[SOLVED] Dropped frames caused by subtitle rendering

    On my X92 box, if I don't use new dtb.img from 8.2.4 folder I don't get full 792MHz freq.

    With old dtb.img, with which my box also boots, I get 400/666 freq and with new dtb.img I get 500/792MHz.

    CPU clock freq is of no interest here, you should check GPU clock freq with comamand:

    Code
    cat /sys/class/mpgpu/cur_freq

    What is correct dtb.img for your box to achieve this OC freq I don't know.... Did you try with gxm_q201_3g.dtb?

    I ask because my box boots with both versions q200 and q201...

    To everyone.

    It's not just the AML S912 I am noticing strange, occasional downloaded external Subtitle Addon hangs with but other S9xx platforms that never had video playback Subtitle issues.

    They too now occasional lock up Kodi. I suspect a Kodi update has messed with something.
    Weird thing is it's not all external .srt Subtitles that do this.

    If I remove the problematic .srt file from my external file server the previously Kodi crashing movie files playback fine.

    Quote from Sholander

    On my X92 box, if I don't use new dtb.img from 8.2.4 folder I don't get full 792MHz freq.

    With old dtb.img, with which my box also boots, I get 400/666 freq and with new dtb.img I get 500/792MHz.

    CPU clock freq is of no interest here, you should check GPU clock freq with comamand:

    Code
    cat /sys/class/mpgpu/cur_freq

    What is correct dtb.img for your box to achieve this OC freq I don't know.... Did you try with gxm_q201_3g.dtb?

    I ask because my box boots with both versions q200 and q201...

    I made that command in Putty and it shows only 666 so not 400/666

    OK I can try it with the q201 but this is actually for 100 Mbit LAN not the right intention I think.

    Why does the H96 Pro+ not boot with the original device tree from Wrxtasy??

    However it is, the movies are playing fine now with subs, using the old dtb file.

    That is really a big improvement, but is this caused by overclocking or something else??

    Maybe Wrxtasy can answer this question.

    I am very interesting in the experience of other H96 Pro+ users

    Quote from wrxtasy

    To everyone.

    It's not just the AML S912 I am noticing strange, occasional downloaded external Subtitle Addon hangs with but other S9xx platforms that never had video playback Subtitle issues.

    They too now occasional lock up Kodi. I suspect a Kodi update has messed with something.
    Weird thing is it's not all external .srt Subtitles that do this.

    If I remove the problematic .srt file from my external file server the previously Kodi crashing movie files playback fine.

    I use all my external subs on an USB disk in the same folder as video, and NEVER had any issues, or misbehavior on X92 box.., your build just works perfect for me. It makes no difference playing with or without hardware decoding...

    With old dtb.img selecting overclock option you get 666MHz, and without this option you should get 400MHz.

    With new dtb.img you should get 500MHz without overclock and 792MHz with this option enabled...
    You have to reboot the box after every change to take effect.

    You can set 792MHz to Off and see how the subtitles behave for you.

    Btw, why do you have to use 1Gbit Lan? I use only Wlan and keep Lan off...

    Edited once, last by Sholander (April 11, 2018 at 5:12 PM).

    Quote from Sholander

    Btw, why do you have to use 1Gbit Lan? I use only Wlan and keep Lan off...

    My router is located very close to my TV and wired connection is always better, so why not use a simple RJ45 cable.

    Yesterday I tested speed over SMB from my computer to the H96 through network with cat 6 cable.

    This was 42 MB/sec!! I never had this speed over network before, even not with my Dune mediaplayer. As you see that Chinese stuff is not so bad at all.

    I understand that 400/666 now and it is clear that my H96 could be faster.

    I hope for a fix for the dtb.img file.

    Quote from Sholander

    I use all my external subs on an USB disk in the same folder as video, and NEVER had any issues, or misbehavior on X92 box.., your build just works perfect for me. It makes no difference playing with or without hardware decoding...

    Please read my post good, using usb with harddisk I also don't have any problem at all.

    It is only with SMB over network since I installed the 8.2.4 build.

    But never mind, I stopped using SMB and use harddisk over usb only now, works perfect.:)

    Update: just tested smb play from my old Popcorn Hour A200 to H96 and this is working fine with srt subs. I think the problem is coming from the D-link router with attached HDD. I think you better don't use this for 4K streaming.:blush:

    Edited 2 times, last by johnberg (April 11, 2018 at 8:41 PM).

    wrxtasy , Sholander

    Summary:

    I installed 8.2.4 Subtitles-ff.tar on my H96 Pro+ 1000 Mb LAN 3g

    When I use the attached device tree gxm_q200_3g.dtb my device won't boot anymore.

    When I put the old device tree back it is booting fine again.

    Video playback with srt is running like a charm now.

    But I can't overclock the GPU to 792 MHz because I have the old dtb.img file.

    I use 666 MHz but even on 400 MHz video/subtitles is playing perfect.

    Am I right that the key to this great update is adding an important VSync Hardkernel ODROID C2 patch?? and that this overclocking does not make many difference to video (movie) performance?

    I read many times that the GUI is more snapier on 792 MHz, but what about movie performance?

    I am very happy with this update allready, but still asking myself: Could it be more better when I should be able to get this 792 MHz?

    I also think when it is not really necessary, just leave it on 666 MHz, the GPU-chip would be happy with that.

    I wish I could test it on 792 MHz but the problem is the dtb.img file.X(

    Just FYI there is no subtitle stutter on "regular" GPU clock speed (500MHz) on new CoreElec devel version. All it needs to play without subtitle stutter with Harware Decoding is disabling all "Dirty Regions" via advancedsettings.xml.

    Although it would be nice if wrxtasy could bring OC option to this devel version, for me THE BEST so far...

    Edited once, last by Sholander (April 13, 2018 at 2:31 PM).

    Quote from Sholander

    All it needs to play without subtitle stutter with Harware Decoding is disabling all "Dirty Regions" via advancesettings.xml.

    Wrxtasy made this settings allready in his new build?

    So I can just leave as it is now and don't think about that 792 MHz anymore?

    BTW this is also a very good test file:

    bugr

    Thank you:)

    Quote from johnberg

    Wrxtasy made this settings allready in his new build?

    So I can just leave as it is now and don't think about that 792 MHz anymore?

    On which version?

    I use mentioned advancedsettings.xml only on CoreElec devel version to eliminate subtitle stutter.

    Your test file has embedded subtitle.srt, which are less problematic for me than externall.srt; so I extracted .srt to use it externally for testing.

    Btw, your test file is almost all a zooming sequence, but the stutter is easier to spot on panning scenes with vertical lines.

    I tested a LibreELEC 9.0 devel image (April 12) and I did not encounter the subtitle stutter either and OC working too (Minix U9 S912). Have not tested adamg's CoreELEC build though.

    Still using 8.2.4 as my daily driver but 9.0 looking good.

    Edited once, last by zonly1: device used added (April 13, 2018 at 2:48 PM).

    Where is the link to "LibreELEC 9.0 devel image (April 12)" version?

    Although, I intend to stick with CoreElec.9.0_devel due to the "situation" with developers...

    X92 has 2 versions - q200 and q201. Besides that q201 comes with 100MB Lan and with 1GB Lan.

    I had "no luck" and got q201 with 1GB Lan, so I can use both images. Since I don't use Lan, I don't care which specific .img I use.

    My box works the same with both. I cannot spot any difference between q200 and q201.