Intel based HTPC crashing and black screens

cw-kid · November 2, 2017 at 9:43 AM

Hi

On the last few versions of LibreElec I have been having issues with my TV screen going totally black for a few seconds and then the display comes back again.

Now on version 8.2.0 when playing music from the Kodi library (MYSQL) the HTPC sometimes crashes. The music files are stored on a Windows WHS 2011 file server. HP Proliant MicroServer N40L.

Looking in the log I cannot see any exceptions but at the end of the log I see this:

Code

09:21:49.692 T:140666201921280   DEBUG: Thread LanguageInvoker 140666201921280 terminating
09:21:49.727 T:140668626265856    INFO: CActiveAESink::OpenSink - initialize sink
09:21:49.727 T:140668626265856   DEBUG: CActiveAESink::OpenSink - trying to open device ALSA:hdmi:CARD=PCH,DEV=1
09:21:49.727 T:140668626265856    INFO: CAESinkALSA::Initialize - Attempting to open device "hdmi:CARD=PCH,DEV=1"
09:21:49.729 T:140668626265856    INFO: CAESinkALSA::Initialize - Opened device "hdmi:CARD=PCH,DEV=1,AES0=0x04,AES1=0x82,AES2=0x00,AES3=0x00"
09:21:49.729 T:140668626265856    INFO: CAESinkALSA::InitializeHW - Your hardware does not support AE_FMT_FLOAT, trying other formats
09:21:49.729 T:140668626265856    INFO: CAESinkALSA::InitializeHW - Using data format AE_FMT_S32NE
09:21:49.729 T:140668626265856   DEBUG: CAESinkALSA::InitializeHW - Request: periodSize 2205, bufferSize 8820
09:21:49.739 T:140668626265856   DEBUG: CAESinkALSA::InitializeHW - Got: periodSize 2205, bufferSize 8820
09:21:49.739 T:140668626265856   DEBUG: CAESinkALSA::InitializeHW - Setting timeout to 200 ms
09:21:49.740 T:140668626265856   DEBUG: CAESinkALSA::GetChannelLayout - Input Channel Count: 2 Output Channel Count: 2
09:21:49.740 T:140668626265856   DEBUG: CAESinkALSA::GetChannelLayout - Requested Layout: FL,FR
09:21:49.740 T:140668626265856   DEBUG: CAESinkALSA::GetChannelLayout - Got Layout: FL,FR (ALSA: FL FR)
09:21:49.740 T:140668626265856   DEBUG: CActiveAESink::OpenSink - ALSA Initialized:
09:21:49.740 T:140668626265856   DEBUG:   Output Device : HDA Intel PCH
09:21:49.740 T:140668626265856   DEBUG:   Sample Rate   : 44100
09:21:49.740 T:140668626265856   DEBUG:   Sample Format : AE_FMT_S32NE
09:21:49.740 T:140668626265856   DEBUG:   Channel Count : 2
09:21:49.740 T:140668626265856   DEBUG:   Channel Layout: FL,FR
09:21:49.740 T:140668626265856   DEBUG:   Frames        : 2205
09:21:49.740 T:140668626265856   DEBUG:   Frame Size    : 8

Display More

The HTPC is connected to a Denon AVR-1513 amplifier and to an LG 42LE4500 TV.

HTPC Spec:

HTPC Case – OrigenAE M10

Motherboard - Intel DH67CF

CPU – Intel 2nd Generation Core i3-2100

Aftermarket Cooler – Akasa K25

RAM - Corsair 4GB DDR3

SSD – Crucial 64GB M4

Blu-ray ROM – Sony BC-5650H

Thanks.

cw-kid · November 2, 2017 at 10:02 AM

Its just gone again whilst playing music the audio sound stops. The screen goes black with a cursor, then the display comes back to the music playback screen, then it flickers black a few more times and then Kodi looks to restart itself and now I am back at the main Kodi menu.

LibreElec is getting really unstable on this hardware, I really don't want to have to switch back to OpenElec and go through all that hassle.

Here is the Kodi crash log:

############## kodi CRASH LOG ############### ################ SYSTEM INFO ## - Pastebin.com

Thank you.

cw-kid · November 2, 2017 at 10:18 AM

One strange thing I have just noticed in the Kodi System settings under Audio the Allow Passthrough option was turned Off.

I haven't turned this off. Just turned it back on and rebooted the HTPC.

Not sure how long that has been turned off for? Its now passing through audio again to the Denon AVR, tried a movie and the AVR shows as DTS Surround etc.

Not sure if that would be related to Kodi bombing out when playing music though.

**CvH** · November 2, 2017 at 10:59 AM Official Post

Quote from cw-kid

issues with my TV screen going totally black for a few seconds and then the display comes back again

try - may help custom_edid [LibreELEC]

The Intel 2xxx series is known as problematic these days (Intel drivers -.-) - but afaik only Mpeg2 acceleration is completely broken but you can use software decoding that will works as well.

**chewitt** · November 3, 2017 at 5:38 AM Official Post

It's worth experimenting with a current milhouse release. This bumps major components that impact performance/behaviour of Intel GPUs and also provides a codebase that is still in development; i.e. if there's a bug it can be triaged and fixed, whereas Krypton has not been touched for months and only receives occasional (simple) backports from Leia now.

cw-kid · November 3, 2017 at 8:40 AM

Hi

Since turning back on the audio pass through setting, Kodi has not crashed whilst playing music which is good.

However when watching videos I still get a totally black screen sometimes for a few seconds and then the display comes back.

Thanks.

cw-kid · November 3, 2017 at 9:26 AM

I just ran the "getedid create" script and the PC rebooted. Will see if that makes a difference to the black screens during video playback ?

Thanks.

**CvH** · November 3, 2017 at 10:21 PM Official Post

It basically hard wire your tv settings to the system.

Instead of dynamic autodetect your screen it uses these "hard" values. This helps at a lot problem that are similar - you have to test it if it helps for your problem.

**milhouse** · November 4, 2017 at 2:06 AM

Quote from cw-kid

Hi

On the last few versions of LibreElec I have been having issues with my TV screen going totally black for a few seconds and then the display comes back again.

When does this occur, at the start of playback (do you have "Adjust display refresh rate" enabled?) or does it happen after video playback has started (which would be unusual/unexpected)?

As for the crash it is not audio passthrough related - it looks like the crash occurred while processing a database request for a video thumbnail. Hard to say what caused this, but access to the EPG (PVR) database has been extensively updated in Kodi 18 to ensure thread-safety and avoid random crashes.

cw-kid · April 22, 2018 at 2:23 PM

After suffering with the flickering / black screen issue for months and trying everything, changing HDMI cables and trying various settings in Kodi and on my TV and on the AVR, eventually changing the display refresh rate setting in Kodi to 30HZ seems to have cured the issue.

So far its stopped the flickering whilst playing videos on Kodi through the Denon 1513 AVR.

I did try connecting the HTPC directly to my LG TV by passing the AVR and that seemed to play OK when Kodi was set to 50HZ or 60HZ.

But when connecting via the AVR it would flicker black again for a second or so during video playback randomly.

So fingers crossed its solved for good.