Vero freezes on fast forward or refresh database during playback

[neoacix]

Hi All,
I noticed that my Vero will freeze up completely on the last frame when I fast forward any video for a while (latest attempt froze around time 00:00:30) or trigger a database refresh (webinterface/JSON-RPC API) during playback. Active SSH connections will also stop responding. Everything is back to normal after a power toggle.

Issue is seen with Vero running RC2/RC3.
All content is streamed from a read-only NFS which is mounted locally through fstab.
As mentioned in topic 2569, I have had to manually set the adapter speed to 100Mbit to achieve decent throughput.
Kodi log just ends after playback starts normally.

I would appreciate any help with this. Let me know if you need any additional information.
Many thanks!

[DBMandrake]

It could be an nfs problem - try adding the ‘soft’ mount option, as the default is hard which means if it loses communication with the server Kodi will hang indefinitely waiting for the server. With this option in place if it freezes leave it 2-3 minutes to see if it unfreezes again.

Another thing you could try is copy the exact same video onto the SD card and play it from there to see if you can reproduce the problem with NFS and the network connection taken out of the equation.

[neoacix]

Thanks for your suggestions - and sorry for the wait.

The soft mount option did not resolve the problem. Videos and Vero will still freeze after seeking (2x speed) at around position 00:00:30. This is my fstab entry:

192.168.179.43:/raid    /mnt/vault    nfs    ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,nfsvers=3,rsize=16384,wsize=16384,soft,proto=udp,_netdev,x-systemd.automount   0   0

When playing the same file from a USB flash drive, seeking does not freeze the device. Even then seeking is not smooth though. The video will hang for a moment every couple of seconds, maybe jump backward and forward by a second, before resuming.

Not sure what to make of this now. Vero does not freeze up without NFS; So does that make it a NFS issue? Or does the hanging while playing/seeking from USB indicate that this is, in fact, not merely NFS related?

[neoacix]

Yesterday Vero froze while paused on a video. This led me to suspect, the issue may have something to do with the UI that is rendered on top while seeking/pausing.
I am using the Confluence skin. On a very quick test using OSMC skin, seeking also froze Vero but (at least my feeling) kept up longer than it did with Confluence.
Could this be related? Any other suggestions?

[neoacix]

@DBMandrake @sam_nazarko: Would really appreciate some help here. Not seeking is not a great long-term workaround. Have tried with all the latest updates just now…

[neoacix]

Hey All,

I am still seeing this issue with all the latest versions and it still “breaks” Vero/OSMC for me.
Posting part of our last email conversation from 14 July to finally get some traction.
Please let me know if you need more information (or logs other than requested kodi.log).

Any help is highly appreciated.
Thanks!

@sam_nazarko

Do you get this playing back all types of content, or is there a specific format or series causing this issue?

Can you upload kodi.log with debugging enabled when this issue occurs, or even send me a link to a sample of the file where you can replicate this issue?

[…] I would like to work on getting this issue fixed for you however and am confident we can do so in a timely manner.

@neoacix

As to the problem described in my thread, I almost exclusively use Matroska containers with 720p/1080p H.264/VC-1 video content, and on all of them Vero freezes. But to make sure, I just quickly tested an HD DivX video with the same results. Interestingly, some SD XviD content that I also ran did not trigger a freeze, indicating that the issue may be related to streaming high bitrates.
Two files that will consistently lead to a freeze are:
http://s1.demo-world.eu/hd_trailers.php?filename=dolby_horizon-DWEU.mkv
http://trailers.divx.com/divx_prod/profiles/Micayala_DivX1080p_ASP.divx

This time around, with debugging enabled, I only managed to start fast forwarding my video(s) one time before the Vero froze. During the other attempts it froze even before that, within 0-2 seconds of playback. That would seem to support my theory that draw calls overlaying the video are part of the trigger.

I have uploaded two kodi.log files for you. The second log, w/o fast forwarding, does not tell much about the actual playback timeframe. I am guessing that Vero does not have sufficient time to flush out the buffer before freezing up. Hopefully this will help you to narrow down the issue.
kodi.log w/ ff: http://paste.osmc.io/icuhuworar.vhdl
kodi.log w/o ff: http://paste.osmc.io/fevaneheqa.vhdl

[Liquidream]

I’m having this exact same problem, mostly with YouTube videos. If I skip too far, the whole Vero unit locks up. SSH is unresponsive. My only option is to pull the plug. I’ve had to do it several times today already, which can’t be good for the SD Card.

[neoacix]

Dear Sam,
Going into week 10. Feeling like holding a monologue here.

Decided to do some additional testing today. As mentioned in topic 2569, my Vero is usually connected to the NFS server through a GbE switch and two Powerline adpaters.

Router --- GbE Switch -+- Powerline Adapter --- Powerline Adapter -+- Vero
                       +- Ubuntu Server NAS                        +- RPi
                       +- ...

Today I connected Vero directly to the router and a HDMI display w/o any audio and CEC capability (in another room; not a permanent option).
When playing back or fast forwarding through the two samples from my previous post, Vero does NOT freeze even with debug overlays and all. The FF video is very choppy, though. And the video buffer (according to default skin visuals) always fills to a degree and then abruptly drops back to the current video position (i.e. buffer is emptied!?).

Attaching a full log w/ debugging enabled. Video playing from 12:16:58+ and 12:18:08+. HTH.
http://paste.osmc.io/asajowomuj.vhdl

Thanks for your help!

[sam_nazarko]

Hi

I have had an eye on this but did not have any input to add previously.

Kodi Isengard is coming out shortly, and it has some changes to dvdplayer. I could not discern much from your logs, apart from some CEC errors.

Let’s see if the new update resolves this

Sam

[neoacix]

Hi Sam,

The July update did not resolve the issue. I have found a workable solution for the moment, though.
I added a GbE switch between the PLC adapter and Vero and have not observed any freezes since.

It would appear that the communication between adapter and Vero is impaired. Likely an issue with the adapter since it did not show when I bypassed the adapters last time (previous post). But Vero certainly is not handling the issue (whatever that is) appropriately, while RPi1 on Raspbmc does.

HTH