Openelec with Nanopi M1 -> Working !!!!

[vlad59]

Hi,

 

Nanopi M1 is so similar to Orange Pi One that you can use the amazing work provided by jernejsk and run Openelec using the VPU of the H3.

 

Here are the links :

 * Main page

 * prebuilt images list

 * Github project

 * The issue I've opened

 

I'm using the embedded IR Sensor with my remote (that was the toughest part) and the only modification I made was to change to cpufreq governor from performance to conservative but if you use the latest image you shouldn't have to do that.

 

Well so far so good. I'm using a little heat sink and the cpu temperature is between 60°C and 80°C depending of the video I'm playing.

[mantouboji]

You can try to  play some Hires movie including DTS-HD soundtrack.

[vlad59]

You can try to  play some Hires movie including DTS-HD soundtrack.

I tried with DTS / AC3 and they're fine. I didn't test passthrough yet but that's on my todo list.

[bsccara]

I'm testing the image file OpenELEC-H3.arm-7.0-devel-20160806193854-r22886-g5828aec-opione on a NanoPI M1. As indicated above it mostly works except for a major issue on my test board. Very frequently Kodi crashes, either on usage or right after startup, while idle. Also it is very common to get 'BUG: Bad page state' errors on dmesg, affecting several services. Usually the system keeps running while Kodi just keeps restarting.

After a lot of hypotesis tested I think the problem is the DDR DRAM clock boot setting. Although the script.bin file sets the dram_clk at 624 MHz, after boot the real clock frequency is 672 MHZ, which is over the limit according to H3's datasheet.

I've tried setting the DDR frequency by hand to 624 MHz while Kodi is going through its restart-crash-restart cycles and it indeed brings the system back to perfect working order. I've now added the command line into OpenElec's autostart.sh file but it is too late as usually there's a couple of errors in dmesg by the time it runs. But for now its a workaround.

The real issue is why is the dram_clk setting on script.bin not enforced at boot time, booting up at 672 MHz instead ?

 

P.S. The command line is :

echo 624000 > /sys/devices/platform/sunxi-ddrfreq/devfreq/sunxi-ddrfreq/userspace/set_freq

[tkaiser]

I've tried setting the DDR frequency by hand to 624 MHz while Kodi is going through its restart-crash-restart cycles and it indeed brings the system back to perfect working order.

 

Thanks for bringing this to our attention (Nano Pi M1 also affected by DRAM clockspeeds too high). Armbian's policy is to ignore upstream u-boot settings (since they're weird or the result of processes nobody understands) and we use 624 MHz on every H3 device since this is known to be more save. Please file an issue at https://github.com/jernejsk/OpenELEC-OPi2/issues but please also be aware that @jernej might get back to you not within the next 10 days.

[RagnerBG]

Thank's to jernej, OpenElec is great software for this devices. I am using it on OrangePi ONE. But at the moment it's not in very stable state. My OpiONE is overheating a lot more than if i am using Armbian on it and crash or working unstable (HDMI turns off and on a lot) from time to time. But my greatest disappointment is that CEC driver don't work with my Samsung TV. Actually it shows some signs of working, try to connect, shows as device on my tv for a while, but disappear shortly. Maybe it's because HDMI cable, but i tried 3 with different but non working results.

Anyway - i would prefer to start Kodi inside Armbian with Cedrus support or at lest with external player, but not come to this yet.

[jernej]

Armbian's policy is to ignore upstream u-boot settings (since they're weird or the result of processes nobody understands) and we use 624 MHz on every H3 device since this is known to be more save.

 

Did you try persuade U-Boot team to change that?

 

 

please also be aware that @jernej might get back to you not within the next 10 days.

 

I will be gone only for a few days

 

 

But at the moment it's not in very stable state. My OpiONE is overheating a lot more than if i am using Armbian on it and crash or working unstable (HDMI turns off and on a lot) from time to time.

 

OE is using basically same settings as Armbian. It is true that I didn't check how much is new lately regarding thermal regulation, but I recently commited few patches for that. One issue here is scrolling news feeds. If you disable it, you can get reportedly 40°C in home screen. News feeds issue also affects RPi and regardless it is still enabled by default. What you describe may well be RAM speed setting as described by bsccara.

 

 

But my greatest disappointment is that CEC driver don't work with my Samsung TV. Actually it shows some signs of working, try to connect, shows as device on my tv for a while, but disappear shortly. Maybe it's because HDMI cable, but i tried 3 with different but non working results.

 

Thank Allwinner for that. There is no documentation on CEC. What is included is based on reverse engineering and there is not much to be improved, except maybe libcec, which is BTW updated in my git (from upstrem OE) and is not yet included in any image, except if you compile it for yourself.

 

Anyway - i would prefer to start Kodi inside Armbian with Cedrus support or at lest with external player, but not come to this yet.

 

Well, I tried to integrate Cedrus, but because I'm not really familiar with VDPAU, I didn't managed to make it work. There is progress on this for A20, which I didn't thoroughly checked, because I'm more interested in kernel hacking. Option with external player is already integrated in RetroOrangePi, but there was some complaints, so they actually combined RetroOrangePi and OpenELEC in one image. One missing feature is no overlays IIRC. This means no graphical controls like play/stop/pause buttons, progress bar, subtitles, etc. I also think that there are some issues with keyboard shortcuts.

[RagnerBG]

OE is using basically same settings as Armbian. It is true that I didn't check how much is new lately regarding thermal regulation, but I recently commited few patches for that. One issue here is scrolling news feeds. If you disable it, you can get reportedly 40°C in home screen. News feeds issue also affects RPi and regardless it is still enabled by default. What you describe may well be RAM speed setting as described by bsccara

I disabled RSS feeds when i saw the suggestion in the topic in Orange Pi forum. In fact temperature really drop down, but this is OpiONE, 40°C only after cold start, normally between 60-70°C, with RSS feeds 80-90°C, but it was summer then also . Maybe you are right about RAM speed setting and instability. I notice my problems with HDMI turns on and off, are usually when i am using LAN port and with reboot the problem is gone. But now i remember i have the same problem with Armbian, but fewer, so my device could be the the reason, not OS.

About CEC, i am surprised it even show some signs of work. For example - it switch my tv to HDMI where OPI is connected, but disconnects after, with one of my cables. This make me think i may have problems with HDMI cable, because all i have is cheap, old, or long (>7m), so i can't generalize from my case. I am just disappointed i can't make it to work for me . Thank's for your work in this project. It is my main movie player from some mounts.