[Pipo X7] OS - openELEC

[no_spam_for_me]

I had done some useful extracts from [Freaktab Developer Review] Pipo X7 Windows 8.1 TV Box by rrileypm

hi sure but if you can test openelec, i think is the best solution for this box.hope you have time to review it...
http://releases.openelec.tv/OpenELEC...6_64-5.0.0.tar

Why trying to run openelec on an intel / windows box? Isn't the power of an intel box that it can run Windows? And therefore everything that runs on windows? Like Netflix HD, Kodi, all kinds of streaming sites/apps and live TV like NPO from the Netherlands? I have Openelec running at 1080p on a Raspberry PI which costs less than half of this box.

I'm more interested in how Windows is running. Do you have enough memory, is installing Chrome and starting it a bit smooth or does it feel slow. Does Netflix run out off the box, is Kodi able to run movies at 1080p with this hardware, that kind of stuff.

This most likely won't work because first of all it has a UEFI which is not supported by OPENELEC - 2nd its a 32bit UEFI which means it needs a 32bit UEFI boot loader, which not even a Ubuntu Distro has. There are workarounds but nothing 'official' yet.

Rrileypm - thanks a lot for taking the time to share your findings on the X7. I have one on order.

I am really looking forward to seeing if you can give the Openelec version of Kodi a try on this box.

Someone earlier asked why would you want to run Openelec rather than Win 8.1. The reason is that Openelec is a tailored linux based build which includes only what is needed to run Kodi, and which updates itself automatically. There are a lot of people who just want a bit of hardware to run Kodi as the front end for media they have stored elsewhere or are streaming from the net. And Openelec does that very well.

Over on the XBMC/Kodi forum, you would find that if you want a good piece of hardware which will run Openelec, many (me included) would recommend a Chromebox. But they are relatively expensive in some parts of the world (Europe, for example). And on paper at least, something like the X7 could deliver a very similar experience for a lot less money. To start with, you would probably boot to Openelec off an USB or TF card, and that would leave the win 8.1 functionality there for you to play with as a bonus if you just go into the bios and tell the box to boot from the internal storage. But I could imagine a lot of people getting hold of these boxes, having an image of the 8.1 install available as backup somewhere, and then installing Openelec by overwriting the Windows install.

Rrileypm - I hope this little blurb inspires you to try the Openelec install (as your time is precious!). You may find yourself famous (well sort of) on the XBMC/Kodi forum if you do.....

The problem here is that the pipo x7 has a 32bit UEFI openelec only supports UEFI in 64bit. It has been done that you can create a 32bit UEFI with a 64 bit operating system (Ubuntu) but so far its failed in openelec.

I hope it gets sorted though !! I have my pipo x7 on its way

Its because the pipo x7 is expecting to find a 32bit uefi file to load but the openelec USB stick only has the 64bit files. So it ignores the stick and runs windows. I'm sure it will be fixed at some point as to get any Linux distro on you need to either have a 32 bit os that boots from uefi or a 64 bit os that boots from a 32 bit uefi ( which has been done )

here is the korrect file with 32bit version can you please try it rrileypm

http://releases.openelec.tv/OpenELEC-Generic.i386-5.0.0.tar

32bit builds (possibly deprecated with OpenELEC 6.0)

Will that 32bit version boot with uefi or does it require legacy BIOS?

this muss work 32bit uefi

The openelec builds in the past that was 32 bit wouldn't work with uefi they required legacy boot to be set in the BIOS. The pipo x7 is actually a 64 bit system it just needs a 32 bit boot loader

That version is a 32bit version of openelec, but it requires the BIOS to have a legacy mode. Its yet to be seen if there is a legacy mode on the pipo x7. 32 bit versions of openelec don't use uefi to boot

You should search the UEFI for a Legacy BIOS mode option, if available, and enable it to use legacy booting procedures.

UEFI is a replacement for the older BIOS firmware interface.

BIOS bootable disks require the master boot record (MBR) partition structure.
UEFI bootable disks require the GUID partition table (GPT) partition structure.

Therefore, you must partition the bootable disk accordingly, to become actually bootable.

BIOS can boot 32-bit and 64-bit systems.
A 32-bit UEFI can only boot 32-bit systems having 32-bit loaders.
A 64-bit UEFI can only boot 64-bit systems having 64-bit loaders.

Most modern systems using a 64-bit CPU have a 64-bit UEFI, used along with 64-bit operating systems. Manufacturers of cheap systems using Atom processors and having Windows 8.1 preinstalled, opt for the 32-bit version of the operating system, since the CPU is somewhat weak for the 64-bit version, and there is limited storage space. In these systems, a 32-bit UEFI is factory flashed, to be able to boot the 32-bit version of Windows 8.1. This 32-bit UEFI is incompatible with all 64-bit operating systems. Since Atom is a 64-bit CPU, a 64-bit UEFI could be flashed to these devices using an appropriate firmware. The problem is that most, if not all, manufacturers do not provide 64-bit UEFI firmware for their cheap Atom based devices.

One solution is to try to manually add a 32-bit loader to a 64-bit system to boot it using a 32-bit UEFI, but the outcome can not be guaranteed.

To bypass these problems, some UEFI have a Legacy BIOS mode option. This particular option, if available, either totally disables UEFI and enables BIOS, or gives the option to select the booting behaviour per connected device, meaning that you can select Legacy BIOS mode only for external USB Flash Drives. By enabling that option, legacy BIOS bootable disks having a master boot record (MBR) partition structure can be used with the device. Beware, since the internal eMMC ROM is partitioned accordingly to UEFI, enabling Legacy BIOS mode will prevent the device from booting from the internal storage.

[noggin]

All the reviews I've read of the Pipo X7 and the similar Meegopad T01 (similar hardware specs in a TV stick format) are that, like most tablets based on the same CPUs, the BIOS is 32 bit UEFI only, with no legacy option.

There has been some success installing Ubuntu with a 32 bit UEFI loader and a 64 bit kernel (with some kernel options to cope with the mixed 32/64 bit environment) on the Meegopad T01 (with a chap called Ian Morrison succeeding) The Asus T100 has a similar issue - and there are plenty of guides to installing Ubuntu on these knocking around the web. (Though beware the installation to eMMC may differ) It should be possible to run Ubuntu 14.10 from a live UBS and then install (or build) Kodi on top of it?

AIUI there is no OpenElec build currently in circulation that has 32bit UEFI support - as it is a rarity really limited to tablets (Originally the Win 8.1 power saving systems were only implemented in 32 bit builds).

The 32 bit OpenElec builds are for legacy BIOSs (which the X7 and T01 apparently don't have), and the 64 bit builds are for either 64 bit UEFI or legacy BIOSs.

Looking at github someone has tried and failed to add 32 bit UEFI support to OE in the past.

However with the Pipo X7 and Meegopad T01 getting a lot of coverage, I suspect someone will solve this quite soon... (I hope to receive one of each for 'playing with' soon)