[plissk3n]

Hello miappa!
Thanks for all your efforts you are putting into this thread. Also it is fairly good explained I couldn't update the way I wanted to, maybe you could help me out?

A few days ago my XBMC (Frodo) went south. I could still use it but all the graphics in the menus were gone. Just black background with text. So I decided it is a good idea to start fresh and with gotham.
Here is what I did:

1. A complete Backup of my .XBMC folder
2. Installed RaspBMC completly new with the official intaller (SD+USB)
3. Installed "xbmc-13-20140330-nc3" (Took me a loooong time to go the RaspBMC Addon to change it to the nighty after installation, maybe you could mention it in the manual?
4. Unzip the backup.

Result: I was back to my crappy broken XBMC incl. all my movies ^^. I thought I only did an backup of the database but instead I did one of the whole system. When I now change to Gotham per the addon the GUI is normal but all my movies are gone.

Can you explain my how I can obtain a

• fresh gotham installation
  
• with my old database
  

Thank you very much!
Kind regards,
plissk3n

[miappa]

Personally I am not a big fan of using backups of userdata when updating since it will bring broken stuff along, and when you update it will also bring addons etc. along that doesn´t work.
However, the library "should" update from the Frodo version though.

I would try this (since you have a backup already):
* Delete .xbmc and reboot
* Stop XBMC: 'sudo initctl stop xbmc'
* Delete the userdata folder (in /home/pi/.xbmc/)
* Copy the userdata folder from your backup to /home/pi/.xbmc/
* You probably want to delete the following 2 files:
/home/pi/.xbmc/userdata/Database/Addons**.db
/home/pi/.xbmc/userdata/guisettings.xml
* Start XBMC: 'sudo initctl start XBMC'

If that doesn´t work I recommend that you start from scratch (might be something broken in the backup).
A faster way to "start from scratch" and rescan your libraries is to first export the library to separate files (then rescan from Gotham). This will however clutter your sources with nfo´s and images.
I also recommend to re-cache thumbs etc. with MilhouseVH´s script 'Texture Cache Maintenance utility' if you choose to rebuild your libraries.

[DBMandrake]

• NC3: Only need a confirmation dialogue when resolution has actually changed

Fantastic. This "feature" of Gotham was driving me crazy, when I swap between different monitors/screens of different resolutions...

• Fix for video stutter after seek on streams without b frames

As I reported this problem I can confirm that the new firmware fixes the issue.

Some words from popcornmix:

The Pi has some quite advanced scaling hardware which is able to do higher quality scaling than other ARM (and probably most PC) boxes.

I've added an API to the firmware where the scaling kernel (a 32 tap filter) can be controlled.
I've hooked that into the sharpness control on the video OSD.
I've used the sharpness control for now as that gives an unobtrusive slider at the top of screen, rather than the scaling method drop down which obscures most of the screen.

Basically sharpness=0 uses the default scaling kernel (Sinc over the range +-3*PI with Hamming window applied).
Each click to the right of that uses a different kernel. I've implemented 9 kernels. Try them and report what you prefer.

Some suggestions:
It's probably best to pause the video when there is some detail visible (like text) to see the effect.
Don't try it when video is 1080p and display is 1080p or you won't see anything. It's more interesting when playing SD content on a HD display
It's not magic. The kernels are a compromise between sharpening (producing more detail, but increasing noise) and blurring (hides the noise and the detail).
The best option for SD video may be different to the best option for 720p.

Can I confirm that these options are also intended for downscaling as well as upscaling ? For example if I play back 1080p content on a 1680x1050 screen.

I can definitely see a difference between them in that situation although I'm not sure which one I prefer yet...

BTW, only 7 of the 9 "kernels" seems to be working, if I adjust sharpness 8 clicks to the right from zero (or any number greater than 8) it seems to switch to scaling with no anti-aliasing. (All options from 8 onwards look the same and very pixellated)

[popcornmix]

Can I confirm that these options are also intended for downscaling as well as upscaling ? For example if I play back 1080p content on a 1680x1050 screen.

I can definitely see a difference between them in that situation although I'm not sure which one I prefer yet...

BTW, only 7 of the 9 "kernels" seems to be working, if I adjust sharpness 8 clicks to the right from zero (or any number greater than 8) it seems to switch to scaling with no anti-aliasing. (All options from 8 onwards look the same and very pixellated)

Yes, the kernel is still used for small downscales. I think when the downscale approached a factor of 2 (I think it is 0.55) it switches to a downscaling trapezoidal filter.

I listed the kernels in an earlier post. 0 is the default (still a scaling kernel), up to 8 for nearest neighbour (and that is repeated for higher values).
That is 9 different kernels. I think there's been another 3 posted that you can manually select (with a vcgencmd).

[plissk3n]

Personally I am not a big fan of using backups ...

Thanks for your quick and thourough answer! I have done the steps as you told me and it works perfectly. No need to
export the library. Big THANKS!

Right now the Pi is busy recaching, I just typed

Code:

./texturecache.py C

Hope that's what you meant.
I thrilled to discover gotham!

Greetings plissk3n

[Dilligaf]

@miappa wmc.pvr has released an updated addon V 0.2.95 (source code here https://github.com/krustyreturns/xbmc-pv...ee/pvr.wmc) is it possible for you to add this to your builds? Team xbmc says it's too late to add it to Gotham as it's past the feature freeze. Thanks for all you do.

[miappa]

@miappa wmc.pvr has released an updated addon V 0.2.95 (source code here https://github.com/krustyreturns/xbmc-pv...ee/pvr.wmc) is it possible for you to add this to your builds? Team xbmc says it's too late to add it to Gotham as it's past the feature freeze. Thanks for all you do.

Sure, I normally just compile from opdenkamps git, but I guess I could just change it to krustyreturns.
Is there any reason why I shouldn´t compile all PVR addons from krustyreturns?

Don´t use PVR myself so not much versed...

[Dilligaf]

Krusty is the author of wmc.pvr I don't think his branch has all the pvr addons, just the wmc one

[miappa]

It looks like it´s up to date and same as opdenkamps (it is forked from opdenkapms) except for changes in wmc.pvr.
I just want to make sure I don´t miss anything, see here: https://github.com/krustyreturns/xbmc-pv...r...master

I´ll try it later, I don´t see any problems though.

Edit: linked wrong, meant: https://github.com/krustyreturns/xbmc-pv...ns:pvr.wmc

[fritsch]

Another reason: opdenkamp is the maintainer of the pvr-addons Everything from there will go into mainline or is shipped with mainline. So it's a good idea to use and test that code.

[Dilligaf]

I'm not sure if it's in opdenkamp or not, sent a PM to the authors, hopefully one of them will jump in.

[krustyreturns]

Our latest release (0.2.95) is in the pvr.wmc branch of our repo:

https://github.com/krustyreturns/xbmc-pv...ee/pvr.wmc

As to whether the other addons in our repo are up to date with opdenkamp I'm not sure. Scarecrow does try to keep it current.

[miappa]

Cheers.
It looks up to date, but just in case I made my own branch.
It´s just easier for me as I can keep it semi-automatic.

I´ll post a new build soon with updated pvr.wmc addon.

[Dilligaf]

Thank you

[miappa]

Updated Gotham build, XBMC master from Mar 31 + newclock3 commits + one additional commit.

Some info:
• Master: Several fixes and updates
• NC3: Same as previous build (see here regarding scaling options being tested)
• Additional: WMC PVR addon updated to V 0.2.95

Firmware from March 30 included:
• Fix for video stutter after seek on streams without b frames
• Add gencmd for setting the current scaling kernel, see here for more info


Additional info and testing (DVDPlayer etc.), see post #1

To install XBMC build, SSH to Pi:

Code:

wget -O xbmc-13-20140402-nc3.tar.gz http://goo.gl/wbemOk --no-check-certificate
pv xbmc-13-20140402-nc3.tar.gz | tar xzf - -C /home/pi/.upgrade
sudo cp /home/pi/.upgrade/xbmc-13-20140402-nc3/{fixup_x.dat,start_x.elf} /boot
ln -sfn /home/pi/.upgrade/xbmc-13-20140402-nc3/xbmc-bcm /home/pi/.xbmc-current
sudo reboot