Thoughts on Vero4k+

Help and Support Vero 4K / Vero 4K +
1

I’ve had the Vero for a short while and I’d just like others to benefit from the rabbit holes I’ve been down. I like simple and not VERY new but I got the SBC bug in 2020 and have used them very successfully in my attic cinema setup and audio streaming.

However, in the sitting room we don’t want a 4k monster since we don’t buy 4k source or have subscriptions. My Humax HDR-T2 was getting long in the tooth with no s/w update and the ‘smart’ Sony TV is slow and buggy for IP TV services. I have been using One for All remotes to control this lot.

So, I bought the Vero to complement my Rpi3/TVheadend backend (RPi TV Hat + WinTv dual usb tuners). It is correctly configured for Kodi, has support and is a neat box. I would spend more to get an RPi4 even close - (puts on tin hat).

For remote control, what I did not expect was the absolute horror show that is CEC, Flirc and HDMI.

In the end, my best solution was to treat the Sony TV as a monitor and promote the Vero to the centre of attention and just push it’s video to the Sony and spdif audio to the amplifier.

It’s small remote does “just enough” which is great for the none-technical and the missing mute button is easily (and more conveniently) resolved by pressing Pause.

I have managed to set Kodi to force the TV to standby when the it is suspended and both come back again when a remote key is pressed - a ‘one-stop’ shop. My amplifier is not smart enough to take a suspend/wakeup call so I have to walk for that one. Shucks.

If your setup has all the things I’ve rejected and works, then be grateful. For everybody else, just think about what you want out of this technology before smacking your head on that brick wall one time too many. KISS wins most of the time and can certainly help keep you calm.

Cheers

2

There isn’t anything the OSMC remote does that you can’t accomplish with a FLIRC USB dongle and a suitable universal remote. If you wanted to go that route to get access to more physical buttons, and you were willing to invest the time, I can outline what you need to do to get there.

As for CEC that standard is somewhat limited, not equally supported across all hardware, and generally a bit of a mess from being tied to the oldest versions of itself that was quite limited being based off an even older similar technology. That being said did you try configuring settings>system>input>peripherals>CEC adapter> to turn off both the TV and AVR? That should make Kodi send a shutdown command directly to the AVR as well as the TV. I think the more typical setup is to setup an AVR to sync its power state to the TV so its automatic, but the option is there for people who need it.

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3

There is no AVR.

4

If the amplifier you said you connected via spdif isn’t connected to the TV via HDMI then it has no CEC connection and therefore there is no way for CEC to tell it to turn off. In this case your best bet is to use a universal remote that supports macro’s and then just program a couple macros that send power on/off commands for each of the devices.

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16

You’re still trying to solve problems that I don’t have. The piece was for information only. Please stop. Thanks.