Newest XBMC v13 Gotham release - support for Android

[permitivity]

So, I read that the newest v13 XBMC release is suppose to have hardware acceleration for Android devices - except for Allwinner and Amlogic chips. Unhelpfully, they didn't mention anything about Rockchip 3188's.

So, to those who know better, what does this news mean? Does it mean anything for the Rockchip 3188 Android boxes and sticks out there? Are we FINALLY going to get hardware decoding for videos?

Here's the news:

http://liliputing.com/2013/09/xbmc-media-center-adds-android-hardware-decoding-drops-windows-xp-support.html

[Molle]

So, I read that the newest v13 XBMC release is suppose to have hardware acceleration for Android devices - except for Allwinner and Amlogic chips. Unhelpfully, they didn't mention anything about Rockchip 3188's.

So, to those who know better, what does this news mean? Does it mean anything for the Rockchip 3188 Android boxes and sticks out there? Are we FINALLY going to get hardware decoding for videos?

Yes, the newest Gotham builds have libstagefright-based hw acceleration support for RK3188 devices. The support is still in alpha stages but it really does work.

[permitivity]

I've been wanting to get one of these Android boxes for a while for XBMC and general android app use on the TV, but there's enough reports of people trying and not being successful with XBMC playing smooth video. I doubt they are simply installing XBMC wrong, just seems like there lots of conflicting reports. Some of it is due to different video types. And some of these reports of "smooth" playback come from places like Geekbuying which I think are spreading misinformation about how good their devices actually perform. Probably testing with different encoded files that maybe HD, but aren't commonly used. H264 without dts audio, or something like that.

[muratremix]

Did anybody test XBMC 13.0 alpha on RK3188?

[muratremix]

I've tested it today, but I haven't get HW acceleration on RK3188. There is no option (I assume it is enabled by default) for HW acceleration and 1080p files play on software mode with 50% frame skip or more (unacceptable).

[herbalhead]

I've tested it today, but I haven't get HW acceleration on RK3188. There is no option (I assume it is enabled by default) for HW acceleration and 1080p files play on software mode with 50% frame skip or more (unacceptable).

I had a quick try with imito qx1 using finless from 1.4 with leolas 720p kernel. Played a 720p video fine with xbmc native video player but sound was out of sync. Didnt have time to try other files or settings yet.......

[mariano]

I've tested it today, but I haven't get HW acceleration on RK3188. There is no option (I assume it is enabled by default) for HW acceleration and 1080p files play on software mode with 50% frame skip or more (unacceptable).

You need to make or edit advancedsettings.xml to enable HW decoding for all codecs. Find my post in MK908 forum I put the content of the file.

[vlevi]

I have tested it on an MK808 (rk3066), and still not usable.
The hw acceleration option is disabled in the XBMC settings



Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 4

[muratremix]

You need to make or edit advancedsettings.xml to enable HW decoding for all codecs. Find my post in MK908 forum I put the content of the file.

I have added this file to the userdata folder under .xbmc
Results are same, no HW playback on iMito QX1 using Finless 1.5 with 1080p no OC frameskip kernel.

Btw I used xbmc-13.0-Gotham_alpha7-armeabi-v7a.apk
Not the nightly build you have used. Perhaps older build supports HW decoding?

[Molle]

I have added this file to the userdata folder under .xbmc
Results are same, no HW playback on iMito QX1 using Finless 1.5 with 1080p no OC frameskip kernel.

Btw I used xbmc-13.0-Gotham_alpha7-armeabi-v7a.apk
Not the nightly build you have used. Perhaps older build supports HW decoding?

I'm using the same XBMC version you are and hw acceleration is definitely supported.

Besides, even with hw acceleration, not all 1080p videos will play without frameskipping unless you have a seriously overcloked kernel (mine is set to CPU:1200/1608/1920MHz, DDR: 720MHz, GPU: 798MHz). With this e.g. the well known Planet Earth snippet (link) plays without any framedrops but not otherwise.

BTW: You need to enable the 'Expert' mode in XBMC settings to see all available options, including the one for hw acceleration.

[Tech]

To enable Expert mode.

In xbmc go to system then then left arrow or left button to show the left side pop out menu. Change Level and exit.

1080p Bluray backups still dont play nice with this but 720p is not an issue. In time i think they will get it figured out.

I have a Top Hat TV box and it can decode all my Bluray backups with out issue and it only has 1gb ram and 1ghz single amlogic M3 cpu.