Ugoos X4 Pro with Amlogic S905X4

Thanks Lightning, that is a big help and should be helpful to others to save them opening their box if it does not fully work in CE. My X4 Pro is about to arrive any day now, hopefully today.

Well I have just got my Ugoos X4 Pro box and nice looking box and set up. The date of manufacture is very recent and shows as 2209 so not an old box that Lightning had the problem with. But I have a few problems that I need some help with please.

First of all I am using the latest 19.5 nightly build dated 6th Oct and using the dedicated Ugoos X4 device tree of the same date.

Okay all booted up okay into CoreELEC Matrix nightly but I had no control. Neither the remote nor the USB keyboard would work. Same was true using the generic X4 device tree which I discarded and went back to the Ugoos X4 DTB. I noticed that it did work with my Tanix X4 remote though even without restoring any previous backup.

I then discovered that if I moved the USB keyboard dongle from the USB2 port (Marked OTG ??) into the USB3 port the keyboard now worked okay. Tried my USB3 stick and USB hard drive plugged into the USB2/OTG port and they both worked fine too. So I am baffled why the keyboard dongle does not work in the USB2/OTG port? Neither my Logitec keyboard nor the Rii i8 worked in that port but both okay using the USB3 port ??? This is not good as I want the fast USB3 port free for my USB3 fast hard drive not the keyboard dongle. So can anyone help here ?? Is it a device tree driver problem though everything else works fine WiFi, Bluetooth perfect and my Ethernet connection gives me 530Mbps Down and 200Mbps Up which is about twice as fast as the gigabit port gives me at best on my old Tanix TX5 Deluxe. So the box hardware is very good it seems as I expected it would be.

I also finally need to know why the remote will not work with the dedicated Ugoos X4 device tree ?? Can anyone help me here too please?? Is there a remote.conf file I can download and put into the .config folder? I know nothing about Meson configuration BTW.

I meant to add that the USB2/OTG port works fine with the keyboard dongle in Android so it must be a driver problem I assume as to why it wont work in the latest CoreELEC 19.5 nightly

Try with Nexus nightly for comparison.

Thanks Vasco I had not got around to trying that and now I did although the Ugoos X4 remote still does not work the keyboard dongle in the USB2/OTG port does now work wiht the latest Nexus nightly and the Ugoos X4 dtb. Trouble with Nexus is that the IPYV buffers badly which it does not with Matrix and also the Kodi repo Speedtest gives an error and does not work only gives the ping result.

Strange now I go back to Matrix and with the latest 20221006 Matrix nightly the USB2 port works with my dongle now. I am sure I tried this before with this same nightly build and it did not work ?? Anyway now I’m happy about that.

Just now I have the problem of the Ugoos X4 remote to get working with CE. Looks like I need to start the steep learning curve and make my own keymap files as per the instructions so nicely given in this forum. If I am successful I will of course share it here for others but don’t hold your breath. If anyone already has successfully made good keymap files for this remote then, to save me reinventing the wheel, can you please share it here ??

Isn’t this the same remote as I pointed above?

https://github.com/CoreELEC/remotes/tree/main/MesonIR/Ugoos%20X2%20Cube

Be careful to use .toml extension.

Ahh I am struggling here. I went to remotes/MesonIR at main · CoreELEC/remotes · GitHub abd found the Ugoos X2 Cube remote meson files and that remote certainly looks exactly the same as my X4 Pro remote. So I copied the keymap file without any extension into the main folder .config/rc_keymaps folder and then the rc_maps.cfg file into the .config folder and rebooted. No joy at all and now the Tanix X4 remote does not work also whhic Iwould have expected.

So what is this .toml extension as the instructions say nothing about that ?? Do I need to rename the keymaps file as UGOOSX2CUBE.TOML ??

If and when it does work I will to keep it tidy rename it to UGOOSX4PRO and in the .cfg file too of course

Do I also have to edit the active line in the rc_keymaps.cfg file to meson-ir * UGOOSX2CUBE.toml i.e. adding the .toml extension there too.

This use to be so much easier just with the remote.conf files, so why has this changed to be so complicated? Does it give some advantages that are not obvious.

Yes, file itself needs extension and you need to add extension to rc_maps.cfg.

Yes, remote.conf is easier to use but there is no such file for this remote (no one made it yet). It is not hard to make it but …

Still does not work. Does the keymaps file named UGOOSX2CUBE.toml go in the .config/rc_keymaps folder or in the subfolder .config/rc_keymaps/profiles ?? And yes I have added the .toml to the only non commented line in the .cfg file so it reads “meson-ir * UGOOSX2CUBE.toml” without the quotes of course. That still does not work so I am clearly doing something wrong here.

Maybe it would be easier to create a new remote.conf file for this remote as I have done that before for other boxes in the past but a long time ago now. I am trying to avoid all that work too. That is definitely an L at the end of that extension name so .TOML

I was wrong as also written on instructions link.

Files can’t just add extension. It is written

Please ensure your YOURMAPNAME.toml does meet the .toml file structure including the sections:

[[protocols]]
[protocols.scancodes]

And then

But old format of the keymaps from CoreELEC 9 are still compatible with CoreELEC 19. But they must not have .toml extension to work properly.

So I just tried and I only have to copy file UGOOSX2CUBE as /storage/.config/rc_keymaps/UGOOSX2CUBE and rc_maps.cfg as /storage/.config/rc_maps.cfg. After reboot remote was working.

Well I have found the correct remote.conf file in the Xoreelec remotes store here remotes/AmRemote/ViCTSING MX Plus at main · CoreELEC/remotes · GitHub

I simply looked at each file .png picture until I found the correct one with the VICTSING MX PLUS. So all I have now done is edited the commented line to show this is now for the Ugoos X4 not the Victsing.
Boy am I happy now and this box certainly is fast in Matrix.

I have not tested every key as yet as have to go out but it certainly seems to be fully working and much simpler to implement. I will copy the remote.conf file below if I can.

Later I will try and get the Meson system remote working with it as I hate being beaten. But no urgency now and anyway does the Meson system give any advantage over the simple remote.conf file system??

Just checked and all works okay but with two exceptions which I will try and fix later. The Play/Pause button does not work and the navigation keys hold down repeat function does not work. So will hopefully later upload here a final edited and corrected version of the Ugoos X4 remote.conf file

Further to the above, I have now just fixed the repeat key function not working in the attached below new remote.conf file and the Play/Pause button is now working too plus the Settings button now shows the streaming details o. However I just cannot get the code for the display EPG button to the left of the Play/Pause button as wanted to map that to the Info command i.

I ssh into the root of the box and stop kodi and the eventlirc as instructed them hit a remote key and run the dmesg -c command but I get no return just nothing for any key press ?? This used to work as I added key functions to remote.conf files before. So where am I going wrong.

Finally I have it all working as I want it with repeat function, play/pause and a good KODI use for the Setup button mapped to o and now got Display EPG button mapped to i. So here is the new corrected and now hopefully final remote.conf file for the Ugoos X4, so just copy this file as is into the storage/.config folder and reboot.
remote.conf (2.9 KB)

I tested my Ugoos X4 Plus with the

  1. CoreELEC-Amlogic-ng.arm-19.5-Matrix_rc2-Generic.img stable
  2. CoreELEC-Amlogic-ng.arm-20.0-Nexus_nightly_20221015-Generic.img
  3. CoreELEC-Amlogic-ng.arm-19.5-Matrix_nightly_20221014-Generic.img

Here is the problem i found with all the above. When I play a video with Dolby Atmos which plays fine but after I stop the video, there will be no sound. Even the UI clicking sound is gone. I try playing a youtube video and there is no audio. I found a way to get the audio back is to go Setting>Audio>Output Configurations and change from Best Match to Fixed then back to Best Match again. The other way is to reboot the box.

I remember someone posted about the same problem.

Here is the log
http://ix.io/4dCL
http://ix.io/4dCH

Thanks vpeter.

Yes I tried that again and it just does not work so I am clearly doing something wrong here it seems. Yes I now copy the files correctly and without the .toml extension including in the .cfg line. All exactly as you describe.

Not so urgent now as I have the good working remote.conf file now doing the job but would like to get to the bottom of why this keymaps Meson system does not work for me.

Anyone facing the audio issue I mention above? Is it fixed?

Not noticed this myself Lightning69 ?? I will try to emulate this problem but I do watch a lot of ATMOS streams as I have a full 5.1.2 ATMOS AVR system installed here complete with ceiling mounted good quality speakers. Ill let you know if I ever get such a problem as you report.

That is strange. It happens to both the Hk1 X4 and the Ugoos X4 plus. Hmm. Could it be the CEC function? I am using Denon X2500. Will try disable the CEC.

Try this maybe

During playback wave mouse over screen
Or hit ok button on remote

Click on settings gear icon bottom right
Click on audio settings
Adjust to your liking

At the bottom use
Set as default for all media

Probably best to reboot/apply change

Will hold / save settings

This works on a95xf4 s905x4 box with latest nightly matrix

Happy Testing

I am using an Onkyo NR986 also a 7.1/2 channel device. I supose it could be the CEC but myh CEC works okay from my checks with the new Ugoos box so far.

freddy with the audio he of course has allow passthrough set on to get the full digital audio for Dolby ATMOS, DTS, 5.1 surround sound etc and it is only with the ATMOS that he reports he has the problem with. So switching off passthrough will disable ATMOS of course and therefore not a practical solution, but yes that should cure the crashing after an ATMOS stream of course but no ATMOS, no point. I still cannot emulate this problem but have not had much time to test it much as yet but hope to do so today.