4K KODI playback setup - step by step instructions?

    VLC on my desktop PC plays back my 2160p 4K files flawlessly, but LE server player fails to produce video output (sound only) on the same 4K mkv's.

    Edited once, last by bpr323 (September 12, 2024 at 9:36 PM).

    Thanks mate!

    Sadly, the issue hasn't been resolved. I have 3 devices in the chain:

    LE 12.01 running on Dell Optiplex 7080 micro (has MiniDLNA running in Docker) - this is the source/Renderer

    Arcam AVR850 with pass-through

    Hisense PX2-Pro lazer TV (UHT projector)

    I thought I configured my AVR and projector incorrectly for 4K video output, but now I'm sure it's my LE configuration.

    All 1080p content plays flawlessly

    Any 4K mkv's play back and DTX sound comes out of AVR, but there's no video out.

    What are the steps on LE GUI to configure 4K playback, exactly?

    Please provide a full debug log.

    How to post a log (wiki)

    1. Enable debugging in Settings>System Settings>Logging
    2. Restart Kodi
    3. Replicate the problem
    4. Generate a log URL (do not post/upload logs to the forum)

    use "Settings > LibreELEC > System > Paste system logs" or run "pastekodi" over SSH, then post the URL link
    Quote from MatteN

    https://wiki.libreelec.tv/configuration/4k-hdr

    Thank you, however this article presumes LE is hosted on a Raspberry Pi (and warns about its h/w limitations) but my "generic" LE 12.01 HTPC is a Dell Optiplex 7080 micro, and unlike Pi 5 does NOT support 4K60 output by default.

    I'm not looking to upscale any media, and LE is installed as boot OS on SSD (not on SD "flash" card). The folder structure is shown on the attached pic.

    1) Where do i find the location of "config.txt" on a normal Intel x86-64 PC (Not a Pi) to whitelist the 4k resolution by adding hdmi_enable_4kp60=1 to config.txt?

    2) Do I need to edit/modify anything else, e.g. dtoverlay?

    Edited 2 times, last by bpr323 (September 15, 2024 at 11:29 PM).

    I asked for the debug log because it will show what resolutions and refresh rates are being advertised, and then we can either see what the issue is and/or advise how to set things up. There are no config.txt or dtoverlay things for x86_64 hardware, that's a Raspberry Pi only thing. The 4K-HDR wiki article advice still generally applies.

    Quote from chewitt

    4. Generate a log URL (do not post/upload logs to the forum)

    Okay .. got it working now after disable-reboot-enable-reboot

    https://paste.libreelec.tv/sure-possum.log

    No picture during 4K video playback, but the sound works going from LE across HDMI to AVR pass-through.

    1080p content plays back normally, without changing any "Display" settings (i.e. still set to 3840x2160p @ 30Hz)

    The log and screenshots show that you forced the desktop to 4K@30 and there is a single whitelist entry for 4K@30 .. which means you're attempting to force all media to play at 4K@30 resolution with Kodi upscaling everything itself. It's a recent i7 CPU with 16x cores so it has some grunt, but media apps aren't as multi-threaded as you might assume, so regardless of the specs that might not work, and processing e.g. [email protected] media (most movies) to 4K@30 requires a lot of compute. The log doesn't show any playback, so hard to comment on what goes wrong, but..

    I'd recommend setting the desktop to 1080p and then whitelisting 4K@30/29.97/25/24/23.976 and 1080@60/59.94/50/24/23.976 and allowing mode doubling (hence 1080@25/29.97 are not required). That should allow Kodi to switch 1080/4K to native resolutions as needed, and the only stuff that won't be handled is 4K@60/59.94/50 which requires HDMI 2.0a capabilities in the AVR/Projector.

    All suggestions long documented in here: https://wiki.libreelec.tv/configuration/4k-hdr

    I gave up on tweaking and tinkering with Kodi - bought a Panasonic 4K Ultra HD Blu Ray Player with HDR10+ Dolby Vision DP-UB450GN-K from Amazon with 2 HDMI out's - one port for audio only, the other for video. Easy peasy :)

    The Optiplex micro relegate to streaming MiniDLNA library duties only.

    On a positive note, LE is the best choice for a home brew Docker host server as it allows root login out of the box (which other distro's can not). Thank you for the great support helping me out with my Kodi experiments, much appreciated!

    Edited once, last by bpr323 (September 20, 2024 at 6:07 AM).