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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

Video Snaps/Screensavers Black Bars

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video snapsblackbarsscreensaver vid
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  • M
    mitu Global Moderator @SamuraiX51
    last edited by 4 Jul 2019, 03:24

    @SamuraiX51 Strange, I can't reproduce the problem - using both OMX player or the VLC based built-in video player I don't get any black bars on the video I have. The screensaver also doesn't have any extra black bars (since they're 4:3, I have the left/right black bars because of the 1080p resolution) and the subtitles work fine - that's using OMX for screensaver.

    S 1 Reply Last reply 4 Jul 2019, 03:30 Reply Quote 0
    • S
      SamuraiX51 @mitu
      last edited by SamuraiX51 7 Apr 2019, 04:32 4 Jul 2019, 03:30

      @mitu I completely understand. It makes no sense. On screensaver video I get the bars all around, not just on the left and right, as per usual. Even when I've had bad snaps, the optional game name text/subtitles would be super-defined on the bottom left-hand corner of the video screensaver. With whatever happened in my instance, it's pixelated in the bottom center. It's as if the players themselves have decreased in resolution.

      It only seems to be within emulationstation. I can play the splash screens I have saved with no issues.

      M 1 Reply Last reply 4 Jul 2019, 03:33 Reply Quote 0
      • M
        mitu Global Moderator @SamuraiX51
        last edited by 4 Jul 2019, 03:33

        @SamuraiX51 I'll see if updating the OS/packages makes a difference, but there is only 1 change related to video - fixing subtitles for OMX - that's been added in Emulationstation.

        S 1 Reply Last reply 4 Jul 2019, 03:39 Reply Quote 0
        • S
          SamuraiX51 @mitu
          last edited by 4 Jul 2019, 03:39

          @mitu I appreciate the help. I'm going to crash for the evening and get back to it tomorrow.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • M
            mitu Global Moderator
            last edited by 4 Jul 2019, 03:57

            Updated also the kernel, but didn't have any impact - videos are working fine. I'm using the default theme - can you try with that one ? What's your screen resolution ?

            S 1 Reply Last reply 4 Jul 2019, 14:17 Reply Quote 0
            • P
              piero0169
              last edited by 4 Jul 2019, 06:21

              I have the same issue when I updated to 4.5 it has black border frames around my video snaps and some videos are just black with sound. If I go to other settings in emulationstation and scroll down to OMX player(HW ACCELERATED) to ON the black borders are gone but the problem I have now are the videos that where just black with sound are now not displaying at all.

              M 1 Reply Last reply 4 Jul 2019, 06:28 Reply Quote 0
              • M
                mitu Global Moderator @piero0169
                last edited by 4 Jul 2019, 06:28

                @piero0169 Please add more info about your system - https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first.

                How did you get the videos ? Did you use a scraper or copied the videos yourself ?
                I'm interested in seeing what kind of video exhibits this problem - can you exit Emulationstation then run

                ffmpeg -i <path_to_video_file>
                

                then post the output here in the topic.

                P 1 Reply Last reply 4 Jul 2019, 07:49 Reply Quote 0
                • P
                  piero0169 @mitu
                  last edited by 4 Jul 2019, 07:49

                  @mitu
                  Pi Model or other hardware: 3B+
                  Power Supply used: Official
                  RetroPie Version Used: 4.5
                  Built From: Pre-made SD Image from Retropie Website (4.4)
                  USB Devices connected: Controller
                  Controller used: Retroflag Snes
                  Error messages received: N/A

                  i used a scraper provided by screen scraper to get the videos i tried to type that command
                  after exiting ES i got this error

                  ffmpeg -i <path_to_video_file>
                  -bash: syntax error near unexpected token `newline'

                  M 1 Reply Last reply 4 Jul 2019, 08:06 Reply Quote 0
                  • M
                    mitu Global Moderator @piero0169
                    last edited by 4 Jul 2019, 08:06

                    @piero0169 You're supposed to replace <path_to_video_file> with the actual path to the video, so that ffmpeg can output the video information for the video.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • S
                      SamuraiX51 @mitu
                      last edited by 4 Jul 2019, 14:17

                      @mitu My original videos are from a well-known Wolfanoz build. I've scraped new ones with Skraper and have got a few directly from screenscraper.fr--no changes with any. Carbon and other themes also have this issue.

                      TV Resolution: 1920x1080/60p

                      fbset
                         mode "1824x984"
                                   geometry 1824 984 1824 984 32
                                   timings 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
                                   rgba 8/16,8/8,8/0,8/24
                      
                      ffmpeg -i /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/arcade/images/005.mp4
                      -bash: ffmpeg: command not found

                      I assume I possibly entered the code wrong. My other build that still works is on version 4.4.8. This is also the version I upgraded from before this issue started.

                      M 1 Reply Last reply 4 Jul 2019, 14:20 Reply Quote 0
                      • M
                        mitu Global Moderator @SamuraiX51
                        last edited by mitu 7 Apr 2019, 15:21 4 Jul 2019, 14:20

                        @SamuraiX51 You need to install ffmpeg first, I though it's already installed on an image (run apt -y install ffmpeg). If it's from Skraper, then the source is ScreenScraper - what's the game name ?

                        S 1 Reply Last reply 4 Jul 2019, 14:40 Reply Quote 0
                        • S
                          SamuraiX51 @mitu
                          last edited by SamuraiX51 7 Apr 2019, 15:45 4 Jul 2019, 14:40

                          @mitu Thanks for the patience! I'm new to the comnand line stuff, but learn fast.

                          apt -y install ffmpeg
                          E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (13: Permission denied)
                          E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dkpkg/), are you root?
                          

                          Then the prompt reset.

                          It's not one specific game. Everything in Arcade. All consoles and NeoGeo/Daphne also do this. While the arcade stuff is from the Wolfanoz image, consoles are from ScreensScraper. I've even gone in and taken videos from my other image(4.4.8) that still works, and they have the issue.

                          If I move a video from the build we're troubleshooting to the 4.4.8 build, they work on that build.

                          M 1 Reply Last reply 4 Jul 2019, 15:00 Reply Quote 0
                          • M
                            mitu Global Moderator @SamuraiX51
                            last edited by mitu 7 Apr 2019, 16:00 4 Jul 2019, 15:00

                            @SamuraiX51 Sorry, the command is

                            sudo apt -y install ffmpeg
                            

                            It was missing the sudo part.

                            It's not one specific game. Everything in Arcade. All consoles and NeoGeo/Daphne also do this. While the arcade stuff is from the Wolfanoz image, consoles are from ScreensScraper. I've even gone in and taken videos from my other image(4.4.8) that still works, and they have the issue.

                            I understand that, but by scraping the game myself from ScreenScraper I'm able to get the same video and test.

                            Your resolution is set to 1080p, but your screen size seems smaller - do you have any overscan settings for this system ?

                            S 1 Reply Last reply 4 Jul 2019, 15:33 Reply Quote 0
                            • S
                              SamuraiX51 @mitu
                              last edited by SamuraiX51 7 Apr 2019, 16:36 4 Jul 2019, 15:33

                              @mitu My apologies. The most recent I've tried is Dragon's Lair I-II and Space Ace for Daphne. I downloaded them from ScreenScraper after this issue started. Bars on the 4.5 build, none of the 4.4.8 build.

                              I tested Dragon's Lair with ffmpeg:

                              ffmpeg -i /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/daphne/media/videos/lair.mp4
                              ffmpeg version 3.2.14-1~deb9u1+rpt1 Copyright (c) 2000-2019 the FFmpeg developers
                                built with gcc 6.3.0 (Raspbian 6.3.0-18+rpi1+deb9u1) 20170516
                                configuration: --prefix=/usr --extra-version='1~deb9u1+rpt1' --toolchain=hardened --libdir=/usr/lib/arm-linux-gnueabihf --incdir=/usr/include/arm-linux-gnueabihf --enable-gpl --disable-stripping --enable-avresample --enable-avisynth --enable-gnutls --enable-ladspa --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcaca --enable-libcdio --enable-libebur128 --enable-libflite --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgme --enable-libgsm --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-librubberband --enable-libshine --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libssh --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwavpack --enable-libwebp --enable-libx265 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzmq --enable-libzvbi --enable-omx --enable-omx-rpi --enable-mmal --enable-openal --enable-opengl --enable-sdl2 --enable-libdc1394 --enable-libiec61883 --arch=armhf --enable-chromaprint --enable-frei0r --enable-libopencv --enable-libx264 --enable-shared
                                libavutil      55. 34.101 / 55. 34.101
                                libavcodec     57. 64.101 / 57. 64.101
                                libavformat    57. 56.101 / 57. 56.101
                                libavdevice    57.  1.100 / 57.  1.100
                                libavfilter     6. 65.100 /  6. 65.100
                                libavresample   3.  1.  0 /  3.  1.  0
                                libswscale      4.  2.100 /  4.  2.100
                                libswresample   2.  3.100 /  2.  3.100
                                libpostproc    54.  1.100 / 54.  1.100
                              Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from '/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/daphne/media/videos/lair.mp4':
                                Metadata:
                                  major_brand     : isom
                                  minor_version   : 512
                                  compatible_brands: isomiso2avc1mp41
                                  creation_time   : 1970-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z
                                  encoder         : Lavf53.2.0
                                Duration: 00:00:43.17, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 943 kb/s
                                  Stream #0:0(und): Video: h264 (Main) (avc1 / 0x31637661), yuv420p, 640x480 [SAR 1:1 DAR 4:3], 810 kb/s, 30 fps, 30 tbr, 30 tbn, 60 tbc (default)
                                  Metadata:
                                    creation_time   : 1970-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z
                                    handler_name    : VideoHandler
                                  Stream #0:1(und): Audio: aac (LC) (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, 127 kb/s (default)
                                  Metadata:
                                    creation_time   : 1970-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z
                                    handler_name    : SoundHandler
                              At least one output file must be specified
                              
                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • S
                                SamuraiX51
                                last edited by 4 Jul 2019, 15:36

                                When I moved this Pi from a bigger TV to the one I'm currently using, I had overscan issues. I used EazyHax Toolkit Overscan Disable to resolve the issue, but that was when I had 4.4.8, and had no issues thereafter until I updated to 4.5.

                                M 1 Reply Last reply 4 Jul 2019, 17:02 Reply Quote 0
                                • M
                                  mitu Global Moderator @SamuraiX51
                                  last edited by mitu 7 Apr 2019, 18:03 4 Jul 2019, 17:02

                                  @SamuraiX51 Can you post your /boot/config.txt ? We have a report in the forum about overscan settings being ignored/changed with the recent 4.5 update, it might have the same cause - the change in kernel/firmware introduced in the new version.

                                  You can also try the advice from the post 4.5 info post and downgrade your current kernel/firmware to see if fixes the issue.

                                  S 1 Reply Last reply 4 Jul 2019, 17:10 Reply Quote 0
                                  • S
                                    SamuraiX51 @mitu
                                    last edited by 4 Jul 2019, 17:10

                                    @mitu I'll look into the post. Thank you!

                                    config.txt:

                                    # For more options and information see
                                    # http://rpf.io/configtxt
                                    # Some settings may impact device functionality. See link above for details
                                    
                                    # uncomment if you get no picture on HDMI for a default "safe" mode
                                    #hdmi_safe=1
                                    
                                    # uncomment this if your display has a black border of unused pixels visible
                                    # and your display can output without overscan
                                    #####disable_overscan=1
                                    
                                    # uncomment the following to adjust overscan. Use positive numbers if console
                                    # goes off screen, and negative if there is too much border
                                    #overscan_left=16
                                    #overscan_right=16
                                    #overscan_top=16
                                    #overscan_bottom=16
                                    
                                    # uncomment to force a console size. By default it will be display's size minus
                                    # overscan.
                                    #framebuffer_width=1280
                                    #framebuffer_height=720
                                    
                                    # uncomment if hdmi display is not detected and composite is being output
                                    #hdmi_force_hotplug=1
                                    
                                    # uncomment to force a specific HDMI mode (this will force VGA)
                                    #hdmi_group=1
                                    #hdmi_mode=1
                                    
                                    # uncomment to force a HDMI mode rather than DVI. This can make audio work in
                                    # DMT (computer monitor) modes
                                    #hdmi_drive=2
                                    
                                    # uncomment to increase signal to HDMI, if you have interference, blanking, or
                                    # no display
                                    #config_hdmi_boost=4
                                    
                                    # uncomment for composite PAL
                                    #sdtv_mode=2
                                    
                                    #uncomment to overclock the arm. 700 MHz is the default.
                                    #arm_freq=800
                                    
                                    # Uncomment some or all of these to enable the optional hardware interfaces
                                    #dtparam=i2c_arm=on
                                    #dtparam=i2s=on
                                    #dtparam=spi=on
                                    
                                    # Uncomment this to enable the lirc-rpi module
                                    #dtoverlay=lirc-rpi
                                    
                                    # Additional overlays and parameters are documented /boot/overlays/README
                                    
                                    # Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)
                                    dtparam=audio=on
                                    gpu_mem_256=128
                                    gpu_mem_512=256
                                    gpu_mem_1024=256
                                    overscan_scale=1
                                    enable_uart=1
                                    
                                    # Disable onboard Bluetooth and WiFI
                                    dtoverlay=pi3-disable-bt
                                    
                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • S
                                      SamuraiX51
                                      last edited by SamuraiX51 7 Apr 2019, 18:44 4 Jul 2019, 17:43

                                      @mitu I downgraded the kernel/firmware as per the post you linked. Same issue with Video Snaps. I even re-uploaded a few working videos just to confirm, and same thing.

                                      It seems like some sort of resolution/overscan issue in the players themselves, but only when accessing the snaps to preview or for screensaver. Does Video Splash Screens also use VLC or OMX? I just retested the few I have, and they play without issue from the Splash Screens menu. I also renamed one and put it in my roms folder, and it displays with the black bars in EmulationStation.

                                      M 1 Reply Last reply 4 Jul 2019, 17:51 Reply Quote 0
                                      • M
                                        mitu Global Moderator @SamuraiX51
                                        last edited by 4 Jul 2019, 17:51

                                        @SamuraiX51 said in Video Snaps/Screensavers Black Bars:

                                        It seems like some sort of resolution/overscan issue in the players themselves, but only when accessing the snaps to preview or for screensaver. Does Video Splash Screens also use VLC or OMX? I just retested the few I have, and they play without issue from the Splash Screens menu. I also renamed one and put it in my roms folder, and it displays with the black bars in EmulationStation.

                                        The splashscreen (video) uses omxplayer to play the video. You configuration file (that you posted) doesn't have any overscan settings, so it's not the overscan that I was thinking that was causing the problem, but the firmware version.

                                        S 1 Reply Last reply 4 Jul 2019, 18:04 Reply Quote 0
                                        • S
                                          SamuraiX51 @mitu
                                          last edited by SamuraiX51 7 Apr 2019, 19:05 4 Jul 2019, 18:04

                                          @mitu Thanks for working with me on this! Words cannot express how much help you've been! I thought I originally did something to cause this issue by misclicking/mistyping in some random config file after the update. I really love this community and plan to give back--I've been working on some missing art for a few games for screenscraper.fr, and have some ideas for a custom theme.

                                          Do you currently have any suggestions for the firmware, or should I just wait for an update?

                                          M 1 Reply Last reply 4 Jul 2019, 18:11 Reply Quote 0
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