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marlemion · 2016-02-11, 09:25

Hi there,

I have been using KODI since version 12 on my Odroid U2 using Gentoo linux for quite some time now and it runs fine. Well, it ran fine until something happened, which triggered the GUI to be shaky, i.e. flickering or shaking up and down for probably one pixel or slightly more. The video layer doesn't seem to be affected by this, i.e. I do not see anything moving as described when watching a video in fullscreen.

Here are two examples:

http://filenurse.com/download/75e4241e51...1d550.html
http://filenurse.com/download/82099ae413...6552b.html

I have completely removed KODI and reinstalled and/or removed the .kodi directory and restarted. This happens both with 15.2 and 16 RC3. I have changed HDMI cables - no effect. I wouldn't expect it anyway, as fullscreen video and the linux text console are super stable.

Did anybody ever have a similar problem? Is there anything I could try? It definitely worked beforehand. I can't remember what happened shortly before the issue appeared. AFAIR I changed the u-boot from hardkernel (odroid company) stock to git, but that cannot be the cause. Maybe Gentoo updated any dependency of KODI causing this? Any HW problem?

Thanks for any hint, m.

**DarrenHill** · 2016-02-11, 10:57

Thread moved to Linux, as discussions isn't for support requests.

mwake · 2016-02-11, 11:06

I had some weird gui flickering on the spotlight homepage of eminence skin.... I believe this was somehow linked to library update somehow...it went away without me solving how it started... does changing the skin make a difference?

marlemion · 2016-02-11, 11:09

Thanks for moving the thread.

I haven't tested changing the skin yet, but I will and report. Currently I am using confluence without any tweaks or modifications.

marlemion · 2016-02-11, 12:19

Ok, I have tested other skins, and the problem remains. Which libraries are responsible for the GUI rendering? GLES, I guess, but I am sure that nothing changed there, as this library is provided by a custom ebuild by myself (binary mali blob provided by hardkernel, didn't change for montsh - r5p0).

john.cord · 2016-02-11, 13:58

Please test with Openelec --> http://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?t=5915&f=79

marlemion · (This post was last modified: 2016-02-11, 14:10 by marlemion.)

Thanks. I am sure it will work with your OpenELEC image, as it worked beforehand with my Gentoo image for a long time. AFAIK your image still uses the r4p0 driver, is that correct? Anyway, my concern is more what update might be causing the flicker than finding another distro. IMHO Gentoo is far superior to OpenELEC as I have running a lot of sepcific and KODI-unrelated task on that machine, too. But thanks for the pointer.

**fritsch** · 2016-02-11, 14:35

As gentoo is far superior, it should not be problematic to bisect the revisions and find out what broke it, right?

marlemion · 2016-02-11, 14:56

Ah, you mean the revisions before and after the trigger, what caused the regression in the system, as you clearly got from the post after careful reading?

**fritsch** · 2016-02-11, 15:37

The problem has absolutely nothing to do with kodi ...

marlemion · (This post was last modified: 2016-02-11, 16:12 by marlemion.)

Yeah, I agree. But I might find people helping me with this issue here, don't you think?

I rebooted the Odroid U2 without having the monitor powered on and what usually happens after powering on the monitor when the odroid is already running is that it does not correctly set up the HDMI and only fills half of the screen. So normally I would just restart to use the whole screen area. But this time I was interested how KODI behaves with this setup. See yourself:

http://filenurse.com/download/7b7a0bcc06...03ef9.html

So what apparently happens is that KODI draws two instances, one which is working correctly and another one which flickers. When being operated in 'normal' mode, e.g. using the whole screen, these two layers are above each other causing the weird 'shaking'. I ruled out any script problem possibly starting two instances and stared it direclty via /usr/lib/kodi/kodi.bin. Same issue.

So what might let KODI behave that way, e.g. creating two instances?

**fritsch** · 2016-02-11, 16:15

Kodi renders to your framebuffer directly. If the driver is foobar, e.g. the dimensions are not setup properly, then bogus ends on the screen. Kodi has no single line of code for "doubleing" framebuffer output.

Hint: Bisect your userspace drivers, next: bisect your kernel you are running.

marlemion · 2016-02-11, 16:32

Yes, thanks. The culprit must be there.

I dag into /sys/.../fb0 a little bit and discovered:

modes is U:1920x1080p-0
pan is 0,1080
virtual_size is 1920,3240
bits_per_pixel is 32
dev is 29:0

Is it as it should be? I am worried about the virtual size. shouldn't it be 1920,1080? 3240 is 3x1080. And modes should be U:1920x1080p-60

Anyway, thanks, I wonder what caused the problem, but I will keep investigating and keep the thread updated.

**fritsch** · 2016-02-11, 16:45

Cause of problem: Booting without EDID available and bad fallback.

marlemion · 2016-02-11, 21:51

So the issue was indeed the updated u-boot. I cannot explain why, but reverting back to stock u-boot, which is maybe of 2013, solved the issue. Very weird and I do not even understand how that can be possible, but I can see it with my own eyes. Wink

Thanks for your help. If there is any explanation for this, I will report back.