Our new April update to OSMC lands nice and early this month, hot off the heels of the Kodi 16.1 release. We like to keep on top of Kodi releases, and make sure that users are always running the latest stable version. We delivered Kodi Jarvis (16.0) just over a month ago as soon as it was released.
Kodi update
The new Kodi update brings a variety of improvements:
- Faster EPG opening times
- Never cache add-on directories
- Fix an issue where Kodi may freeze if no DSP add-ons are present
- Fix a security issue in EventServer
- Fix for a possible lockup when entering the EPG grid
- Fix an issue where key presses may not work after a long key press
- Don’t skip video chapter if there is only one video chapter
- Fix a potential lockup caused by screensavers not having enough time to exit properly
- Fix a Zeroconf issue which could cause issues when exiting
We’ve also been working hard on improving OSMC across all supported devices. Here’s what’s new:
Bug fixes
- Fix an issue where CEC would accidentally power off some AV receivers when the source was changed on the TV
- Fix an issue caused by the WiFi driver that may cause Vero 2 to hang on boot
- Fix an issue where playing back media over NFS on Vero 2 could cause periodic stuttering
- Fix an issue where the Vero 2’s boot environment data could become corrupted
- Fix an issue where the hotplug governor did not always bring all cores online on Vero 2
- Fix an issue where audio may become distorted on Vero 2
- Fix an issue on Raspberry Pi where using GPU resampling could cause crashes
- Fix an issue where video playback may stutter on Raspberry Pi when playing via MMAL
- Fix an issue that causes random muting and freezing on Raspberry Pi
- Fix an issue preventing HifiBerry DACs from working correctly on Raspberry Pi 3
- Fix an issue where Raspberry Pi 3 WiFi may disconnect after a period of inactivity
- Fix an issue on Raspberry Pi where the mouse pointer may behave erratically if a skin includes only packed textures and not individual icons
- Fix an issue where Raspberry Pi Zero would not boot without a USB OTG cable
- Fix an issue where Vero 2 did not reboot after installation completed
- Fix an issue where ‘Recovering journal’ displays on first boot after installation on all platforms
Improving the user experience
- The OSMC remote control can now be used in close proximity with other remotes
- We have resumed Kodi Krypton (Kodi 17.0) test builds for Raspberry Pi
- Added support for libCEC on Vero 2 and improved CEC stability and compatibility
- Add Analog audio support for Vero 2
- Improve Vero 2 CPU governor to consume less power
- Add thermal management to prevent Vero 2 from overheating in some environments
- Improved Ethernet throughput on Vero 2
- Improved playback startup time on Vero 2
- Improved WiFi performance on Vero 2 by optimising power management
- Improved DVD playback support from an external USB drive on Vero 2
- Added support for Raspberry Pi 3’s internal Bluetooth adapter. This is particularly useful as we are developing streaming capabilities for OSMC.
- Reduced the likelihood of corrupting a Vero 2 filesystem by unplugging it abruptly
- Improved Vero 2 stability at high temperatures
- Improved voltage scheme for more stable Vero 2 performance under system load
- Added support for a wide variety of DVB tuners on Vero 2
- Improved Raspberry Pi playback performance by removing a global lock which was used to guard against a VCHIQ message queue bug.
- Improvemed A2DP Bluetooth audio streaming
- Improved Raspberry Pi 3 Wireless throughput
- Reduced Raspberry Pi operating temperatures during IO intensive operations
- Improved Raspberry Pi 1 Model B performance
Miscellaneous
- Use interactive CPU governor on Vero 2 by default
- Reduce output in system journal on Vero 2 (less noisy)
- Updated to BlueZ 5.38
- Added traceroute BusyBox applet to user’s PATH
- Added Raspberry Pi Screen Backlight Overlay
- Added OzzMaker Raspberry Pi Screen 2R overlay
- Added Raspberry Pi 3 disable BT overlay
- Added Raspberry Pi 3 mini UART overlay
- Allow Raspberry Pi core clock to be adjusted during IO independent of CPU governor
- Added module parameter to allow custom Ethernet buffer size for those experiencing issues with streaming on Pi
- Updated to Debian 8.4
Wrap up
To get the latest and greatest version of OSMC, simply head to My OSMC -> Updater and check for updates manually on your exising OSMC set up. Of course — if you have updates scheduled automatically you should receive this update shortly.
If you enjoy OSMC, please follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook and consider making a donation if you would like to support further development.
You may also wish to check out our newly refreshed Store, which offers a wide variety of high quality products which will help you get the best from your OSMC setup.
Enjoy!