Vero 4K Reinstallation Problem

Mikey405 · 25 April 2025 17:59

Hi all.

I realise the OSMC 4K is now out of support so I hope I’m okay posting here.

I have roughly 10 OSMC 4K+ devices running in a small museum. I recently purchased another OSMC 4K (not the “+” model) second hand. (Currently I can’t physically upgrade the devices to the newest model because of the physical size difference - but that’s another story.)

Anyway, being a smart-arse (or so I thought), I decided to reinstall the previously working but heavily customised software so that I had a factory experience. I’ve done this many times previously without any problems. This time, however, I’m getting failures and I think I may have bricked my device.

Everything looks okay to start with (Formatting device, Installing files etc.) but after it has finished, a message pops up and says “Install failed: tar: corrupted data”. I’ve attached a couple of pictures (I had to take a screen-grab of a video to get all the initial text) but the gist of the second message is “Can’t execute ‘/sbin/splash_early’ : No such file or directory”. I can open the install file on my Windows PC without any issue so, at first glance anyway, it appears that it’s not corrupted.

I did notice that the time and date in the log file (also attached) were Sunday Jan 1 2017, 00:00.

I’ve tried downloading each of the three different version-dates of the software on the installation app, I’ve tried 3 different USB sticks - all wildly different sizes and brands. I’ve tried a Sandisk 64GB micro-SD card. I’ve even tried copying the installation file from the memory device to the desktop and back again before installation (as another user said that this had worked when he had the same issue with a Vero V in a different thread).

I know the device is now officially out of support and I really ought to be buying a load of new devices to keep them in support but any help in the meantime would be much appreciated.

Thanks everyone.

Kind regards.

From Mike.
PS. Couldn’t upload a “.log” file so here is the text below.

Sun Jan 1 00:00:12 2017 Starting OSMC installer
Sun Jan 1 00:00:15 2017 Detecting device we are running on
Sun Jan 1 00:00:15 2017 Mounting boot filesystem
Sun Jan 1 00:00:15 2017 Trying to mount to MNT_BOOT (/mnt/boot)
Sun Jan 1 00:00:15 2017 Using device->boot: /dev/mmcblk1p1 and FS: fat32
Sun Jan 1 00:00:15 2017 Trying to mount to MNT_BOOT (/mnt/boot)
Sun Jan 1 00:00:15 2017 Using device->boot: /dev/sda1 and FS: fat32
Sun Jan 1 00:00:15 2017 Filesystem defined by /mnt/boot/filesystem.tar.xz
Sun Jan 1 00:00:15 2017 No preseed file was found
Sun Jan 1 00:00:15 2017 Flash looks OK
Sun Jan 1 00:01:19 2017 Creating root partition
Sun Jan 1 00:01:21 2017 Calling fmtpart for partition /dev/vero-nand/root and fstype ext4
Sun Jan 1 00:01:27 2017 Creating filesystem with 3716096 4k blocks and 930240 inodes
Filesystem UUID: aca9f9c4-53fc-47a3-ab08-072ef8045dbd
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208

Allocating group tables: 0/114 done
Writing inode tables: 0/114 done
Creating journal (16384 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: 0/114 done

Sun Jan 1 00:01:27 2017 From a root partition of /dev/vero-nand/root, I have deduced a base device of /dev/vero-nand/roo
Sun Jan 1 00:01:27 2017 Mounting root
Sun Jan 1 00:01:27 2017 Trying to mount to MNT_ROOT (/mnt/root)
Sun Jan 1 00:01:27 2017 Using device->root: /dev/vero-nand/root
Sun Jan 1 00:01:27 2017 Extracting files to root filesystem
Sun Jan 1 00:01:27 2017 Starting extract process …
Sun Jan 1 00:01:27 2017 Extracting from /mnt/boot/filesystem.tar.xz
Sun Jan 1 00:02:19 2017 Halting Install. Error message was: tar: corrupted data
Sun Jan 1 00:02:19 2017 Extraction of root filesystem completed
Sun Jan 1 00:02:19 2017 Configuring bootloader
Sun Jan 1 00:02:19 2017 Boot changed. Re-mounting the real /boot
Sun Jan 1 00:02:19 2017 Trying to unmount MNT_BOOT (/mnt/boot)
Sun Jan 1 00:02:19 2017 Trying to mount to MNT_BOOT (/mnt/boot)
Sun Jan 1 00:02:19 2017 Using device->boot: /dev/sda1 and FS: fat32
Sun Jan 1 00:02:19 2017 Configuring bootloader: moving /boot to appropriate boot partition
Sun Jan 1 00:02:31 2017 Vero 4K family: bootloader to be flashed is uboot-vero4k.bin
Sun Jan 1 00:02:31 2017 Configuring boot cmdline
Sun Jan 1 00:02:31 2017 Configuring /etc/fstab
Sun Jan 1 00:02:31 2017 Successful installation. Dumping log and rebooting system

sam_nazarko · 25 April 2025 19:12

Can you try another PSU from a known good Vero?

Contact me before ordering and we can do a bulk discount.

One thing you might find useful on the V is the internal USB port. This could be handy for storing media on a flash drive but not allowing someone to pull it out of the device easily.

Mikey405 · 25 April 2025 19:33

Thanks Sam. Well, an interesting thing happened when I tried a PSU from an existing device. The first time I tried to reinstall the software everything worked a treat so I thought that was it. I thought that I’d try recreating the issue with the old PSU (everything else being equal) and, yes, it failed again. The only problem was that when I came to reinstall with the known-good PSU again, it failed again. D’oh! I tried it several times again with the new PSU and each time it has failed - but it is now working again - using an old image that I’d downloaded from last year (“OSMC May 2024 2024.05-1” it says on the bottom left of the “Update” screen).

This is really not very satisfying because I now don’t know whether it’s the software version, the PSU or the device, and I don’t want to try it again lest I break it.

I have a hefty 5A bench PSU here so I’ll have another play around over the weekend and see if I can draw any conclusions from my mish-mash of PSUs and versions.

Re the upgrades to Vero V - I know that I’ll have to update eventually but presently the devices fit snugly in special ventilated plastic cases with HDMI-to-SDI converters etc. so a bit of modification may be required in order to fit the new models. (And, to be honest, they’re only playing SD MKV videos so at the moment they’re not short on power.)

I’ll report back my findings.

Thanks again Sam for the speedy response.

Kind regards.

From Mike.

Mikey405 · 25 April 2025 20:16

Well…

I’ve connected up the bench PSU and the device never seems to draw more than about 520mA at 5V - and it still fails with the latest images even with the PSU not drifting as much as 1mV - so I think there might be something else going on.

I can, however, reliably install the previously-downloaded image from May 2024 and then update, but… On running the updates the first time I did get a black and white screen full of data and hex numbers - but a reload seemed to work fine.

So, perhaps this is a workaround for my device. I don’t think I’m going to use this one in anger in case the hardware is on its way out - I’ll stick it on the back of my TV at home and see what happens.

Thanks Sam and all.

Kind regards.

From Mike.

MG880 · 27 April 2025 22:51

I don’t know if what I describe can be useful…
I had problems with my Vero V working erratically (freeze, remote not working, blue screen with unsmiling emoji, etc.)
I reinstalled 5-6 times with no progress.
UNTIL, I disconnected the Vero V from the HDMI Switch and… everything worked normally.
I bought a new HDMI Switch and everything worked also normally.
My problem was the *$&? HDMI Switch !

sam_nazarko · 27 April 2025 23:32

This is interesting.

Do you know what HDMI switch you were using?
I wonder if it was backfeeding power. I don’t think it’s related to Mike’s issue but if there’s always a dodgy product we should be aware of it’s good to know, especially if it’s common on the market.

That sounds like a kernel panic with a stack trace.

Would be interested to know how hot you run these devices in their enclosures.

Sam

Mikey405 · 28 April 2025 05:09

Thanks MG880.

I have been building my devices through a KVM switch (HDMI and USB) and a Dell monitor but up to now I’ve not had any problem. Having said that, this is the first “4K” (as opposed to the “4K+”) that I’ve built.

I’ve now connected the unit to my my old LG Plasma TV at home so I’ll have a go with rebuilding again tonight and report my findings.

Mikey405 · 28 April 2025 05:21

Thanks for the reply Sam.

The 4K+ devices do get treated nicely in their enclosures and stay very cool. They are mounted on their sides with a Decimator Design MD-HX and a Blackmagic SDI to Analogue converter with air gaps between them. This allows us to run 720p-50 16:9 and 625 line PAL (576i-50 4:3) simultaneously. The enclosures have centrifugal fans and all the devices stay lovely and cool.

The enclosures aren’t custom designed for these devices (They’re actually Fridge-organisers ) it’s just that I discovered that all the separate modules fit really well into them and allow for good ventilation.

Mikey405 · 28 April 2025 06:18

To be honest, I think I have a RAM issue with this latest 4K so I’m not going to lose any sleep if I have to ditch it. I’m trying to persuade a couple of pals to upgrade their 4K+ devices to the Vero V, so perhaps they’ll let me have their old ones.

Ps. Is there a util that I can run at the CLI to test the RAM?

MG880 · 28 April 2025 17:43

Sorry for the delay: I was out in the countryside.

The discarded HDMI Switcher was a BENFEI HDMI 1.4V 2 to 1 Switcher.

.

Note that there is no independent source of power so it must be powered via HDMI.

Note also, that it worked correctly for 1½ years (with a RaspPI4) and 6 months with my Vero V.

It stopped working (or worked erraticaly) with my Vero V when I did a reinstall (for SSH problems).

Finally, it still worked with the second HDMI source (an Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K).

I replaced this switch with one using an USB power adapter.

This last one is OK with the Vero V and Fire TV Stick.

That is why, given the HDMI power source for the old BENFEi, I tought that it may be related with a power drain on the Vero and be related with Mickey405 symptoms…

Wishfukl thinking I guess

sam_nazarko · 2 May 2025 02:31

Yes… but I never trust it fully. I’ve seen it lie both ways…
We obviously have a tool suite that we can’t share publicly that is more thorough.

This is really cool.

You’re welcome to send a device back to me and I can give it a once over

Cheers

Sam

sam_nazarko · 2 May 2025 02:34

Thanks for sharing. I’m glad that your device works again normally, but sorry to hear about the experience with that switch

Sam