Includes Linux kernel 4.9.30 LTS, Mesa 17.0.7, and Kodi 17.3

Jun 8, 2017 15:48 GMT  ·  By

The monthly stable update of the OpenELEC embedded Linux entertainment operating system for Raspberry Pi and other supported single-board computers has arrived, and it is now available for download or update.

OpenELEC 8.0.4 is a bugfix release to the OpenELEC 8.0 stable series of the Linux-based operating system based on the popular and cross-platform Kodi Media Center software. As expected, it ships with the latest Kodi 17.3 release that patches the infamous subtitle hack discovered recently.

"OpenELEC 8.0 release contain a Kodi major version bump. If you are updating from OpenELEC 7.0 or earlier we strongly recommend you perform a full backup before performing a manual update. If you experience issues please perform a soft-reset to clear OpenELEC and Kodi settings," reads the announcement.

On top of that, OpenELEC 8.0.4 enables Regulator and Extcon support on all builds, ensures PNG support is built with SSE support for 64-bit builds, enables Kernel NEON mode for Raspberry Pi 2 builds, as well as several more SoC sound drivers for both Raspberry Pi and Raspberry Pi 2 builds.

Updated components, bug fixes

Under the hood, OpenELEC 8.0.4 is powered by the long-term supported Linux 4.9.30 kernel and ships with up-to-date components, including Mesa 17.0.7 3D Graphics Library, ALSA 1.1.4 sound server, Samba 4.6.4 file and print service, and MariaDB 10.1.23 database engine.

A few issues were addressed as well in this update, such as a crash with the WeTek DVB driver on first generation WeTek Play devices, some speed problems with Nvidia ION systems, as well as issues with the loading of dvbhdhomerun add-ons and the loading of the splash screen on computers with Nvidia graphics cards.

OpenELEC 8.0.4 also attempts to improve the use of user-created sleep scripts in the distribution, and the loading of various I2C sound modules on both Raspberry Pi and Raspberry Pi 2 builds. You can download OpenELEC 8.0.4 right now from our website for various of the supported devices, but existing users need only to update their installations using the automatic update process.

OpenELEC 8.0.4 Changelog