Help testing: Random Video Screensaver on Main Branch

Hex

@meleu rather than rm -rf we can do the following:

git merge --abort && git pull -X theirs

This will preserve the build dir rather that making a clean compile thus saving compile time. All changed files will be recompiled by make. This is a much better solution on failure of git pull

To combine all of theme in one sentence you can have the command as such :
git pull || git merge --abort && git pull -X theirs

The || ensures that git merge --abort && git pull -X theirs only runs if git pull fails
The && ensures that git pull -X theirs only runs if git merge --abort succeeds

The final status will give you a success or fatal error status so its a win.

meleu

@Hex Better and very much elegant with this git sorcery! Will change it ASAP.

TMNTturtlguy

@pjft @hex i have downloaded the most recent build and tested on both my 4:3 and 16:9 pi units. 1 has overscan enabled, the other has it disabled. I am running on a pi 3 in both cases. As of right now both are on monitors, not TV's. Both cases testing audio with the both setting and running audio through 3.5 m jack.

Both builds run very well, both builds run with all setting for game name, always on, never and beginning and end. I have not lost my HDMI signal in any testing whether that is letting them sit and wait for the screensaver to come on, or pressing select.

I have had the 4:3 running screensavers for over an hour, the 16:9 for about a half hour. Randomly waking it up and letting them run. Works great on my end, I cannot replicate the HDMI loss using OMX.

As for the menu here is a screenshot. It is much improved on the 4:3 however you can see that it is still not ideal. I think it is fine in the end. @pjft note the favorites system logo in the background!

Hex

@TMNTturtlguy What resolution is your setup running?

TMNTturtlguy

@Hex 16:9 is at default display preferred = 1920 x 1080

4:30 is at default display preferred = 1600 x 1200

pjft

@TMNTturtlguy love it :) will get onto that after this is finished.

I'll try to reduce screensaver to something smaller even buy a few letters. I agree it's ugly at the moment.

The overscan/HDMI signal thingie is very much a thing, and it's unclear what causes it - we only know it does. In fact if you search in the forums for the splash screen video (which uses OMX Player) you'll see that the disable overscan recommendation comes from there as some setups have the exact same problem. I suspect there are some users who can't have the splash screen video at all because it doesn't work for them for that reason, though I'm not fully sure.

I myself ran into it a few months ago on the same TV when I changed frequency from 50hz to 60hz, and had to disable overscan to make it work. I agree it's not a nice thing to ask of users - though you're thinking of the opposite: what we need to do is to disable overscan, which means removing the black borders, not adding them. The black borders are an extra layer in the rendering pipeline and that's the problem. That being said, some people with specific TVs or monitors might need that option, so I'm not keen on forcing them to change it.

I have no problems with keeping OMX only as the screensaver default, but only if it's guaranteed it works for everyone without the captions showing at least. Otherwise it'll just be a flood of complaints in the forums, that's why I'm not opposed to providing VLC as an option. It can really be crippling, and it's not something that has been solved.

We can remove the option later, I suppose.

pjft

Ok, so a final tidying up update.

Removed VLC option for Pi's screensaver from the menu. Please confirm that your settings file does have <bool name="ScreenSaverOMX" value="true" />set in it, otherwise it will use VLC. I doubt that'll be the case, but worth giving the heads up. The default is to use OMX for screensaver.
Added a "info/warning" box when enabling captions for the screensaver, letting people know that if the screen signal fails they should disable game info, or disable overscan on the Raspberry Pi system config. I give them the steps.
Moved OMX Player setting inside the Other Settings menu.
The remaining options now belong in a menu named "Video Screensaver Settings". It's now inside "Other Settings".

Hopefully this is it. Good fun.

At least I don't have to rebase yet again.

TMNTturtlguy

@pjft wow! Thanks for sticking with this and all the hard work! I will update both my setups and let you know what how they work. Hopefully for you sake, time, and sanity this will be the last of it!

pjft

@TMNTturtlguy Thank you good sir. You've spent way more time on this than anyone could have asked for. If this gets to the main branch, it's certainly thanks to your effort in testing this thoroughly!

I actually just had one last hypothesis for the HDMI thing. @Hex - could you update to the latest build on the Pi and test, with the captions turned on, whether the HDMI signal situation is solved for you?

It's a long shot, but worth testing out if it helps mitigating that problem. If so, I'll make it an option.

If not, I'll revert the changes :)

meleu

@TMNTturtlguy said in Help testing: Random Video Screensaver on Main Branch:

I will update both my setups and let you know what how they work.

I've made some improvements on the es-tests.sh script (based on the always useful @Hex tips). Please update and use it on your tests so we can collect feedback! :-)

TMNTturtlguy

@meleu I updated the script and tried to update @pjft branch, i got a message saying failed to download, check connectivity. Well connectivity is fine because i just updated the script. So i uninstalled @pjft branch and then selected to install it again, it is currently working, installing the branch no issues, so there is still something in the update that is not working properly.....At least on my end. Remove and Reinstall via script is still working correctly.

TMNTturtlguy

@pjft I have loaded the latest updates to both of my systems and am happy to report they are running smoothly and as expected. I love the new menu options and breakout, the text fits nicely on my 4:3 and the options all make sense!

I have no issues with the text showing using OMX in both cases of overscan.

Removed VLC option for Pi's screensaver from the menu. Please confirm that your settings file does have <bool name="ScreenSaverOMX" value="true" />set in it, otherwise it will use VLC. I doubt that'll be the case, but worth giving the heads up. The default is to use OMX for screensaver.

Confirmed in the setting file.

pjft

@TMNTturtlguy Thanks for testing and checking!

Others won't have a problem with that, since they're fresh installs, but since you had had the option to change that beforehand, if you'd have it set to VLC you'd have kept VLC now :P

pjft

@Hex following up on the questions I asked on GitHub, another thing to start troubleshooting it is to run OMX Player from ssh while EmulationStation is running and seeing what happens - any error or something.

I'd check if the screensaver setting on the settings file is still set to OMX rather than VLC (see previous comment to @TMNTturtlguy ).

Let me know what you find. Otherwise I can always add the VLC option back. What are you running it on, by the way, and what's your memory split and VRAM set at?

Thanks!

Hex

I ran on Pi3 with 2A supply, With OMX enabled nothing is displayed on screen when screensaver is started. (on HDMI)

TMNTturtlguy

@Hex do you have a 2.5A power supply you can test? I am betting you are not getting enough power to run OMX and are getting under-voltage errors.

pjft

@Hex thanks. I'm on the phone today and won't be able to look into this - sick kids - but same questions apply.

What happens when you run it via the command line with ES running? Maybe that'll shed some light on the error we're getting. I wouldn't think it'd be related to the power, though I've seen stranger things happen. :)

What are the contents of your settings file?

Do the videos show on the gamelist view on OMX?

Does that happen with and without captions?

Thank you, sorry for the remote troubleshooting. I'll look into it tomorrow in my timezone with the information you provide.

Thanks!

Hex

@TMNTturtlguy 2A is sufficient for pi3. it only has a keyboard and hdmi attached. I dont think this is a power issue. If its working for you guys and not me then something is wrong on my side. In that case @pjft feel free to squash and update the PR.

pjft

@Hex no, there's no urgency. As I said, I'm not able to look into it tonight, and I'd rather spend the time to understand what's happening on your end than sending off something that won't work for some people :)

Also, I had changed something that I wanted you to test whether it solved the flicker, so I may have broken something in the process.

For the sake of accuracy, though, the Pi 3 does recommend a 2.5A power supply, but it may not be related.

If you can test running OMX Player via the shell while ES is running, it might shed some light on what errors might be happening. I'd love to learn about them.

Also, if you can share the content of your settings file, it might help to understand whether I've messed something up, or at least test with those settings on my end.

Finally, is it showing on the gamelist view?

Thanks!

pjft

@Hex Hi!

Sorry for bothering, just pinging this in case you had missed it.

No urgency, but do let me know if/when you'd have the time to check those few things. I'd rather make sure I understand what's happening on your setup before squashing the PR and adding it to the main branch.

No urgency, but let me know if/when you do look into it, so we can follow up. I'd also like to check whether the HDMI still fails on your original setup, with the latest change. It might, but want to confirm. Thank you!

Alternatively - and/or in addition - I can re-add the VLC option for the Pi.

Thanks!