Posts by juramusger

Quote from RowanDDR

Is it just me, or is specifying 175ms delay in advancedsettings.xml for 23-24fps material no longer neccessary with the latest build? Seems out of sync.. then I removed the xml and its in sync.

Quote from negt

Whatever occasional/irrational syncing problems I might've had previously seem now totally gone, YMMV.

I didn't have any delays set as I usually just skipped -10s to fix the sync. Now it's spot on right from the start.

same for me since a couple versions back, I don't remember which exactly. now it's fine for all refresh rates without as.xml (maybe 5-10 ms for 24p, but that's a range where our minds become quite unreliable, so I leave it without adjustment)

Quote from kszaq

Changelog:

added PR#11159 to enable overriding disp_cap (for details: [AML] read display modes optionally from file by peak3d · Pull Request #11159 · xbmc/xbmc · GitHub)

thank you so much for the continuous work kszaq!

could you clarify how this change relates to the previous disp_cap hack (making and binding a file in .config ?

thanks!

Quote from krash

Oop's, maybe my bad but a newbie at this... although a long time computer person.

Just got a Minix U1 and went to build an SD with LibreElec version and thought I had my ducks in a row.. have a working bootable USB that runs LibreElec with Kodi on this pc built with the Libre USB Creator tool.

I believe I have downloaded the correct files:
Downloaded the image - LibreELEC S905.arm-8.0-8.0.1j.img.gz
Downloaded the device tree - gxbb_p200_2G_minix_u1.dtb

Then it happend, I started the LibreELEC_USB_SD.Creator.Win32

The first selection box has several options, generic amd/x86, Odroid,WeTek... but no option to select Minix Neo U1 ?

What now.... is there a "kszaq" version available somewhere ?

Display More

the first selection box is only for downloading images via the tool, if you select an already downloaded image in step 2 - as you need to with community builds - step 1 is irrelevant.

Quote from Dadscab

Thanks for all the help.
I wouldn't of known where to start.
I've managed (fooling your instructions) to get it loaded.
I installed ares and Pulse build, after a few stalls and restarts, the only thing that isn't working now is my remote and the strange thing is that my LG TV remote can now control the box.

For the packaged remote to work you need the right remote.conf, there's a thread here with a lot of them.
Your TV remote controls the box via cec, you can configure this in settings-system-input

Quote from Dadscab

Thanks bubblegum.
I've bookmarked that instruction link and I'll have a bash at it tomorrow.
Cheers.

You can also use the LE USB creator tool, but instead of downloading a version through it (community builds are not there) you choose the file that you already downloaded. After writing is complete you change the dtb as bubblegum instructed you on the sd card.

This will not backup android fw as asked by op though.
What I did was a full backup with TWRP to an sd card, you can find TWRP for our devices on freaktab. As I am so happy with LE I haven't tried restoring though, so I don't know if it would work.
The most common answer to your question on this forum is to find the original fw on the internet and restore it using windows tools if you want to go back to android. As I don't have windows that option is not suitable for me so I have no experience with it.

Quote from GeToChKn

So I've always used HDMI from my devices to my Denon AVR, to my 4K30hz TV. Now I'm looking at 4K60hz TV to replace it, but my Denon only supports HDMI 1.4, so it won't pass 60hz video, so I'm curious how well does audio passthrough via toslink work in Libreelec. I have a lot of ripped DVD's and blurays on my network that I watch with DTS, DTS-Master Audio, etc, etc to listen with my Denon 6.1 speakers, so I want to retain that. Since I'm not buy a $40 cable at best buy and Amazon won't have one here till next week, just curious how well it works.

Thanks.

I have not personally tested toslink on amlogic but know that HD audio (dts-ma, Dolby true hd, etc) cannot be passed through toslink (s/pdif) for lack of bandwidth. Only AC3 (dd) and DTS.

Quote from Hans Gruber

Did you find the box had started booting up in 720p instead of 1080p? On mine it was and on a fresh install of LibreELEC it was defaulting to 720p. It seemed like the EDID info wasn't being communicated or something equally strange.

Edid never got correctly identified since my box boots faster than my TV. I had to use edid hack to get LE to boot to 1080. uboot (? the nexbox splash screen) always was 720p.

Come to think of it, I never had the problem since setting "fw_setenv hdmimode 1080p50hz; fw_setenv outputmode 1080p50hz" (and uboot is 1080 now). Note that this is very inconclusive since I only had the problem once before.

Quote from Hans Gruber

Have you tried a different HDMI cable? I started getting that and changing the cable fixed it. No idea why but it worked. What's weirder was that the UI is in the right position, just the video is off.

And that last part indicates that it can't really be the cable itself. Changing it just triggered something else.

I also had the problem once, changing resolutions back and forth fixed it for me.

Quote from kszaq

A better solution: echo 1 > /sys/module/di/parameters/bypass_prog

This flag was set in Jarvis but I set it back to 0 because for some reason this was needed to make VC-1 playback work properly...

so this flag is identified as the culprit and now we need to identify why it interferes with VC-1 playback in Krypton hw acceleration. that's progress, right?

Quote from her

That isn't a patch, that is playing a video at startup to workaround the dark screen, and is something I think many of us would be opposed to. It's easy enough for someone to set a startup video if it bothers them that much.

Personally I'd be much more bothered by the extra time taken to start the box because of an intro video playing after boot - the slightly darker menus don't affect usability at all.

Totally agree.

First, it really is a workaround and not a patch.

Second, it really should be up to the user and not default.

Third, even if it has double use for us amlogic users, any further effort should benefit all Kodi users imo. So, if anything, somebody with more skinning experience than me ( I would need more time than I have atm) could implement and make a pull request for 'add startup video' to estuary. There is a GitHub. Would make sense anyway, since there is this startup animation thread on Kodi forums.

Quote from juramusger

well almost, as all the intro videos I like, even after recoding don't play their full length with hardware acceleration. nothing to do with them being used as intro, same problem when played from file browser.
I made a log.

kszaq, did you ever look into this, it's the same with various intro mp4s from the introanimation thread on kodi forums and still happening in beta5.
I don't see what's wrong in the log, besides that playback obviously ends 2 seconds too early compared to the correctly stated video length.

thanks for your continuous work!

Quote from glitch

Hmmm... Let me give it another crack. The copying and enabling the copy worked fine, and I was even able to edit the resulting files to point to the video, but the video would never play on startup. Even tried multiple file locations. Once I updated to 7.90.beta3 and did the same thing in Estuary, all worked.

I'll be back...

Update: Yup, it's working. My best guess is I probably had a typo when I edited /storage/.kodi/addons/skin.confluence.withintro/addon.xml that caused it not to match up with the copy directory name. I double, triple, and quadruple checked the home.xml file originally, but since the copy was showing up in my skins I never thought to recheck the addon.xml edits before giving up and updating to Krypton.

This is why I shouldn't be tweaking Kodi @ 4AM

Glad it works now !

Quote from glitch

Doesn't seem to work in Confluence on Kodi 16, but it is working great in Kodi 17 w/Estuary. Thanks for the solid tutorial!

If you can edit the title to the post, it would be good to include something along the lines of "dark s905x HDR startup workaround" in there. Would probably get more eyeballs on it, and be easier to find in searches if/once it falls off the main page.

hmm, it should work with confluence, can you tell me which part doesn't? can you create the copy of the skin and enable it?
edited the title for easier finding.
[hr]

Quote from bubblegum57

What is the difference with this, compared to setting a startup video?

Like in MQ7 or Aeon Nox? I don't think all skins have a startup video.

exactly, the difference is it works with all skins, even those that don't have the option to set a startup video. like the new default skin that I kinda like.

Quote from Leonxy69

Many thanks friend.
Edit: within samba i can't find the directory storage/.kodi/userdata/. How can i have access to it? Many thanks.

Inviato dal mio Pixel utilizzando Tapatalk

you could either access the folder with SMB by placing a samba.conf in the configfiles folder that includes

[kodi]
  path = /storage/.kodi
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes

or directly create and edit advancedsettings.xml via ssh

nano /storage/.kodi/userdata/advancedsettings.xml

Quote from Poida

Calm down glitch, rel-a-a-ax.
I can't give you the definite answer you're looking for but, if starting/stopping a video corrects it after reboot, have you tried enabling the kodi start-up animation to give you a start/stop of a video after every reboot?

exactly. more of a workaround than a fix, but it works seamlessly. I made a mini how-to for those who like to try this.

I pondered a workaround for the too dark GUI on non HDR-TVs a couple of pages back. Thanks to the people that offered advice. I have decided to make a mini-tut out of my journey so others can benefit as well. It works perfectly for me!
[hr]
well almost, as all the intro videos I like, even after recoding don't play their full length with hardware acceleration. nothing to do with them being used as intro, same problem when played from file browser.
I made a log.
[hr]
thanks kszaq for new build, will test.

Disclaimer: None of this is my original idea, it is all pieced together from this forum, kodi forum and kodinerds. Still, I had to piece it together so I decided to make a mini tutorial for those that want to do this as well.
Also, names, directories, etc are up to you, but make sure to be consistent.
Finally, of course I assume no liability, shit can always break.

Motivation: On S905x devices connected to non-HDR TVs, the GUI is too dark (HDMI output starts in HDR mode?) up until you play a video for the first time. So making Kodi play a video before you even see the GUI is the perfect workaround. Also, startup animations are cool if they're not too long.

Step 0: SSH to your box

Step 1 - copy the default skin and make the copy usable
This step is only necessary if you use the default skin. As we have the useful "reboot from internal" command baked into that I will assume that you use this, just as I did. I will further assume that we are on Krypton betas. Of course you can name the copy anything you like, just make sure to be consistent. If you use Jarvis substitute "estuary" for "confluence". If you use another skin, skip Step 1 and substitute its name in the later steps. you get the idea.

Copy the skin's folder to writable space:

cp -r /usr/share/kodi/addons/skin.estuary /storage/.kodi/addons/skin.estuary.withintro

Edit the addon.xml of the copy to distinguish it from the original:

nano /storage/.kodi/addons/skin.estuary.withintro/addon.xml

Right in the first line you find " addon id="skin.estuary" ", change this to addon id="skin.estuary.withintro". further on you find " name="Estuary" " change this to "Estuary with Intro" (or anything you like).
Press CTRL-X, Press Y followed by Enter to save the changes.

Bonus: copy your previous skin settings:

cp -r ~/.kodi/userdata/addon_data/skin.estuary/ ~/.kodi/userdata/addon_data/skin.estuary.withintro/

Now we have to enable the copied skin. First we have to restart Kodi to make it aware of the copy:

systemctl restart kodi

Then in the GUI enter addons - my addons - look and feel - skins. There you should find the copy with the name entered above with an X next to it. select it and choose "enable", select use and confirm. you are now using the copy.

Step 2 - copy your intro video

Choose a file you want as your intro. You can use one of the awesome contributions in this thread on the kodi forum or anything you like. Bonus points for making your own.
Rename it to "intro.mp4", depending on the file the extension should be something else.
Connect to your box via SMB. open the "videos" folder. copy the "intro.mp4" file to this folder.

Step 3 - tell your skin to show the intro when starting up

Edit Home.xml:

nano ~/.kodi/addons/skin.estuary.withintro/xml/Home.xml

right at the beginning of the file you will find " <defaultcontrol>9000</defaultcontrol> "
directly after it (advisably in a new line for readablity) add:

<onload condition="Window.Previous(startup)">PlayMedia(/storage/videos/intro.mp4)</onload>

Adapt according to your filetype (or differently named file more generally).
Press CTRL-X, Press Y followed by Enter to save the changes.

Step 4 - see it work

systemctl restart kodi

Kodi should startup with your video before presenting the home screen.

Step 5 - bonus
If you like you can disable Kodi's splash screen, as you now have a cool video anyway.

nano ~/.kodi/userdata/advancedsettings.xml

type out

<advancedsettings>
<splash>false</splash>
</advancedsettings>

If you already had an advancedsettings.xml, of course you only have to add the splash line.
Press CTRL-X, Press Y followed by Enter to save the changes.

Of course you can use other methods to copy the files and edit the xmls. I just think that ssh/nano is fastest.

Alternative: install Partymode Autostart addon, select a video, edit the settings to your liking. This is definitely easier and I also did this at first, but it doesn't start quite at startup so it's not as elegant as I'd like.

Have fun and maybe rate me if this helped you.