[x86-64] EAC3 passthrough not available

kilroy82 · October 9, 2024 at 12:49 PM

I have LE 12.0.1 (generic legacy) installed on my old Intel NUC D54250WYKH. It is connected to my AV receiver (Sony STR-DN1050).
I can't get EAC3/dolby digital plus to work through passthrough. In the Kodi audio settings I can only choose DTS and AC3 compatible receiver. If I choose a HDMI out not in use I see there are more options for EAC3, TrueHD etc.

All DD+ videos are sent to the receiver as PCM 2.0 channel audio.
If I choose 2.0 channels in Kodi and let Kodi transcode to AC3 I get 5.1 but what am I doing wrong or missing to be able to get real EAC3 passthrough?
Any help is appreciated.

Setup: NUC <HDMI> STR DN1050 <HDMI> Samsung TV

Best regards

**chewitt** · October 9, 2024 at 6:13 PM

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

kilroy82 · October 9, 2024 at 9:23 PM

Thank you for the reply.
Here is the log.

https://paste.libreelec.tv/trusty-snipe.log

kilroy82 · October 12, 2024 at 4:25 PM

No wise guru who can help me solve this problem?

kilroy82 · October 21, 2024 at 9:15 AM

I did a test and installed win10 + kodi 21.1.0 + k-lite codec pack (not sure if that codec pack was needed tho) without changing anything at all with the setup and I was able to get eac3 passthrough to work without a hitch. This means there is nothing wrong with the hardware I guess.

I would very much prefer to use libreelec though since win10 feels so heavy compared to LE and due to some other small annoying things.
I was thinking about trying Kodi forum support but since it actually works with Kodi on another OS I doubt they could help me.

Again, any help or tips would be much appreciated.

**Da Flex** · October 21, 2024 at 7:01 PM

Chances are you have an LSPCon chip to convert from DP to HDMI:

Code

Oct 09 22:20:11.395806 LibreELEC-NUC kernel: input: HDA Intel HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=3 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/sound/card0/input5
Oct 09 22:20:11.395877 LibreELEC-NUC kernel: input: HDA Intel HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=7 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/sound/card0/input6
Oct 09 22:20:11.395905 LibreELEC-NUC kernel: input: HDA Intel HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=8 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.0/sound/card0/input7

Code

Connector 0 (77) HDMI-A-1 (connected)
Connector 1 (85) DP-1 (disconnected)
Connector 2 (92) HDMI-A-2 (disconnected)

Maybe Windows has the right driver for EAC3 over LSPCon, but LE doesn't.

Since you run Windows on the same machine, updating all drivers and BIOS/EFI should be easy. Sometimes a new graphics driver affects HDMI firmware, and that firmware might fix the EAC3 issue on LE.

**blueribb** · October 21, 2024 at 9:46 PM

In LE, go to:

System / Settings / System

Change: Settings level to expert

Then go to Kodi audio settings and select all compatible receiver modes

kilroy82 · October 25, 2024 at 9:49 PM

It is ok to call me dumb

A fresh reinstall of LE solved the problem. It can now do EAC3 passthrough.... I had only tried to reinstall using old backups.
I lost all settings, addons, library etc ofc but it was still worth it.

Quote from blueribb

In LE, go to:
System / Settings / System
Change: Settings level to expert
Then go to Kodi audio settings and select all compatible receiver modes

I had it on expert from the start. The options for EAC3 just weren't there.

Thank you for the tips anyway

tomi7711 · December 27, 2024 at 4:46 PM

I believe I’ve encountered the same issue with my Intel NUC (specific model: NUC7i3BNB). The amplifier only switches to 5.1 mode if the transcoding option is enabled. In my case, the devices are connected a bit differently, as I have an older system: NUC --HDMI--> LG TV --OPTICAL--> LG compact home theater system. I know this isn’t the most ideal or modern setup...

Unfortunately, the TV can only pass through Dolby Digital format, not DTS (even though the amplifier supports it).

**Da Flex** · December 27, 2024 at 11:40 PM

Quote from tomi7711

NUC --HDMI--> LG TV --OPTICAL--> LG compact home theater system

The optical TOSLINK and/or the TV is the bottle neck here. TOSLINK is too slow for EAC3, but HDMI can handle it.

tomi7711 · January 3, 2025 at 1:53 PM

Quote from Da Flex

The optical TOSLINK and/or the TV is the bottle neck here. TOSLINK is too slow for EAC3, but HDMI can handle it.

thanks for the reply, I suspected that was the source of the problem.

[x86-64] EAC3 passthrough not available

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