CoreELEC can be updated either automatic or manual from both .tar and .img.gz files, but .tar files are faster to process.

Auto-Update is enabled by default and tracks minor revisions, eq: CoreELEC 19.2.5 will update to 19.2.6, 19.2.7, 19.3 RC1 etc.

With Auto-Update enabled, the latest update file will download in the background, then Kodi will prompt to reboot and start the update process.

To manage system updates manually, Auto-Update can be disabled in the CoreELEC Configuration Addon.

Manual updates provide greater control over the update process. CoreELEC provides several manual update methods which are listed below.

• navigate to the Updates section of the CoreELEC Configuration Addon
• select Update Channel (CoreELEC major version)
• select Available Versions

The update .tar file will start downloading in the background. Once completed, the system will prompt to reboot and perform the update.

Another way is by using a USB Flash Drive and the Kodi File Manager

• enable viewing hidden files and folders
• download the CoreELEC image or update file
• copy file to a USB drive
• insert the USB Flash Drive
• navigate to /storage/.update/ using the Kodi File Manager
• copy the update file from the USB drive to /storage/.update
• reboot

• copy/paste the update file to the UPDATE folder of the CoreELEC Samba share
• reboot upon successful completion of the file transfer

• SSH into CoreELEC and navigate to the (hidden) update folder
• cd /storage/.update
• ensure there are no files in the folder
• ls -la
• download the update file
• wget <path to update file>
• force writing all cached data to disk
• sync
• reboot

Example:

wget https://relkai.coreelec.org/CoreELEC-Amlogic-ng.arm-19.4-Matrix_nightly_20211215.tar

Download locations:

• Matrix
• Nexus

• SSH into CoreELEC and navigate to the (hidden) update folder
• cd /storage/.update
• ensure there are no files in the folder
• ls -la
• download the update file
• megadl <path to update file>
• force writing all cached data to disk
• sync
• reboot

Example:

megadl https://mega.nz/file/790WxQDI#Z0OJs2d8StgFNe2mRygarP

When downgrading, all kinds of issues arise in the areas of:

• Addon compatibility
• Hardware compatibility
• System stability
• System useability

These issues can be circumvented by creating a new installation on external media with the desired older version of CoreELEC.

Kernel modules can automatically be loaded on boot using /storage/.cache/kernel-overlays/. The example below will load the module named bt100.ko

Example:

1) Obtain the CoreELEC kernel version

uname -r

5.4.210

2) Create a file with name of the module, and extension .conf (eg. bt100.conf). That file will contain the overlay path for the module, /lib/modules/5.4.210/bt100/bt100.ko

Note: change the kernel version in the overlay path to match your kernel version obtained in step 1.

echo /storage/.cache/kernel-overlays/bt100 > /storage/.cache/kernel-overlays/bt100.conf

3) Create the overlay path for the module under /storage/.cache/kernel-overlays

mkdir -p /storage/.cache/kernel-overlays/bt100/lib/modules/5.4.210/bt100/

4) Copy the module to the directory created in step 3

cp /storage/downloads/bt100.ko /storage/.cache/kernel-overlays/bt100/lib/modules/5.4.210/bt100/bt100.ko

A module can be blacklisted to disable it from loading on boot, by adding the module name to blacklist.conf under modprobe.d. It is placed at /storage/.config/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf, which is overlaid to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf. The following example disables the module wlan100.

Example:

1) Find the module name in the list of installed modules.

lsmod

2) Create blacklist.conf in the directory /storage/.config/modprobe.d/, and edit the file to include the module name:

echo 'blacklist wlan100' >> /storage/.config/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf 

Changes take effect after a reboot.