ODROID-C1 issues finally fixed

When I decided to replace my beloved Raspberry Pi media center with something more powerful, I didn't expect so many issues. I purchased Hardkernel's ODROID-C1 and was rather excited. The Kodi Entertainment Center worked much smoother than before (especially since I compiled it to use the Framebuffer instead of X11). I'm even able to play a lot of retro games (not all though) at full speed via emulators for Sony Playstation, Sega Genesis, Dreamcast and Nintendo's SNES, NES and N64 consoles.

But after some time, I figured there were still some problems that I were unable to fix on my own.

This super-annoying issue for example: Occasionally, the audio would drop for 1 or 2 seconds - sometimes only once or twice during a 2 hour movie, sometimes every 2 minutes. I was not the only one with this issue when I reported it at the start of February. But it took quite some time, until this was fixed. The main problem here: The hardware vendor, Amlogic, writes really crappy code. I had a look at their kernel sources and their code quality is so poor that I wonder why this stuff even works most of the time. At least, Amlogic seems to embrace Open Source Software (which can't be said about some other vendors) and sent a patch to Hardkernel.

Another issue was fixed too. The CEC implementation on the C1 is kinda broken (hardware-wise), so you're unable to control Kodi with your TV remote. You still can do this via the built-in IR receiver, but since my C1 sits inside a closed cupboard, this was not an option for me. You can fix the CEC-Issue yourself with some soldering, but fortunately, some devices even work without any soldering. All you need is to install RTC battery and hope for the best. In my case that worked.

Finally, after more than 4 month, I can finally use this little device as a fully-featured media center.