Pi v3+ Poor Kodi Performance

1st Official Post

    I have found some poor performance issues playing some video files in Kodi using 8.2.5
    Films and TV eps can stick and stutter badly becoming unwatchable, not all huge file sizes either.

    I have a Pi v1 and v3+ and found a fresh 8.2.5 install on the v1 had the issue, but if I install 7.95.3 amd then let it upgrade to 8.2.5 it works fine.
    I obviously don't have that option with the v3+, fresh installs of 8.2.4 and 8.2.5 both have the issue.

    Has anyone else seen this problem, can anyone offer any advice?
    I have attached my log from boot up to attempting to run one of the files I know sees the issue, it is only a 320mb file.

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    Thank you!!!

    • Official Post

    Pi hardware supports OMX and MMAL decoders. MMAL should give best results, but requires more processing grunt. At some point the default in Kodi was changed to MMAL, so I have a hunch the difference between installing 7.95.3 and later releases is that the older install has OMX as the default and this preference is retained through upgrades. Later installs (dictated by hardware support) default to MMAL.

    Pi v1 hardware probably doesn't work great with MMAL due to the higher overheads whereas the 3B+ will be fine with them. You can change the decoder to experiment in Kodi player settings (needs advanced or expert mode).

    Thanks for you reply!

    It is the 3b+ that is the main pain with this issue, that is what I have tested your solution on.

    The v1 I only got back out of the cupboard for troubleshooting.

    I have tried that switch, and tried with both decoders enabled, it has improved a bit but it hasn't fixed the issue.

    Turns out it was Flow Control, it seems if you have a 3b+ connected to a GB switch it overloads the lan port.
    Make sure you enable Flow Control on your switch for the relevant port and it seems sorted.

    Thanks!