Kodi Community Forum - Failure to launch

Hello,
I did a fresh install over an i3-4150 CPU (in an Asrock ITX board) and a passive-cooled GTX750 card (so I could accelerate x264 decoding via vdpau).
Wired to TV via HDMI, to AV receiver via SPDIF.
I wish to run this as an appliance: boot into Kodi directly and power off when Kodi exits.

First, I installed Ubuntu Server 18.04 (+SSH +Samba) - because I want a minimalist build based on an LTS release.
Then, I installed Kodi install like so:

bash:
sudo apt-get install software-properties-common

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:team-xbmc/ppa

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install kodi

sudo apt-get install xauth xorg xinit xserver-xorg-core xserver-xorg xserver-common

sudo apt-get install lightdm

sudo adduser kodi

sudo usermod -a -G cdrom,audio,video,plugdev,users,dialout,dip,input kodi

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg-legacy

-> Selected 'Anybody'

bash:
sudo nano /etc/X11/Xwrapper.config

Added to the file:

txt:
needs_root_rights=yes

Added Service:

txt:
[Unit]

Description = Kodi-standalone using xinit

After = remote-fs.target systemd-user-sessions.service sound.target network-online.target

[Service]

User = kodi

Group = kodi

Type = simple

ExecStart = /usr/bin/xinit /usr/bin/dbus-launch /usr/bin/kodi-standalone -- :0 -nolisten tcp

Restart = on-abort

[Install]

WantedBy = multi-user.target

Then enabled service:

bash:
sudo systemctl enable kodi.service

Then edited /etc/security/limits.conf and added :

txt:
kodi - nice -1

When the system boots up, this can be found in the log:

Quote:kodi-x11: ../src/gallium/drivers/nouveau/nouveau_vp3_video.c:91: nouveau_vp3_video_buffer_create: Assertion `templat->interlaced' failed.

I posted the same thing at launchpad but no response there yet.
As I am looking at the useless box I wonder: can perhaps the Kodi folk come up with some sort of a workaround while we wait for an official fix?
It's weekend, I'd have time to mess with it but it seems I'm sitting duck - as you can imagine, it's quite aggravating.

For example, does Ubuntu 19.04 have this problem? It's not LTS, but I would not mind until the bug gets fixed for 18.x.
Anything else you could think of?

Thank you!

Noveau is not supported - it won't work.

why don't you just use the igpu in your Intel CPU with vaapi? The old nvidia gfx doesn't offer any benefit

(2019-09-21, 21:54)fritsch Wrote: [ -> ]Noveau is not supported - it won't work.

I did not set that up, this is how Ubuntu and Kodi is installed out of the box, following the Wiki and fritsch's thread (loosely).
So, what should I and what can I do? Is it just a matter of sudo apt-get install nvidia-driver ?
I did not touch Kodi since the XBMC days (6-8 year ago?), so I am clueless as to where to go from here, please throw me a bone I can chew.
That thread I linked from 2015 may be old, but that's pretty much the only place I found that tells me how to set it up.
I'd love to document the current setup process on a wiki page or a thread, but it seems I can't find a good base to build on.
Thank you!

(2019-09-22, 08:10)wsnipex Wrote: [ -> ]why don't you just use the igpu in your Intel CPU with vaapi? The old nvidia gfx doesn't offer any benefit

Because from my experience NVidia is 'snappy' and ISG is 'laggy'.
I would not mind if you proved that theory wrong.
Either way, the first thing is getting it running so I would see what's what.
Thank you!

-----

In the meantime, I went for graysky's github page.
I deleted the kodi user and followed instructions there.
kodi.service now looks like:

txt:


# Source:

# https://github.com/graysky2/kodi-standalone-service

#   + After=remote-fs.target

[Unit]

Description=Kodi standalone (X11)

After=remote-fs.target systemd-user-sessions.service network-online.target sound.target

Requires=network-online.target

[email protected]



[Service]

User=kodi

Group=kodi

PAMName=login

TTYPath=/dev/tty1

ExecStart=/usr/bin/xinit /usr/bin/kodi-standalone -- :0 -nolisten tcp vt1

Restart=on-abort

StandardInput=tty



[Install]

WantedBy=graphical.target

I don't get the error mentioned earlier, but kodi just exists without saying as much as boo:

txt:
Sep 22 11:11:00 kodibox systemd[1]: kodi.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE

Sep 22 11:11:00 kodibox systemd[1]: kodi.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.

sudo systemctl status kodi

bash:
● kodi.service - Kodi standalone (X11)

   Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/kodi.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)

   Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Sun 2019-09-22 11:34:34 UTC; 3min 9s ago

  Process: 888 ExecStart=/usr/bin/xinit /usr/bin/kodi-standalone -- :0 -nolisten tcp vt1 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)

 Main PID: 888 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)



Sep 22 11:34:18 kodibox systemd[1]: Started Kodi standalone (X11).

Sep 22 11:34:18 kodibox systemd[888]: pam_unix(loginession): session opened for user kodi by (uid=0)

Sep 22 11:34:34 kodibox systemd[1]: kodi.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE

Sep 22 11:34:34 kodibox systemd[1]: kodi.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.

I tried LibreELEC and that works out of the box, but there's generally zero OS customization available.
Their hardcoded SSH is terrible and the fact Samba can't be customized, simply kills it as a viable alternative.
So, I'd really prefer getting Kodi running on Ubuntu LTS.

(2019-09-22, 09:55)Csimbi Wrote: [ -> ]So, what should I and what can I do? Is it just a matter of sudo apt-get install nvidia-driver ?

Probably better is sudo ubuntu-drivers devices. See which package it recommends and if it looks right, sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall. If you want a different driver to the recommended one, sudo apt install nvidia-driver-xxx where xxx is some version number listed by the first command.

Don't forget to reboot afterwards.

again, simply pop out the nvidia gfx and follow fritsch' vaapi guide

(2019-09-23, 13:34)wsnipex Wrote: [ -> ]again, simply pop out the nvidia gfx and follow fritsch' vaapi guide

Hearing that a second time, I thought I would start with that and try black_eagle's recommendation later.
So:
- popped card.
- attached to mobo HDMI (side note: I also ditched SPDIF as a whole when LibreELEC would not pass DTS core of the DTS-HD MA audio).
- reinstalled per your recommendation.
- added Confluence skin.

Works as advertised.
AMP even picked up HDMI audio automatically, without messing around this time.

CPU is at 10% during x264 playback (1920x1080).
That, in retrospective, makes me feel stupid about wanting to accelerate that any further.
Seems you've come a long way since the XBMC days.
Well done and thanks!

@black_eagle
Thank you for your input, but it seems no point going the NVidia way anymore.

(2019-09-23, 20:57)Csimbi Wrote: [ -> ]@black_eagle
Thank you for your input, but it seems no point going the NVidia way anymore.

No worries. I guess I have nVidia for mainly historical reasons now, but I see no need to upgrade anything whilst it still does what I need it to - Wallet stays firmly in pocket !!