[mythtv-users] MythTV Raspberry Pi2 frontend testers

Sat Nov 28 09:46:57 UTC 2015

On Fri, 2015-11-27 at 21:36 +0000, Mike Bibbings wrote:
> On 27/11/15 20:46, Lawrence Rust wrote:
> > On Tue, 2015-11-24 at 15:04 -0500, Peter Bennett (cats22) wrote:
> > [snip]
> >> I am using analog audio in all cases.
> >>
> >> I retested eglfs and compared it to xcb. I am using a 1080i recording.
> >> See attached file mediainfo.txt for info about it.
> >>
> >> eglfs - Jerky playback on a 1280x1024 DVI screen and using analog audio.
> >> xcb - smooth playback, no jerkiness in this case
> > I'm missing something.  I've tested a number of videos, monitors &
> > resolutions and haven't see any jerkiness with eglfs playback.  So a
> > small favour, would you run a test with the most jerky video that you
> > have and post me the mythfrontend log with '-v playback --loglevel
> > debug' args.  It would also be extremely useful to test a video that
> > causes problems so is it possible to download it from somewhere?
> >
> >> Overscan settings in config.txt fix this for most applications, but not
> >> for MythTV frontend.
> >> eglfs - overscan settings seem to be completely ignored.
> >> xcb - overscan settings are partially used, the width of picture is
> >> reduced but the position is still top left so you  lose the top and left
> >> of the GUI and get extra space at the bottom and right.
> > OK, I believe that I've fixed the video window positioning problem
> > together with a number of other problems.  I've posted a new build here:
> > http://www.softsystem.co.uk/download/mythtv/mythtv-v0.27.5-80-g65d2de0-RPI2.tar.bz2
> >
> > I've also updated the fixes-0.27-rpi2 git branch and updated the
> > mythbuild.sh script:
> > http://www.softsystem.co.uk/download/mythtv/mythbuild.sh
> >
> > Finally I've added a master-rpi2 branch and a build here:
> > http://www.softsystem.co.uk/download/mythtv/mythtv-v0.28-pre-3207-g1678991-RPI2.tar.bz2
> >
> > [snip]
> >
> >> I have a remote that uses the keyboard media keys. I use the "Setup
> >> Keys" part of frontend setup to assign them appropriately.
> >> eglfs - One media keys is not detected at all (STOP) and the others work
> >> but with different codes from x-windows.
> >> xcb - All media keys work.
> > There's little that Myth can do about keystrokes - it's a Linux/Qt
> > issue.  Maybe Qt 5.5 is better.  I'll look at adding support for Qt 5.5
> > shortly.
> >
> > I use lirc to map my remote keys from the event codes produced by the
> > kernel into keycodes for Myth.  I've found that more reliable over
> > kernel and Qt upgrades.
> >
> >> OSD
> >> eglfs - OSD works smoothly
> > Expected - it uses h/w overlay.  Hence my desire to use eglfs by
> > default.
> >
> >> xcb - OSD causes jerkiness
> > Expected - it uses CPU blending.  Unfortunately Qt doesn't support
> > mixing EGL surfaces (h/w accelerated) with Qt's own xcb derived windows.
> >
> >> Subtitles
> >> I am not seeing subtitles with either xcb or eglfs.
> >> With normal front end on a particular show I get a choice of ATSC CC1
> >> Subtitles or VBI CC1 subtitles. Either of these shows the same
> >> subtitles, I don't know why two are shown.
> >> With Raspberry Pi frontend I only see ATSC CC1 as a choice. Selecting it
> >> says "Subtitles enabled" but they never appear on the screen.
> > I believe that the problem is a missing libass-dev package.  It's an
> > optional lib that's used for certain types of subtitle - I've never seen
> > a difference in the UK so it must be an ATSC issue.  The new
> > mythbuild.sh adds this lib and is included in the updated build.  You
> > will need to install libass4 on the RPi to use this.
> >
> >> Because of the issues with the display cutting off and the media key for
> >> "stop" not working, xcb is preferable to me right now. I am using it
> >> with an analog TV so there is no jerkiness whether I use eglfs or xcb.
> >>
> >> Attached is my config.txt file.
> > You will get a nice performance boost by adding this to config.txt
> >
> > arm_freq=1000
> > core_freq=450
> > sdram_freq=467
> > over_voltage=2
> >
> > It's quite a conservative over-clock and works on all the RPi2's I've
> > come across.
> >
> >> Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.
> > Any feedback on the revised build would be appreciated.
> >
> > -- Lawrence Rust
> >
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> For the jerky playback it might be the firmware version on the pi.
> 
> Mine is :
> pi at raspberrypi-2 ~ $ /opt/vc/bin/vcgencmd version
> Sep 23 2015 12:12:01
> Copyright (c) 2012 Broadcom
> version c156d00b148c30a3ba28ec376c9c01e95a77d6d5 (clean) (release)
> 
> If you have an earlier version, it might be worth doing:
> "sudo apt-get update" followed by "sudo apt-get upgrade" at the command 
> prompt, and then rebooting
> 
Yes, it could be something like the firmware.  All my RPi's have the
same (latest official) firmware as your report.  I've tried various
monitors, refresh rates and source material (24,25,30 fps, i/p) and all
play fine.  I did notice that Peter Bennett's RPi had no over-clocking
in his config.txt so I even tried down-clocking a RPi but with no
effect.  I'm sure there's a simple explanation, but at the moment I'm
stumped...

-- Lawrence Rust