File where Video does not play, Audio does.

    Hi!
    I am using LibreELEC on a Raspberry Pi 4.

    I have a file, (well a number of files), that plays Audio, but does not play Video.
    The file is not 4k, which I know can have some issues on the Raspberry Pi 4.

    The issue is ONLY on LibreELEC 10 (and 11).
    If I go back to LibreELEC 9.2.8, the file works properly.

    When it tries to play, the video seems to "want" to play, the screen slightly flickers continuously, but it remains on the "load/snapshot" screen. The audio plays normally, and continues to play properly, even though the video itself didn't start playing.

    The file(s) themselves are from "other places", and so I have been hesitant to submit a bug report.

    But since the issue persists in LibreELEC 11 as well as 10, I thought maybe I should do it anyway, just case in the Developers might care.

    I have created log files in both LibELEC 9, as well as LibreELEC 11 (running daily from yesterday), if anyone is interested in taking a look at this problem?

    Looking at the log I don't see anything too obvious as to why this shouldn't work, just a basic 1080p, h264 video as far as I can tell?:

    2022-03-05 21:36:42.897 T:1136 INFO <general>: ffmpeg[0x2fb9f08]: Stream #0:0(und): Video: h264 (High) (avc1 / 0x31637661), yuv420p, 1920x1080 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], 2148 kb/s, 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 24k tbn, 47.95 tbc (default)

    2022-03-05 21:36:42.897 T:1136 INFO <general>: ffmpeg[0x2fb9f08]: Metadata:

    2022-03-05 21:36:42.897 T:1136 INFO <general>: ffmpeg[0x2fb9f08]: creation_time : 2019-12-14T02:00:36.000000Z

    2022-03-05 21:36:42.897 T:1136 INFO <general>: ffmpeg[0x2fb9f08]: handler_name : VideoHandler

    2022-03-05 21:36:42.897 T:1136 INFO <general>: ffmpeg[0x2fb9f08]: vendor_id : [0][0][0][0]

    2022-03-05 21:36:42.897 T:1136 INFO <general>: ffmpeg[0x2fb9f08]: Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: aac (LC) (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 44100 Hz, stereo, fltp, 128 kb/s (default)

    2022-03-05 21:36:42.898 T:1136 INFO <general>: ffmpeg[0x2fb9f08]: Metadata:

    2022-03-05 21:36:42.898 T:1136 INFO <general>: ffmpeg[0x2fb9f08]: creation_time : 2019-12-14T02:00:36.000000Z

    2022-03-05 21:36:42.898 T:1136 INFO <general>: ffmpeg[0x2fb9f08]: handler_name : SoundHandler

    2022-03-05 21:36:42.898 T:1136 INFO <general>: ffmpeg[0x2fb9f08]: vendor_id : [0][0][0][0]

    Anyway, I would love to help fix this in any way I can... Just let me know if there is anything or anywhere I could send the logs?

    Thanks again!

    No support for pirate add-ons.

    If you have a file that fails to play, and can provide a sample (e.g. 1 minute cut) that shows the issue it can be investigated.

    Quote from popcornmix

    No support for pirate add-ons.

    If you have a file that fails to play, and can provide a sample (e.g. 1 minute cut) that shows the issue it can be investigated.

    Thank you for your response!

    Oh, it is not a add-on or anything. It is just a standard .mp4 Video file, played through the normal means in Kodi.

    I just used "LossLessCut" now to prune it down to about 30 seconds, (about 7 MB) and it still shows the failure.
    (Works on 9.x, but not on 10 or 11)

    Should I attach the 30 second file here, or send it somewhere?
    (I don't want to violate any rules, etc)


    Thanks again for your response and help!
    Scott

    Quote from Sheik

    Should I attach the 30 second file here, or send it somewhere?
    (I don't want to violate any rules, etc)

    Posting a 30 second sample file that demonstrates an issue is okay by rules here.

    Google drive or dropbox and good examples of where to upload it (although there are many alternatives).

    Post link (or DM it to me) and I check if it fail for me (and if it should play and doesn't I can get the right person to investigate).

    Got sample and I can confirm it doesn't play.

    I think I see the problem:

    Format profile : [email protected]

    Format settings : CABAC / 15 Ref Frames

    The Pi only officially support profile 4.1 (BluRay).

    This has far more reference frames than that supports (or is sensible to use).

    Try adding gpu_mem=128 to /flash/config.txt and try again.

    That allows enough memory for the high number of reference frames.

    Quote from popcornmix

    Try adding gpu_mem=128 to /flash/config.txt and try again.

    That allows enough memory for the high number of reference frames.


    That worked!
    "gpu_mem" appears to have been set to 76 by default, and bumping it up to 128 absolutely fixes the issue!


    Are there any bad ramifications to leaving it set to 128?


    Thanks again for all your help!

    > Are there any bad ramifications to leaving it set to 128?

    gpu_mem is unavailable for other uses, so when you are not playing 5.1 profile h264, it is wasted.

    But it's unlikely to be noticeable (especially if you have 2GB or more RAM) in general.