[denz13]

Thanks for confirming.

I'm also having a HDMI handshake issue when changing input on my AVR to the Chromebox (running Ubuntu 14.10 + Kodi set to autostart) - I get blank screen which occasionally shows a fuzzy white image and I can sometimes hear crackling noises. I've had similar problems with Windows based machines connected to my AVR.

I know it's not the best, but I can suspend the Chromebox and then wake which forces the HDMI handshake again, which always works, not exactly slick though. The other problem with doing this is that a cursor sometimes appears in the middle of the screen (not the Kodi cursor) which is extremely irritating.

So, does anyone have any tips for fixing either the HDMI handshake issue OR removing the cursor on resume/wake?

[pharcycle]

Hello everyone, I've just bought an Asus Chromebox (M031U) and stuck OpenELEC 5.0.1 on it. I'm getting a load of skipped frames intermittently. I might start a movie and it'll skip maybe every 5 frames (the skipped frame counter increased a few times a sec) however after a few jumps forward or back I can get rid of the problem and able to play the same part of the movie fine that was skipping.

I have been using XBMC since the Xbox 180 days and have 3x PCs running it around my house and they can all handle the same file fine so I don't think the source is to blame. It does it on 720p MKVs and 1080p BD-raw rips that I've made myself.

I stream over NFS from my server so thought this might be an issue but it was doing this last night on a local USB drive.

http://xbmclogs.com/show.php?id=420262

my debug log above. Playing back of Star Trek commences around 00:32:14 and stops around 00:39:00.

Having only just got the box on Saturday I've not changed many settings. I disabled VDPAU since it doesn't have an nVidia chipset, I'm using VAAPI and disabled the VC-1 handling (I think this is the default). I run through an AV amp at 1080p native (in case it matters) and have enabled the option for changing the display to match the video refresh rate (or whatever the exact name is).

The only add-on's I've installed are the watchdog and I've enabled the MythTV PVR add-on. I've not noticed it skip with myth content playback but I've only tried a couple of TV shows to check it works.

It's not a major issue for me as I have plenty of other PCs to run Kodi, I really got the Chromebox just to play around with and see what it can do/does so if it's a known bug I'm happy to wait it out or if you want me to do anything to test I'm happy to try and help.

[pcdude]

That "was" the proper fix and it's supposed to correct a bug that has been removed from OpenElec 5.0.

Of course,... I guess if you are running Kodi off a full Ubuntu install that's a different config. either way turning off prefer Vaapi Render is known to fix that problem.

And,... if you do the "Broadcast RGB" "Full" tweak to get the right video output then the Prefer Vaapi Rendered is supposed to be off also....

Selecting software decoding fixed the problem, but that is probably not the best solution. I'll try changing the render method tonight.

[moobutt]

Hi everyone , have a few questions with which I need help. I am running an asus chromebox moo4u using standalone setup with open elec to run xbmc via wifi (wifi router netgear n300) and I am encountering a lot of buffering when I play movies , about every 30 seconds movie buffers. The fixes I have tried are fresh start and advanced setting zero caching. My question is this , would this be a router issue as we do use router for several different things in home and this may not be the best router or have I missed some settings that I need to set to help with buffering. I also notice that I have to go through a lot of links to find one that will work. I hope I have given enough info to receive help but I do have limited knowledge and I am in the process of learning as I enjoy as hobby , so if someone could please help with these issues I would greatly appreciate it Thank you

[bhampton]

Hi,

I've been watching using only software decoding on my Chromebox with OpenElec.

Most everything plays back lovely.

I kept the debug log enabled so I could see the FPS and CPU use and most every video I have did fine.

My blu ray MKV from "The Dark Knight" was choppy and often pegged one or the other CPU core at 100% so for that video I will enable acceleration unless I just re-encode it and dumb down the bit rate some.

Subjectively... I think it looks better and smoother using software rendering. That could be my imagination but I always welcome perceived improvements regardless of if it's imaginary.


-Brian

[morbidz]

Hello everyone, I've just bought an Asus Chromebox (M301U) and stuck OpenELEC 5.0.1 on it. I'm getting a load of skipped frames intermittently. I might start a movie and it'll skip maybe every 5 frames (the skipped frame counter increased a few times a sec) however after a few jumps forward or back I can get rid of the problem and able to play the same part of the movie fine that was skipping.

I have been using XBMC since the Xbox 180 days and have 3x PCs running it around my house and they can all handle the same file fine so I don't think the source is to blame. It does it on 720p MKVs and 1080p BD-raw rips that I've made myself.

I stream over NFS from my server so thought this might be an issue but it was doing this last night on a local USB drive.

http://xbmclogs.com/show.php?id=420262

my debug log above. Playing back of Star Trek commences around 00:32:14 and stops around 00:39:00.

Having only just got the box on Saturday I've not changed many settings. I disabled VDPAU since it doesn't have an nVidia chipset, I'm using VAAPI and disabled the VC-1 handling (I think this is the default). I run through an AV amp at 1080p native (in case it matters) and have enabled the option for changing the display to match the video refresh rate (or whatever the exact name is).

The only add-on's I've installed are the watchdog and I've enabled the MythTV PVR add-on. I've not noticed it skip with myth content playback but I've only tried a couple of TV shows to check it works.

It's not a major issue for me as I have plenty of other PCs to run Kodi, I really got the Chromebox just to play around with and see what it can do/does so if it's a known bug I'm happy to wait it out or if you want me to do anything to test I'm happy to try and help.

I have the same issue and posted my log a few pages back. http://pastebin.com/R97uXCfT
Issue persists whether the file is local or on NFS

[Matt Devo]

there's quite a few fixes in OE 5.0.2 that may help, update and see if the problems persist

[morbidz]

there's quite a few fixes in OE 5.0.2 that may help, update and see if the problems persist

sweet! updating now
unfortunately frames are still skipping

[bob808]

Has anyone got boblight working with openelec on a chromebox? I had it working on Kodi for windows, but in openelec I have installed the plugin and daemon, and I cant get the lights to come on using my previous config from windows. I have updated the device to the correct /dev/amc0 entry, but it doesn't light up.

If I use the sample config I get the lights, but its only setup for 25 lights not the 50 I have so it doesn't work properly. I can change the number of lights from 75 to 150 and the prefix to what I had in my windows config and it still works but when I copy over my light config to go from the 25 defined to the 50 I have, boblight then doesnt start properly and I just get 'failed to connect to boblightd'.

This is the config that I want to get working:

Code:

[light]
name            50
color           red     ambilight 148
color           green   ambilight 149
color           blue    ambilight 150
hscan           0 4.17
vscan           92.86 100

[light]
name            49
color           red     ambilight 145
color           green   ambilight 146
color           blue    ambilight 147
hscan           0 4.17
vscan           85.71 92.86

[light]
name            48
color           red     ambilight 142
color           green   ambilight 143
color           blue    ambilight 144
hscan           0 4.17
vscan           78.57 85.71

[light]
name            47
color           red     ambilight 139
color           green   ambilight 140
color           blue    ambilight 141
hscan           0 4.17
vscan           71.43 78.57

[light]
name            46
color           red     ambilight 136
color           green   ambilight 137
color           blue    ambilight 138
hscan           0 4.17
vscan           64.29 71.43

[light]
name            45
color           red     ambilight 133
color           green   ambilight 134
color           blue    ambilight 135
hscan           0 4.17
vscan           57.14 64.29

[light]
name            44
color           red     ambilight 130
color           green   ambilight 131
color           blue    ambilight 132
hscan           0 4.17
vscan           50 57.14

[light]
name            43
color           red     ambilight 127
color           green   ambilight 128
color           blue    ambilight 129
hscan           0 4.17
vscan           42.86 50

[light]
name            42
color           red     ambilight 124
color           green   ambilight 125
color           blue    ambilight 126
hscan           0 4.17
vscan           35.72 42.86

[light]
name            41
color           red     ambilight 121
color           green   ambilight 122
color           blue    ambilight 123
hscan           0 4.17
vscan           28.57 35.72

[light]
name            40
color           red     ambilight 118
color           green   ambilight 119
color           blue    ambilight 120
hscan           0 4.17
vscan           21.43 28.57

[light]
name            39
color           red     ambilight 115
color           green   ambilight 116
color           blue    ambilight 117
hscan           0 4.17
vscan           14.29 21.43

[light]
name            38
color           red     ambilight 112
color           green   ambilight 113
color           blue    ambilight 114
hscan           0 4.17
vscan           7.15 14.29

[light]
name            37
color           red     ambilight 109
color           green   ambilight 110
color           blue    ambilight 111
hscan           0 4.17
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            36
color           red     ambilight 106
color           green   ambilight 107
color           blue    ambilight 108
hscan           4.17 8.33
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            35
color           red     ambilight 103
color           green   ambilight 104
color           blue    ambilight 105
hscan           8.33 12.5
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            34
color           red     ambilight 100
color           green   ambilight 101
color           blue    ambilight 102
hscan           12.5 16.67
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            33
color           red     ambilight 97
color           green   ambilight 98
color           blue    ambilight 99
hscan           16.67 20.83
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            32
color           red     ambilight 94
color           green   ambilight 95
color           blue    ambilight 96
hscan           20.83 25
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            31
color           red     ambilight 91
color           green   ambilight 92
color           blue    ambilight 93
hscan           25 29.17
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            30
color           red     ambilight 88
color           green   ambilight 89
color           blue    ambilight 90
hscan           29.17 33.33
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            29
color           red     ambilight 85
color           green   ambilight 86
color           blue    ambilight 87
hscan           33.33 37.5
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            28
color           red     ambilight 82
color           green   ambilight 83
color           blue    ambilight 84
hscan           37.5 41.67
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            27
color           red     ambilight 79
color           green   ambilight 80
color           blue    ambilight 81
hscan           41.67 45.83
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            26
color           red     ambilight 76
color           green   ambilight 77
color           blue    ambilight 78
hscan           45.83 50
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            25
color           red     ambilight 73
color           green   ambilight 74
color           blue    ambilight 75
hscan           50 54.17
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            24
color           red     ambilight 70
color           green   ambilight 71
color           blue    ambilight 72
hscan           54.17 58.33
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            23
color           red     ambilight 67
color           green   ambilight 68
color           blue    ambilight 69
hscan           58.33 62.5
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            22
color           red     ambilight 64
color           green   ambilight 65
color           blue    ambilight 66
hscan           62.5 66.67
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            21
color           red     ambilight 61
color           green   ambilight 62
color           blue    ambilight 63
hscan           66.67 70.83
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            20
color           red     ambilight 58
color           green   ambilight 59
color           blue    ambilight 60
hscan           70.83 75
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            19
color           red     ambilight 55
color           green   ambilight 56
color           blue    ambilight 57
hscan           75 79.17
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            18
color           red     ambilight 52
color           green   ambilight 53
color           blue    ambilight 54
hscan           79.17 83.33
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            17
color           red     ambilight 49
color           green   ambilight 50
color           blue    ambilight 51
hscan           83.33 87.5
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            16
color           red     ambilight 46
color           green   ambilight 47
color           blue    ambilight 48
hscan           87.5 91.67
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            15
color           red     ambilight 43
color           green   ambilight 44
color           blue    ambilight 45
hscan           91.67 95.83
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            14
color           red     ambilight 40
color           green   ambilight 41
color           blue    ambilight 42
hscan           95.83 100
vscan           0 7.14

[light]
name            13
color           red     ambilight 37
color           green   ambilight 38
color           blue    ambilight 39
hscan           95.83 100
vscan           7.14 14.29

[light]
name            12
color           red     ambilight 34
color           green   ambilight 35
color           blue    ambilight 36
hscan           95.83 100
vscan           14.29 21.43

[light]
name            11
color           red     ambilight 31
color           green   ambilight 32
color           blue    ambilight 33
hscan           95.83 100
vscan           21.43 28.57

[light]
name            10
color           red     ambilight 28
color           green   ambilight 29
color           blue    ambilight 30
hscan           95.83 100
vscan           28.57 35.71

[light]
name            9
color           red     ambilight 25
color           green   ambilight 26
color           blue    ambilight 27
hscan           95.83 100
vscan           35.71 42.86

[light]
name            8
color           red     ambilight 22
color           green   ambilight 23
color           blue    ambilight 24
hscan           95.83 100
vscan           42.86 50

[light]
name            7
color           red     ambilight 19
color           green   ambilight 20
color           blue    ambilight 21
hscan           95.83 100
vscan           50 57.14

[light]
name            6
color           red     ambilight 16
color           green   ambilight 17
color           blue    ambilight 18
hscan           95.83 100
vscan           57.14 64.28

[light]
name            5
color           red     ambilight 13
color           green   ambilight 14
color           blue    ambilight 15
hscan           95.83 100
vscan           64.28 71.43

[light]
name            4
color           red     ambilight 10
color           green   ambilight 11
color           blue    ambilight 12
hscan           95.83 100
vscan           71.43 78.57

[light]
name            3
color           red     ambilight 7
color           green   ambilight 8
color           blue    ambilight 9
hscan           95.83 100
vscan           78.57 85.71

[light]
name            2
color           red     ambilight 4
color           green   ambilight 5
color           blue    ambilight 6
hscan           95.83 100
vscan           85.71 92.85

[light]
name            1
color           red     ambilight 1
color           green   ambilight 2
color           blue    ambilight 3
hscan           95.83 100
vscan           92.85 100

Thanks for any help!


bob

[Matt Devo]

Has anyone got boblight working with openelec on a chromebox? I had it working on Kodi for windows, but in openelec I have installed the plugin and copied over my boblight.conf from my working windows setup but get no lights. Also there are no config options in the plugin on openelec?

I am not sure if the actual boblight daemon is installed and running - on windows I needed to setup boblight as a program and run it before kodi would interface with it, so assume its the same. I tried downloading the source code to compile but get an error just running the configure part, so not sure if I can get this to work.
I have an arduino uno flashed already, so I just need to see if I can get this working on openelec via the usb in the chromebox.

Thanks for any help!


bob

this has nothing to do with the ChromeBox hardware or the setup script; it's an OpenELEC / boblight plugin issue. Please start a new thread in the appropriate forum/section.

[BenH]

Hi Matt, I read in this thread that you have tried to increase the memory allocated to the GPU but have not had success. Did you test with various amounts of system RAM or just on a box with 2GB RAM?

Do you know if it works like some computers (Mac Mini's I think), where more GPU RAM is automatically allocated if you increase the total RAM in the system. Others allow increasing the max GPU RAM in the bios depending on the amount of system RAM.

When I check my M004u with 2GB RAM, there is 256MB allocated to the GPU. It would be interesting to see how much is allocated if there was 4GB or 8GB RAM.

Thanks
Ben

[pharcycle]

there's quite a few fixes in OE 5.0.2 that may help, update and see if the problems persist

Hi, like morbidz said, the issue is still present for me with 5.0.2 and streaming either from attached USB disk or over NFS.

http://xbmclogs.com/show.php?id=421252

Another log from my box, clean boot, started my BD rip with dropped frames, paused and resumed 3-4 times and it played fine. Skipped forward 30s and it skips frames, again 3-4 pause/resumes fixes the issue.

Is there a set of recommended playback settings for these boxes, it's quite possible I've set something sub-optimally as I'm used to running Kodi on full PCs with nvidia cards.

Thanks and keep up the good work!

[ant_thomas]

When I check my M004u with 2GB RAM, there is 256MB allocated to the GPU. It would be interesting to see how much is allocated if there was 4GB or 8GB RAM.

I've got a 4GB HP Chromebox and it also only has 256MB allocated to the GPU.

Code:

chromebox:~ # free -m
             total         used         free       shared      buffers
Mem:          3891          700         3190          231           42
-/+ buffers:                657         3233
Swap:            0            0            0
chromebox:~ # lspci -v -s  00:02.0
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Haswell-ULT Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 0b) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
        Subsystem: Google, Inc. Haswell-ULT Integrated Graphics Controller
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 43
        Memory at e0000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4M]
        Memory at d0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
        I/O ports at 3000 [size=64]
        Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled]
        Capabilities: [90] MSI: Enable+ Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit-
        Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 2
        Capabilities: [a4] PCI Advanced Features
        Kernel driver in use: i915

[BenH]

I've got a 4GB HP Chromebox and it also only has 256MB allocated to the GPU.

OK, thanks. I suppose that answers the question about it automatically allocating.
Ben

[Matt Devo]

Hi Matt, I read in this thread that you have tried to increase the memory allocated to the GPU but have not had success. Did you test with various amounts of system RAM or just on a box with 2GB RAM?

Do you know if it works like some computers (Mac Mini's I think), where more GPU RAM is automatically allocated if you increase the total RAM in the system. Others allow increasing the max GPU RAM in the bios depending on the amount of system RAM.

When I check my M004u with 2GB RAM, there is 256MB allocated to the GPU. It would be interesting to see how much is allocated if there was 4GB or 8GB RAM.

Thanks
Ben

it's fixed to 256MB regardless of system RAM. I'll test something else now to see if I can bump to 512MB. stay tuned