So actually I did try the AE arm 3.3.5 S9xx Dual distro, again after earlier attempts in January and April when things were working ok. Device in all cases is x96mini (S905W) with 2/16GB.
(Later I tried the CE-AE 02/03 Ng versions and wifi didn't work, streaming was slow and freezing happened.)
AE3.3.6 installs fine on x96mini (S905W) with 2/16 GB, TVlink installs and updates to 3.2.8, other settings, e.g. WiFi and SSH password update also works. Dtb uenv default was p281_2g, so no change was needed here.
Tried IR update in AE Settings and my original x96mini remote started working fine ( started the distro with a USB remote.)
But the previous AE3.3.5 backups I made via AE Settings don't seem to restore, even after several boots ! I just get back the original distro...tried two different backups.
Also checked the .tar backups- they all show the correct addons and settings that should be restored.
The .tar backup file shows under /storage/.restore. I changed the permissions from 0644 to 0755 but no effect !
A. What can I do here ? 🤔
B. Also what is the purpose of AE Settings> System> IR remote update? Does it auto discover the device remote ?