Posts by gadget_guy

  • OrangePi 3 LTS: Ethernet Connection Timed Out

    jernej lol, you assume i know how to recompile a kernel, I'm flattered. but i always wanted to learn, so i RTFM

    and it seems to be successfully building. (for my own future reference, I just replaced "PROJECT=Generic ARCH=x86_64" with "PROJECT=Allwinner ARCH=aarch64 DEVICE=H6").

    for the patch though, i see a bunch of numbered files in subdirectories in "projects\Allwinner\patches". Do I just create a new text file somewhere in there with the contents of your patch? Does it matter what I name it?

    Thanks for help!

  • [Orange Pi 3 LTS] Freezes

    Quote from frakkin64

    turning off CEC from the Kodi side. And the device still froze, so my feeling is CEC is not the cause.

    I am sorry to further muddy the waters, but what version of LE were you running?

    This is just anecdotal, and not any kind of proof, but there was one of my Opi3LTS' that was also locking up even with CEC off. I had been running the recent v11 nightlies on it. I had actually written "flaky" on it with a marker and pretty much tossed it in the corner. But just for S&G I loaded the v11 nigthly from January 9th on it (the same version that has been running on another Opi3Lts for months without freezing).

    and now the same "flaky" board that wouldn't last more than 6 hours with a recent nightly on it has been running nonstop for over 48 hours with an old nightly from January. (and in both of these cases, CEC was OFF).

    I will install your kgdb/kdb kernel and keep my serial terminal recording...

  • OrangePi 3 LTS: Ethernet Connection Timed Out

    I am marking this thread resolved because I am 99.5% sure this problem has nothing to do with LE, and I also identified a reliable (but strange) workaround.

    I have several Opi3Lts, and some of them experience the problem frequently, but one of them never has. Also, even with a different OS (armbian) I was still seeing the intermittent no-ethernet problem. So this is not a LIbreelec problem, its probably a marginal hardware design.

    So here is my solution: I pinch the ethernet chip. Seriously.

    if the ethernet fails to enable after a boot, I place my thumb firmly over the small "Motorcomm" chip next to the RJ45 connector while squeezing directly behind it on the other side of the board with my index finger. I keep my fingers there while powering up the board, and once I see the LEDs on the ethernet socket blinking I can let go and it will be fine until the next reboot. Works 9 out of 10 times.

    I heard about this trick years ago, sometimes with a digital circuit that is on the verge of working/not-working the extra capacitance of a finger can delay or filter the waveform just enough to make something work.

  • Add-On Repository Problems 2024/03

    When I click on LibreELEC ADD-ons it says "Could not connect to repository". It only does this from my two OrangePi3Lts, from my Rpi4 it works fine. Been trying since yesterday. IP Address xxx.xxx.165.224. Thanks

    UPDATE: this might be a non-issue. I updated the Opi from v11 to the latest v12 nightly, and now the repository is working fine.

  • [Orange Pi 3 LTS] Freezes

    i admit i was a little unsure what to do with the update you posted (it wasnt an IMG file that could be burned to an SD card).

    so i took an SD card that i burned with the latest v12 nightly image, mounted it on a linux PC and replaced the SYSTEM and KERNEL files with the files from the "target" folder in the tar you posted. It booted up and was now reporting that it was running your development version. Did I do that correctly?

    Anyway it ran fine and was working, including CEC. But I left it idle though and it froze after about 20 minutes. After a power cycle it it immediately says "[SKIP] Ordering cycle found, skipping local-fs.target" and sits there.

  • [Orange Pi 3 LTS] Freezes

    Quote from jernej

    But does CEC work?

    yes, I was able to get CEC to work even after the devmem command.

    just to clarify though, does changing that timing register with devmem take effect immediately? Or do i need to disable/re-enable the CEC option or something?

    for what its worth, the Opi3LTS that i executed the command on has been running over 48hrs without freezing (and with CEC enabled). So it seems to have definitely helped.

  • Super Cheap Android Box that supports Libreelec and x265?

    Orange Pi 3 LTS will cost you about $40 with shipping on alie, you can install the latest versions of LE direct to its internal memory (no SD card needed) and it handles x265 great.

    I bought a TanixTX6 for $30 on AlieExpress a while ago, and it actually plays x265 with the Kodi player that comes preinstalled on it, but I bought it specifically because there is a LibreElec version for the TX6, but after hours of frustration I gave up on getting it to work.

    As it turns out, the Tanix TX6 is supposed to have a H6 chip in it (same as OPi3LTS). But the particular TX6 i purchased (and probably all the other el-cheapo boxes) actually has a lower-end H616 chip, which will not run LibreElec.

    If you get a "genuine" TX6 it should work. But I doubt those sell for $30.

  • [Orange Pi 3 LTS] Freezes

    i re-enabled CEC, rebooted, then executed the devmem command via SSH.

    Its been running for over 24hrs with no lockups. That's not long enough to be conclusive yet, but its a very good sign!

    If this ends up being the solution, will I need to put that devmem command into a startup script?

    Thanks again,

  • [Orange Pi 3 LTS] Freezes

    I re-enabled CEC on one of my OP3LTS and executed that devmem command. I will post updates on what happens.

    On the topic of CEC, for my own curiosity as a tinkerer, where can i find more information and/or block diagrams on how CEC is implemented on these Allwinner beasts?

    What confuses me is that when enabling CEC i get the message about connecting to the "pulse-eight CEC adapter". But google seems to indicate that a "pulse-eight CEC adapter" is a small external physical black box. Is the same decoding chip inside that black box embedded on the OPI's circuit board? Or does the CEC pin from the HDMI connector wired directly to a pin on the allwinner SOC? Does the SOC have some sort of hardware CEC decoder, or is it all done in software as a driver/KO/addon?

    I asked a question about this on the http://github.com/Pulse-Eight/libcec forum once, and they claimed their driver only supports the PulseEight branded hardware, and the Broadcom SOCs used in Rpi, but not allwinner. I'm confused...

    As always, thank you to the developers for your work and education!

  • what ill effects would be caused by using the "passthrough" output of aMirabox HDMI capture device?

    My Mirabox arrived, and I set it up as shown in my diagram above. Its a partial success.

    The video signal passes through unmolested to the TV, and the Hyperion installation is able to simultaneously do screen grabs.

    But, the Mirabox blocks CEC signals from the TV getting back to the RPi4, so for this particular installation this won't fly.

    I guess I can try throwing some more money at this problem and order a splitter, maybe the splitter will have better luck passing CEC than the Mirabox did?

    Has anybody successfully seen CEC work through an HDMI splitter?

  • Recommendation on new hardware

    Quote from shedrock

    direction as to what fully loaded PC to purchase.

    Just curious, why do you think you need an actual PC?

    Most people seem to use Raspberry Pi 4, and they are starting to be available again for reasonable prices. No IR built in though. A OrangePi 3LTS is even cheaper, and does have IR built in, and can do 4k. No wifi support though.

  • what ill effects would be caused by using the "passthrough" output of aMirabox HDMI capture device?

    Quote from JohnWayne111

    --> Mirabox OUT --> PI 4 USB 3.0 IN

    When you say "Mirabox OUT", you mean the USB output, but I want to utilize the *HDMI* output (aka "passthrough") of the Mirabox.

    The RPI4 is going to be both the HDMI signal source, and is also going to have Hyperion running to snag the frames via the USB grabber and then that same RPI4 will control the LEDS. It seems bass-ackwards, but Hyperion can't frame grab directly from the V4L2 pipeline used by LE 11.