[RPi5] TrueHD or any Dolby via eARC Stopped Working

yamcenutzer · February 21, 2025 at 10:19 PM

Hi,

Am I hallucinating or did some recent firmware updates (as in the last 1-2 weeks) to either PanaSonic TV or Denon AVR prevent TrueHd , Atmos or any Dolby audio being passed down to the AVR?

I am kind of sure this was working in my setup not too long ago.

My setup is: raspi5 via HDMI to Panasonic Tv, via eArc enabled hdmi to Denon AVR.

DTS HD MA gets passed through, just not anything Dolby (not even normal AC3).

The TV shows that the incoming stream has TrueHd or Atmos, but seems to not pass it on. The AVR just shows some weird 'Multi'

I didn't change anything on the raspi, but I remebered that both the TV and the AVR are connected to the internet with auto updates. Normally they notify me, but who knows...

Anyone any ideas?

Thx.

**Da Flex** · February 21, 2025 at 11:00 PM

Select a fitting sample from here: https://kodi.wiki/view/Samples
Do the debug setup.
Play the sample in debug mode.
Post a link to a log.

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

yamcenutzer · February 22, 2025 at 8:20 PM

It's not a Libreelec problem, since hd audio is being passed through to the TV (it shows ATmos/TrueHD on info). But It either doesn't pass on to the AVR, or the AVR doesn't 'like' what it sees on eARC. It seems to get the individual channels pre-decoded. But again only Dolby. DTS get's passed through properly.

Dolby(AC3/ThrueHD/Atmos) is also passed correctly if I connect the raspi to the AVR directly rather than via eARCfrom the TV.

I am asking here, because I believe

a) there are people with a similar setup, and Panasonic TV are knowen to be flaky and require a real wall-power off from time to time (done that, of course)

b) I strongly believe it was working just a week or 2 ago.

**Da Flex** · February 22, 2025 at 8:43 PM

Should we guess, or should we analyze the pass-through facts from the log?

**chewitt** · February 23, 2025 at 10:33 AM

The only update in recent weeks is LE 12.0.0/1 to 12.0.2 and testing whether that changed anything (not impossible but unlikely) is easy to test by rolling back to the earlier version.

yamcenutzer · February 23, 2025 at 3:38 PM

hastebin - wikisuyafe

Ok here's a debug log of me try to play the atmos and another truehd file, which in both cases were detected correctly on the TV, but NOT passed on the AVR.

Followed by 2 test files with various DTS MA, which were passed on the AVR.

Again, I don't think it's kodi/libereelc. I think the TV and/or the AVR are acting weird. I was hoping to find someone here who has a similar setup :

Panasoniv TV <-> eARC Denon AVR

and maybe confirm/deny that dolby passthrough via eARC works

Thx anyway

**Da Flex** · February 23, 2025 at 4:54 PM

Code

2025-02-23 16:28:01.529 T:1431  warning <general>: OutputPicture - timeout waiting for buffer

Make sure your HDMI cables are conform to HDMI 2.0 or 2.1 standard. Cable issues can produce random errors (depending on electromagnetic surrounding), so you're probably not hallucinating.

yamcenutzer · February 23, 2025 at 8:19 PM

Yup, done that been there, the cables are ok, they work elsewhere.

And I have tried 4 different certified for HDMI xyz 1000k UUUHD and good for world peace cables...

So I somehow keep suspecting the TV...

until I get fed up one day and stop obsessing, or it starts working for no reason again.

BTW, why did you single out that one warning line about waiting for a buffer? What does that tell you?

**Da Flex** · February 23, 2025 at 11:04 PM

Quote from yamcenutzer

BTW, why did you single out that one warning line about waiting for a buffer? What does that tell you?

It happens multiple times in the log. I've seen that often with bad cables, but usually as a longer sequence.

Let's wait for the experts now. The log also provides more complicated messages.

**chewitt** · March 30, 2025 at 3:13 PM

Quote from yamcenutzer

BTW, why did you single out that one warning line about waiting for a buffer? What does that tell you?

Da Flex has an obsession with buffering and frequently flags it for no discernable reason

I'm not seeing anything in the log. The relevant streams are being selected and Kodi outputs RAW to the HDMI device. Make sure the HDMI port's involved (on TV and AVR) support eARC, as sometimes it's only implemented on one of them.

**Da Flex** · March 30, 2025 at 8:23 PM

chewitt It's not an obsession, I just care about any potential data loss. Kodi.log should tell us the cause, why we are waiting for buffer, and whether we are losing data from the stream. I also suggest software switches for specific log tasks, like HDMI connectivity and file codecs. I have such switches on my own project, and it really helps to debug faster. If you have a connection to Kodi devs, please mention my points. We are missing a lot of info on the support side. That's not just my personal taste.