing it has become impossible (and SolidRun even closed one of my topics about ArchLinux no longer installing on their IMX.6). The only stable mediacenter solution that works is OpenElec.
And SolidRun is dead quiet about it.
It is a complete waste to run OE on a Cubox since it has the power to be more than just a simple client. It has enough juice to function as the main media center hub. Using old RPis as a client in the bedroom for example.
I start to think I made a huge mistake spending 2x âŹ140 on Cuboxes and donating 50 box to XBian. If I want to have a fully functional mediacenter (=OSMC) that also takes care of file management and downloading, I will have to buy an RPi2 for myself.
Is there still hope for IMX.6? Or have others given up, is there lack of support from SolidRun? These are the real questions I have, embarrased to ask because I donât want to put pressure on the OSMC devteam.
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Iâm really disappointed as well. OSMC team should inform us when will they want to publish image for i.MX6.
âcomming soonâ takes too longâŚ
We were waiting for other i.MX6 vendors (UDoo, Wandboard, Utilite) to collaborate with before we announced support. We have contacted these vendors but have not received any reply after several months. We therefore believe that i.MX6 support is either not in popular demand or there is little willingness to further support for this platform.
A port of OSMC to i.MX6 platforms is extremely trivial if U-Boot is provided. We even maintain our own kernel for this platform and adding DTs and modifying U-Boot is all that is needed. I donât know what platform you are waiting for, but the vendor can easily add support for OSMC and they are likely in a better capacity to do so than we are.
Weâll update the website shortly to reflect our revised hardware roadmap. I was slightly reluctant to do this as I was (perhaps optimistically) hoping we would be able to add some i.MX6 hardware support.
Cheers
Sam
I can fully relate to your post! I found that arch linux is the best avaiable option for me. But now, I canât fully update the system because with newest uboot or kernel it doesnât boot anymore =/
âŚSo what ecactly is needed from Solidrun? I also would love OSMC for my hummingboard.
Hi,
To clarify there is a difference between booting on the hardware and supporting it properly. The SR kernel has not been updated for some time and it lacks some features such as fractional modelines, proper CEC support, proper 3D support etc. We are focused on Vero for now. If the kernel was well maintained then I am sure other distributions would be running better and the hardware would be more widely supported too. OSMC can boot on SR hardware, we just canât guarantee hardware compatibility in the future in its current state. We want to support other major i.MX6 vendors and the key for this is more Device Tree and U-Boot SPL patches to support this. Then we will able to truly say we support i.MX6.
Not all doom and gloom however: It looks like jnettlet is preparing a new kernel tree which looks promising, and I see that âultramanâ (OE) is working on U-Boot with more vendor support. You can boot OSMC on some other i.MX6 platforms, but Iâd appreciate it if you manage your expectations for now until we announce further progress.
Sam
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Excuse my ignorance. Is there a diffrence between the vero kernel and the âSRâ kernel?
Since the vero is essentially a cubox-i.
Vero and RPi have an Arm Cortex A9 SOC, Cubox is I.MX6 which is a completely different SOC, CPU, GPU.
You couldnât be more wrong, actually.
Feel free to correct me. I just look at the OSMC Vero spec site. I hate these comparisons, if people just read they donât have to discuss this anymore:
https://osmc.tv/product/vero/
clearly says Cortex A9.
But if I am wrong, my apologies. Canât be all knowing.
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Cortex A9 is a processor core not a SoC. i.MX6 is one of several SoC that use the Cortex A9. One of two different Vivante GPUs are available with the i.MX6. Past comments, see https://twitter.com/SamNazarko/status/523755508788781056, indicate that the Vero runs on an i.MX6 â and I believe a Vivante GC880 for the GPU.
First generation raspberry PI uses ARM11 core; Raspberry Pi 2 uses a Cortex A7 â both Pi generations use a Broadcom SoC.
Solid Run has a page that explains the i.MX6 is buit on a Cortex A9: http://solid-run.com/imx6-advantages/
The Vero IS a CuBox-i2w, so ⌠not all that diffrent.
I sold the 2 Cubox-i 4Pro, now have a RPi2. It looks ugly (but hidden behind the tv) lacks Bluetooth/wifi/esata/optical-out and is in theory slower, but it was the best decision ever!
It works flawlessly.
I will forever hate Solidrun. I hope the Vero2 is not coming from those asses.
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