Le Potato not playing certain h264 videos, only sound (and subtitles)

alcina · April 30, 2023 at 5:52 PM

I've recently come over to LibreELEC from Xbian. I installed LibreELEC-AMGX.arm-11.0.1-lepotato on my Le Potato as I wanted a small media centre that could playback h265 which my RaspberryPi couldn't do with Xbian. "Spud" plays h265 files just fine generally, so very pleased. Thank you. But Spud doesn't seem to want to play back some h264 files: the only thing I can see that the non-playing h264 files have in common is that they seem to be 480 SD ones which show an aspect ratio of 2.00:1 (720 by 360) as opposed to say 1.78:1 or 2.20:1 (720 by 480). Other 480 SD h264 play fine. 576 SD h264 seems to play fine. 720 and 1080 HD h264 seem to play fine. Doesn't seem to matter if it's in an MP4 container or a Matroska container.

MediaInfo output below of three 480 SD h264 video files. The first two files will playback audio and will display the subtitles, but no video, just a black screen. The third one plays both audio and video just fine. The first file is a new one so can't comment history wise, but the second file played fine on the RaspberryPi. Kodi video settings are the default with PRIME Render Method = Direct to Plane (it crashes if I set it to the other one!). Log file for Spud: http://ix.io/4uBV

This file does not playback video, only sound and subtitles:

Code

eneral
Complete name                            : /Volumes/Videos/TV_Progs/Fiction/Drama/Recipes For Love And Murder (2022)/Recipes For Love And Murder S01E01.mp4
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID                                 : mp42 (mp42/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size                                : 275 MiB
Duration                                 : 43 min 32 s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 885 kb/s
Encoded date                             : UTC 2023-04-30 12:09:50
Tagged date                              : UTC 2023-04-30 12:09:50
Writing application                      : HandBrake 1.6.1 2023012200
----
Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : Main@L3.1
Format settings                          : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 4 frames
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 43 min 32 s
Bit rate                                 : 718 kb/s
Width                                    : 720 pixels
Height                                   : 360 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 2.000
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 25.000 FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.111
Stream size                              : 224 MiB (81%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 164 r3100 ed0f7a6
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=2 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=hex / subme=6 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=11 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=30 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=20.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=14000 / vbv_bufsize=14000 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded date                             : UTC 2023-04-30 12:09:50
Tagged date                              : UTC 2023-04-30 12:09:50
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709
Codec configuration box                  : avcC

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This file does not playback video, only sound and subtitles:

Code

General
Unique ID                                : 68938986832859137151641622759896166550 (0x33DD2A78ED8587C6A8D5D5C7C606B096)
Complete name                            : /Volumes/Videos/TV_Progs/Fiction/Drama/Signora Volpe (2022)/Signora Volpe S01E01.mkv
Format                                   : Matroska
Format version                           : Version 4
File size                                : 908 MiB
Duration                                 : 1 h 28 min
Overall bit rate                         : 1 437 kb/s
Encoded date                             : UTC 2022-05-02 16:38:10
Writing application                      : mkvmerge v67.0.0 ('Under Stars') 64-bit
Writing library                          : libebml v1.4.2 + libmatroska v1.6.4
---
Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L4.1
Format settings                          : CABAC / 5 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 5 frames
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                                 : 1 h 28 min
Bit rate                                 : 1 306 kb/s
Width                                    : 720 pixels
Height                                   : 360 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 2.000
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 25.000 FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.202
Stream size                              : 825 MiB (91%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 164 r3065 ae03d92
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:-1:-1 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.15 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-3 / threads=11 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=50 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=17.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=62500 / vbv_bufsize=78125 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709

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This file playbacks just fine and dandy:

Code

Complete name                            : /Volumes/Videos/TV_Progs/Fiction/Drama/The Serpent Queen (2022)/The.Serpent.Queen.S01E01.mp4
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID                                 : mp42 (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size                                : 324 MiB
Duration                                 : 47 min 48 s
Overall bit rate                         : 948 kb/s
Encoded date                             : UTC 2022-09-27 11:37:52
Tagged date                              : UTC 2022-09-27 11:37:52
Writing application                      : HandBrake 1.2.0 2018122200
--
Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : Main@L3.1
Format settings                          : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 4 frames
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 47 min 48 s
Bit rate                                 : 797 kb/s
Width                                    : 720 pixels
Height                                   : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 2.2:1
Frame rate mode                          : Variable
Frame rate                               : 23.976 FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.096
Stream size                              : 273 MiB (84%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 157 r2935 545de2f
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=2 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=hex / subme=6 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=1 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=30 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=20.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=14000 / vbv_bufsize=14000 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded date                             : UTC 2022-09-27 11:37:52
Tagged date                              : UTC 2022-09-27 11:37:52
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709
Codec configuration box                  : avcC

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**chewitt** · May 3, 2023 at 4:28 PM

Quote

2023-04-30 16:23:11.551 T:843 error <general>: CVideoLayerBridgeDRMPRIME::Map - failed to add fb 0, ret = -22
2023-04-30 16:23:11.556 T:843 debug <general>: CDRMUtils::DrmFbDestroyCallback - removing framebuffer: 44

^ those are shown while playing the first file, but I have no clue what the cause might be. I would suggest that you enable "adjust refresh" with 1080@60/59.94/50/24/23.976 modes whitelisted and "mode doubling" enabled, but I'm not sure that will alter the experience. You need to have DRMPRIME decoding enabled (it should be by default).

You can also try updating to https://chewitt.libreelec.tv/testing/LibreE….arm-11.0.2.tar which uses a newer kernel and marginally different patches. Again, I have low expectations of anything changing .. but you never know