openelec for MXIII-G (amlogic S812) ?

[Haba]

The s812 will heat up under high stress.The cpu speed is probably set from the factory at the max speed to allow the box to not over heat under high stress taking into account the box thermal design. The Wetek Core s812-H (clocked close to 2ghz) reviewer ran a Antutu test three times in a row on the second run it locked up the box because of over heating. Wetek Core review


The s905 has full 8 and 10 bit HEVC hardware support. You need a t.v. that can display 10bit color. The current offerings without HDMI 2.0 port is a joke in my book. I suspect there are many out there like me that will not touch 4k for a long time making the MXIII-G for my use viable for a long time.

Apparently, most s905 boxes do have HDMI 2.0 the new Beelink Mini also has Gb Ethernet. Low prices and additional features make the new boxes appealing for those looking ahead to 4k.

[Haba]

The Remix rom has very fast 5.8ghz WiFi that would be sweet to see in Openelec. I have one of these boxes on the way. Wilro_6276 do you a way setup for us to buy you some beers?

[agh1701]

106l1_151029 is available.

[wilro_6276]

I decided to pick apart the latest android rom for this box (104_L1) to see if there are any significant changes in the build which could help building a better openelec experience.

While a few things have changed (none of which I understand It's mostly the same. The one thing I don't understand about the android kernel is that it doesn't enable 4k support (but clearly mbox is able to enable 4k regardless of it not being enabled kernel side) - Whereas openelec appears to require this being enable kernel side???

Another oddity I find with kerber's builds is the cpu scaling governor - By default, it uses the 'ondemand' scheduler, allowing the cpu speeds to adjust to work load dynamically (96000khz to 1608000khz) - The odd bit here being, the the CPU *can* scale up to 1992000khz) - So it appears that openelec is being limited to a max running speed of ~80% of it's capabilities. I suspect this could be due to possible overheating issues with the S812, but I've found nothing definitive on this matter.

On studying the box's behavior running the ondemand scheduler, it appears to crank all 4 cores up to it's highest scaling level (1608000khz) & never drops any of the core's speeds down when idle (Which would explain limiting it to 1608000khz

I'm currently experimenting (via autostart.sh) using the hotplug scheduler instead, & allowing the cpu's to crank up to full speed (1992000khz)

What I've found is that kodi appears slightly slower, but navigation is smoother, movie playback also appears a little smoother - If anyone would like to test this (via ssh openelc command prompt):

nano .config/autostart.sh
paste this into the file:
---snip---
#!/bin/sh

echo hotplug >/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor
echo 1992000 >/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_max_freq
---snip---
chmod 755 .config/autostart.sh

reboot

I'm think of making this the default for my next build (I've got a few more corner case files to test first

If anyone else has any good tweaks for the MX3G or the S812 in general, please let me know - I do believe that openelec on the MX3G can be optimised far more than it currently is - I just don't understand the S812 that well, & the hardcore documentation for it is mostly in Chinese (Goog translate only helps so much

[wilro_6276]

Havent found an interesting device yet, they all have 1gig of ram, 8gig nand and only pentacore mali 450gpu, thats all a step back from the mxiii-g, except of the 64bit cpuwith also same cpufreq, so nothing to get excited about.

Hi FadeFx,

OK, the current offerings are a little underwhelming at the moment - But then, the initial S805/S812's models wheren't that great either

While having only 1G/8G appears to be the base standard for all these boxes - it is adequate for Openelec regardless - While Octa-core CPU would certainly be nice, lack of it is not a deal breaker for me (The lack of 5Ghz wifi/Gigabit lan as standard IS - Being 64bit should provide a significant improvement however...

[wilro_6276]

Hello there
Just tested last version 5.95.5.5 with kodi 15.2. I'm back to 5.95.5.3 with kodi 15.1 because in the last version i have some small sound synch problem. It seemns that the sound is ahead of the video, . On 5.95.5.3 i dont have this problem. Im on the same setup mxiii-g->denon avr->Plasma. Thanks

Hi Mark, Thanks for the feedback!

Hmmm... That's strange - I'm not seeing this, but then, I only have one TV capable of passthru audio (AC3 only via hdmi) - I have done another build using kodi 15.1 - could you see if this exhibits the same problem?

http://5.189.137.29/Openelec/MX3G/OpenELEC-Amlogic.arm-MX3G-5.95.5.5b-k15.1.tar

Admittedly, I tested my 5.95.5.3 based build for a couple of weeks before posting it here, the 15.2 updated included updates for a few other components of openelec at the same time, so I'd like to prove if kodi is the cause, or something else

Thanks!

[FadeFx]

There's already a few S905's on the market now, which look interesting to say the least

Havent found an interesting device yet, they all have 1gig of ram, 8gig nand and only pentacore mali 450gpu, thats all a step back from the mxiii-g, except of the 64bit cpuwith also same cpufreq, so nothing to get excited about.

[markthepig]

Hello there
Just tested last version 5.95.5.5 with kodi 15.2. I'm back to 5.95.5.3 with kodi 15.1 because in the last version i have some small sound synch problem. It seemns that the sound is ahead of the video, . On 5.95.5.3 i dont have this problem. Im on the same setup mxiii-g->denon avr->Plasma. Thanks

[wilro_6276]

Hi there wilro
What does this patch actually do? It is releated to playing 23.976 fps smooth when enabling seetings-videos-playback and set ajust display frame rate refresh ?
I took your advice and keep all this settings off. Best playback for me is on ps3 Showtime Media Cente. It's the smotthest playback from all my boxes. I don't know what settings Showtime has.
Anyway thank you for updating the releases, really appreciated.
Yours Mark

Hi Mark,

The patch is actually kodi 15.2 specific, it was in the 15.2rc3 kerber build, but got missed when they upgraded to 15.2 release.

From what I can tell, the amlogic decoder is trying to compensate for the odd frame rate by rounding it up to 24fps when the "adjust display frame rate refresh" is enabled, otherwise, it ramps it up to the current refresh rate (50/60hz) - Now my 25fps shows (PAL), regardless of whether I have this set or not *always* changes the refresh rate to 50hz (I suspect any 30fps video's would likewise force a 60hz refresh rate - Now in the case of PS3/showtime, it has an option to auto switch *only* if the source is 24hz (which it does nicely for the handful of blurays I have in this format), however everything else gets scaled up to 60hz.

I certainly agree the PS3 handles bluray quality files of all sorts better than anything else (except for the vc1 encoded ones - what a pita , however, their size, power requirements, noise & heat are the killers for me (It's HOT down here) - I have 3 of them (one of each generation/size), I've been hacking/customising them for quite a while, but it's hard to justify using them as glorified media playback devices, when they are capable of so much more <g>

The MX3G is a decent unit, I find it's 5Ghz wireless a bit on the weak side, but the 2.4ghz & gigabit lan are excellent - I hope we can iron out the handful of playback quirks before the S805/S812 series are obsoleted - There's already a few S905's on the market now, which look interesting to say the least

[markthepig]

Wow, my timing really is out of whack - The last build was missing the critcal kodi "23.976fps" patch - This new build fixes that & is based on Kamik's original MX3G build, so should be compatible with both the 1G & 2G models:

http://5.189.137.29/Openelec/MX3G/OpenELEC-Amlogic.arm-MX3G-5.95.5.5.tar

"Toothpick" install version:

http://5.189.137.29/Openelec/MX3G/OpenELEC-Amlogic.arm-MX3G-5.95.5.5.zip

Cheers!

Hi there wilro
What does this patch actually do? It is releated to playing 23.976 fps smooth when enabling seetings-videos-playback and set ajust display frame rate refresh ?
I took your advice and keep all this settings off. Best playback for me is on ps3 Showtime Media Cente. It's the smotthest playback from all my boxes. I don't know what settings Showtime has.
Anyway thank you for updating the releases, really appreciated.
Yours Mark

[wilro_6276]

Looks like I jumped the gun with my last release - New build using kodi 15.2 :

http://5.189.137.29/Openelec/MX3G/OpenELEC-Amlogic.arm-MX3G-5.95.5.4.tar

"Toothpick" install version:

http://5.189.137.29/Openelec/MX3G/OpenELEC-Amlogic.arm-MX3G-5.95.5.4.zip

Note: I have only minimally tested this (latest kerber git), & I have NOT tested the "Toothpick" install version at all, but as it's based on kamak's original, I suspect it should be fine

(Oh, only tested on the 2Gig model

Enjoy!

Wow, my timing really is out of whack - The last build was missing the critcal kodi "23.976fps" patch - This new build fixes that & is based on Kamik's original MX3G build, so should be compatible with both the 1G & 2G models:

http://5.189.137.29/Openelec/MX3G/OpenELEC-Amlogic.arm-MX3G-5.95.5.5.tar

"Toothpick" install version:

http://5.189.137.29/Openelec/MX3G/OpenELEC-Amlogic.arm-MX3G-5.95.5.5.zip

Cheers!

[xangt]

@Haba
@wilro_6276

Thank you. I didnt know that vp9 isnt hardware supported.

[Haba]

Hi Haba,

This is my line of thought too, The take home for me is that I'm confident now that I can get a working openelec for any future amlogic based boxes I get - Might not be portable/usable for the slight variant's of the one I'm actually using, but it'll mostly work <g>. Kamik's implementation is more generic/flexible, & more in line with how the rest of Kerber's tree works - My 2 minor tweaks (power off & power off instead of suspend when power button pressed) appear to work fine when applied to Kamik's build, so I'll base my own builds on this going forward (This should also ensure that the 1G model works with my builds)

I think these boxes represent the best bang/buck at the moment, however, 2G model is overkill for a pure openelec environment, so I like the idea of ensuring my build stays compatible with the 1G model

I understand, there really is not much difference other than the ram amount and WiFi chipset. 2GB box has the AP6330 , 1GB box has the AP6181.
xangt VP9 is not supported in hardware by the s812. The S812 does have the more important H.265 hardware support.

[wilro_6276]

already test. all working well. h.265 runs smooth. vp9 with suttering.

Hi Xangt,

Good to know - I had my doubt's about vp9 being usable on these boxes (Don't think the S812 has enough grunt to software decode vp9) - It'd be nice to have hardware decoding support for vp9 (The only boxes I've seen claiming to be able to handle it are the Octa-core cpu boxes, & they do this in software ;( - Looking forward to seeing an Octa-core/64bit amlogic chip (hopefully!) - The RK3368 is the only model I've seen to date, & it has a whole heap of different challenges wrt openelec

[wilro_6276]

Rob,
Thank you for the new toothpick install version. Your efforts are highly appreciated! I noted you're testing on the MXIII-G 2Gig model. I think it's important to stay focused on one quality box.

Hi Haba,

This is my line of thought too, The take home for me is that I'm confident now that I can get a working openelec for any future amlogic based boxes I get - Might not be portable/usable for the slight variant's of the one I'm actually using, but it'll mostly work <g>. Kamik's implementation is more generic/flexible, & more in line with how the rest of Kerber's tree works - My 2 minor tweaks (power off & power off instead of suspend when power button pressed) appear to work fine when applied to Kamik's build, so I'll base my own builds on this going forward (This should also ensure that the 1G model works with my builds)

I think these boxes represent the best bang/buck at the moment, however, 2G model is overkill for a pure openelec environment, so I like the idea of ensuring my build stays compatible with the 1G model