FireTV and Kodi 15.1 ??
#1
So I had Kodi 14 on all my fireTVs with a shared MySQL on my net. Memory is hazy but I think it was stock Kodi not SPMC, but I wouldnt bet my life on it.

I dont remember any stuttering, and even tested / watched some 1080p as working ok.. I am not a super highbite rate consumer and I could be wrong but I just remember it working 99% of the time for the files I threw at it. Enough that I was happy.

Just because I thought I maybe was missing out, I upgraded to 15.1.. Tested Kodi was running on one box OK and as the MySQL all has to match, I updated all my boxes. They are all wired BTW. They seemed OK and first few things I watched I noticed no issues.

Just noticed stuttering playback on a series.. Assumed it was that series as high bitrate.. Now soon after and seeing stuttering on another series.. Looking at my files they are 'only' 720p files (MKV).. I am sure I was playing 720 fine before the update. Other far higher bitrate MP4s seem to play just fine.

Is 15.1 somehow worse on the fireTV than 14.x ??
Is 15.1 Kodi not HW accelerating and maybe I had SPMC ??
Is 15.1 Kodi on the FTV worse with MKV's ??
Are others using 15.1 and playing 1080 content smooth ??

Just looking for some input before I start the process of testing builds or rolling back.

Thanks.
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#2
Try the v15.2 test build from the download page just to see if it wasn't a know issue that has been fixed.
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#3
Yeah thats one way at it..

Can I run 15.1 and 15.2 machines on the same network MySQL database ??

Still welcome any experiences before I start re-installing / rolling back etc.. Its more of a hassle with many boxes.
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#4
Yeah, all v15 builds will use the same DB version (v15.0, v15.1, v15.2, etc).
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#5
Not been able to run any versions on FTV without frame drops. Its worse on the later ones and tried two different boxes. No idea what's causing it as tried everything and always get frame skips even though Kodi does not register any. Maybe it's one of the many FTV updates as its not been great since August was fine prior. Just tgot a Nvidia shield and its noticeably better even without using auto frame rate switching.
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#6
shit.. Was fine up to July.. Then I was travelling for a couple of months.. Now its not..

There was a amazon update then also.. I assumed it was the 15 update but it could be the amazon update too..

Thats major bad news as I need 3 boxes and my FTVs are all well set up now.
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#7
OK so I was happy to discover.. The 1080 MKV that was stuttery.. was a poor encode.. Even worse on a chromecast and even VLC was struggling.. Thought it was only thats..

But no.. Other files that play smooth on VLC are still bad.. It just happened that first one was incredibly bad..

15.1.. HW on or off.. then every permutation of the 2 options individually.. Still rough..
15.2.. HW on or off.. then each permutation.. Actually seemed slightly worse in 15.2 but perhaps subjective.

The worst files I am finding are 1080 MKV..
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#8
For some reason adbFire wont push SPMC to my box.. Just says install failed and in the log I get

Quote:process time duration: 402 seconds
"./adb.exe" -s 192.168.1.111:5555 install -r "C:/Users/Username/Downloads/spmc-armeabi-v7a_15.0.0_launcher.apk"
pkg: /data/local/tmp/spmc-armeabi-v7a_15.0.0_launcher.apk


Failure [INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_INCONSISTENT_CERTIFICATES]


943 KB/s (60908805 bytes in 63.030s)

Inconsistent certificates ?? Any ideas ??
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#9
OK I got to the bottom of this last night.. To a solution I am 'happy' enough with..

I have found it is 2 related errors giving me the same symptoms..
1) the media files I was testing with primarily.. Have errors.. VLC on my desktop handles those errors better.
2) the mediacodec HW acceleration is buggering it up.
Because my testing was on files with errors.. I wasnt seeing it work properly when disabling media codec and other media I checked I had not checked with that specific config.

Once I realized the above.. Disabled mediacodec and now 99% of what I played last night played as good as 14.2 did.. The exception of course being the damn series I was trying to watch and test with !! That due to its encode errors, still looks poor, but it looks poor with other players also.. VLC handles it better, but its the medias problem. I also 'think' 14.2 handled it better, eg the error handling ability may have had a downgrade in 14 -> 15 on the FireTV but I am now relieved to find a config thats working for most of everything.

Mediacodec definitely to blame but I havent pinned down why or rather in what cases.. One 'good' error free 1080p 5.1 rip I was checking with after the realization was simply a stop starty mess with mediacodec on and smooth acceptable playback when it was off.. Yet other 1080 rips were playing ok with it enabled ?!? Not I am not talking 24/25hz issues or more subtle videophile considerations. Simply the boxes play video to a level thats fine for my house network non projection HT setup.
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FireTV and Kodi 15.1 ??0