Openelec Build for OPI PC and 2 now with HW decoding

chaszim

Remember I suggested we should look for a way to fine tune the system to lower the buffering issues? The answer appears to be, take Free Memory (after purging cache & packages), divided by 3, then multiply the result by 1024, then times 1024 again. This new string value is then entered under "Programs > Maintenance Tools >System Tweaks >TUXEN XML >Edit Settings > Network Settings > Network >> Add the number to "cachebuffersize" (the number you got) >> change "buffermode" to (1) >> "readbufferfactor" to (4.0). And remember to save with "Write XML, on egress from Maintenance Tools. Then reboot to set the new settings. My run-away buffering is gone, and regular buffering is now very low.

1. (FMx/3)*1024*1024="cachebuffersize"  where FMx is free memory

Copy code

Unfortunately, this string value is subject to change, each time free memory size adjusts by addition or removal of apps, packages etc.  I just remembered, OpenELEC  suspends to memory on "power off or restart", so to properly institute the new string setting, needs to be a "cold boot", removing power to the unit.

chaszim

Linux 4.7 has been releases & I see Allwinner processors (incluiding the H3) appear to be covered.
http://www.cnx-software.com/2016 ... ware+Development%29

jernej

chaszim replied at 2016-7-27 16:21
Linux 4.7 has been releases & I see Allwinner processors (incluiding the H3) appear to be covered.
h ...

Only GPIO, USB, IR, SD cards and maybe few other things are covered. What is missing is audio, gpu, video, HW decoding. Check this link for status: https://linux-sunxi.org/Linux_mainlining_effort#Status_Matrix

giaur500

jernej replied at 2016-7-27 23:44
Only GPIO, USB, IR, SD cards and maybe few other things are covered. What is missing is audio, gpu ...

Nobody working on audio Nobody working on video. Really superbly

Dima

I think it's hopeless. Chinese chip manufacturers are bot interested in keeping up with software support or documentation.

chaszim

Dima replied at 2016-7-28 22:23
I think it's hopeless. Chinese chip manufacturers are bot interested in keeping up with software sup ...

Ya think?  To go on with your thought, which leaves the rest of us in the dark, as to what we can or, cannot do with the target device.
Or, how to fix it ourselves, when we find somethings gone wrong, or the new changes made just don't work right. It just adds to the frustration.

Dima

Well, I think that one day we'll see a complete 4.7 kernel or something. But that will take at least another half a year for just to get it running somehow. And by the time everything will work how it should, H3 will be outdated and irrelevant (for new buyers). But current owners will be happy with the fixes of course.

I've learned my lesson with various Allwinner / Amlogic / Rockchip / MTK chips in the past. They all had this issue of lacking updates and support for chipset. It wasn't even the device manufacturers fault, but rather just a lack of support from the chipset manufacturer.

However, when I bought and Orangepi, I've foreseen these problems and I even have to say that things went better than expected. I expected the stock Android and nothing more. I never expected such a great OpenELEC build which is running so great, which I'm endlessly thankful for.

chaszim

Dima replied at 2016-7-28 23:34
Well, I think that one day we'll see a complete 4.7 kernel or something. But that will take at least ...

The OpenELEC here, is the best it can be, because, it's only meant to be playing catchup, with the OpenELEC there. There's no expectations of going beyond that, it boils down to accurately porting code from one branch of Arm to another, while intergrating hardware dependant codes into the mix. To make "This" do "That", same same. But, of course it runs into a few more complications than just that, not all apples taste the same. We can only hope that documentation get's better, before it's lost to obscurity.

jernej

giaur500 replied at 2016-7-28 13:37
Nobody working on audio  Nobody working on video. Really superbly

That is not true entirely. Video is WIP and from what I understand, it is usable. Main issue here is lack of documentation. HDMI part is missing and code provided by Allwinner is wrongly licensed to be useful. This means dead end - no documentation from which driver can be written and code which exists cannot be reused for the mainline kernel. At the same time, this also means that Allwinner's source code cannot be used for serious project like offical OpenELEC/LibreELEC support for H3. If Allwinner would care, this would be quickly resolved, but it seems that they are hiding HDMI documentation for all newer SoCs for some reason, even though linux-sunxi community already discovered which IP core it is exactly. Unfortunatelly, some cruical info is still missing...

I must agree with Dima here. H3 support is progressing quiet nicely.

PaulR

chaszim replied at 2016-7-29 00:17
The OpenELEC here, is the best it can be, because, it's only meant to be playing catchup, with the  ...

Couldn't agree more, having bought an Intel z8300 device for 150$ to play videos, along with Orange Pi PC for 15$ with intention to use it as a headless server, I was truly amazed by Jernej's achievements, as I started to use Orange Pi as my main kodi device. He might be willing to upgrade the code with some less significant features, like vsync or cec. But still, his work is really a textbook proof of concept, how software>hardware.