migrating from Windows, few problems to resolve

1st Official Post

    Hi. Firstly, I wish to thank developers for their great work. I was introduced to LibreELEC few weeks ago when my Windows setup couldn't play 1080p HEVC files and I was trying to find solution. I tried LibreELEC and voila - smooth like butter. I must admit that I had immediately fell in love with this distribution and I am almost ready to ditch Windows completely if I would be able to resolve few problems that are really bothering me, so please advise :)

    My HTPC hardware setup is based on Asrock AM1H- ITX (ASRock > AM1H-ITX) combined with AMD Athlon 5350, 4GB DDR, SSD.

    I've got two displays
    1. TV Panasonic g30 via DVI -> HDMI
    2. Projector Benq W1070+ via HDMI

    Main problem is display switching. In my Windows setup I have created two keyboard shortcuts for display switching (Ctrl+Alt+T for TV and Ctrl+Alt+P for my projector screen). Is it possible to have something similar with LibreELEC? Since both of my screens are using same resolution (1080p), cloning displays would also be acceptable. Is that possible?
    Currently, only working display is my primary display connected to HDMI which is projector, but I'm starting projector only when I'm watching movies. For any other purposes (e.g. listening to music, online streaming, playing lower quality video materials) I prefer using plasma screen. Nevertheless, I'm unable to do anything to show image on my secondary screen (TV screen at the moment). It's always blank except when I physically switch cables. That's not convenient :).
    I am pretty experienced user when dealing with Windows systems, but I'm completely novice with Linux based systems, maybe I'm missing something obvious…

    My second problem is with my USB Wi-Fi adapter. There is about fifty-fifty chance that it wouldn't work when system boots. When physically disconnecting it and then reconnecting it without rebooting, it works flawlessly. It is some cheap adapter, but I ruled out that it was faulty because I've got two of the same kind, both working without any problems on multiple Windows setups. Also, I tried some branded Wi-Fi adapter with same behavior in LibreELEC. Suggestions?

    Third problem is rather wish than a problem. To be able to have really full media experience in one place, I'm missing 3D blu ray playback (MVC). I rarely watch 3D content, but it would be nice to be able doing it from LibreELEC.

    I would really like to resolve first two problems and 3D blu rays would be nice bonus :)

    Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

    • Official Post

    Kodi was never been designed to work with multiple monitors, but cloning is done by default and would be the one option for use with two monitors/projectors.

    To get some info on the displays, connect both the plasma and the projector, log in via SSH and execute the following command:

    Code
    xrandr | pastebinit


    and share the URL with us here.

    As far as the Wifi goes... If there is any option to use a network cable, do so.
    Other than that, enable the 'Wait for network' in the LibreELEC settings add-on. The default 10 seconds should be fine. Otherwise, set it to 30 secs.

    Hello!

    Or you go and buy a cheap active hdmi port splitter (1>2) like I did. You can have one (which one you like) or both on. Works great.

    Regards
    Nicolas

    Quote from Nicolas


    Hello!

    Or you go and buy a cheap active hdmi port splitter (1>2) like I did. You can have one (which one you like) or both on. Works great.

    Regards
    Nicolas

    Thank you for your suggestion. Interesting idea, but that would be my last resort. I prefer software solution if possible.
    How does it work? Does system recognize splitter or individual displays connected to it? How about display properties (e.g. my projector is 3d capable and plasma isn't)? Does switching resolutions and/or refresh rate work?

    • Official Post

    All video hardware settings can be found here: Settings / System / System Settings / Display .
    Make sure you change the GUI menu setting (lower left corner) from 'Basic' to 'Expert' to see all available options.

    I'm assuming that your motherboard will use all video outputs by default, enabling a cloned setup of the plasma and the projector.
    One thing that might be enabled by default in the Kodi GUI is the "Blank other displays" option. Disable it and both displays should work. If your htpc still shows only one screen at the time, it's probably some weird AMD hiccup.

    Quote from Klojum


    All video hardware settings can be found here: Settings / System / System Settings / Display .
    Make sure you change the GUI menu setting (lower left corner) from 'Basic' to 'Expert' to see all available options.

    I'm assuming that your motherboard will use all video outputs by default, enabling a cloned setup of the plasma and the projector.
    One thing that might be enabled by default in the Kodi GUI is the "Blank other displays" option. Disable it and both displays should work. If your htpc still shows only one screen at the time, it's probably some weird AMD hiccup.

    Thank you again. That was the first thing I have tried. Blank other displays option is switched off. When powering on the system, I can see POST screen on both displays, then i briefly see LibreELEC boot screen also on both displays. But when Kodi eventually starts, I can only see it on one display. I tried every possible combination from video settings, but no good...

    Quote from Klojum


    Something in the PC's BIOS perhaps concerning multiple monitor setups?

    I looked for that too. IIRC there were only 2 options concerning video output - one is about using PCI-X add on card or video output from Athlon 5350 APU as default device (which is my case). And the second one is switch between HDMI and DP, because they can't work simultaneously.

    The thing is, both displays are showing something until KODI shows up. When booting and when shutting down, there is same picture on both displays. But when KODI shows up, one screen always go blank. Is it possible that "Blank other displays" option under video settings i somehow broken? Because, that's the obvious command to switch. Really weird situation.

    Quote from dekra111

    Thank you for your suggestion. Interesting idea, but that would be my last resort. I prefer software solution if possible.
    How does it work? Does system recognize splitter or individual displays connected to it? How about display properties (e.g. my projector is 3d capable and plasma isn't)? Does switching resolutions and/or refresh rate work?

    Hello!

    Yes, it's working perfect!
    I do have one 3D cappable TV and the other is FHD only. The main reason for choosing this was so I have HDMI audio on both. Had a Nvidia (gt730) card before, now Intel onboard and the splitter is working on both including switching resolution and rfrate.
    Since 1-1,5 years I don't use rf switching anymore cuz most of my content is the same and I can live with the quality LE renders other material. Also the lancos3 upscaler is realy good. So I don't have the mode switching seconds (from the TV) before the video starts.

    Regards
    Nicolas

    Edited once, last by Nicolas (April 25, 2017 at 2:17 PM).