[Guide] Kodi on Raspberry Pi OS / Raspbian Buster

[Lipown]

Hi, I'm using Kodi on my Raspberry Pi 4GB and I need some help on identifying the reason it's stuttering, this is driving me mad.
Months ago, earlier this year which I believe it was version 18.4, everything was working perfectly, no stutter at all. Recently (again I don't know if it's because 18.7) I started to get stutters in all of my videos, this doesn't happen when I play via VLC for example. I made a fresh install just to make sure nothing else was messing up but the stutter is still there, so the issue is definitely something within Kodi.

I'm using raspbian buster and all videos are 1920x1080. What can I provide to help me on investigating this issue?

Log: https://paste.kodi.tv/ohaxezitox.kodi

I noticed stturing too now. its quite weird.

The sttuer appears when I check to sync movie frequency with monitor.

[Lipown]

Approx 7 days ago I started to have delay between video and audio. The delay is not large but it is noticable and it is randomly changing. Any clue?

[Rascas]

Don't use "Sync playback to display", it may cause that kind of issues, that's why it is off by default.
Just use "Adjust display refresh rate" if the TV supports it.

[Lipown]

Don't use "Sync playback to display", it may cause that kind of issues, that's why it is off by default.
Just use "Adjust display refresh rate" if the TV supports it.

The delay is same on or off. Sync playback to display on or off does not change anything. "Adjust display refresh rate" cause noticable stutter each few 1-2 seconds.

[max11]

Hello,
now i don't know whom to blame ....
I updated today to the latest Raspi OS with Pulseaudio.
Everything is working fine except playing mp4 and mp3 files via bluetooth. With mp4 files there is a horrible crackle in the sound. It gets worse the more 'action' there is in the video. It crackles too sometimes with playing radio stations, but always with mp4 files. Playing via HDMI there is no problem ...
Is this now depending on the update/pulseaudio or is Kodi mishandling pulseaudio?

[Rascas]

Don't use "Sync playback to display", it may cause that kind of issues, that's why it is off by default.
Just use "Adjust display refresh rate" if the TV supports it.

The delay is same on or off. Sync playback to display on or off does not change anything. "Adjust display refresh rate" cause noticable stutter each few 1-2 seconds.

It is possible that is some other setting that you changed that causes the problem. I recommend that you try clean settings. For that, exit Kodi, make a backup of your /home/pi/.kodi (change "pi" if you are using another user), remove that folder, start Kodi and try it without changing any setting to see if it works fine.

[Rascas]

Hello,
now i don't know whom to blame ....
I updated today to the latest Raspi OS with Pulseaudio.
Everything is working fine except playing mp4 and mp3 files via bluetooth. With mp4 files there is a horrible crackle in the sound. It gets worse the more 'action' there is in the video. It crackles too sometimes with playing radio stations, but always with mp4 files. Playing via HDMI there is no problem ...
Is this now depending on the update/pulseaudio or is Kodi mishandling pulseaudio?

Kodo still defaults to ALSA. You can change to PulseAudio by starting Kodi from a terminal this way:

Code: Select all

KODI_AE_SINK=PULSE kodi

Than change the audio settings to the corresponding output.
I still didn't tested Bluetooth audio with PulseAudio in Kodi after this new changes.

[max11]

Thanks for your answer, Rascas, but it didn't help.
I started Kodi with KODI_AE_SINK=PULSE kodi, but
the crackle is still there.

[Rascas]

Thanks for your answer, Rascas, but it didn't help.
I started Kodi with KODI_AE_SINK=PULSE kodi, but
the crackle is still there.

Did the output names changed PULSE? They have to.
I will test it tomorrow.

[max11]

Yes, they all show now Pulse
e.g. Pulse: Built-in Digital Stereo or (for my Bluetooth speaker:)
PULSE: EasyAcc-Mc, Headset (PULSEAUDIO)

[Rascas]

Yes, they all show now Pulse
e.g. Pulse: Built-in Digital Stereo or (for my Bluetooth speaker:)
PULSE: EasyAcc-Mc, Headset (PULSEAUDIO)

And the same files work fine in VLC via PulseAudio via Bluetooth?

[max11]

yes. I have 4 Stereo-Test-files (2xmp3 and 2x mp4).
Playing these files in VLC/Raspbian (via Bluetooth) everything is fine, but not in Kodi

[Ve0]

Please, fix in systems script:

Code: Select all

[Install]
Alias=display-manager.service

In this case Kodi will boot before user prompt.

Maybe will help somebody)))

Refer to this:
https://github.com/graysky2/kodi-standalone-service

[Lipown]

The stuttering continues... anyway. Is it possible to add system volume overlay? I change system volume, not the one in the kodi so all media volumes acros raspbain are aligned.

[bat0nas]

Hi all,

I don't remember changing anything (just regular updates) but my receiver is not getting DTS-HD or TrueHD anymore from Raspberry Pi 4 + KODI.

Passthrought is enabled.
I tested few files from: https://kodi.wiki/view/Samples Dolby tagged as TrueHD 5.1 and DTS-HD MA 5.1,
My Denon instead of showing DTS-HD or MULTI IN show just simply DTS.

Denon isn't a problem. Connected PS4 to the same input ant it shows MULTI IN. So input settings are OK.


Any ideas how to fix that?

[Rascas]

Please, fix in systems script:

Code: Select all

[Install]
Alias=display-manager.service

In this case Kodi will boot before user prompt.

Maybe will help somebody)))

Refer to this:
https://github.com/graysky2/kodi-standalone-service

There's nothing to fix about it, with the current recommended systemd service, Kodi starts before you get the user prompt. That line has nothing to do with it.
And don't forget that Kodi on RPi is slightly different from on a x86 system.

[Rascas]

Hi all,

I don't remember changing anything (just regular updates) but my receiver is not getting DTS-HD or TrueHD anymore from Raspberry Pi 4 + KODI.

Passthrought is enabled.
I tested few files from: https://kodi.wiki/view/Samples Dolby tagged as TrueHD 5.1 and DTS-HD MA 5.1,
My Denon instead of showing DTS-HD or MULTI IN show just simply DTS.

Denon isn't a problem. Connected PS4 to the same input ant it shows MULTI IN. So input settings are OK.


Any ideas how to fix that?

There is no changes in Kodi packages for some time now. Kodi with AV Receivers can be tricky to configure, double check your configuration.

[Rascas]

The stuttering continues... anyway. Is it possible to add system volume overlay? I change system volume, not the one in the kodi so all media volumes acros raspbain are aligned.

No, that's the way Kodi works, it has its own volume control. The recommended is to set Kodi volume at 100% and just use the external volume control, ex, TV, AV Receiver, etc.

[Lipown]

Anyway Kodi can correctly convert HDR to SDR without washing out colors?

[Rascas]

Anyway Kodi can correctly convert HDR to SDR without washing out colors?

No, that is explained on the first post. Maybe on Kodi 19 when it gets out.

[Lipown]

So the stuttering issue is only when the option to sync display frequency with movie is on and the subtitle text is on screen. Without text there is no stuttering. Any idea how to solve it pls?

[Lipown]

So the stuttering issue is only when the option to sync display frequency with movie is on and the subtitle text is on screen. Without text there is no stuttering. Any idea how to solve it pls?

Edit: Here is the probably solution. So far so good, however I mentioned I sometimes have the delay in audio same as the guy in last post which is not solved by this.: https://forum.libreelec.tv/thread/20769 ... /?pageNo=2
However shouldn't someone make hardfix pls?

[max11]

Re crackling bluetooth sound on mp4 files ...
Today i installed all the latest available updates for the Raspi OS.
The hard crsckles seem to have disappeared now, but when i compare playing bluetooth mp4 files with VLC and with Kodi there is still a
difference. When there is no sound all should be quiet. That is the case in VLC, But in Kodi there is still a hissing sound as long as there is movement on the screen from the mp4 file. It is much better than before, but still not as good as playing mp4 files with VLC.

Max11

[armyofme]

Re crackling bluetooth sound on mp4 files ...
Today i installed all the latest available updates for the Raspi OS.
The hard crsckles seem to have disappeared now, but when i compare playing bluetooth mp4 files with VLC and with Kodi there is still a
difference. When there is no sound all should be quiet. That is the case in VLC, But in Kodi there is still a hissing sound as long as there is movement on the screen from the mp4 file. It is much better than before, but still not as good as playing mp4 files with VLC.

Max11

Have you installed the PulseAudio Bluetooth support and purged bluealsa? I know these steps are necessary with the latest update.

[max11]

Yes, armyofme, i did all that ... Ifollowed exactly the instructions of this posting:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/new-ra ... mber-2020/

The audio quality is still worse in this version. It is worse than before the update ... and it is worse than in Raspbian/VLC .. But i gave up...I just try to avoid using bluetooth inside kodi. I spend now hours over hours to no avail. I think i will go back to the pre-pulseaudio-era.

Max11