Low FPS playback and no hardware acceleration option

1st Official Post

    Installed 9.2.2 on an old inspiron laptop. Its graphics chipset is GM965/GL960 and loaded kernal driver seems to be i915.

    When playing movies the FPS is very low and CPU usage goes to 20-50% some times. But this happens only for some.

    Render options in the player settings is set to auto select and grayed out. I was wondering if this could be an issue where software is used for decoding?

    Full debug log here:

    http://ix.io/2lfb

    I re-created the log after playing a video also. since log is too long I get an error when pasting to pastebin. Please see below for a zipped log.

    Dropbox - kodi.zip - Simplify your life

    Any pointers please?

    Edited once, last by suspension (May 8, 2020 at 7:33 AM).

    Hello!

    IMHO Your Hardware is way to old (gma x3100) for Hardware Acceleration now adays needed. Mpeg2 is eventually supported but nothing more.

    So any Decoding is getting done in Software (mpeg4 etc...).

    If you have an AMD or GF 610 or gt730 around you can add it for HW decoding.

    But a Raspberry Pi 3+ is way more Energy efficient.

    Regards

    Nicolas

    I have no issues watching movies in windows in this same machine however. Yes I agree that HW is old, but at the same time what I am trying to play is just HD content and decoding a HD stream should not be a a big issue. I am not trying to play a 3D game here!

    • Official Post
    Quote from suspension

    Its graphics chipset is GM965/GL960

    Quote from suspension

    Yes I agree that HW is old, but at the same time what I am trying to play is just HD content and decoding a HD stream should not be a a big issue.

    So which part of "old hardware" is still unclear to you? LibreELEC has no magic wand to make your prehistoric computer suddenly run twice as fast.

    If you want better video handling, get your wallet out and buy something more contemporary. A Raspberry Pi 4 will run circles around your 7-8 yr old machine. You can probably pick up 2nd hand RPi3B+ now for half the money.

    • Official Post

    To answer the original Q more directly. During playback press the 'o' key and it will show you whether FFmeg hardware or (SW) softtware decoding is being used. Older Intel low-end GMA chipsets are not always so well supported, they pre-date the point where Intel got properly interested in Linux and started to invest effort in support (in the newer hardware that followed). You might find that Windows is a better option.

    @Klojum Are you saying that this machine does not have a hardware decoder to decode these streams? Mate, I my self is an engineer and I have built hardware decoders on FPGA's even. The problem seem to me that the linux during that time did not support its hardware decoder as no one was interested in writing a driver for that. Admit that its a problem with Linux rather than the machine. This machine can well decode an HD streams. Also I have 4 RPI's driving my other TV;s in other rooms but wanted to try this out for this new TV BECAUSE due to COVID-19 all the orders I have placed are stuck and no point in trying to order a new RPI now. And I have no reason to buy used RPI's I have enough money to buy them if I want. Pathetic attitude you have there.

    @chewitt Thank you for the pointer, exactly what I wanted to know. I will check it out.

    @chewitt it shows ff-h264(SW)

    So I guess it software decoding. Please not also that this stream resolution is only 656 X 470 Px but the playback is still not smooth. Even CPU is enough to decode this.

    Current CPU usage is at 18%.

    memory use - 13%.

    Is there a way for me test video playback out side of kodi? I understand that apt-get is disabled? Which player is used by Kodi?

    • Official Post
    Quote from suspension

    Are you saying that this machine does not have a hardware decoder to decode these streams? Mate, I my self is an engineer and I have built hardware decoders on FPGA's even.

    Mm.. Here we go. Intel GM965 is about 11-12 years old. That is a lifetime in computer terms. All your video processing will be done by the CPU as the GPU has no modern hw acceleration of any kind, hence the "ff-h264(SW)" indicator in your Kodi OSD. As an "engineer" you should be open to that fact. By the way, it's "I myself AM an engineer".

    Quote from suspension

    The problem seem to me that the linux during that time did not support its hardware decoder as no one was interested in writing a driver for that. Admit that its a problem with Linux rather than the machine. This machine can well decode an HD streams

    I still have a Intel laptop with GM965 graphics (Intel Core2 Duo CPU T5470) myself, that currently runs Ubuntu Linux 16.04. It could be using a different driver setup than LibreELEC, but It can do 720p h.265/hevc videos comfortably (although the fan protests loudly these days). However, 1080p hevc will become a problem quickly all because again, as the video hardware was not designed for it.

    H264 should be a much less problem for the laptop in your case. Where things go wrong I don't know. Judging from the shitload of "DEBUG: ffmpeg[7F74437FF700]:" entries in your log file, I'd say something is not correct with that video file. Perhaps it was poorly remuxed. Or perhaps LibreELEC doesn't like the DTS stream in the video, as it is also a decoding process. I'm not a video guru, but the kodi log file is not happy.

    Quote from suspension

    And I have no reason to buy used RPI's I have enough money to buy them if I want. Pathetic attitude you have there.

    Depending on the use case, there is no reason to buy new a RPi4 when a RPi3 can do the job perfectly as well. Software for the RPi3 has been developed over many years now, while the RPi4 still has some rough edges.

    I'm glad that money for you is not an issue, but it isn't always the deciding factor. There are plenty of people out there wanting to buy "the best possible Kodi setup ever". There is no such thing, as there is always something that is hampering that "total experience". Be it hardware or the software (Kodi, drivers, whatever). For now, HDR support is one of those hurdles.

    We see threads on the forums (LibreELEC and Kodi) where money can be an issue. We also don't have a crystal ball here to see what the living standard or what the technical know-how level of people on the forum is. But people being instantly offended by simply misreading a forum reply and yelling that they are "an engineer" themselves is enough for me to wish you luck with all your Kodi problems, I'll go about my own business from here on.

    Hello Suspension!

    Just to Proof what I wrote...

    Intel states x3100 has Hardware Acceleration for mpeg2 and wmv9 only.

    But...

    In Windows DirectX is used to "enhance" mpeg4, h264 Playback.

    Due to the fact that DirectX is not supported/available in Linux this could be the Problem If you try to Playback mpeg4, h264 etc.

    You can try with different settings for Video (sync to Screen Option for example) scaler and deinterlacing. maybe you can get better Playback results.

    Or you can try an older Libreelec build with KODi 16 or 17. Video Playback but mainly live TV was way smoother in KODi 16 and 17. Also If a Video ist running in Background and you Bring Up an overlay it doesn't stutter or skip Like it does since KODi 18. Fingers crossed, maybe the KODi Team will fix this with 19... But I think they don't Care...

    I had different Boards with gma 4500 and ATI onboard years ago (running Mediaportal, vdr, and finally Openelec) but decided to Switch to Nvidia because of HW decoding and Image quality which was equal to a Receiver for live TV

    Regards

    Nicolas

    Edited 3 times, last by Nicolas (May 10, 2020 at 6:21 PM).