Retropie - KODI sudden freezes/timeouts

mitu

How did you install RetroPie ? Did you use the image from retropie.org.uk/download or did you install it manually, over Raspbian ?

ryssk

@mitu
Hi, i installed it by using the Raspberry Pi Imager

Which i guess uses the image from Retropie.org? ( From my understanding it does )

mitu

@ryssk said in Retropie - KODI sudden freezes/timeouts:

Which i guess uses the image from Retropie.org? ( From my understanding it does )

Yes, it's the image from retropie.org.uk/download.

Can you check if your gpu_mem is set to at least 256Mb in config.txt ? Recommended value when using Kodi is 384Mb (for 4k video).

ryssk

@mitu Checking the /boot/config.txt i dont actually see anything commented or uncommented when it comes to

gpu_mem

Memory Documentation
After reading the memory documentation, it says something about with the Pi4 you can allocate a smaller number for it compared to the 2&3?

gpu_mem_512

mitu

Post your config.txt and also, what Pi4 model do you have ?

ryssk

@mitu

config.txt: https://pastebin.ubuntu.com/p/qc2zsFXMyW/

It's the RPI4 B - 4GB Version

Trying with gpu_mem_512 made it impossible to playback any video, freezes constantly

and gpu_mem_384 behaves the same aswell

mitu

@ryssk said in Retropie - KODI sudden freezes/timeouts:

Trying with gpu_mem_512 made it impossible to playback any video, freezes constantly

Hm, that's not the right option, it should be

gpu_mem=384

Remove any overclock and try again with the value above.

ryssk

@mitu When i removed the OC it seems to be running fine so far ( 10 minutes into the movie ) could it just be a unstable OC, or could it be a power delivery issue which the power supply cant handle? I'm using the one that came with the NesPI 4 case which is rated at 5V and 3A

EDIT: nvm, same thing happened again.

https://paste.kodi.tv/dofetiqana.kodi

The stall starts at 2020-11-23 08:47:36.166 T:2534396112

Latest logs when it happened again

That's with the default speeds and gpu_mem=384

mitu

Look in the system log (dmesg) and see if you have any undervoltage related messages. Ideally, if you could test without the SSD or other peripherals connected, it would eliminate any power related issues.
Does the NesPI 4 cases have a fan ? Is it also connected to the Pi ?

ryssk

@mitu Yeah the case got a fan attached

i tried Libreelec on my SD-card, and didnt have any playback issues there meanwhile the SSD was still connected. But there i had some audio issues so couldnt hear the video

Will try later on today and see what dmesg tells me but it feels like it shouldnt be any issues with the power

ryssk

@mitu Wait.. i just realised one thing.. I've been using HDMI1 instead of HDMI0 which is the closest to the "power input".

HDMI1 on the NesPI 4 Case is the closest one to the power input, but that's for the case.

I guess it could be somekind of sync/emulation issue on the sound then. I'll try to do some more testing.

When i plugged into the proper HDMI0 then my Libreelec started to work as it should

Edit:

Nope, same thing still happening at it feels like it freezes the whole PI when it stalls, cause my SSH session also gets stuck

Feels like this is an issue related to run RetroPie of an SSD and at the same time trying to playback from KODI using the same storage. Ugh.. Wanted to have it all into one, but seems like i cant do it

mitu

@ryssk said in Retropie - KODI sudden freezes/timeouts:

Nope, same thing still happening at it feels like it freezes the whole PI when it stalls, cause my SSH session also gets stuck

The SSD controller on the NesPi4 is not so great - did you apply the quirks described in https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=245931 ?

ryssk

@mitu Yep, you we're definitly on something here!

dmesg | grep -i blacklisted
lsusb -t

Using those commands ( apperently you wrote in another thread regarding the SSD issue on a NesPI case )

https://imgur.com/a/3R1eZ8s

Here's a print of lsusb -t, the blacklisted didnt show anything

So i'm guessing it's using UAS as a controllerdriver?

EDIT:
Added the SSD now so it's connecting with the usb-storage controller, and so far i havent run into any issues with KODI with 10m+ playback, so seems like it's fixed it!

Now all i can do is hope, and thanks alot @mitu for guiding me in the right direction.

For those who run into the same issue and cant connect and disconnect the SSD like it says in the guide.

If you know that you're using only 1 USB3 device, then it will be called SuperSpeed Gen 1 USB device under dmesg

mitu

Glad you got it fixed. You can try now to apply the overclock back, though I'd recommend you give it a try without it and see how the system performs. The Pi4 should be powerful enough for most systems.