Posts by pila

  • RPi4 LE9 can not scp copy a 300mb file from MicroSD and hungs

    Yesterday I made a backup from Kodi (RPi4 LE 9.2.5) which produced 300 mb file at /storage/backup/. When I tried to copy it to my computer using WinSCP, it starts, after few minutes drops speed, says it will take about 60 minutes. If I am watching something on that RPi at that time, it will hang (regardless of the source). I can not even ssh to it! It takes some time for the problems to appear, maybe 10 minutes (yes for a 300 mb file). At the end, WinSCP says it had enough and bails out permanently. I was not able to copy file from RPi.

    When LE is hung due to this issue and I end the file copy, LE regains normal function immediately.

    a) I have tried 2 different RPi4, both connected to Giga LAN, both choke on 300 mb file scp.

    b) they have different cards, one is 8 GB another 64 GB, both Sundisk (original).

    c) copying the same file from an RPi 2a LE7 using the same 8 GB card as in a) and b) works flawless in about a minute.

    Finally, I mounted this folder to my file server and made a backup directly to my server. This 300 mb file I then used to test by first copying it (WinSCP) to RPis and then trying to copy it back. This is not caused by the MicroSD card.

    When I (WinSCP) copy a 75 mb backup from the second RPi4 it is copied normally. Earlier, I used mv to move some 20+ files in GB sizes from MicroSD to a mounted file server normally.

    Seems like it is a problem with LE 9.2.5 and SCP for files of certain size e.g. 300 mb.

  • RPi4 LE9.2.5 constant sound sync problem

    RPi4 with all versions over the last year up to the current one. Sound out of sync is the constant, No Passthrough, HDMi connections, 2 different RPis 4 one with TVh second without. I can see this is a common problem for many people.

    Today I made a completely new install of the RPi4 with TVh. Changed only basic stuff. Sound was off by seconds. After I changed Reproduction, Settings, Adjust screen refresh to Always and Sync sound reproduction to On (work with me, I do not have it in English) it is better. It looses sync for up to 1 sec and springs back to correct.

    I record EU (Croatia) programmes with mpeg2 DVB-T SD 25Hz and h265 DVB-T2 FullHD/HD 50 fps. It seems to me only these files create problems. Any other fps seems to work fine.

    I tried many versions, all possible settings, several reinstalls over time, nothing helped.

    When programmes are changed, sound sometimes dissapear (none). When I return to that programme, sound is usually there. Sometimes, recordings have no sound if I start them from any mid point. If I play them from start, sound is OK. Sometimes several changes of LiveTV programmes simply hang up entire RPi. It seems to me problem is related to TVh, and Kodi is quite quick to hang in any day of the week, anyway, should aynthin go wrong (bad signal, no mounted disk dissappeared...) .

    Sounds to me here is a continuous sound problem at RPi4 over all versions I there were

  • python & speedtest.py apparantly kill LE9.2.5 @ RPi4

    I have added speedtest.py and it appears all hell broke loose. I use it at LE7 for many years perfectly fine. First, I copied speedtest.py from RPi2. Then I did:

    To test ssh and:

    Code
    curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sivel/speedtest-cli/master/speedtest.py | python -

    It tested DL speed but hung everything (entire PRi4) while doing UL speed. I tried 2 different RPi4 LE 9.2.5. MicroSD got hung, TVh LiveTV hung, streaming from my server was hung, Kodi was hung, I could not SSH (Rpi4 are connected to Giga LAN)... Green LED was on for probably minutes. Why? I do not know. After some time, it went back seemingly to normal operation.

    Then I turned this RPi with TVh off and back on. It went into reboot cycle. Permanent one. Display would show something about python over LE logo and reboot entire RPi (not only Kodi). Prior to that, Rpi4 with this same card and installation worked normally for this RPi4 LE version (mostly works but with constant sound synch problems).

    Could someone could verify this? This same version of speedtest.py at RPi2 with LE7 works perfectly and so at the RPi Zero with Raspbian. But, at both RPi4 with LE9 I have, quite terrible experience.

    I reinstalled LE so I can not get back and provide more info. Should be quite easy to verify. Second one without TVh seemingly survived on run of speedtest.py and off/on clycle..

  • 6£ / 12€ DVB-C/T2 USB Stick -> Xbox One Digital TV Tuner

    As I have found them for 11€ a piece delivered, I ordered few. Using them for DVB-T2 h265 TV at RPi4 with all current LibreELEC 9.2.5.

    They work OOTB, just needed to be activated in TVh. They display DVB-T2 (channel 40, 626 mHz ) normally. No transport or continuity errors. Strangely, in TVh, PER and Uncorrected Blocks pop up. I have almost never seen that in many years of using several other tuners at any of my systems. Nothing visibly wrong with the picture; then again I have tested them for just a few hours. In this usage, lack of tuner's h265 support is not an issue as tuners just have to deliver a DVB-T2 stream, RPi4 will display it (h265). To use T2 channel, I had to manually change desired channel from T to T2 which may not be clear for many users.

    Same as MyGica T230 and T230C2, sync problems with sound being ahead of the picture when recording and changing channels, but that is an LE problem.

  • Start Raspberry Pi with remote control over USB

    Lets assume basic computer literacy. If I did write a complete SmartHome program, handling all the above things, I am likely computer literate. It does not matter if I wrote a Computer sciencex master thesis at Cambridge :)

    We should all know we must never just kill the RPi by taking its power out. There are 2 ways to power down Rpi:

    1) simple way: send IR command PowefOff to RPI and grab that same IR signal to kill its power 10 second later. This is useless since my LE9 hangs daily and then Kodi does not respond to any IR commands and I must pull out the power plug anyway.

    2) good way: IR two-way blaster (a micro controller) as any other Tasmota Smart device can have two way communication with the controlling computer. Amateurs mostly use MQTT, but that is quite bad as it needs several other programs to handle the data. I had to fight almost 20 bugs in Tasmota alone - please, no more add-on programs than this one! So, when needed, all my Tasmotas can send the data directly to my SmartHome computer - an RPi Zero. It takes entire 2 lines of code to enable this :) with no MQTT installed.

    My RPi4 LE is unaware of RpiOn and RpiOff signals. When my IR blaster receives an RpiOff IR code, it simply calls my SmartHome program. There is some complicated code (literary copy - paste here) activated by that call:

    ssh [email protected].${Subnet}.9 "shutdown now"

    SendHttp "44" "Backlog Delay 100; Power2 Off"

    Meaning: shutdown my RPi at .9 politely and orderly. Afterwards, kill its power supply 10 seconds later. SendHttp is a tiny function making sure http request is well formed, and it sends it to .44 computer which kills the RPi4 power supply.

    No, it will never break any file system .)

    As for the "fun fact" about costs: RPi in question is at Relay 2. of 4 relays Smart Switch costing about 20€ delivered. I connected RPi4 to it since LE9 hangs almost daily. So, in essence, it is free.

    But, say its share is 5€. You can buy a remote controlled RPi power On/Off switch for 5€? 20€? My SmartHome IR blaster is already there as it has to manage above mentioned things: heating and cooling. If not, its complete costs are probably less than 5€.

    So, you can do better and with less money? Less than 10€? It can not be functionally better. Nor more eco as I use the same Smart Devices to manage several others.

    Fun fact: sciencex without an x at the end is censored here and I can not write it!

  • Start Raspberry Pi with remote control over USB

    Just to provide somewhat different view. I want all of my systems to run 24/7 without any intervention. So, I connected key devices to Smart Switches run by Tasmota fw and my programs. Occasionally, LE will hang for no good reason which prompted me to connect them to independent external Smart Power on/off switches.

    As I already have IR blasters connected into my SmartHome system to control heating, cooling, shutters... it is quite simple for them to shutdown / turn the RPi power off and back on with the corresponding remote command. Now my RPis work just like any other remote control appliance for anyone using them. Plus, I can use my regular remote to powercycle RPi off/on when LE hangs.

    A psychical RPi switch may not be convenient. Try explaining it to your wife :) A random IR receiver connected to GPIO will react to any or too many signals. Hats and similar add-ons cost too much and still need good visibility.

    What I did is not a solution for everyone but is an excellent solution costing next to nothing.

  • Not reproducing UTF-8 letters recorded filenames

    I neglected to mention that offending UTF-8 letters are shown correctly in both EPG and list of recorded programs. I am talking just about the actual filename which can not be reproduced when not in the folder if it contains such letters.

    in TVh "use Windows compatible filenames" was on., changing it makes no difference.

    Changing LE font to based on Arial changed nothing.

  • Not reproducing UTF-8 letters recorded filenames

    When there is a specific (two character code) UTF-8 letter in the filename, LE will not be able to play it. It can neither be replayed while it is being recorded and I switch to that program nor can it be played from the main menu Recordings list. Simply, nothing happens. Recordings, Filename character set: is UTF-8. RPi4 LibreELEC v9.2.5

    Trying to illustrate (we have 10 of such letters in Croatian: čČćĆžŽšŠđĐ). I hope my exotic representation of UTF-8 characters is illustrative in this context.

    A recording called "Zločinci u odijelima" looks like "ZloÄŤinci u odijelima" when read as non-UTF.

    A recording called "Laži mi" would look like "LaĹľi mi" in non-UTF.

    When TVh Recordings is configured to "Remove all unsafe characters from filename:" filenames are written by omitting our letters but are normally (re)played.

    Oddly enough:

    a) while a file saved as e.g. "Laži mi" or "Zločinci u odijelima" can not be replayed, it will be deleted correctly

    b) if "Make subdirectories per title:" is on, even with "Remove all unsafe characters from filename:" off, filename and the folders are written correctly with our UTF-8 letters but LE plays them normally! I just tested "Kockići" which made a folder "Kockići" (when read as non-UTF: "Kockići") and within it a file

    "Kockići2020-08-2604-10.mkv" (when read as non-UTF: "Kockići2020-08-2604-10.mkv"). But when saved directly to the basefolder, the same filenames will not play.

  • RPi4 analogue sound output not working usably

    RPi4 with LE 9.2.5. When I connect analogue AV cable, the sound is useless. I can hear it somewhat but it is stuttering, words can not be understood at all. So, it is not that there is no sound, something can be heard but is unrecognizable.

    I added the following in the config.txt

    Code
    sdtv_mode=2
enable_tvout=1

    At the same time, the picture h.265 FullHD video is skipping over like it is being read off from a slow source (it is being received from a DVB-T2 USB tuner local on this same RPi using TVh).

    When I select (using the menus) audio output HDMI only, I can still hear some very muted sounds from the analogue out! When I put sound output to Analogue only, words are somewhat more recognizable but again not normal. Combined HDMI and analogue out is somewhere middle bad in between. All three settings give out some mostly unrecognizable, slow motion and distorted low volume sound to the analog out and all three are different.

    adding audio_pwm_mode=1 enabled analogue sound to work. Usable, but not 100% normal. There are small hiccups with the sound every 10-15 seconds and the sound is a bit ahead. DVB-T2 FullHD h265 stream picture is not skipping any more!

    To test: let the sound out both to the HDMI and analogue and verify sound works over the analog connector. Then, add to the config.txt the above two lines and reboot. Play something - no analog sound, just some robotic ghost noise.

  • RPi4 analogue sound output not working usably

    I have tried LE 9.2.5 but no change. Passtrough is off entire time.

    But, an RPi forum recommended adding audio_pwm_mode=1 which enabled analogue sound to work. Now, my parents would likely not even notice anything is wrong.

    There are some small hicups with the sound every 10 or 15 seconds or so and the sound is bit out of sync. DVB-T2 FullHD h265 stream - it seems picture is not skipping any more! But, sound had no hicups and the sync problem was smaller when a DVB-T2 tuner was on another RPi4.

    I think this means we can rule hardware problem out. I guess I should file an LE bug report.

  • RPi4 analogue sound output not working usably

    If RPi4 is connected to TV with HDMI, than it has normal sound on analogue output. If I unplug HDMI cable, I still have normal sound on analogue output.

    But, as soon as I activate analogue composite video out and reboot, sound it is broken (possibly the video too, as I have observed skipping in h265 FullHD):

    > mount -o remount,rw /flash

    > nano /flash/config.txt

    sdtv_mode=2

    enable_tvout=1

    > mount -o remount,ro /flash

    > reboot

    So, the problem is with enable_tvout and how it changes clocks at RPi4. Now, the big issue is: is this a hardware bug in RPi4 related to composite video or can LE fix this issue?

  • RPi4 analogue sound output not working usably

    RPi4 with LE 9.2.4 which I just installed. When I connect analogue cable out to cinch inputs on my amp, sound is useless. I can hear it somewhat but it is stuttering, words can not be understood at all. So, it is not that there is no sound, something can be heard but is unrecognizable - like a robot distorted voice.

    Furthermore, at the same time, the picture h.265 1024p is skipping over like it is being read off from a slow source (it is being received from a DVB-T2 USB tuner local on this same RPi using TVh).

    But, the sound is the same if I play something from the network, the same TV programs but SD and from a different source. In all instances, sound is useless: mpeg2audio or aac sound can not be heard normally. I can not hear GUI sounds, too.

    When I select (using the menus) audio output HDMI only, I can still hear some very muted sounds from the analogue out! When I put sound output to Analogue only, words are somewhat more recognizable but again not normal. Combined HDMI and analogue out is somewhere middle bad in between. All three settings give out some mostly unrecognizable, slow motion and distorted low volume sound to the analog out and all three are different.

    When I try the second RPi4 with LE 9.2.4 connecting it to the analogue audio, the same problem. When I use this second RPi4 to watch the live TV DVB-T2 FullHD stream from the first RPi4 USB tuner, sound is normal on this second RPi4 as it is connected over HDMI.

    Analogue AV cable is OK since I just pulled it from the RPi2 with LE7 where everything works perfectly over analogue output. Amp is not the problem. Picture signal from RPi4 over the same analogue cable is also normal.

  • 6£ / 12€ DVB-C/T2 USB Stick -> Xbox One Digital TV Tuner

    If someone could fill me in on how Xbox One Digital Tuner works with current LE/TVh I would be grateful. I just updated mr RPi4 to LibreELEC-RPi4.arm-9.2.4. I am looking to buy some new USB T2 tuners and am very limited in what can I get delivered to my country.

    My country (Croatia) is switching to T2 h.265 by the end of this year. Currently I have 5 years old Gica T230 Silicon tuners which work but we all know they tend to die :( and new Gicas have different chipsets.

    Or if someone can recommand anything USB T2 sold currently foir not much over 20€ that works well with T2 and LE/TVh. I do not need DVB-T as now I have few of them so that is not an issue. Or is it wiser to get new Gica T230c2 which are currently sold?

  • Connect to Libre ELEC from anywhere in the world

    Do not port forward ssh as that is quite unsecure and uncomfortable to use.

    Install OpenVPN server at your local network. I have them on my Asus Merlin routers. But, many other devices can also be used.

    Than, simply connect OpenVPN client from any device and any location on the planet (with the Internet) and work as you are in your LAN (at home). Nothing else needs to be changed and isvery secure. Everything and every program and every comp/phone/tablet will work the same, as if you are at home (in your LAN).