You are asking the wrong questions. Everything is possible with the right motivation. Ask yourself can you do it?
Patrick, I give up. You have all the same experience as me but we are exact opposites in outcomes. You’ve asking endless questions that are nigh on impossible to answer in view of your ever changing expectations. I picked up that you wanted thermal efficient, solid performance for as little as possible. I told you that you can run CoreELEC well from an SD card on N2. For just CoreELEC, I assumed you’d know 2GB would be enough because you only ever had 1GB on MXQ. Next thing, you’re buying a 4GB unit with emmc, asking about running Ubuntu desktop and lord knows what else. So, what budget are you really on? Yep kszak was super for S805 but these guys at CoreELEC are bang on too. Please don’t wear them out with endless what if’s.
My rant is over. I will be silent on all your topics from now on.
He’s bored 
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Probably overthinking it.
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Partly but also buying a second box as I have two Tv’s. Now my second hand boxes were/are OK (NEXBOX A95X and Beelink Mini MX) but after the nightmare of the T95MAX+, which is now OK excepting it’s really poor internet, I’m realising that a more powerful CPU does mean improved picture quality. Remember I’m not looking at 4K just the very best playback at 1080p. So the T95MAX+ is pretty good so I could buy another one of them for my second box but I’ve decided to invest in something better. My considerations were (support was a factor):
MINIX NEO U9-H
Beelink GT King
Odroid N2
So we see I’ve gone for the Odroid N2 mainly because it was recommended but also because it boasts as being excellent at playback, even at 4K. Now it’s expensive for me and I did give it a lot of thought, perhaps too much, but I don’t regret my decision but perhaps I made an error going for the 4GB version but who knows?
As for running from SD, err no not for me as I can notice the difference and the extra £15 was not really an issue. What has perturbed me somewhat is that some seem quick to slate the device! I mean it’s either really capable or it’s not right? Of course the only way I’m going to find out is when it arrives next week.
There must be a point at which a device, and remember I’m only looking at 1080p, is pretty much flawless for the dollar spent. So accepting dodgy encoding I would expect the N2 to be a really good experience. I’m not expecting it to blow me away simply to do what it says on the tin!
Historical perspective:
S805 OK but a bit glitchy and and picture quality was just OK for it’s time.
S905/X Better all round performance and able to handle 10bit with improvements in picture quality, still noticeable judders occasionally.
S905X3 Further increase in all round performance and a pretty big leap in image quality but still very occasional errors in decoding but only slightly.
S922X This is an unknown quantity for me but is suggested to be highly capable and this chip is also used in the GT King. If this processor doesn’t fulfil my needs then perhaps I should have bought a NVIDIA Shield for the ridiculous price they are but I don’t even play games!!
I’ll let you know if I got it right. And if this SBC fulfils my needs, who knows, I might buy a second one!
Oh and of course 4 x USB3 ports is fantastic!
I’m on a budget that will fulfil my needs as I haven’t bought a NVIDIA Shield have I? Yes it’s broken my heart to buy an N2 but needs must and as several people here have said “just buy a decent box that’s supported”. Now I don’t expect any problems with the N2 so I’m not expecting to lean on the developers here unless absolutely necessary.
As for SD cards, emmc and RAM. Well perhaps I made a mistake going for the 4GB version (perhaps I’ll change my order or not) but the emmc is a no-brainier as far as I’m concerned and I did go for the smallest size. My brainstorming about a Linux desktop on the N2 was probably me just trying to ease the pain of spending more than I really wanted to. Hey if it does what I hope then I’ll be very happy. Oh and for the record web-browsing and YouTube/video playback work fine from Linux: https://youtu.be/21uDRhxPVVM
Hopefully I’ll just drop a remote.conf in and I’ll be all sorted. Will also restore a library backup, file locations and thumbs only. If that goes well then it’s just a case of video quality, it’s that simple. And as said if it’s good then in a month or two I might buy another.
The lesson might be, and I’ll soon find out, buy cheap don’t expect quality but pay the real price and get what you paid for. So, again, more than I wanted to spend but if it does what I want then job well done.
And as a foot note:
This whole experience has ‘done-my-nut-in’ which is why I’ve snapped and bought a higher price and supported device. I don’t think I’ll ever tinker with cheap boxes again and vendors selling devices that are ‘plug-n-play’ really is the way to go.
OK pretty much solved I think!
There is a switch on the front of the N2 which gives the option to boot from USB or emmc/sd. So installing Linux to a USB3 thumb drive shouldn’t be a problem. As for video performance under Linux here’s a YouTube test from a year ago (pretty sure the tearing is his video capture card): https://youtu.be/dylc0GjeyM8?t=495
So will do some more research especially on the Odroid forum and see where this adventure takes me. I think it will workout getting the 4GB version as that’s obviously better for a full OS. The bonus, if I buy two, is that I could just unplug the thumb drive and plug it into another unit flick a switch and Bobs your uncle!
Glad to see you get there in the end.
Plug and lots of playing about 
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Well it won’t arrive until next week and ‘the option’ of running a desktop’ seems to be there but whether I’ll ever use it I don’t know. There’s a few other things I’ve one of which the four USB3 ports use the same bus so limited to the speed of one. There’s other stuff which I won’t yapp on about but overall the box/SBC looks very capable. Just the small thing of proof and pudding left!
If you really want to save a bit money I would recommend Odroid C4. You will probably have similar experience as a mediacenter.
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Agreed.
With an equivalent set-up with 16Gb eMMC, case, power supply and RTC shield (optional), he could shave £21 off the cost, or £27 without the RTC.
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Yes but isn’t the N2 pretty much the standard? It seems a lot of people here have one and swear by it. The reason I had the Minix on my shortlist (see above) was because you can get one from Jungle warehouse deals for under £80!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06WV9T85Q/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=A2OAJ7377F756P&psc=1
I almost, I was about to press the buy button, bought one but as my files are local I couldn’t see the point. Obviously the Minix’s are known for their excellent Wifi capabilities which would be the reason why many buy them. Of course the N2, with the right Wifi dongle, is no doubt pretty good too.
I’m more relaxed about my N2 purchase now, remember I have ordered it, as I figure it must be really good and perhaps I’ll even setup Unbuntu on it (on SD probably) if I can get my head around the installation. If the switch thing is as simply as it seems it shouldn’t be a problem.
I did browse the Odroid forums and there’s a lot of people playing will dual boot with some success. Looks as if many are trying to get it to act as CE does with Android (as dual boot) although with limited success. For me flicking the switch isn’t a big deal so that would be my route. I was going to call the seller on Monday but I’ll just hang back and chill. As said I’ll just be happy to have a great CE experience and anything else is just a bonus. I can always research running an OS from SD at a later date if I have the time.
The N2 has its own issues, but very little you can do to it will brick it in the way that is possible (and even easy) to brick a cheap Chinese box. If things go wrong with a cheap chinese box its possible to waste days/weeks trying to get it back. The N2 just needs a new SD card or a reflash of the emmc to bring it back. For me this is the thing that makes it head and shoulders above any Cheap Chinese box. Also despite some reports of issues with the N2 (which to my mind were common to all of the early new generation AMLogic chips) they are built well with quality components and will last for years. We can look to the thousands of satisfied C2 owners who are still using these boxes as evidence of the quality of these products.
To me comparing the N2 to Android boxes is like comparing a PC to a cheap Gaming console.
Shoog
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Yes they’ll always be issues which will have to be accepted and worked around but you both suggest the obvious, that it’s simply a quality piece of kit. It may not be perfect as something else will, undoubtedly, come along but it’s probably as good as it gets. Of course some will run Kodi via a PC and no doubt that could, with a high end graphics card, be amazing but not many are going to dedicate a quality PC to Kodi.
Contrary to what a few have said the N2 is a reasonable computer for running an OS, not ideal, but perfectly formed and probably better than those old laptops we all have hidden away. It’s likely that if CE runs really well then the idea of running a OS on the N2 will fade as it was just me trying to justifying the financial outlay. Hey they’re not expensive but many of us are used to buying cheap boxes and going through the process, the stress, of getting them to work correctly although they often fall short. I’ve given up on stress, hopefully, and decided that it makes more sense to buy something that has a pedigree and works well.
Hey I’m saying all this and I haven’t even received my box yet but the excitement is building and I’m looking forward to the experience. I will no doubt give my opinion once it’s arrived, setup and running.
Well lucky for me I cancelled my order for the N2 due to availability! I’m still considering a Minix though, but…
,well I’m going to sit tight for a couple of months.
I often think if something works why change it but things do change unfortunately. I only wanted to be able to play 10bit files and it turned into a nightmare. There’s a lot of quality boxes being sold on ebay simply because they can’t play 10bit but perhaps they’ll make great servers?
Anyway I’ll leave you to it.
Bye!
The X96 Air 4/64GB is decent. Plays 10-bit np.
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I already said to you in another thread that besides the S905W SoC the S912 is the worst one because of the missing mali drivers, and now you are considering to buy a Minix U9-H, which contains an S912 SoC. Don’t get me wrong, but why are you asking for help, when you are constantly doing exactly the opposite of what has been suggested?
Then order the new model N2Plus for the same price:
" Availability: You can order 4GB model now and we will start shipping from 20 July.
N2+ 4GB model($79) https://www.hardkernel.com/shop/odroid- … yte-ram-2/
N2+ Cooling Fan($4) https://www.hardkernel.com/shop/80x80x1 … connector/
2GB model will be ready to order from 21 July and shipping from 24 July.
N2+ 2GB model ($63) https://www.hardkernel.com/shop/odroid- … yte-ram-2/
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Will there be a N2+ CoreELEC edition?
I don’t think so, but time will tell.