LibreElec ( Installation / How To Guides / No Audio in Chrome Solution)

In my LibreElec ‘how to’ blog post I provide installation instructions, other ‘how to’ guides, show you how to fix the no audio problem in Chrome and much more.

I will update this blog post every so often.

Last updated: 5th May 2020

Warning: Please note I am not vouching for LibreElec and I’m just trying to provide useful information. Anything you do based upon reading this blog post, you do at your own risk.

In this blog post you will find:

• What is LibreElec?
• How I use LibreElec (last updated May 2020)
• Installation instructions for an old 64-bit PC (last updated May 2020)
• No Sound in Chrome – Kodi on LibreElec (Problem Solved)
• How To Update LibreElec using a file (based on using 8.2.5)
• Conclusion

What is LibreElec?
LibreELEC is an operating system that comes with Kodi installed, which can run on many low performance computers with minimal configuration.

On an old PC you can us LibreElec with Kodi to play DVDs, listen to audio CDs, watch locally hosted video files and online streaming services and much more.

Some people choose to install LibreElec on small computers, whilst others use larger older computers. A huge benefit is legacy support, such as the remote control I use with LibreElec, which isn’t supported by Windows 10, but I used with Vista.

Also the learning curve for LibreElec is quite easy for a linux based OS and so far I’ve not needed to configure a graphics card on any of the PCs I installed it on.

The time and effort that people must have contributed must not be overlooked, as this is an impressive project.

How I use LibreElec
In this section I will document my use of LibreElec.

5th May 2020
I’ve got LibreElec installed on two old PCs. The bedroom PC is an old HP computer with a Q6600 CPU and 4GB ram. I use it for BBC iPlayer and Twitch viewing. The computer doesn’t get used too much, but I find it’s useful to have.

With the bedroom PC I use a Medion OR24V RF VISTA Remote Control which uses a USB RF Remote Receiver CM20E.

USB RF Remote Receiver CM20E

Medion OR24V RF Vista Remote Control

The lounge PC uses a Q9400 CPU and is dual boots with both LibreElec and Windows 10. I’ve recently changed the hardware setup and LibreElec on this PC is currently used for audio CDs, DVDs and Twitch.

With the lounge PC I use a 2.4GHz mini wireless keyboard and touchpad which connects to the PC via a USB dongle. I’ve managed to break my mini keyboard, but it still sort of works!

Also on the lounge PC I use a OR24E RF MCE Remote control which connects to a USB RF Remote Receiver CM20E.

I’ve not been able to get either of the remote controllers to work with Windows 10, but they work with LibreElec!

Installation instructions for an old 64-bit PC
To make life easier, I’ve split the installation process into three parts, as well providing useful related feedback. The steps I’ve provided in part one are not the only method to perform this task. I used Windows 10 to prepare a USB memory stick and have provided instructions for that operating system.

Part 1 – Download and install the operating system and software

These instructions are for people who use a Windows 10 PC to prepare a USB memory stick.

Warning: You will wipe all data from the USB memory stick, so you backup anything important!

1. Download the LibreELEC USB-SD Creator.
2. Insert a USB memory stick into the PC.
3. Run the LibreElec software as an administrator. *
4. Select the version you require.
5. Click on ‘Download’, then choose a folder to download to.
6. If you see ‘Download complete, checksum ok.’, select your USB memory stick and click ‘Write’.
7. If you agree to erase all data on the USB memory stick, select ‘Yes’ to confirm the write.

Note: I’ve installed LibreELEC a number of times now. On a couple of occasions, I wasn’t able to complete the writing process to the memory stick. The solution I found, was to format the memory stick to default settings and then try again.

Part 2 – Run LibreELEC for the first time and configure basic options

Warning: You will wipe all the data on the destination hard disk, which you wish to use for LibreElec. Please backup any data before you proceed.

1. Plug the USB memory stick into your target computer.
2. Boot to the USB memory stick.
3. Select the option to ‘Install LibreELEC’.
4. Choose the hard disk which you wish to install LibreELEC.
5. If you’re agreeable to wiping the hard disk, select ‘Yes’ to continue.
6. Then if you’re still agreeable to wiping the hard disk, select ‘Yes’ to confirm.
7. When prompted, remove the USB memory stick and select ‘OK’.
8. Back at the ‘main menu’ select ‘Reboot’.

Part 3 – Booting LibreELEC for the first time

1. Select your preferred language and select ‘Next’.
2. Once LibreELEC has booted, type in a suitable ‘Hostname’ and then select ‘Next’.

You should be able to finish the rest of the configuration on your own.

No Sound in Chrome – Kodi on LibreElec (Problem Solved)
This section of the blog post tells you how to solve the no sound in Chrome problem on LibreElec.

At the time of writing this blog post I was running LibreElec (officia) version 9.2.2 generic.x86_64 on an old HP computer. I have an awful Nvidia graphics card installed and I was using audio from the HDMI output.

Background
I’ve got an old PC running LibreElec and I installed the Chrome web browser, but there was no audio, yet in the rest of Kodi I had audio. Thankfully the problem is easy to solve.

Note: To implement the instructions below you require a mouse and keyboard. These instructions are primarily for someone using HDMI for audio output, but probably can be easily adjusted for people using non-HDMI audio output.

How to fix no audio in Chrome LibreElec:

1. Under ‘Add-ons’ and then ‘Programs’, Install the ‘System Tools’ package and then run it.
2. Type aplay –list-devices in the terminal window to help you identify the device and the number you use for audio output.
3. Note down the two numbers (device and second number) you think you’re using. For my PC it was the second listing for card 1 and I noted down device 7, HDMI 1.
4. Now type ‘Exit’.
5. Right click on ‘Chrome’ and select ‘Settings’.
6. Make sure ‘Stop Kodi Player and suspend audioengine’ is enabled.
7. Select ‘Use custom audio device’.
8. Type in PLUGHW:X,Y (X being the device and Y being the HDMI number). i.e. for my setup it was PLUGHW:1,7
9. Now select ‘OK’ and when ready run Chrome.

Here is a photo of the settings I have for Chrome in LibreElec.

My personal experience is that Chrome runs best on my LibreElec system if I open one page at a time and if the display/video starts flickering, then I restart Chrome.

How To Update LibreElec using a file (based on using 8.2.5)

The instructions below are based on someone using Windows 10 to transfer to the LibreElec computer across a LAN.

1. Run the LibreELEC USB-SD Creator as an administrator.
2. Select the version you wish to download.
3. Select ‘Download’ and then choose a folder.
4. Make sure LibreELEC is running.
5. Open ‘File Explorer’ and type in the top bar, the IP address. i.e. \\192.168.0.10\
6. Browse to the ‘Update’ folder and then transfer the GZ file you downloaded to the update folder.
7. Reboot LibreELEC.

Once you’ve rebooted, LibreELEC will update itself.

Conclusion
I quite like LibreElec and at the time of writing (May 2020), I intend to carry on using the operating system for quite a while and I will update this blog post every so often.

I hope you’ve found this blog post helpful and I would appreciate a thank you in the comments.