LibreELEC has released version 12.2 of its lightweight Linux distribution, which is built specifically to run Kodi. The new update focuses on hardware support, removal of older components, and the integration of Kodi 21.2 ‘Omega’.
Users gain access to the current stable build of the popular home theater software in which Kodi developers backported a small set of improvements after the original 21.2 release. No 21.3 version is currently planned.
SEE ALSO: How to install Kodi 21.2 Omega on Amazon Fire TV Stick (the easy way)
LibreELEC 12.2 is primarily a maintenance release and introduces updated kernels and display components to improve support for recent Intel hardware.
Raspberry Pi boards are updated in line with Raspberry Pi OS for compatibility.
Support for Nvidia’s 340.xx legacy driver has been removed as the driver no longer compiles with the latest Xorg release, and it has been dropped from the Generic-Legacy image in 12.2 as well as the upcoming 13.0.
The change mostly affects older Nvidia cards, which continue to represent a large share of existing installations.
LibreELEC developers say they considered adopting the open-source Nouveau driver but found that it caused video playback problems. It may be introduced in the future to assist retrogaming projects, but it is not suitable for LibreELEC’s main use case.
The project advises users against choosing Nvidia hardware for LibreELEC.
The update also changes Tvheadend support. Version 4.2, which has been unsupported since 2019, is no longer included in the repository. Version 4.3 is now the stable rolling release offered to users. There is no direct upgrade path, however, so migration requires a new installation and configuration.
Support for certain system-on-chip platforms is being scaled back. NXP iMX6, iMX8, and Qualcomm devices remain in the codebase but are no longer part of official image builds. iMX6 once had a large user base, but current use is limited to self-built images. iMX8 and Qualcomm hardware have seen little adoption outside of industrial and tablet contexts.
Update LibreELEC
You can download the latest version of LibreELEC 12.2 here.
Updating to the new build depends on the hardware in use. Systems running LibreELEC 12.0 or 11.0 on x86_64 can update through the settings add-on or by dropping the release file into the update folder.
Raspberry Pi 4 and 5 have transitioned from 32-bit arm to 64-bit aarch64 and so for those systems you’ll need to update manually. Widevine libraries need to be removed before upgrading so that compatible versions can be installed.
The teams says users running Docker add-ons will need check for compatibility. While LinuxServer.io add-ons should update automatically, containers installed directly will need to be replaced with aarch64-compatible images.
Older installations may also face additional requirements. LibreELEC 9.0 or earlier cannot be updated in place because of the transition to Python 3 in LibreELEC 10. The only option here for a clean install. The team says that users should remember that Kodi supports upgrades but not downgrades, so backups are strongly advised before updating to the latest release.
