MK808B and HDMI audio passthrough

[pirsquared]

with the latest official firmware from Nov.2013 and MXPlayer it appears people are getting true 5.1... Give it a try. If you do get real 5.1 audio output, you can install the latest XBMC nightly and put a playercorefactory.xml file with the proper settings in the sdcard/android/data/org.xbmc.xbmc/files/userdata/.
This will allow you to set it up in 2 different ways: instantly open mxplayer and play the file just by clicking on it (pretty straightforward); click letter C on your keyboard with the video selected and it will give you a "play with" dialog that lets you select with which program you want to play the file with...

Thank you for this detailed suggestion. Unfortunately I had already tried offloading the videos to MX Player via the external player solution, but I quickly discovered that this doesn't work for SMB shares, and since my media all sits on a NAS drive away from the Mini PC, that idea fell over before it began

Ultimately I think that since eHomeMediaCenter, the stock Video player, and MX Player all do genuinely put out 5.1 audio on the MK808B, this is strictly an XBMC issue and therefore it's at that end that it needs to be fixed. I will wait patiently for a response from the XBMC devs on their forum.

As an aside, I still remain surprised that VLC Player doesn't seem to support 5.1 audio. Does everyone else experience the same?

[jockyw2001]

EDIT: with a patched libmedia.so I could now get HDMI PASSTHROUGH to work with XBMC. Keep reading this thread.

I hope my experiences and tests can be helpful. I have tried all 3 available XBMC solutions on my Rikomagic MK802 IIIS : 1. nightly xbmc-20140531, 2. justXBMC.apk and 3. Beyond XBMC 3.4

I'm running an official Rikomagic firmware dated from March 2014 and the MK802 is connected to an HDMI input of a Samsung 58" plasma TV. The TV is connected to a Pioneer AVR by optical cable. The ROM has 3 sound devices in Settings -> Sound -> Sound Devices Manager :
1. "ROCKCHIP HDMI" (2ch PCM)
2. "ROCKCHIP HDMI 5POINT MULTI" (5.1 Multichannel LPCM)
3. "ROCKCHIP HDMI PASSTHROUGH"

I first tried with MX Player, because it offers the best performance on various Android platforms. When I set option 3. "ROCKCHIP HDMI PASSTHROUGH" then I can play videos with AC3/DD5.1 sound tracks with MX Player in true passthrough mode. It means the Pioneer AVR decodes the raw audio signal sent by the MK802 in passthrough mode to the Samsung TV which forwards the raw signal to the Pioneer AVR via optical TOS cable. In the display of the Pioneer the audio type is indicated: in my case AC3 2.1 or DD5.1. Sound and video are in perfect sync. Now if I play video with a DTS sound track then I hear nothing. This is because the stupid Samsung TV doesn't forward a DTS signal. Note that the MX Player must be set to HW decoder because passthrough doesn't work with HW+. I also tried with option 2. "ROCKCHIP HDMI 5POINT MULTI", the TV accepts the raw signal and passes it on the Pioneer, but unfortunately the Pioneer only plays stereo PCM. I should add that sound and video are not at all in sync !

Whereas MX Player does a very good job, it even plays 1080p videos quite smooth (I have a 1080p kernel), the three XBMC players perform by far not as good. Video performance sucks with the nightly XBMC build (May 31, 2014), in justXBMC it is better and even in fullscreen, but with a lot of artifacts in HD movies and Beyond XBMC performs quite well, but cannot play in fullscreen (at least I couldn't configure it, maybe I overlooked something). None of the 3 XBMC players support HDMI PASSTHOUGH or HDMI 5POINT1 : the result is a clicking or rattling noise (make sure to test with the speakers on low volume !!).

Perhaps it is a bad implementation of the ROCKCHIP HDMI sounddriver which causes that applications like XBMC cannot detect other passthrough devices. If I list the audio devices with alsa_play in the console then it shows only the ROCKCHIP HDMI device:

root@android:/data/local # alsa_aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: HDMI [ROCKCHIP HDMI], device 0: HDMI hdmi-audio-codec-0 []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

I have configured MX Player as external player in Beyond XBMC 3.4 which is a reasonable compromise. Anyway, it shows there is enough space for improvements

[Bueno]

Note that the MX Player must be set to HW decoder because passthrough doesn't work with HW+.

Whereas MX Player does a very good job, it even plays 1080p videos quite smooth (I have a 1080p kernel), the three XBMC players perform by far not as good.

None of the 3 XBMC players support HDMI PASSTHOUGH or HDMI 5POINT1 : the result is a clicking or rattling noise (make sure to test with the speakers on low volume !!).

I don't know if this is a solution, but have you tried enabling the "use software decoding for audio" option in MX Player?

About XBMC, here is what Prahjister said:

I can finally play 1080 movies with 1080 kernel in stock xbmc....if you go into system....then video turn on expert then go to acceleration and turn off mediacodec..it works pretty darn good. 24fps only time i drop is first part of movie or if i move my mouse and the controls come up...loose about 25 frames then picks back up.

The clicking noise thing happened to me too, but moving the mouse while a video is playing brings up the overlay where you can click on the speaker icon to change audio settings --- if you play around with those options, you can probably get it to actually play the audio instead of the clicking. I don't know if the settings are specific to each video you watch, so it would be annoying to have to change it each time you watch a video --- those settings used to be available in an older version of XBMC (I think Beyond XBMC still has these options in the regular Settings -> Audio screen, rather than the overlay).

[joaomfds]

libmedia.so patched by Stafstrom for mk808b

Hi jockyw2001. Here's the libmedia.so for MK808B with 4.2.2 rom. It should enable the 5.1 passthrough in Beyond XBMC and similar versions that work with patched libmedia.so and have "HDMI Passthrough" option in android settings (not "HDMI 5.1"). So it should work with your kernel... If you are willing to give it a shot, backup your original libmedia.so in /system or system/lib/ and put this one there instead with the same permissions... I'll check when I get home in a few days as well. Good luck libmedia_MK808B_PassthroughPatchV2_by_Stafstrom.zip http://jmsantos.tk/owncloud/public.p...993d40fc8ec440

[jockyw2001]

Thx Joao, I don't think that 5.1 LPCM (Multi 5.1) will work in my set up, in my case the real HDMI Passthrough works with MX Player. I tried with JustXBMC where I think the same Stafstrom lib is available. But I will try out anyways and let u know.

PS: the 1080p kernel is actually for a 2nd generation MK802IIIS(B) (with AP6210 Wifi/BT chip). My 802 is a first generation and consequently wifi/BT doesn't work, not a problem for me because I use a ethernet-USB adspter.

/JockyW

[jockyw2001]

Hi jockyw2001. Here's the libmedia.so for MK808B with 4.2.2 rom. It should enable the 5.1 passthrough in Beyond XBMC and similar versions that work with patched libmedia.so and have "HDMI Passthrough" option in android settings (not "HDMI 5.1"). So it should work with your kernel... If you are willing to give it a shot, backup your original libmedia.so in /system or system/lib/ and put this one there instead with the same permissions... I'll check when I get home in a few days as well. Good luck [ATTACH]6534[/ATTACH] http://jmsantos.tk/owncloud/public.p...993d40fc8ec440

Thanks a trillion Joao, you were so right: passthrough works with this libmedia.so and with this version of XBMC xbmcz Gotham 13.1 RC 1 for Minix X5 and X7

It is nice to finally have proof that HDMI passthrough works with XBMC. Unfortunately the video performance of XBMC sucks compared to MX Player, but I guess we can expect that to improve in the future.

[joaomfds]

Thx Joao, I don't think that 5.1 LPCM (Multi 5.1) will work in my set up, in my case the real HDMI Passthrough works with MX Player. I tried with JustXBMC where I think the same Stafstrom lib is available. But I will try out anyways and let u know.

PS: the 1080p kernel is actually for a 2nd generation MK802IIIS(B) (with AP6210 Wifi/BT chip). My 802 is a first generation and consequently wifi/BT doesn't work, not a problem for me because I use a ethernet-USB adspter.

/JockyW

Hi JockyW. For what I understood reading forums about this issue, Rockplayer and MXplayer are able to send the 5.1 dts through the HDMI 5.1 Multi but XBMC is not. The way that Statfrom patched all XBMC out there that have 5.1 in XBMC with the Minix x7 and others is specific to xbmc and requires the libmedia.so file to be replaced and is supposed to work on the HDMI passthrough that minix rom's have but most/all roms for these rk3066 sticks didn't have... So this rom that you found might work. Maybe. lol... Remember - you must replace the libmedia.so in /system or /system/lib with the patched one, set the sound mode to HDMI passthrough on android, and use Beyond XBMC or similar (XBMC Gotham is not going to work)... Don't forget to restart your android stick after replacing the file... Good luck... I'll try as well in a few days... Shame that we'll loose wifi with this but it might be worth it for some people (me included). edit - Jockyw found a version of Gotham with the patch applied!! However for me Mediacodec on Gotham doesn't play movies higher than 1920x800... Maybe it will be fixed? Maybe not...

[joaomfds]

Thanks a trillion Joao, you were so right: passthrough works with this libmedia.so and with this version of XBMC xbmcz Gotham 13.1 RC 1 for Minix X5 and X7

It is nice to finally have proof that HDMI passthrough works with XBMC. Unfortunately the video performance of XBMC sucks compared to MX Player, but I guess we can expect that to improve in the future.

Lol. I didn't update the browser before replying... Good thing it works with Minix x5 and x7... But what I really wanted was the crappy little rk3066 sticks to work, like the mk808, 802, etc etc... Maybe? heh Edit!! So I guess I misread - xbmcz gotham working with 1080p and 5.1 passthrough on mk802!! Maybe with beyond xbmc it's fluid with 1080p movies and 5.1 sound on rk3066? Lets give it a shot

[jockyw2001]

I am using it on a crappy 3066 stick. It is the Rikomagic MK802IIIS(B)-8GB and I use the official March 2014 firmware with patched 1080p kernel. Antutu gives a 12000 score. MX Player can do fluid 1080p playback. Does Beyond XBMC support the libmedia.so passthrough patches ?

PS: Later today I will try the Rikomagic Sep 2013 kernel (for 1st gen MK802IIIS. Then we also have wifi/bt.

[joaomfds]

Hey. I have a MK808b. It's basically the same but a rom for yours will never work with wifi on mine and vice versa. No problem for me... My personal experience - xbmc gotham with mediacodec enabled is perfect up to 1920x800... If you try to play a 1080p movie that's 16:9 format it stutters although CPU usage is at 40-70%. Beyond XBMC uses libstagefright only and it's perfect all the way to 1920x1080p but CPU usage is higher, even when stopped in the main menu of xbmc (around 50% compared with 20% or less on my clean rom). So my problem is that if I leave it on pause or open in the main screen after a few hours my stick overheats and crashes (even if downclocked to 800!!!). So maybe I'm just unlucky and got a shitty cpu bin. Ideally they would fix libstagefright on gotham because it stutters more than on Frodo. But I guess focus is on mediacodec now. Don't know. Anyway I'll probably use Beyond XBMC until the developer makes a version with Gotham that works well. And I'll make sure to always change to the android launcher if I pause a video

[jockyw2001]

It's a pity they don't sort out the core playback issues before working on addons, gui and other gimmicks ...

I also have a MK808 (no bt). Will try to cook a rom with the HDMI PASSTHROUGH option for that one as well.

Perhaps you should remove the cover from your MK808B, or mount a better heatsink or fan.

I am sorry to hear there are so many stupid issues with the different XBMC versions.

[joaomfds]

It's a pity they don't sort out the core playback issues before working on addons, gui and other gimmicks ...I also have a MK808 (no bt). Will try to cook a rom with the HDMI PASSTHROUGH option for that one as well.Perhaps you should remove the cover from your MK808B, or mount a better heatsink or fan.I am sorry to hear there are so many stupid issues with the different XBMC versions.

Look at the bright side. The stupid issues keep us entertained. LolGot to go now. Helicopter coming to take me home. Lol

[jockyw2001]

Maybe with beyond xbmc it's fluid with 1080p movies and 5.1 sound on rk3066? Lets give it a shot

Yes indeed, Beyond XBMC 3.4 works and offers HDMI Passthrough with the patched libmedia.so and the video performance is quite impressive. It can play 1080p full screen quite fluid. Not as good as MX Player but it comes close.

So far the best working XBMC on this little RK3066 crap stick

[PMisYMMV]

Yes indeed, Beyond XBMC 3.4 works and offers HDMI Passthrough with the patched libmedia.so and the video performance is quite impressive. It can play 1080p full screen quite fluid. Not as good as MX Player but it comes close.

So far the best working XBMC on this little RK3066 crap stick

Can you please elaborate your setup?
mk808 or mk808b?
which ROM?
where can we get the libmedia.so?
any other settings to replicate your setup?
Thanks in advance.

[jockyw2001]

You can read all about it in this thread. Start reading from post #17