[jay.h]

I've just built a new HTPC. Intel Pentium G4560 (3.5GHz Dual-Core with HD610 graphics), MSI B250I Gaming Pro M/B, 8GB RAM. I'm running Debian/xfce. All newest versions of everything. Using HDMI to connect to Vizio 4k TV. Using Kodi to play back video I'm seeing tearing somewhat similar to that described in this thread. I'm not seeing all the flashing, just the lines. There's a diagonal line from about the middle of the left edge of the screen to a couple inches above the bottom, then extending horizontally straight across to the right edge. Sadly, the other thread didn't have a solution I could use. I tried reducing the resolution to 1080p but that didn't help. 

The problem appears to be specific to Kodi. Using VLC I can play 1080p videos without any display issues at all. Originally thinking it was a general display issue I followed some advice I found online somewhere about setting up a X11 config file for Intel graphics to specify triple buffering and tear-free. No apparent effect. 

About the only change I've made to the stock Kodi settings is to enable AC3 passthrough since my soundbar can do the decoding. 

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

[fritsch]

Provide your Debug Log please

[jay.h]

Before I forget, here's the log: kodi.log

But now things have changed. I don't know what I did but there's good news and bad news. The good news is the screen tearing seems to have gone away. The bad news is Kodi is now maxing out all cores just running the menus. Mouse action is slow and jumpy. FPS is at about 10. All of this is solely within Kodi. Exit Kodi and the desktop is very responsive and CPU usage drops to nothing. 

I did try changing the display resolution in xfce to see if that would make any difference. I dropped it back to 1080p. That's when Kodi started chewing up massive amounts of CPU. Video did not show the tearing, though I suspect that's because it was being displayed so slowly there was no sync issue. Going back to 2160p made no difference on the CPU usage.

[FernetMenta]

If you want Kodi working as disigned by team Kodi, don't use Debian packages. This is not plain Kodi.

[jay.h]

I exactly followed the instructions in the Kodi wiki. Are you saying those are wrong?

[Rechi]

# starting with debian jessie, debian provides kodi via its backports repository
# remember: those packages are not supported by team kodi

[jay.h]

Please forgive me if this sounds pejorative, but are users expected to pay particular attention to one line of comment buried in the middle of fifteen lines of instruction, that one line apparently contradicting the entire point of the other fourteen lines? 

And this still leaves me with the question of where I go from here. I followed the instructions on the Kodi Wiki for installing Kodi under Debian. Now I'm apparently in no-mans land with an unsupported installation and no instructions for how to fix it. I certainly have no faith in the Wiki to lead me in the right direction.

[Rechi]

Only way to get a supported version on debian is by compiling from source.

[jay.h]

Any idea where I can find detailed instructions on how to do a build from scratch on a newly installed system that does not contain a build environment? Everything I've found online so far either is incorrect or assuming a level of background knowledge I don't have.

[fritsch]

Why not use Ubuntu? It's a htpc after all, not a server. We provide a ppa for that.