[DrNickRiviera]

I lost all my equiptment due to a power spike and had to replace it all. Since then, it's been nothing by struggles. I'm a long time Kodi user (back to XBMC) and newer Jellyfin addon user.

New mini PC - "Beelink Mini S12 Pro Mini PC, Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake- N100(up to 3.4GHz), 16GB DDR4 RAM 500GB PCIe SSD, Desktop Computer Support 4K Dual Display/USB3.2/WiFi 6/BT5.2/Gigabit Ethernet for Home/Office"
going through a Denon S970H to New TV is a Samsung s95B.

Fresh install of the latest version of Kodi on Windows. Using the Jellyfin Addon.

Here is what I am seeing. I open Kodi and play a file from my server (The Mandalorian). It looks fantastic and plays fine. Here is the log.

https://paste.kodi.tv/suyacucoqe.kodi

BUT if I open Kodi and play a different file from my server first (The Seventh Curse - which plays fine and looks fantastic) and THEN play The Mandalorian, the Mandalorian plays all jumpy. To me, it's unwatchable. Here is the log.

https://paste.kodi.tv/tonapuluco.kodi

I'm new to all of the new refresh rate stuff. I previously had a refurb Dell Optiplex that was about 10 years old and it played 1080p fine. Now, the new mini PC seems to support different refresh rates, etc and I have all kinds of frustrating problems like this. I was ready to assume it's some kind of heat or memory issue and send the mini back and buy another, full sized desktop but I decided to try here first. Now that I have something I can replicate, I feel like we may be able to find a solution.

Can anyone help me determine what is going on?

Thanks in advance.

[CrystalP]

That's a weird issue. You brought up refresh rates, did you try with adjust refresh rate = off?

Are those the only two videos that do this, were you able to identify a pattern in the files that lead to the issue?

Is there a reason 3840x2160 @ 24Hz is not whitelisted ? That's what the Mandalorian needs for best results, but it doesn't explain your issue.
The video drivers are not the latest.

Is the TV the main screen for Windows? If not could you try it?

[DrNickRiviera]

1) That's a weird issue. You brought up refresh rates, did you try with adjust refresh rate = off?

2) Are those the only two videos that do this, were you able to identify a pattern in the files that lead to the issue?

3) Is there a reason 3840x2160 @ 24Hz is not whitelisted ? That's what the Mandalorian needs for best results, but it doesn't explain your issue.
The video drivers are not the latest.

4) Is the TV the main screen for Windows? If not could you try it?

1) Yes, it was much worse with Adjust Refresh Rate off

2) No, the problem happens often and SEEMINGLY at random - however, I was able to identify this pattern that would trigger it.

3) I skipped those simply on the advice found at https://www.reddit.com/r/htpc/wiki/video...o_hardware. However, I made whitelist changes AFTER I started noticing the problem.

4) The only monitor for this PC is the TV.

One thing I noticed when I turned on debug - when I open Kodi and play The Mandalorian it plays at a pretty constant 60 hz. When I open "Curse" first, then play the Mandalorian it plays at a slightly (still in the 50's) lower hz.

[CrystalP]

Would a mod please adjust the subject, this is a Windows platform problem.

Interesting reddit link, but don't omit 24 or 60Hz when 120 is not available (your situation).

Worse results with Adjust Refresh Rate: off: that's not good... it's supposed to be more stable.

With hardware acceleration there shouldn't be performance problems and lower playback fps is not expected.
> use the Windows Task Manager while the video is playing to look for other processes consuming cpu or gpu, look at the graphs of the Performance tab (multiple kpi for gpu)
> simplify things as much as possible to find a working configuration, then add back piece by piece to find the one causing issues.
Mini PC have more limited resources than desktop computers, try to limit the demands on the box at first.
For example, lower the desktop resolution to 1080p or less, disable audio passthrough, direct connection pc to screen (without AVR), use local files rather than network server

Some settings that may have an impact:
- "Allow hardware acceleration - DXVA2" and render methods - please try the combinations. Not sure the cpu is enough for sw decoding but your 2 videos are not demanding by today's standards.
- Sync playback to display on / off
- Sound: Directsound output instead of WASAPI, passthrough on/off

By any chance, once the problem started happening, does cycling "Use 10 bit for SDR" once through all values "reset" things to a good state? (in Display settings)

[DrNickRiviera]

Thanks for continuing to look at this with me. I have already tried different combinations of these settings to no avail. But I can continue to play around with it. 

What I'm hearing though is that the hardware, despite being 12th Gen with 16GB of RAM, is not up to the task. I'm seriously considering returning it and getting a "real" desktop. Do you think that is the best course of action?

[CrystalP]

For the Windows platform, those mini pc / celerons are not very common as far as I know, people tend to run a linux Kodi on them instead (you could try that). Or they mostly go the Android box route instead.
That's reflected in the devs population, I'm not aware of team members running one of those mini PC in Windows. With the volunteer nature of the project, the devs focus on the hardware they own (desktops/laptops with a variety of gpus)

In theory the N100 has the specs to do a good job but without a box in the hands of a dev that cares, it's difficult to identify and fix the issues.
It could be that the Beelink box has issues and another brand might work better. Something like that happened to a user of previous gen celerons (don't remember the brands involved at the time).

For Windows, desktop, laptops and nucs with desktop-class cpus receive the most attention and efforts, and are the most likely to provide good results.

[DrNickRiviera]

Checking back in to provide an update: I sent back the BEELINK Mini PC and replaced it with a new Lenovo Ideacenter (probably overkill but I got a good deal). The problems that I was noticing with the BEELINK have not manifested on the Lenovo. My GUESS is that it might have been a heat issue - too much stuff jammed into a 4x4 box. But that's only a guess.

While I have this line of communication open I'd like to ask two more questions:

1) On both the BEELINK and the Lenovo, when I first start Kodi and start playing a video (stored on my server PC in another room and transmitted over ethernet) there is a LONG pause before the video starts playing. However, if I stop it and start playing another video it starts almost immediately (and any other subsequent videos). I initially felt it was the server PC waking up but if I close Kodi and then reopen it immediately the same exact thing happens (long pause for first video, no pause for subsequent videos). This didn't happen with my last PC/installation of Kodi. Any thoughts on if this is normal or what would cause it?

2) Occasionally, after going full screen to windowed and back the Kodi interface renders differently - with the menu items either squished looking or too tall. Thumbnails can get weird as well (they were getting cut off at the tops and bottoms yesterday). A full PC reboot resolves this but is there any way to prevent this or any way to get it to refresh back to "normal" without having to reboot?

Thanks!

[CrystalP]

1) I'm not aware of it. Would be better to start another thread. I would suggest to try a fresh install with everything default and to add little by little until the problem starts happening. With a couple local files first to eliminate the network factor.

2) I know what you mean and it's usually only temporary during a transition. Most situations are handled correctly but you may have found a sequence that's not. The exact sequence to reproduce will be needed for reproduction. How you switch modes, \ or Windows shortcuts, remote, ... may be important too. Preferably in a new thread as well.
Restarting Kodi would usually take care of this without a computer reboot. If not, the content of your guisettings.xml could be interesting, with the count/resolution of connected screens.