LibreELEC often freezes on LiveTV start

    Hello,

    for a long time I have been using LibreELEC in a simple "one box" HTPC setup (see below). In the past there had been sporadic system freezes when starting Live TV, but I see them more frequently with recent versions: With LibreELEC 9, in 30%-40% (!) of all boot events my system freezes on activating Live TV, and I have to disconnect the power supply to reboot. Usually the second boot then comes up fine, and Live TV runs and remains 100% stable for hours.

    Normally I have LibreELEC configured to go to Live TV right after boot. In case of freeze, I see the channel's name and a little "play" triangle on the top of the screen, but no Live TV. For testing, I configured the system for standard startup (no Live TV), but then it freezes the moment when activating Live-TV manually. In both cases Kodi's GUI remains responsive as long as you don't touch the Live-TV tab. This is strange and happens far too often.

    Is someone out there who can help me? What should I do to find the problem?

    Thank you very much!


    -----------------

    HTPC System setup:

    CableTV--->(DVB Stick)---USB--->(INTEL NUC)---HDMI--->(Receiver)---HDMI--->(Projector)

    (DVB Stick): Hauppauge win-TV Dual HD

    (INTEL NUC): DN2820FYKH , LibreELEC 9.2.2 + Tvh 4.2.8-36 + addon v9.2.0.121

    (Receiver) : Pioneer VSX S520D

    (Projector): EH-TW6700W

    Since KODi 18 IT Freezes when you Change the Channel group and Hit epg.

    Or If you Set Power saving on some dvb Adapters in tvh.

    Or If you changed the tvh config and die not clean/refresh Channel list and epg Data.

    Hello,

    Nicolas: I did nothing of the above. If LibreELEC freezes, it does so at the Moment when Live TV is activated. This won't happen every time: in 60-70% of all boots my System runs as expected.

    The last Freeze occurred last night (2020-04-22 , time ca. 22:41) and I was able to get the logfiles. From the files I cannot see what might have caused the Freeze, so I attach them to this post. Maybe someone can look into the data and see what is going wrong.

    Thank you very much.

    Hello,

    1. are you using the latest pvr Client Add-on?

    2. Did you delete the epg and Channel Data?

    3. Are you using passthrou?

    4. Have you tried to use different deinterlacing and scaler settings?

    Regards

    Nicolas

    Hello,

    ad 1: Automatic update is enabled. Therefore, I expect the latest versions (Version info: see first post)
    ad 2: No. Can I do this from LibreELEC's menu? Where?
    ad 3: passthrough is enabled for AC3.
    ad 4: deinterlacing + scaler Settings? Where do I find them? (I'm using 1920x1080@50p, which fits the projector)

    Let me know if you need more info.

    Thank you very much!

    Hello

    1. Check If there ist an Update available manually

    2. Goto Settings>Pvr/TV delete Channels Data and goto epg and delete epg data

    4. While watching tv Bring Up the Menu and select the Film roll.. Then you See the scaler and If it is interlaced content the deinterlacing Method

    Regards

    Nicolas

    Hello,

    thank you, Nicolas!

    ad 1: Manual update indicated that I was already using the latest Tvh Version 4.4.21.1 . Nevertheless, I manually reinstalled 4.4.21.1

    ad 2: Done.

    ad 3: Scaler = bilinear , Deinterlace = VAAPI-BoB (I am watching mostly German TV which comes in 720p)

    Now I'm curious to see if #2 has any positive effect….

    Quote from fanformusik

    I am watching mostly German TV which comes in 720p

    hello fanformusic!

    Your Welcome!

    Me too.

    I also use two NUCs and one PC.

    If you watch German TV you should use a refresh rate of 50hz at settings system display and also set this rate at settings pvrtv Playback.

    If your NUC has Intel HD 500 or up you can Set deinterlacing to mcdi Motion compensation. And the scaler to lanczos3 optimized. Which results in the best Image quality i think.

    I had this situation also two times the root was once a gone Bad RAM Module (use a Linux Image with ramtest to Test the RAM eg. clonezilla or gparted have this) and 2nd a Buggy tvh Version.

    But as you say the Problems came Up recently i would guess on RAM.

    Sometimes the tvh crash Happens only If tvh Starts Up immediatly. If you Set a 5 Second wait for the tvh start at the tvh Add-on everything is nice.

    To be save i am using a 20sec (PC only Waits this Long If no Network Connection could established) wait for Network in LE and have a 5sec tvh start delay set.

    Some tv Tuners need more time to Start Up correctly.

    Tvh Add-on settings>dvb

    Wait for Frontend init (number Tuners)

    Delay the start of tvh 5 sec

    Are my settings

    Regards

    Nicolas

    Edited 2 times, last by Nicolas (April 26, 2020 at 1:43 AM).

    Hello Nicolas,

    thank you very much.

    Quote from Nicolas

    German TV you should use a refresh rate of 50hz

    Yes, this is what I use. (->third post pof mine)

    Quote from Nicolas

    But as you say the Problems came Up recently i would guess on RAM.

    I have seen those freezes sporadically all the time. But recently they become more frequent. (->first post)

    I am not sure if that the problem results from a bad RAM. If so, the whole System would be much more unstable and fail in random situations. Here, the failure ONLY occurs when trying to activate Live TV.

    Quote from Nicolas

    If you Set a 5 Second wait for the tvh

    I will try this, but I doubt it will help. For testing, I configured my System not to go to Live TV after boot, which introduces sort of a "Manual delay", as Live Tv has to be activated manually. This did not improve anything. (->first post)


    Last night, I had another Freeze after applying all above Actions. The log files are attached.

    Can something be found in the data?

    Ram or a gone south SD Card, USB Stick HD or SSD could cause any Trouble and Strange behavior.

    But after Viewing your logs it Seen the Plugin mediaview 062 is the root cause.

    Some Plugins starting in Background and are running without starting Thema manually Like YouTube etc...

    I would try to uninstall or at least deactivate mediaview Add-on and See If it Happens again.

    Regards

    Nicolas

    Hello Nicolas,

    sorry for not posting anything over last weekend…

    I deinstalled mediaview and replaced it by two different addons (ARD Mediathek and ZDF Mediathek, from official libreelec repositories). Now I will watch if my System gets more stable. This should take a few days.

    I will keep you informed.

    Hello,

    I'm back, sooner than expected: Last night I saw one more Freeze, i.e. the Actions above didn't help. Logfiles are attached.

    It went the typical way: I cold booted my System, then navigated to the Live TV tab, then pressed OK, then the System stalled.
    Since my HTPC is connected to LAN, I tried to Access it (while stalled) from a remote Computer:
    - the System was accessible via LAN, and I was able to retrieve the error logfiles (attached)
    - Tvheadend addon's configuration page was reachable too and seemed to be functional

    From the above I assume that Libreelec's GUI crashes.

    How should I go on to find the Problem? Any Ideas?

    Thank you very much!

    Hello!

    Mediathekview 062 is still in your logs and Returns Errors.

    I installed mediathekview just for Testing on one system and this system had 2 Freezes since in 24h. Before that, it was running stable. I restored a Backup and everything is fine again.

    Maybe you should Clean up your system and remove leftovers. Btw... Did you ever Made a Thumbnail cleanup?

    Or start with a fresh Setup (Backup tvh Server settings First) also the databases. Just to be save I would also run memcheck.

    Regards

    Nicolas

    Hello Fanformusic!

    Kodi keeps storing every Thumbnail Image, so the Database grows and grows.

    If you use alot of Videoplugins every Preview Pic is Stored.

    I am using a cool Plugin called Profile cleaner... You can Clean all non permanent thumbs but also Add-on leftovers with it.

    The Funktion you want ist Thumbnail cleanup... First in the Menu.

    But yes a Clean, fresh Install will be good.

    I would only Backup tvh settings First and restore them after a fresh Install while tvh is deactivated. Then you should be Up and running again in minutes.

    Do you have done a memtest already?

    Just to be sure it is Not a HW prob.

    Clonezilla still contains memtest and it is easy to make an bootable USB Stick.

    Regards

    Nicolas

    Edited 2 times, last by Nicolas (April 29, 2020 at 9:31 PM).

    Hello Nicolas,

    just to let you know: There was no more Freeze since I made the Fresh install last Thursday (I only backed up + reinstalled Tvh settings).

    It seems that my System suffered from "leftovers", so I will install the "profile cleaner" as you advised.

    Once again, thank you very much!

    Michael