[Resolved] DVBLink v7.95.1

Hi Guys,

Seem to be having issues playing live TV through DVB link now I'm on the new Beta Build. Sometimes live TV is OK but most of the time it's completely unwatchable - stuttering, going out of sync and if I don't press stop within a reasonable time KODI crashes over and it's unrecoverable.

I have checked the logs and at the points where it's stuttering, the error log is full of stuff like this repeating over again:

00:23:53.232 T:1712939936  NOTICE: Opening stream: 3 source: 256
00:23:53.232 T:1712939936   DEBUG: FactoryCodec - Overlay: FFmpeg Subtitle Decoder - Opening
00:23:53.233 T:1712939936   DEBUG: FactoryCodec - Overlay: FFmpeg Subtitle Decoder - Opened
00:23:53.233 T:938472352   DEBUG: CGUIInfoManager::SetCurrentMovie(pvr://channels/tv/All channels/pvr.dvblink_45.pvr)
00:23:53.234 T:1712939936   ERROR: ffmpeg[661963A0]: [NULL] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
00:23:53.234 T:1712939936   ERROR: ffmpeg[661963A0]: [NULL] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
00:23:53.235 T:1712939936   ERROR: ffmpeg[661963A0]: [NULL] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
00:23:53.235 T:1712939936   ERROR: ffmpeg[661963A0]: [NULL] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
00:23:53.236 T:1712939936   ERROR: ffmpeg[661963A0]: [NULL] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
00:23:53.236 T:1712939936   ERROR: ffmpeg[661963A0]: [NULL] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
00:23:53.237 T:1712939936   ERROR: ffmpeg[661963A0]: [NULL] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
00:23:53.237 T:1712939936   ERROR: ffmpeg[661963A0]: [NULL] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
00:23:53.237 T:1712939936   ERROR: ffmpeg[661963A0]: [NULL] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
00:23:53.238 T:1712939936   ERROR: ffmpeg[661963A0]: [NULL] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
00:23:53.240 T:1712939936   DEBUG: CDVDDemuxFFmpeg::AddStream ID: 0
00:23:53.240 T:1712939936   DEBUG: CDVDDemuxFFmpeg::AddStream ID: 1
00:23:53.240 T:1712939936   DEBUG: CDVDDemuxFFmpeg::AddStream ID: 2
00:23:53.240 T:1712939936   DEBUG: CDVDDemuxFFmpeg::AddStream ID: 3
00:23:53.241 T:1712939936  NOTICE: Opening stream: 0 source: 256
00:23:53.241 T:1712939936  NOTICE: Opening stream: 1 source: 256
00:23:53.243 T:1712939936  NOTICE: Creating audio thread
00:23:53.244 T:1712939936  NOTICE: Closing stream player 3

I have pulled the system apart trying to find the cause including checking firewalls, I've re-installed DVBLink Server, checked the network for interference, reinstalled the DVBlink PVR, tested with and without both types of GPU Hardware acceleration (MMAL & OMXPlayer), i tried it with and without time shift .. nothing fixes it. I don't really understand the error.

Whats going on here? It didn't do this in any of the previous builds. I'll try and get the full logfile here but I'm also (rather predictably) having problems with Pastebin.

Shane

Quote from chewitt

please share the entire debug log file, not just the bits you think are important.

I understand exactly what your saying and I agree however the log files are too large for Pastebin and your forum has a 1mb upload limit.

Full Kodi log files are here within Dropbox.

The repo is not actually required, its not installed on the 4 other PI's i have in the house and there are no plugins installed as far as I can tell from that respository. I didn't know it was banned.

OK I will complete a clean install this evening and test.

In the meantime, my current advancedsetting.xml settings file should look like this:

<advancedsettings>


<!-- LAST UPDATED: 17/01/2017 KODI 17 - LibreELEC 7.95.1 -->


<loglevel>3</loglevel>
<!--<skiploopfilter>48</skiploopfilter>  For low CPU device use 16 or higher -->
<nodvdrom>true</nodvdrom>
<measurerefreshrate>true</measurerefreshrate>
<showexitbutton>false</showexitbutton>
<fullscreen>true</fullscreen>
<alwaysontop>yes</alwaysontop>
<splash>false</splash>


<videodatabase>
<type>mysql</type>
<host>192.168.0.200</host>
<port>3306</port>
<user>kodi</user>
<pass>kodi</pass>
</videodatabase>


<musicdatabase>
<type>mysql</type>
<host>192.168.0.200</host>
<port>3306</port>
<user>kodi</user>
<pass>kodi</pass>
</musicdatabase>
<cache>
<memorysize>6553600</memorysize> /<!--50mB -->
<buffermode>1</buffermode>
<readfactor>8.0</readfactor>
</cache>
<epg>
<lingertime>120</lingertime>  <!-- keep X minutes of past epg data (default: 24h) -->
<updatecheckinterval>300</updatecheckinterval>  <!-- check if tables need to be updated every X minutes -->
<cleanupinterval>900</cleanupinterval>  <!-- remove old entries from the EPG every X minutes -->
<activetagcheckinterval>60</activetagcheckinterval>  <!-- check for updated active tags every X minute -->
<retryinterruptedupdateinterval>30</retryinterruptedupdateinterval>  <!-- retry an interrupted epg update after X seconds -->
<updateemptytagsinterval>60</updateemptytagsinterval>  <!-- override user selectable EPG update interval (minutes) for empty EPG tags -->
<displayupdatepopup>true</displayupdatepopup>  <!-- display a progress popup while updating EPG data from clients -->
<displayincrementalupdatepopup>false</displayincrementalupdatepopup>  <!-- also display a progress popup while doing incremental EPG updates -->
</epg>


<videolibrary>
<cleanonupdate>false</cleanonupdate> <!-- Also clean library during library update -->
<importwatchedstate>true</importwatchedstate>
<importresumepoint>true</importresumepoint>
<hideemptyseries>true</hideemptyseries>  <!-- hide empty series in the video library -->
<dateadded>0</dateadded>
<usefasthash>true</usefasthash>
</videolibrary>
<video>
<playcountminimumpercent>75</playcountminimumpercent>
</video>
<videoscanner>
<ignoreerrors>true</ignoreerrors> <!-- Silently ignore errors while scanning videos. -->
</videoscanner>
<audio>
<playcountminimumpercent>75</playcountminimumpercent>
</audio>


 
 
 </advancedsettings>

Can you explain further which settings you feel are detrimental?

OK thanks for your help.

I have followed your instruction and I have managed to repoduce the issue within a clean RPI installation. Interestingly, without the advancedsettings.xml all was OK. As you advised, I stripped all the Caching settings out of the advancedsettings.xml and any other settings I didn't feel was necessary.Now I'm back with the same errors as before so there is something in that it does not like.

I will methodically remove each setting this evening till I find the one that is causing issue but in the meantime, Ive attached an updated logfile for you to see.

Hi Chewitt,

Okies I have been testing some more this evening and it seems my initial thought that the issue was related to the advancedsettings.xml file was a red herring. Sadly I have managed to repoduce the issue without the file being in place.

I have raised a support thread on DVB links forums here incase they can discover something: DVBLogic • View topic - BUG Libreelec 7.95.1. Stuttering on HD Channels

Please advise what I can do next. I have attached the latest KODI and DVBlink server logs for you.

Shane

Hi Chewitt,

I have raised a support ticket with DVBLogic and after some testing it seems they may not be able to help. They said:

Quote

To be honest i doubt we may help you. As first - we can't give a full support at the Beta systems and Second - if the stream of HD channel work great on the Windows machine, i may assume that dvblink server provides a correct data, and we can't control how the client/player handle with the stream (it is just not on our range of possibility).

Kind regards,
DVBlogic support team

I ran a test using VLC player to make sure the server side of things was OK and once they learned that the DVBLink Server was operating correctly, they withdrew support. I created a video to show them the extent of the issue: Kodi bug - YouTube

Please can you help. I'm happy to test experimental or nightly builds if required.

Shane

Quote from chewitt

Are you using OMXplayer or MMAL on the RPi?

I normally enable them both as it somehow gives a smoother playback. I beleive if my memory is correct, it defaults to OMXplayer for Live TV (I seem to remember in the logs).

Hi, sure thing. The logfiles are attached.

I tried to get the system to create a clean log but unfortunatly it's still quite large.

I turned off OMXplayer around line 237271. I then restarted the RPI and my test began line 239803 where it says:

Quote

17:30:43.418 T:1962315776 NOTICE: VideoPlayer: Opening: pvr://channels/tv/All channels/pvr.dvblink_62.pvr

Shane

Bump.

Any joy?

Happy to report that I now consider this issue to be resolved.

The bump to 7.95.2 seems to have settled the above problem. Kodi still buffer a couple of times when it has a problem with the stream but now instead of endlessly stuttering, it recovers after 10 seconds or so and then becomes perfectly watchable.

Ps: 7.95.2 freels far more polished! Great work guys