OpenELEC meets Raspberry Pi - part 1 (XBMC)

[dom]

pandapi said:


All of my x264 vids are blocky. If the scene is relatively still it clears but the blocks up again if the scene moves.


You will get corruption after a seek until the next I frame (normally ~ 2sec). It should be fine after that. Could you post mediainfo for file. Also cut a sample (e.g. 100MB using mkvtoolnix) that shows the problem and post it somewhere (e.g. DropBox).


Also, I get a lot of stuttering, maybe once every 20s. Like the refresh rate is wrong. Tv supports 23.976, 24, 50, 60 and I have openelec set to match the frame rate.


This did affect earlier builds but shouldn't with marshcroft's.

To check whether it is a frame rate matching issue, or a buffering issue, turn off the frame rate matching and see if it improves.

[davide]

with which elf are you guys building the openelec builts ?

Because the tut says to use the arm128_start.elf, but on the firmware page there is also a  arm192_start.elf and arm224_start.elf.

I assume the higher number the better ? (more accessable memory ?) Or can't they be used ?

Becasue I've got some buffer problems om my xbmc openelec built.

Tnx,

Davide

[pandapi]

dom said:


pandapi said:


All of my x264 vids are blocky. If the scene is relatively still it clears but the blocks up again if the scene moves.


You will get corruption after a seek until the next I frame (normally ~ 2sec). It should be fine after that. Could you post mediainfo for file. Also cut a sample (e.g. 100MB using mkvtoolnix) that shows the problem and post it somewhere (e.g. DropBox).


Also, I get a lot of stuttering, maybe once every 20s. Like the refresh rate is wrong. Tv supports 23.976, 24, 50, 60 and I have openelec set to match the frame rate.


This did affect earlier builds but shouldn't with marshcroft's.

To check whether it is a frame rate matching issue, or a buffering issue, turn off the frame rate matching and see if it improves.


Thanks Dom.

Not tried seeking, so it isn't that. I have artefacts from the the very start and they never totally clear up. They only clear somewhat if the scene is relatively static.

I turned off the frame rate matching and it didn't go away. I've tried with much smaller 720P rips and i get the same thing.

SD divx (might have been xvid) seemed to be fine.

It is playing back via network but i can playback the same things on another computers using exactly the same network layout and cables.  That other comp also only has 100mpbs ethernet like the Pi.

No "buffering" message comes up on the UI like it normally does when the network is the issue.

I will do mediainfo and a sample when i get home. I'm also going to try a reinstall.

Could my SD card be affecting it? Its only a class 4 i think. Does it buffer to the card or something?

[frying_fish]

davide said:


with which elf are you guys building the openelec builts ?

Because the tut says to use the arm128_start.elf, but on the firmware page there is also a  arm192_start.elf and arm224_start.elf.

I assume the higher number the better ? (more accessable memory ?) Or can't they be used ?

Becasue I've got some buffer problems om my xbmc openelec built.

Tnx,

Davide



Actually no, you want the 128MB, as that means it is a CPU/GPU split of 128/128, not 224/32 or 192/64

[Syde]

Simon H said:


I had the same (Small Win in corner) when I tried composite, went to System/System/Video Output and Clicked the Display Mode Arrows, the text (Windowed) didn't change but it went full screen and stayed that way accross reboots.

Problem was when I went back to HDMI that was stuck in the corner and setting didn't change it, had to delete guisettings.xml in the end to get it back. Should do it and compare the guisettings files I suppose.


Simon - gave that a try last night - it did infact work.  I loaded a fresh image onto the SD card - I feel like I had to smash my enter key on the display mode setting a couple times before it actually did anything, which seemed odd.  At any rate, like you said, the text did not change from 'windowed' but it did fill the screen.  Infact, it was now overscanning around all edges.  Was able to correct that using XBMC's built in video calibration though, unfortunatly the video calibration settings do not appear to be sticking between reboots at the moment - but a better fix is to probably fix the overscan issues via config.txt anyways.

I did take a look at guisettings.xml to see what actually changed between having the top left quadrant only and filling full screen, incase anybody wants to know:

radium# diff -rupN guisettings.xml guisettings.xml-FIXED
--- guisettings.xml 1969-12-31 19:00:27.000000000 -0500
+++ guisettings.xml-FIXED 2012-05-08 08:39:52.000000000 -0400
@@ -443,8 +443,8 @@
<guicalibration></guicalibration>
<haslcd>false</haslcd>
<resolution>0</resolution>
- <screen>0</screen>
- <screenmode>DESKTOP</screenmode>
+ <screen>-1</screen>
+ <screenmode>WINDOW</screenmode>
<testpattern></testpattern>
<vsync>3</vsync>
</videoscreen>

[Syde]

dom said:


@artsea @Syde

I had a look at this with Gimli yesterday, and

https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc-rbp/commit ... 96d270bd38

will hopefully fix the problem.


That looks promising!  I'll compile that during the day here at work and get it loaded on the Pi tonight, sadly I left the Pi at home today... but my linux build laptop is in the car at least.

[gingernator007]

I was wondering if someone could help with a wifi related issue with OE.  I have a ASUS N10 wifi dongle which works (kinda), to get the dongle to connect I first need to connect an ethernet cable to get an ip then remove it, at which point the dongle searches for a AP and connects, it never works first time from a boot.  Can anyone explain this behaviour or suggest a way to spoof this via a autostart.sh for example?

[davide]

frying_fish said:


davide said:


with which elf are you guys building the openelec builts ?

Because the tut says to use the arm128_start.elf, but on the firmware page there is also a  arm192_start.elf and arm224_start.elf.

I assume the higher number the better ? (more accessable memory ?) Or can't they be used ?

Becasue I've got some buffer problems om my xbmc openelec built.

Tnx,

Davide



Actually no, you want the 128MB, as that means it is a CPU/GPU split of 128/128, not 224/32 or 192/64


Ah ok tnx ! I'll remember that one

[tbar]

gingernator007 said:


I was wondering if someone could help with a wifi related issue with OE.  I have a ASUS N10 wifi dongle which works (kinda), to get the dongle to connect I first need to connect an ethernet cable to get an ip then remove it, at which point the dongle searches for a AP and connects, it never works first time from a boot.  Can anyone explain this behaviour or suggest a way to spoof this via a autostart.sh for example?


It could very well be that the dongle isn't fully supported on OE yet. If you supply the OE team with the correct information they'll be able to include the correct drivers. Take a look at this post as a reference: http://openelec.tv/forum/20-de.....spberry-pi

[davide]

pandapi said:


All of my x264 vids are blocky. If the scene is relatively still it clears but the blocks up again if the scene moves.

Also, I get a lot of stuttering, maybe once every 20s. Like the refresh rate is wrong. Tv supports 23.976, 24, 50, 60 and I have openelec set to match the frame rate.

Using marshcroft"s 10855 build with the corrected cmdline.txt.
Other people seem to be saying playback is good, or is that on other builds?


Where can we find this marshcroft's 10855 build so we can test it ?

[pandapi]

davide said:


pandapi said:


All of my x264 vids are blocky. If the scene is relatively still it clears but the blocks up again if the scene moves.

Also, I get a lot of stuttering, maybe once every 20s. Like the refresh rate is wrong. Tv supports 23.976, 24, 50, 60 and I have openelec set to match the frame rate.

Using marshcroft"s 10855 build with the corrected cmdline.txt.
Other people seem to be saying playback is good, or is that on other builds?


Where can we find this marshcroft's 10855 build so we can test it ?


Got it from page 21 of this thread.

Posted at 4:52 pm May 6, 2012

[davide]

pandapi said:


davide said:


pandapi said:


All of my x264 vids are blocky. If the scene is relatively still it clears but the blocks up again if the scene moves.

Also, I get a lot of stuttering, maybe once every 20s. Like the refresh rate is wrong. Tv supports 23.976, 24, 50, 60 and I have openelec set to match the frame rate.

Using marshcroft"s 10855 build with the corrected cmdline.txt.
Other people seem to be saying playback is good, or is that on other builds?


Where can we find this marshcroft's 10855 build so we can test it ?


Got it from page 21 of this thread.

Posted at 4:52 pm May 6, 2012


Ok thnx wil try it.

Have you tried the 10870 build on page 23 ?

[pandapi]

Nope. I must've missed that one.

I will be trying it now you've pointed it out though. Thanks

[noroot]

I'm running build r10858 (thanks for putting those tar.bz2's online!) and it seems to work mostly .

One of the problems I'm encountering is the fact that seeking often leads to a (hard) freeze, which resolves in resetting the pi. I've no idea why, I've tried 2 different power adapters (one rated 1A, the other 2A) and 2 usb cables. Have not watched more then 10 minutes, so not sure it only happens when skipping. But when skipping it will happen frequently.

The other issue is that some video's have a second-stutter every 20-30 seconds. It might be the class4 sd card not being able to buffer fast enough?

Thanks for all the work for getting openelec/xbmc running on the pi!

[pandapi]

noroot said:


I'm running build r10858 (thanks for putting those tar.bz2's online!) and it seems to work mostly .

The other issue is that some video's have a second-stutter every 20-30 seconds. It might be the class4 sd card not being able to buffer fast enough?


Sounds like one of the problems i have. I also have class 4.

Does it actually buffer to the card though? Can't be very good for the life expectancy of the card can it?

[rob_brum]

Once you have followed the instructions and built for the first time is there a different command to run for future builds to get the latest files or is it allways "PROJECT=RPi ARCH=arm make release"?

[dom]

The sdcard is not used for buffering. It buffers in RAM.

Where are the video files coming from? I would advise against SMB shares.

NFS, FTP, HTTP will all perform better.

For stuttering, report back whether turning off "adjust display refresh rate to match video" makes a difference.

Also rule out the network by playing the same file from sdcard or USB drive.

[nimdy]

dom said:


The sdcard is not used for buffering. It buffers in RAM.

Where are the video files coming from? I would advise against SMB shares.

NFS, FTP, HTTP will all perform better.

For stuttering, report back whether turning off "adjust display refresh rate to match video" makes a difference.

Also rule out the network by playing the same file from sdcard or USB drive.



Dom I'm finding my SMB shares are a little laggy. What would you recommend I install on my Windows PC (where my 2TB media HDD is attached) to make my media sharable on the methods you recommend? I would need it to coexist with my other PCs which still use SMB.

Thanks.

[freedomotic]

Hi to all! Is it possible to install java on OpenELEC?

Thanks

[dom]

nimdy said:

Dom I'm finding my SMB shares are a little laggy. What would you recommend I install on my Windows PC (where my 2TB media HDD is attached) to make my media sharable on the methods you recommend? I would need it to coexist with my other PCs which still use SMB.
I use hanewin nfs server (http://www.hanewin.net/nfs-e.htm) on Windows 7. It's not free but you get a free month's trial to see if it works.

[noroot]

dom said:


The sdcard is not used for buffering. It buffers in RAM.

Where are the video files coming from? I would advise against SMB shares.

NFS, FTP, HTTP will all perform better.

For stuttering, report back whether turning off "adjust display refresh rate to match video" makes a difference.

Also rule out the network by playing the same file from sdcard or USB drive.


Sorry, I forgot to mention. I'm using nfs (v4). The pi has also been freezing twice in the 'file' menus on the nfs share. Especially this is giving me a bad feeling, this should not happen, and the suspect should be the power supply. But on the other hand, the fact that both the 1A psu and the 2A (iphone/ipad?) psu are not sufficient would be very strange.

I'll test both the local storage (usb) and the option to stop the stutter . Thanks for the reply!

[jamesh]

noroot said:


dom said:


The sdcard is not used for buffering. It buffers in RAM.

Where are the video files coming from? I would advise against SMB shares.

NFS, FTP, HTTP will all perform better.

For stuttering, report back whether turning off "adjust display refresh rate to match video" makes a difference.

Also rule out the network by playing the same file from sdcard or USB drive.


Sorry, I forgot to mention. I'm using nfs (v4). The pi has also been freezing twice in the 'file' menus on the nfs share. Especially this is giving me a bad feeling, this should not happen, and the suspect should be the power supply. But on the other hand, the fact that both the 1A psu and the 2A (iphone/ipad?) psu are not sufficient would be very strange.

I'll test both the local storage (usb) and the option to stop the stutter . Thanks for the reply!


Don't forget the software on the Raspi is still very much in the alpha stage. Not worth getting bad feelings about!

[the_dvd_guru]

no problems here with "stuttering" the only problem i had when i tried to play saving private ryan which is a 1080p which is a M2TS  with a bit rate of around 36,000 but everything else plays fine and dandy

[Smartybones]

the only problems with playback and stuttering I get is from LOTR, a 1080p DTS, the file is 26GB....  I think its more to do with network speeds than the Pi or OpenELEC...

Everything else plays fine, I use Serviio to serve up my media via UPnP...

[numan1617]

R10888

Finished compiling R10888 last night.

http://www.numan1617.com/rpi/o.....ec/builds/