Posts by jbinkley60

    The later Milhouse LibreElec 9 for Kodi 18.2 (Generic) test builds using Linux 5 have ALSA problems on NUCs (no Passthrough Audio). I’m hoping this will resolved with official LibreElec 9.0.2 build.

    I’ve had to stay with last Milhouse LE build using Linux 4.19 to use Passthrough.

    Which Milhouse build ar you running for passthrough and what NUC hardware are you running ? I am struggling with bitstream passthrough on a NUC 8.

    I have a 5th and 6th generation NUC and they work fine with older and newer LibreElec but they run HDMI 1.4a. I went to the 8th generation NUC to get HDMi 2.0 which my older receiver doesn't support, hence the splitter which is much cheaper than a new receiver.. Since the NUC works when connected directly to the AVR running HDMI 1.4a, I don't know if the issue is because of something the NUC is seeing from the splitter (i.e. EDID but that looks normal) or because the driver has a bug when running in HDMI 2.0 mode. I suspect the latter especially since the Vero 4K+ works fine and the NUC does for non-bitstream formats. I can't use an older version of LibreElec because they don't have the Intel drivers for an 8th generation NUC. That's what got me here. I'd love to find someone who has an 8th gerantion NUC, running HDMI 2.0 with LibreElec and can tell me whether bitstream is working or not.

    The AVR does not display DTS-MA or True-HD when passthrough is enabled with the NUC. It basically says thee is no sound coming in to map to a decoder in the AVR. Disabling bitstream for DTs-MA and True-HD maps it to DTS and EX decoders in the AVR. With the Vero 4K+ it shows DTS-MA and True-HD. No mute on Kodi.

    I tried unplugging the AVR to TV connection and it didn't make a difference.

    For the test only configuration, that does work but is limited to HDMI 1.4a which is 4k @ 30 fps. This is what I described in the first paragraph at the start.

    It is acting like the NUC is not passing the bitstream audio to the HDMI output when connected to the splitter but it is passing non-bitstream audio. Since the splitter works fine with bitstream audio and my Vero 4K+ running Kodi, and the fact that non-bitstream audio works fine from the NUC points the problem back back to the NUC and I believe something in the Intel drivers. When I have passthrough bitstream enabled in Kodi and going through the splitter my AVD sees a 7.1 HDMI signal but just no audio comes out.

    I've tried that to no avail for bitstream audio. I also end up with menus disappearing in Kodi when I switch TV inputs away and then come back to Kodi. This thread has the details. When I look at the logs I see the proper formats being detected by Kodi, which aligns with the DTS-MA and True-HD settings being available in passthrough.

    2019-05-13 16:31:01.684 T:140518914782976 NOTICE: m_streamTypes : STREAM_TYPE_AC3,STREAM_TYPE_DTSHD,STREAM_TYPE_DTSHD_MA,STREAM_TYPE_DTSHD_CORE,STREAM_TYPE_DTS_1024,STREAM_TYPE_DTS_2048,STREAM_TYPE_DTS_512,STREAM_TYPE_EAC3,STREAM_TYPE_TRUEHD

    For the past couple of months I've been trying to get passthrough bitsream audio working with my NUC 8i7BEH coffee lake device and LibreElec. I upgraded to the NUC 8 to get HDMI 2.0 support so I could run 4K @ 60 fps. My AVR is a Yamaha RX-A3020 which has an HDMI 1.4a interface which limits it to 4K @ 30 fps. If I plug the NUC into the Yamaha receiver passthrough bitstream audio works fine for both DTS-MA and True-HD.

    In order to take advantage of the NUC's HDMI 2.0 output I bought an HDMI splitter which will send HDMI 2.0 video to my TV and HDMI 1.4 video / audio to my Yamaha receiver. This configuration works perfect with my Vero 4k+ running OSMC with Kodi 18.2 on it. I get 4K @ 60 fps with passthroigh bitstream audio. If I use the exact configuration with my NUC and LibreElec everything works perfect except passthrough bitstream audio for DTS-MA and True-HD.

    I've been trying everything I can to figure out the problem. Bitstream works when plugged into the receiver and the splitter configuration works fine when plugged into the Vero 4K+ but the splitter plugged into the NUC combination doesn't provide bitstream audio. I've attached a set of logs with the NUC plugged into the splitter and me playing the first few seconds of a video with DTS-MA sound. I am hoping someone can provide some assistance. Thanks in advance.

    I have an Intel NUC 8i7BEH and have upgraded to 9.0.2 and don't have audio passthrough for the bitstream audio protocols. I tried the blacklist fix above and it didn't work for me. Is there a Milhouse Libreelec build which has bitstream audio passthrough for the newer Coffee Lake chipsets ?

    This may be the answer. Kodi 18.2 was released on April 22nd and they have fixed the microstutter problem on Intel platforms with interlaced content.. Specifically they call out "VAAPI on Intel has gained some corrections for interlaced content that toggled interlaced flags during playback, and therefore caused stutter by reconfiguring the decoder." I personally am looking forward to the next release of LibreElec with this fix. LibreElec updates generally follow Kodi releases by a short period of time. BTW, I am seeing the same issue on an Intel NUC 8i7BEH.


    Kodi 18.2 was released on Monday and they have fixed the microstutter problem on Intel platforms with interlaced content.. Specifically they call out "VAAPI on Intel has gained some corrections for interlaced content that toggled interlaced flags during playback, and therefore caused stutter by reconfiguring the decoder." I am looking forward to the next release of LibreElec with this fix.

    Here's the LibreElec remote control Wiki page. I run RC6 remotes with LibreElec on Inel and Raspberry Pi with no issues. I would think Wetek would be no different other than ensuring the infrared driver is loading. You can go to the troubleshooting section of the Wiki page for help. Good luck.

    Audio passthrough is fine. No issues on any source format. I am passing through HDMI. The RC2 build is more stable and the only issue I have now is the built=in infrared receiver has limited distance so I installed a Flirc. This issue seems to be more common with the 7th and 7th gen NUCs. The other issue I am seeing is what many are calling micro-stuttering playing interlaced content, especially 1080i. This is a Kodi 18 issue across many HW platforms, according to the noise on the Kodi forums. All progressive content is fine. Overall I like the new NUC.

    Kodi 18.2 was released yesterday and they have fixed the microstutter problem on Intel platforms with interlaced content.. Specifically they call out "VAAPI on Intel has gained some corrections for interlaced content that toggled interlaced flags during playback, and therefore caused stutter by reconfiguring the decoder." I am looking forward to the next release of LibreElec with this fix.

    I tried the reverse configuration with the video going out the display port and the audio going out the HDMI port. Got the same lost menu issue and bitstream audio didn't work. I'll wait for the updated drivers. Right now I am using a Vero 4K+ and it works fine. I eventually want to move back to the NUC with LibreElec but want full HDMI 2.0 support with bitstream audio to both work.

    I tried your approach but had issues with the menus disappearing in this thread . I ended up using an HDMI splitter but bitstream won't work right now if I change to HDMI 2.0 resolutions (i.e. 3840x2160 @60fps.). if I change to HDMI 1.4 resolutions (i.e. 3840x2160 @30fps.) bitstream audio works fine. This is definitrly an Intel driver or similar type of issue. One thing different I see with your configuration and my testing is I ran video out the HDMI port and audio out the DLP port. You reversed this. I may give it a shot and see what happens. The HDMI splitter gives me the advantage of plugging in any HDMI device and splitting off the audio to my HDMI 1.4a receiver. Right now I am running a Vero 4K+ and it works perfectly with 3840x2160 @60fps and bitstream audio.