RetroPie forum home
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Home
    • Docs
    • Register
    • Login
    Please do not post a support request without first reading and following the advice in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

    Bug (solved): OMXPlayer on Stretch-based builds stutters on composite

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Help and Support
    stuttervideosomxplayeremulationstatioscreensaver
    56 Posts 7 Posters 15.1k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • pjftP
      pjft @matchaman
      last edited by

      @matchaman I don't have composite, so I can't comment much, but I'd expect that it's either Stretch related or config.txt related.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • matchamanM
        matchaman
        last edited by matchaman

        I tried today with a brand new Raspbian (stretch) image. Videos do not stutter at all on omxplayer (outside PIXEL desktop). Same settings, brand new RetroPie 4.3.17 test image, same stuttering problem.

        Both cases on Pi 3 and 3 B+, zero difference... while stable RP 4.3 shows no problems at all.

        What's going on? :(

        pjftP 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • pjftP
          pjft @matchaman
          last edited by

          @matchaman so, plain Raspbian works well, RetroPie image stutters, is that it? Interesting.

          Things to consider:
          Compare config.txt
          Check omxplayer dependencies and compare versions across both (dependencies and omxplayer)

          I'm assuming it's the same hardware you're running it on.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • matchamanM
            matchaman
            last edited by

            I kept checking that settings were the same and then I used the exact config.txt out of paranoia :p no change...

            I tried checking dependencies with ldd /usr/bin/omxplayer but I get "not a dynamic executable" on both setups. As for version, both are the same (latest from July 2017).

            And yes, it's both a model 3B and a 3B+ and always these two particular units. Before getting back a 3B model I thought it had to do with the hardware which is not the case...

            mituM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • mituM
              mitu Global Moderator @matchaman
              last edited by

              @matchaman said in Bug: OMXPlayer on 3B+ stutters on composite:

              I tried checking dependencies with ldd /usr/bin/omxplayer but I get "not a dynamic executable" on both setups. As for version, both are the same (latest from July 2017).

              omxplayer is actually a shell script wrapper around the omxplayer.bin, so that's why you get this message.
              Can you check if you have the same kernel on both systems ? uname -a should show it from a command line.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • P
                psyke83 Global Moderator
                last edited by psyke83

                It seems highly likely that the new 4.14 kernel is the explanation. Jools' testing builds include the new kernel (which is upgraded via a standard apt-get upgrade), but I'm guessing that the stretch or stretch lite image/installation is still using the 4.9 kernel.

                I suggest checking the kernel revision on both builds:
                uname -a

                Edit: @mitu beat me to it ;)

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • matchamanM
                  matchaman
                  last edited by

                  On the Raspbian setup I get:

                  Linux raspberrypi 4.14.30-v7+ #1102 SMP Mon Mar 26 16:45:49 BST 2018 armv71 GNU/Linux

                  On RetroPie I get:

                  Linux retropie 4.14.30-v7+ #1102 SMP Mon Mar 26 16:45:49 BST 2018 armv71 GNU/Linux

                  As for the dependences with omxplayer.bin I'll have to compare by taking photos of the screen, which I'll do shortly.

                  Meanwhile, could anyone please check with composite? I can't be the only user that uses composite for 240p on a CRT...

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • P
                    psyke83 Global Moderator
                    last edited by psyke83

                    Unfortunately I don't have a cable to check.

                    See these lines: https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/blob/master/scriptmodules/supplementary/emulationstation.sh#L282-L289

                    Can you try to comment those lines (that are added via the iniSet function) from your /boot/config.txt and reboot?

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • matchamanM
                      matchaman
                      last edited by matchaman

                      Big discovery!

                      I exited EmulationStation with F4 the moment I booted into it (without entering a system). When I tried omxplayer, the video plays smoothly! Then I entered ES again, browsed for a moment, went back and stuttering came back as usual.

                      Here's a video I just recorded:

                      Something runs along with omxplayer and makes it run slow. What's completely crazy about this is that when I use HDMI, everything runs perfectly:

                      @psyke83 just edited these out, I'm getting the good old white screens of death :P

                      pjftP 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • pjftP
                        pjft @matchaman
                        last edited by

                        @matchaman I wonder whether the GPU split changes things for you, and/or whether installing ES on the fresh image manages to replicate the issue.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • P
                          psyke83 Global Moderator
                          last edited by

                          Please check behaviour without the lines in config.txt, as I asked, but also, I notice that the issue starts occurring after video playback starts inside ES itself when you returned to ES. If you disable omx support in the ES menu, does it clear the bug when launching omxplayer via the shell the second time?

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • matchamanM
                            matchaman
                            last edited by matchaman

                            @pjft this is a brand new image I installed yesterday again, the only thing changed is that I uploaded my media overnight and my theme (which is basically carbon video).

                            @psyke83 I disabled the gpu_mem lines, altogether and one by one. Nothing changed except for 1024=256 causing a "white screen of death" (occurred on both units).

                            I disabled omxplayer for ES (both themes videos and screensaver), rebooted, looked around systems (videos run fine but browsing feels a bit slow which I believe is normal without omxplayer), exited ES, video runs great again on omxplayer.

                            Something makes omxplayer stutter once it runs inside ES and only when the output is via composite (any sdtv setting). Via HDMI on any resolution, this issue does not happen at all. But what could it be? It definitely didn't happen on 4.3 stable with all updates last month :/

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • matchamanM
                              matchaman
                              last edited by

                              Update:

                              I had the audio almost off and didn't notice something very serious once omxplayer runs inside ES: not only omxplayer remains stuttery outside ES but the whole system slows down like it's heavily underclocked! This is getting weirder...

                              Sorry for the length of the video but I explain it here in practice:

                              pjftP 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • pjftP
                                pjft @matchaman
                                last edited by

                                @matchaman I can't watch any of the videos for the moment, but that's good then. Can you SSH into it and run"top", and see what exactly takes up the CPU when you play a video?

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • matchamanM
                                  matchaman
                                  last edited by

                                  Here's a capture of top before omxplayers runs inside ES:
                                  alt text

                                  And another afterwards, with what appears to be system-wide slowdown:
                                  alt text

                                  mituM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • mituM
                                    mitu Global Moderator @matchaman
                                    last edited by mitu

                                    @matchaman Why is there a python process keeping the CPU busy ? Do you have a BGM script running ? Are there any errors reported by dmesg after the slowdown ?

                                    pjftP 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                    • pjftP
                                      pjft @mitu
                                      last edited by

                                      @mitu @matchaman well spotted, was going to ask the same (didn't know about the bgm music script using python though).

                                      The system does not appear to be in significant load though.

                                      Can you install htop and run htop instead of top to assert the process trees?

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • matchamanM
                                        matchaman
                                        last edited by matchaman

                                        @mitu It's the background music player. I disabled this previously, it was the first thing I suspected that could interfere with omxplayer. Disabling it didn't change anything so I enabled it again. No errors on dmesg either.

                                        @pjft I installed PuTTY to make matters easier. Here's what I got with htop

                                        Before omxplayer in ES:
                                        alt text

                                        After:
                                        alt text

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • matchamanM
                                          matchaman
                                          last edited by matchaman

                                          I came back from a friend who bought a 3 B+ model. He uses a brand new 4.3.17 test image, nothing added other than ROMs for systems. I asked him to scrape with videos for a system, switched to omxplayer in ES, used a jack to RCA cable and here we go... same problem!

                                          I consider this a global issue :( someone who can use composite, PLEASE give me your input...

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • matchamanM
                                            matchaman
                                            last edited by matchaman

                                            Excuse me for "spam-bumping" this but it's a real issue that needs to be addressed.

                                            I installed a clean image of 4.3 Jessie (on my 3 B model obviously) without any updates and the problem does not exist, as I expected.

                                            I am now updating components one by one to see what causes this and if it's exclusive to Stretch-based RP (in case everything is updated and the issue does not appear).

                                            Edit 1: I'm starting with the RetroPie Setup script. The bug does not appear yet. (WOW it shows 4.4 :D) let's keep updating...

                                            Edit 2: RetroArch. Obviously no change, as expected.

                                            Edit 3: runcommand... no change. RP conf menu... no change.

                                            Edit 4: Updating EmulationStation... holding my breath... NO CHANGE! :O

                                            Edit 5: Doing a general update, including kernel and other OS packages... nope. Nothing. Everything works perfectly. What a headache :/

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • First post
                                              Last post

                                            Contributions to the project are always appreciated, so if you would like to support us with a donation you can do so here.

                                            Hosting provided by Mythic-Beasts. See the Hosting Information page for more information.