Some random videos are supper choppy on Raspbmc on RPI2

[Red Squirrel]

Edit: Meant Kodi not Raspbmc. That's the old one, got confused. My box is running Kodi.

I used to have Xbmc running on a RPI1 and had the same issue and turns out it was some kind of NFS setting, I don't remember what. I'm now having the same issue but on a RPI2 with Kodi. Problem is, that interface is very different, you can't just open up the /etc/fstab, you have to do it through the GUI. So there's no place to put special settings anyway.

It only does it to certain videos, not all. For example I was able to play Avatar at 1080p no problem, yet it won't play a specific file that is just basic 720p TV episode. It seems to be really random as to what it will work and not work with.

Is there a way to make it work with all formats like the RPI1 did? It's wired directly to the switch, and I even have portfast enabled on that port (don't think that would do anything, but I had to do that because it boots up faster than the port takes to negotiate)

 

[LoveMachine]

You purchased the $4 MPEG2 license from the RPi store, yes? If the TV show files you are having problems with are MPEG2 encoded, you need the license. Also, when you say "My box is running Kodi", are you referring to the app or the base OS (OpenELEC/LibreELEC)?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Never heard about a license, how does that work? Did not have to do that with XBMC. It was a .mkv file Others of that format seem to run fine. The one that is choppy also runs fine on my Linux computer. The RPI is running Kodi, which I think is built on Openelec. (it says openelec when it first boots up). It was an image so everything is pre-setup.

 

[LoveMachine]

http://www.raspberrypi.com/mpeg-2-license-key/
For MPEG2 encoded videos, you need an add-on license key. Your old Pi might have had that pre-installed. This is not part of the OS and needs to be added in. If you are running OpenELEC, I'd recommend upgrading to LibreELEC (it's an easy upgrade path, see their website at libreelec.tv). OpenELEC isn't really up to date anymore, Libre being the actively maintained version (long story).

 

[Red Squirrel]

This was just setup a few months ago so I don't really feel like completely reinstalling again... only to find out that whatever new thing I'm on is now out of date again. I did not actually install Openelec that was just part of what's in there when I installed the appliance image. One thing I did find odd with that base OS is that it does not let you change the root password, which is kinda a security issue, but it's running on a private network anyway.

For the cost of that license I'll try that and see if it helps. The file is a .mkv though.... so I don't think that applies, but worth a shot I guess. Other mkvs work fine, so I think it depends on what format/settings were used during render I guess.

 

[LoveMachine]

This was just setup a few months ago so I don't really feel like completely reinstalling again... only to find out that whatever new thing I'm on is now out of date again. I did not actually install Openelec that was just part of what's in there when I installed the appliance image. One thing I did find odd with that base OS is that it does not let you change the root password, which is kinda a security issue, but it's running on a private network anyway.

For the cost of that license I'll try that and see if it helps. The file is a .mkv though.... so I don't think that applies, but worth a shot I guess. Other mkvs work fine, so I think it depends on what format/settings were used during render I guess.

The update to LibreELEC maintains all your settings and updates add-ons. Just drop the update image file into the appropriate folder as their upgrade page lists and reboot. Make a backup of course, but it should be relatively painless. But your plan of doing the license first certainly sounds less complicated. Regarding the specific files, mkv is just a container for the video and audio streams, so the video stream in the bad files might be an mpeg transcode, and h264 in the ones without problems. Without the MPEG license, those files will stutter like crazy since hardware acceleration isn't enabled.

 

[luv2liv]

very strange, no chopiness ever on my rpi2 and 3 with Kodi installed. all mp4, mkv, and avi fine so far.

 

[LoveMachine]

Just thought of something, since you mention TV shows. Try some of the different De-interlacing methods in the video subsection of the On Screen Display while playing the video in question. Under the Method, unselect Auto and try some of the other choices.

 

[JeffMD]

I do not think any of your encodes are mpeg2. What it could be is either xvid which may not have enough hardware acceleration, or h264 but using a higher profile than what the rPi can do in hardware forcing it to decode in software.

 

[ivwshane]

Are the videos local? If not how are you streaming it? Wifi? Direct connection?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Are the videos local? If not how are you streaming it? Wifi? Direct connection?

Direct ethernet connection to switch then server via NFS. I think the RPI is only 10/100 though, but I don't think that matters for 1080p. Maybe for 4k but have not tried that. So far I only have one video that seems to do it, but I'm sure I may run into others.

I do recall having this issue on my old RPA in XBMC, and I had to add an option string to the NFS mount, but the way this version of Kodi works is it's rather embedded. You don't really gain much access to the actual root system. So no fstab etc.

 

[ivwshane]

Direct ethernet connection to switch then server via NFS. I think the RPI is only 10/100 though, but I don't think that matters for 1080p. Maybe for 4k but have not tried that. So far I only have one video that seems to do it, but I'm sure I may run into others.

I do recall having this issue on my old RPA in XBMC, and I had to add an option string to the NFS mount, but the way this version of Kodi works is it's rather embedded. You don't really gain much access to the actual root system. So no fstab etc.

Hmm... The only time I've ever had playback issues on my pi2 was caused by audio settings. However I run my movies uncompressed in ISO format with 5.1 surround sound. If its not that then it might be an encoding issue (ie a codec or a codec settings issue).

 

[rumpleforeskin]

Did you use the same settings when you encoded the videos?

I believe the rpi handles x264 high profile very well and AAC audi, though not Dolby.

 

[Red Squirrel]

They were downloaded so all different formats. Suppose re-encoding to a known format could work though when I run into these ones that won't play properly.