Transcoding Tvheadend DVB-T with FFMPEG Rpi

So I decided to kill some time playing with transcoding and I'm getting frustrated..

Im not even sure if this is possible..

I m trying to transcode an mpeg2 stream to h264..

So far I only managed to get it working not longer then 10 minutes after that stream just drops...

While it's working cpu is averaging around 50% so no big deal I suppose...

Output is h264/aac as command...no buffers or glitches..

Command i m using right now is this tough I tryed loads and loads of different versions...

ffmpeg -threads 4 -c:v mpeg2_mmal -v panic -hide_banner -nostats -i pipe:0 -map 0:0 -map 0:1 -map 0:2? -c:v h264_omx -s 480x270 -b:v 768k -pix_fmt yuv420p -bufsize 3000k -c:a aac -ac 1 -ar 22050 -c:s copy -f mpegts -r 25 pipe:1

Anyone got this working?Or I m asking too much from my little computer

Quote from CvH

what RPi are you using ?

just saying there is no HW encoding at LE10 yet

It s a Rpi3 with LE 9.2.6HTS Tvheadend 4.3-1906 ~ LibreELEC Tvh-addon v9.2.0.444

Quote from CvH

I know ppl had it working at RPi3 and Tvh, so it may be a problem at the cmd you are using.

Nothing obviouse if you ask me. I would cut down the commandline as much as possible, maybe some command combination creates problems.

I tryed so many commands that I m running out of ideas...problem is that even with the simplest of commands with just copy and no transcoding...stream just stops..

Maybe someone comes up with a working command so I can hopefully know if issue is with command or something else..

Hi

I'm using 'mpegts spawn profile' in tvheadend and adding that command in spawn settings command line..you can add that in a script and add path to script in spawn settings command line..

I assume that is using ffmpeg from ffmpeg-tools addon as it doesn't work without the addon installed..so same as adding full path..

To play channels I made a playlist

http://xxx:xxx@xx.xx.xxx.xx:xxxx/stream/channelid/1234567?profile=transcoding

transcoding frofile enabled for user in TvHeadend settings..

Been watching mem and cpu trough Htop while transcoding and cpu doesn't exceed 75%

This is free -m during a working transcode

LibreELEC:~ # free -m
              total        used        free      shared  buff/cache   available
Mem:            747         104          31          12         612         576
Swap:             0           0           0       12         612       

Transcoding is defo working..as an mpeg2 stream with mp2 audio is transcoded to h264/aac..problem is it doesn t last long...all I get from tvheadend is unsubscibing from channel and a sigkill from ffmpeg.

Not sure where to find ffmpegx?

Quote from CvH

you could enable the debuglog (see addon settings) for transcoding themed options

maybe something interesting pops up

here you go ..this stream lasted 3min34sec

debug.txt

Quote from nvdias

This is very strange.

I use the exact same approach with a RPi3 and a RPi4, but I have none of those issues.

As I've posted in another thread, this is my ffmpeg command line,

Code

/storage/.kodi/addons/service.ffmpeg/bin/ffmpeg -loglevel quiet -i pipe:0 -vf scale=640:360 -vcodec h264_omx -vb 512k -bufsize 2048k -g 100 -af "aresample=async=1:first_pts=0" -acodec aac -ab 128k -f mpegts pipe:1

The major diferences are that I'm not forcing the frame rate nor the pixel format and I use a different ffmpeg version.

I use a ffmpeg version compiled directly in my RPi3 from the official ffmpeg sources.

If you want to test with it, just download from this link:

https://mega.nz/file/EfAjFK5D#…xByastOPZgeJslI

Install the add-on directly from libreelec's kodi interface.

ffmpeg path is:

Code

/storage/.kodi/addons/service.ffmpeg/bin/ffmpeg

Note: Also take a look into gpu_mem in /flash/config.txt (i'm using 256 in my RPi3, and 512 imnRPi4)

Note: It is a personal add-on that I've not yet released, which includes ffmpeg to help nginx to serve as a transcode server

(if you are interested in knowing more, just read the txt file inside the add-on, or take a look at http://RPi_ip_address:9996/cgi-bin/movies.cgi?/storage after install - user/pass)

---

Another thing: What client are you using to test the stream ?

Display More

Thanks I will try that soon..

I used vlc and kodi on windows with iptv simple client and libreelec iptv simple client

getting error

/storage/.kodi/addons/service.ffmpeg/bin/ffmpeg: error while loading shared libraries: libdrm.so.2: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

Quote from Mario77

Thanks I will try that soon..

I used vlc and kodi on windows with iptv simple client and libreelec iptv simple client

getting error

Code

/storage/.kodi/addons/service.ffmpeg/bin/ffmpeg: error while loading shared libraries: libdrm.so.2: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

I m still on Libreelec 9 not 10

Quote from nvdias

About your error:

is strange, I use libreelec 9.2.6 and my ffmpeg works ok.

libdrm.so.2 is in /usr/lib/libdrm.so.2

Have you tried executing ffmpeg from a ssh shell ?

About clients:

I do my tests with vlc in PC to connect to tvheadend in my Rpi trough a m3u list got from http://tvheadend_ip_address:9981/playlist/channels

This transcoding, takes some seconds to start, after starting 5 to 10s after it stops for 2 seconds (buffering), but then it plays all the time without issues, providing I have a good network connection. of course.

There is also a nice free tvheadend client for iOS devices that works great, and it is easy to select a codec profile from it.

Display More

No idea what s going on then..

I have no /usr/lib/libdrm.so.2 on rpi3 le9.2.6

I don t have it even on my rpi2 I use as frontened also with 9.2.6

Quote from nvdias

Sorry man ... my bad , forgot to include that lib in the zip file.

this link is updated. Just tested in a fresh LibreELEC 9.26 running in RPi3:

https://mega.nz/file/NGIxxSIa#…IAtSfNVEoInPmL8

thanks i ll try tonight as im at work now..i ll let you know if it works

It does work now but same issue..thanks for your help.

Further testing and it looks like issue is with my streams and even recordings...ffmpeg is showing many errors while transcoding both live tv and recordings..strange thing is these corrupt segments are not teally visible when watching live tv and not even on recordings...my reception is a bit on the low side tough..about 43%..