Supported Hardware

Introduction to the Compatibility List
This list has been compiled from successful (or unsuccessful) user reports; it is NOT a definitive list of the hardware that OpenELEC can support. If you are checking compatibility against items listed here please remember that OpenELEC is specifically targeted at current and recent generation HTPC systems. OpenELEC will also run on x86 compatible Laptop and Desktop systems but we do not target their hardware and the more exotic or older your hardware is the higher the chance of "quirks" and missing drivers. The "Generic_OSS" image was created as a catch-all image for legacy drivers but if you're trying to use something manufactured before 2006/7 you are probably better off with an XBMC Live distro that has more universal hardware support. Please add items to the appropriate section. If one is needed, please create it. If possible please identify drivers being used and maybe include dmesg output (only the lines for the drivers).

Commercial "Off the Shelf" HTPC's
These are systems from vendors like Zotac, Xtreamer, Pulse8, etc.

Broadcom "Crystal HD" Cards
The Broadcom BCM970012 and newer BCM970015 cards are both supported via Scott Davilla's "GoogleCode" driver which includes a number of tweaks for Kernel stability; we are not using the driver from the Linux Kernel. Support is included in the AppleTV "ATV" image and the "Generic" image. If you're thinking of buying one of these cards, the BCM970015 is more expensive but gives better playback performance over a wider range of codecs and profiles. The BCM970012 cards also seem to have a higher number of people posting comments in forums to moan about card "quality" related issues.

root ~ # lspci | grep Crystal 02:00.0 Multimedia controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM70015 Video Decoder [Crystal HD]

[   8.964280] Loading crystalhd v3.8.0 [   8.964318] crystalhd 0000:02:00.0: Starting Device:0x1615 [   8.964338] crystalhd 0000:02:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002) [   8.964353] crystalhd 0000:02:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16 [   9.116914] crystalhd 0000:02:00.0: irq 42 for MSI/MSI-X [   9.196704] crystalhd 0000:02:00.0: setting latency timer to 64 [  22.767134] crystalhd 0000:02:00.0: Opening new user[0] handle [  23.223364] crystalhd 0000:02:00.0: [crystalhd_flea_download_fw]: Complete. [  23.537808] crystalhd 0000:02:00.0: Closing user[0] handle with mode 417a00

Solid State Disks (SSDs)
SSD's are fast and generate no noise and little heat, which makes them ideal for HTPC's. OpenELEC supports "trim" and will enable it automatically if your SSD supports it.

Should your TRIM supported SSD disk not automatically have TRIM enabled, you can remount the disk with the discard option:

mount -o remount,discard /dev/sda1 mount -o remount,discard /dev/sda2

To check if TRIM is actually working, follow instructions on this page.

Wireless Network Cards
Like all Linux OS, support for WLAN devices in OpenELEC is best determined by the chipset the card uses, not the brand and model on any retail box. This makes things a little tricky as you have no choice on the chipsets used inside most all-in-one HTPC systems and USB devices are often displayed in a sealed plastic pack that only mentions support for Windows and Mac OS X. It's also becoming common for major-name manufacturers to switch chipsets between v1, v2 and later revisions of the same USB product. As a result, please understand that if you post questions to the forums asking "is my Belkin/Netgear/Cisco/RandomName ABC-123 WLAN card supported?" ..we honestly have no clue unless you can tell us the specific card revision you have, or the chipset being used.

If the Linux Kernel natively supports a card (meaning: no external binaries are required) OpenELEC will support it or it will be trivial to add support for, so the http://linuxwireless.org/ wiki site is an excellent source of compatibility information. If you Google "linux wireless blah" where blah is the chipset number you'll typically find out if the Kernel supports the card or whether vendor binary drivers are needed. OpenELEC has good coverage of the commonly used binary drivers but there will always be gaps. If you need a specific driver to be added please open a driver request (or add your name to an existing request) via the projects' issue tracker on github: https://github.com/OpenELEC/OpenELEC.tv/issues

To guide purchases: Atheros and most Ralink chipsets are well supported by the Linux kernel and work "out of the box" with OpenELEC. Intel chipsets are also well supported by the kernel, though less common to find in HTPC kit. Realtek cards are a little 50/50; some devices work excellently while others have overlapping PCI device ID's that cause issues with the kernel auto-selecting the wrong driver, and some require really terrible non-Kernel binary drivers. Broadcom devices are also 50/50 supported by the Linux kernel; older 802.11b/g/n devices are normally stable and well supported via binary drivers that we have and support for more recent devices is often dependent on 'community' drivers which aren't so great. Support for more recent Broadcom 802.11n devices can be patchy and OpenELEC does not support using Windows drivers via NDIS which is often the only way to use the latest Broadcom WLAN chips. Anything with a really old or exotic sounding chipset name is unlikely to be supported.

Note that OpenELEC as yet does not support connections to hidden wireless networks. If your connection isn't working, verify your router is broadcasting it's SSID first.

Please add reports (good or bad) below. If you disagree with an existing report feel free to add information or a new report for the same card. Please do not delete previous reports.

Network TV players
The Njoy Live TV application is available in the official XBMC add-on repository from version Eden Beta 3 and up. The add-on makes it possible to watch directly live digital SD and HD payTV from your TV subscription into XBMC.

Now digital TV within XBMC is available for customers without linux skills (setting up TV Headend can be a nightmare). N7 works out of the box with an OpenELEC system and is the first result of the partnership between OpenELEC and Njoy Digital.

OpenELEC users will currently also benefit 20% discount on these state of the art network tuners (http://www.anyseedirect.eu).

Current Anysee network TV players:
 * Anysee N7S2CICRPlus
 * Anysee N7TCCICRplus