[User 186112]

Hello guys, I have a question:

In previous releases (in part 2 of this thread) there was a comment about audio channels.
"no_resample_audio is now a default, and hdmi_stream_channels is switched based on audio content. For the time being when using passthrough, 2.0 speaker layout should continue to be used (you will still get 5.1 with AC3/DTS)."

Is this still true for the latest releases?
Thanks!

[popcornmix]

In previous releases (in part 2 of this thread) there was a comment about audio channels.
"no_resample_audio is now a default, and hdmi_stream_channels is switched based on audio content. For the time being when using passthrough, 2.0 speaker layout should continue to be used (you will still get 5.1 with AC3/DTS)."

Forget about no_resample_audio and hdmi_stream_channels - that is handled for you by xbmc.

In terms of number of channels, it should be set the same as official xbmc for pi (or other platforms). See here:
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Ras...support.3F

[tiqq2]

New OpenELEC Helix build: #0703

Hi!
Clould you please give me a hint where to get the vdr-plugin-vnsiserver with protocol version 6 needed by this build?
All I have found was protocol version 5.

EDIT: Ok, finaly found it in the new repository here: https://github.com/FernetMenta/vdr-plugin-vnsiserver

[xer0]

Do you have the config options? Might be interesting to try it, though you'd have to ask OpenELEC for long term support - if they're not interested there would be little point me including it.

I believe it's -
CONFIG_ZSMALLOC=y
CONFIG_ZRAM=y
CONFIG_ZRAM_LZ4_COMPRESS=y
CONFIG_LZ4_COMPRESS=y
CONFIG_LZ4_DECOMPRESS=y

As ZRAM is disabled as default and requires additional configuration in autostart.sh I think including this should be harmless to those who don't use ZRAM. Though I may be wrong on that.

[Milhouse]

New OpenELEC Helix build: #0706
(Supercedes previous build)

Code:

# uname -a
Linux rpi512 3.15.3 #1 PREEMPT Sun Jul 6 07:33:00 BST 2014 armv6l GNU/Linux

# vcgencmd version
Jul  5 2014 19:03:42
Copyright (c) 2012 Broadcom
version cb433d55f9f5b29b59968019e3b54802894af489 (clean) (release)

# lsb_release
OpenELEC_Helix (Milhouse) - Version: devel-20140706073146-r18679-ge78d9de

Based on tip of OpenELEC master (e78d9de, changelog) and tip of XBMC master (d502f0b, changelog) with the following modifications:

• Includes newclock3 patches
  
• Excludes the OpenELEC fernetmenta patches due to conflicts with newclock3
  
• Excludes the OpenELEC linux-01-RPi_support patch in favour of sourcing these and possibly more recent patches directly from kernel branch rpi-3.15.y
  
• Excludes the OpenELEC xbmc-master-newclock3 patch in favour of sourcing these and possibly more recent patches directly from newclock3 branch
  
• Default setting for "Show RSS Feed" changed to disabled
  
• Disabled "Total Duration" in Confluence (see build #0221 for details)
  
• ALSA is enabled and any suitable hardware should be available in XBMC Audio Settings
  
• FIQ FSM is enabled by default. See initial post for more details.
  
• Includes RPi-specific libCEC commits from mk01/libcec. See build #0527 for details. Also double-key suppression.
  
• Increase scan interval of PeripBusCEC from 5000 to 60000, reducing CPU loading by about 2% (1GHz Pi) every 5 seconds (even when CEC is "disabled")
  
• Includes libnfs master 1.9.4 with directory caching and file read-ahead support
  
• Enable zram with LZ4 compression as a kernel module. See guide.
  
• Includes PR4985: [videodb] fix seasons update query for mysql
  

Build Highlights:

WARNING: New videodb version (79 -> 85) - database upgrade may take a minute or two.
New firmware.
Enabled zram as a kernel module.

1. Firmware (Jul 05):
   • firmware: dispmanx: Fix snapshot scaling when a fullscreen dest rect is used. See: #295
     
   • firmware: dispmanx: allow rotations into 24-bit memory displays. See: #267
     
   • firmware: Add MMAL parameter for render stats. See: #287
     
   • firmware: image_decode: Move decode thread to second core. This improves jpeg decode time a little.
     
   • firmware: imagefx: Separate out the fast 1080i deinterlace algorithm. As the 1080i deinterlace doesn't require the 3 frames of context we can save ~6MB by requesting it explicitly
     
2. OpenELEC:
   • libvdpau: update to libvdpau-0.8
     
   • oe_setup_addon: create missing folder (PR:3358, 1 commit, 2 files changed)
     
   • systemd: update to systemd-215
     
   • dbus-glib: update to dbus-glib-0.102
     
   • libffi: update to libffi-3.1
     
   • dbus: update to dbus-1.8.6
     
   • xf86-video-nvidia: update to xf86-video-nvidia-331.89
     
   • bluez: update to bluez-5.21
     
3. XBMC:
   • [pvr] setting: enable option 'Close channel OSD after switching channels' by default (PR:4973, 1 commit, 1 file changed)
     
   • Minor changes to enable c++11 compilation (PR:4024, 4 commits, 49 files changed)
     
   • Url protocol compares (PR:4980, 8 commits, 8 files changed)
     
   • StringUtils::Tokenize: clarify, simplify and optimize (PR:4982, 1 commit, 1 file changed)
     
   • Tvshow multipaths parentid (PR:4977, 27 commits, 13 files changed)
     
   • CStdString removal part1 (PR:4976, 20 commits, 207 files changed)
     
   • Control access cleanup (PR:4739, 11 commits, 26 files changed)
     
   • Add support for ALSA channel mapping API (PR:4868, 4 commits, 4 files changed)
     
   • Fixed mapping for xbmc command "eject" for device "devinput". (PR:4979, 1 commit, 1 file changed)
     
   • ActiveAE: request best matching 5.1 layout from sink (PR:4938, 1 commit, 1 file changed)
     
4. newclock3:
   • [omxplayer] Explictly choose deinterlace method for 1080i
     
5. kernel 3.15.y:
   • Enable zram as kernel module, see configuration guide for details. The following linux.arm.conf patch is being used:
     
     Code:

     diff --git a/projects/RPi/linux/linux.arm.conf b/projects/RPi/linux/linux.arm.conf
index 5200a7c..ec96578 100644
--- a/projects/RPi/linux/linux.arm.conf
+++ b/projects/RPi/linux/linux.arm.conf
@@ -407,7 +407,7 @@ CONFIG_CMA=y
# CONFIG_CMA_DEBUG is not set
# CONFIG_ZBUD is not set
# CONFIG_ZSWAP is not set
-# CONFIG_ZSMALLOC is not set
+CONFIG_ZSMALLOC=y
CONFIG_FORCE_MAX_ZONEORDER=11
CONFIG_ALIGNMENT_TRAP=y
# CONFIG_UACCESS_WITH_MEMCPY is not set
@@ -3307,3 +3307,10 @@ CONFIG_FONT_SUPPORT=y
CONFIG_FONT_8x8=y
CONFIG_FONT_8x16=y
# CONFIG_VIRTUALIZATION is not set
+
+CONFIG_ZRAM=m
+# CONFIG_ZRAM_DEBUG is not set
+CONFIG_ZRAM_LZ4_COMPRESS=y
+CONFIG_LZ4_COMPRESS=y
+CONFIG_LZ4_DECOMPRESS=y
+# CONFIG_PGTABLE_MAPPING is not set

[Milhouse]

@xer0: Now that zram is available in the latest build as a kernel module, can you test this and let me know if you have any problems. I only did a quick test but it seems to be functioning normally. Some idea of how zram might be useful/beneficial would also be good to know.

I'm not sure how long I'll keep zram enabled, maybe only a month, so if you have a specific use-case for zram then please contact OpenELEC and request official support. The addition of the zram modules added 2KB to kernel.img and 12KB to SYSTEM.

[JustinBeaird]

with build #0706 my resolution keeps switching between 1920x1081/59hz and 1080p/60hz
and keeps switching back and fourth as i go through the menus

[Mafarricos]

Milhouse, what settings will you be using or recommend to use in zram?

[Milhouse]

Milhouse, what settings will you be using or recommend to use in zram?

You'd better ask xer0. As things stand, zram is available as a kernel module. If you want to use zram, you'll need to load the module in autostart.sh. What you do with it, is up to you. The linked guide has some usage examples.

[Mafarricos]

When you told that you would keep enabled, i thought you were talking about testing it yourself during that period. So what you mean is that in a month you can drop the zram from kernel.
OK.

[popcornmix]

with build #0706 my resolution keeps switching between 1920x1081/59hz and 1080p/60hz
and keeps switching back and fourth as i go through the menus

Can't think of anything that has changed. Did previous build (#703) do this?
How are you determining it is switching?

[JustinBeaird]

with build #0706 my resolution keeps switching between 1920x1081/59hz and 1080p/60hz
and keeps switching back and fourth as i go through the menus

Can't think of anything that has changed. Did previous build (#703) do this?
How are you determining it is switching?

I think my power adapter decided to go wonky at the same time as update. Its kind of strange it never rebooted like low power usually does
I switched power adapters and now all is good, in fact this is the best build yet, and i have tried them all i have 0 delays in menu/artwork

[xer0]

Thanks Milhouse for adding Zram. Working here brilliantly. For anyone wanting to enable and try it here's my autostart.sh -

Code:

#!/bin/sh
#
# Autostart.sh

# Load Zram Module
modprobe zram

# Set Zram Compression (default lzo)
echo lz4 > /sys/block/zram0/comp_algorithm

# Set Zram Size
echo 64M > /sys/block/zram0/disksize

# Optimize Read Ahead (default 128)
echo 1024 > /sys/block/zram0/bdi/read_ahead_kb

# Enable Zram
mkswap /dev/zram0
swapon /dev/zram0

From my really quick test it looks like using LZ4 compression offers faster compression speeds but a lower compression ratio than LZO. I would rather have speed and performance over trying to squeeze as much into ram as I could.

One thing I might play around with later is the swappiness value. From what I understand, it's set low so not to swap as often to a physical swapfile to save on sd writes but that would not be a problem using Zram as the swap is contained entirely in ram so we can read/write as much as we want.

[popcornmix]

From my really quick test it looks like using LZ4 compression offers faster compression speeds but a lower compression ratio than LZO. I would rather have speed and performance over trying to squeeze as much into ram as I could.

One thing I might play around with later is the swappiness value. From what I understand, it's set low so not to swap as often to a physical swapfile to save on sd writes but that would not be a problem using Zram as the swap is contained entirely in ram so we can read/write as much as we want.

There's some interesting information here about running on 256M Pi, including increasing swappiness (some reports that making it 60 or even 100 is beneficial, even with sdcard as the swap media)
http://forum.stmlabs.com/showthread.php?tid=14738

It would be good if you can prove that zram is beneficial. e.g. find some use cases (like time to start streaming from an internet stream, or time to open movies library) that is improved by enabling zram. It's hard to do anything with subjective reports like it "seems faster".
That will be useful evidence to help get this enabled in openelec officially.

[0wing]

I got errors on the database upgrade with #0706.

Code:

13:32:13  40.550636 T:3059122176   ERROR: SQL: Abort due to constraint violation
                                            Query: CREATE UNIQUE INDEX ix_tvshowlinkpath_1 ON tvshowlinkpath ( idShow, idPath )
13:32:13  40.569649 T:3059122176   ERROR: Exception updating database MyVideos85 from version 79 to 85
13:32:13  40.569908 T:3059122176   ERROR: Error updating database MyVideos85 from version 79 to 85
13:32:13  41.250607 T:3059122176  NOTICE: Old database found - updating from version 78 to 85
13:32:16  44.088417 T:3059122176  NOTICE: Attempting to update the database MyVideos85 from version 78 to 85
13:32:19  46.935055 T:3059122176   ERROR: SQL: Abort due to constraint violation
                                            Query: CREATE UNIQUE INDEX ix_tvshowlinkpath_1 ON tvshowlinkpath ( idShow, idPath )
13:32:19  46.935513 T:3059122176   ERROR: Exception updating database MyVideos85 from version 78 to 85
13:32:19  46.935680 T:3059122176   ERROR: Error updating database MyVideos85 from version 78 to 85
13:32:19  47.171108 T:3059122176  NOTICE: Old database found - updating from version 77 to 85
13:32:23  51.222431 T:3059122176  NOTICE: Attempting to update the database MyVideos85 from version 77 to 85
13:32:25  53.349651 T:3059122176   ERROR: SQL: Abort due to constraint violation
                                            Query: CREATE UNIQUE INDEX ix_tvshowlinkpath_1 ON tvshowlinkpath ( idShow, idPath )
13:32:25  53.350273 T:3059122176   ERROR: Exception updating database MyVideos85 from version 77 to 85
13:32:25  53.350479 T:3059122176   ERROR: Error updating database MyVideos85 from version 77 to 85