Sometimes when I try to play a .mkv file, the H/W+ decoder stops working after 1-5 seconds and MX switches to the S/W decoder. Also, when I want to fast forward in the video, it also switches back to the H/W+ decoder, while working fine before. It varies from DVD quality mkvs to direct BluRay rips with DTS or AC3 sound. I can't use the H/W decoder on mkv files that are streamed from a HTTP url and de S/W decoder works only for the DVD quality ones.
It does not happen to all my videos. If I re-encode them with programs like handbrake, the problem is gone, but so is the quality. Besides it takes loads of time to encode. When downloaded to my tablet or sd card, I can play them fine in H/W mode (S/W audio for the DTS track), but that's not a solution. My network connection is also not a problem. My tablet can handle a 25Mbit/s bitrate on 5GHz mode and up to 1080p is not a problem.
It might be a video/encoding problem, because when I try to fast forward some of these files, I get gray blocks on my screen for a couple of seconds, before it continues, the same as sometimes on my PC. However, the Mediainfo of a working and a broken file look exactly the same.
The source of my mkv files is my WD 3TB NAS so they're being streamed from a local HTTP url. The device I'm trying to play the mkvs on is a Samsung Galaxy Tab P1000 with Android 2.3.6 and MX Player uses the latest custom codes from the site. It's not rooted and I don't think it's possible either at this moment.
Is this a problem with MX player, my device or my video?
Can you post a logcat?
Sent from my SM-G900H using Tapatalk
I've got 4 logs, the first and fourth are from a mkv file that only plays for the first few seconds and then switches to the S/W decoder. The second and third have fast forward issues, after a few times or at the first scroll forward, the H/W+ decoder stops and switches to the S/W decoder. The video also starts over.
Hi,
Got problem with video playback after switching audiotracks. After switching audiotrack - video start to play with breaks and jerks.
If playing without switching or after switching to default track - it`s ok.
Happens with 720p AVI files with AC3 audio (tries many of them).
Device: Digma HDMP 600 (stock software).
Thanks for advance.
How about changing decoder to H/W+ or S/W?
No idea of the specs on a Digma HDMP 600. Sounds like a buffering issue. Try toggling SW audio.
Settings -> Decoder -> SW audio
Audio pass-through is a very important feature on Android media boxes with HDMI and SPDIF ports. As I understand it, this mode is currently supported but only when H/W mode is selected and the software audio decoding option is deselected. I noticed that this somehow causes the flag AUDIO_OUTPUT_FLAG_DIRECT to be set in AudioTrack.cpp which is a very helpful signal to the downstream audio handlers. Kodi also has limited support for audio pass-through, but unfortunately no such signal that I could detect. The SPMC version of Kodi uses the AUDIO_STREAM_VOICE_CALL hack to signal pass-through mode but this can cause problems on boxes that also need to support applications such as Skype.
If I understand everything correctly, then perhaps it would be easy to add an audio pass-through option when using the H/W+ or S/W video decoding modes. The H/W mode may not work with all video streams, and even when it does, some features, such as screen resizing, and screen capturing may be lost.
Yes, what ed35bc wrote is also important for me
Nexus Player (Android TV) updated to Marshmallow (current firmware)
External USB hard drive with 400 videos in shuffle mode
I have various resolution videos, from 720p/60 up to 4k that shuffle in an endless loop
When playing a 4k video on the Nexus Player that was shot on my Galaxy Note 4 natively (no conversion) MX Player always reverts back to SW decoder, but successfully uses HW+ on all other videos. Playback is choppy in SW mode but I can change it manually back to HW+ and it plays smooth. I have the decoder set to HW+ only, with no attempting to use HW or SW if HW+ fails. No matter the setting, it’s ignored and the decoder always reverts back to SW even though the file is played fine with HW+ when I manually change it. Also note that I have ALL codecs checked in settings to use HW+.
This happens with the native decoder or custom codec. I'm pretty sure it's not codec-selection related.
I assume this is a bug?
fbueller said:
Nexus Player (Android TV) updated to Marshmallow (current firmware)
External USB hard drive with 400 videos in shuffle mode
I have various resolution videos, from 720p/60 up to 4k that shuffle in an endless loop
When playing a 4k video on the Nexus Player that was shot on my Galaxy Note 4 natively (no conversion) MX Player always reverts back to SW decoder, but successfully uses HW+ on all other videos. Playback is choppy in SW mode but I can change it manually back to HW+ and it plays smooth. I have the decoder set to HW+ only, with no attempting to use HW or SW if HW+ fails. No matter the setting, it’s ignored and the decoder always reverts back to SW even though the file is played fine with HW+ when I manually change it. Also note that I have ALL codecs checked in settings to use HW+.
This happens with the native decoder or custom codec. I'm pretty sure it's not codec-selection related.
I assume this is a bug?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no such settings which prevents from auto switching to SW. Whatever settings for SW is to set SW as default decider. When H/W & H/W+ fails to play the video, it will try it in SW.
Sent from my SM-G900H using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 04:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:56 PM ----------
fbueller said:
Nexus Player (Android TV) updated to Marshmallow (current firmware)
External USB hard drive with 400 videos in shuffle mode
I have various resolution videos, from 720p/60 up to 4k that shuffle in an endless loop
When playing a 4k video on the Nexus Player that was shot on my Galaxy Note 4 natively (no conversion) MX Player always reverts back to SW decoder, but successfully uses HW+ on all other videos. Playback is choppy in SW mode but I can change it manually back to HW+ and it plays smooth. I have the decoder set to HW+ only, with no attempting to use HW or SW if HW+ fails. No matter the setting, it’s ignored and the decoder always reverts back to SW even though the file is played fine with HW+ when I manually change it. Also note that I have ALL codecs checked in settings to use HW+.
This happens with the native decoder or custom codec. I'm pretty sure it's not codec-selection related.
I assume this is a bug?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no such settings which prevents from auto switching to SW. Whatever settings for SW is to set SW as default decider. When H/W & H/W+ fails to play the video, it will try it in SW.
Sent from my SM-G900H using Tapatalk
Ok, my setting was to not fallback to SW (misread). But still, it does successfully play with HW+ but still drops to SW. I manually have to switch it back to HW+. So the bug would be that it doesn't recognize a successful decode with HW+ even though it works well. So now what?
fbueller said:
Ok, my setting was to not fallback to SW (misread). But still, it does successfully play with HW+ but still drops to SW. I manually have to switch it back to HW+. So the bug would be that it doesn't recognize a successful decode with HW+ even though it works well. So now what?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure that you have enabled H/W+ enabled & under H/W+ codecs the codec used in the video is enabled. For example h.264 Hi10P is disabled by default.
If the problem still persists try to enable H/W+ dexoder (Local) & Try HW decoder options. It will force the player to start on H/W+. When it fails it will try H/W. Then only it will try SW.
If none of the solutions works, kindly post the logs here.
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ktsamy said:
Make sure that you have enabled H/W+ enabled & under H/W+ codecs the codec used in the video is enabled. For example h.264 Hi10P is disabled by default.
If the problem still persists try to enable H/W+ dexoder (Local) & Try HW decoder options. It will force the player to start on H/W+. When it fails it will try H/W. Then only it will try SW.
If none of the solutions works, kindly post the logs here.
Sent from my SM-G900H using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have all codecs checked, so that's not an issue. I also have the local HW+ options all checked. It does try HW+, then fails, then moves to SW. I can see it changing in the title bar. But once it's on SW I can manually change it back to HW+ and it plays beautifully.
How do I get the logs? Happy to post them.
fbueller said:
I have all codecs checked, so that's not an issue. I also have the local HW+ options all checked. It does try HW+, then fails, then moves to SW. I can see it changing in the title bar. But once it's on SW I can manually change it back to HW+ and it plays beautifully.
How do I get the logs? Happy to post them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a sticky topic about how to collect the logs & report the bugs.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2843144
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fbueller said:
I have all codecs checked, so that's not an issue. I also have the local HW+ options all checked. It does try HW+, then fails, then moves to SW. I can see it changing in the title bar. But once it's on SW I can manually change it back to HW+ and it plays beautifully.
How do I get the logs? Happy to post them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great, thanks for the link. Stand by.
v1.10.17 - custom codec installed
Firestick 4K
Fire TV 2
I have several fire devices, including a FTV2 and the new 4K stick.
While testing the new 4K stick, I found several issues, first is only on the new stick, 2nd is on both devices.
Hopefully you guys can help me out, I have spent 2 evenings already and still not resolved.
1) Random switching from HW to HW+ to SW
During playback of many video's, including tv episodes, the video starts playing in HW mode, runs smooth. Then at random times it switched to HW+, usually with black reloading screen in between, then later it switches to SW stating HW+ not supported - and stays in SW modus. In SW it seems OK-ish, but sometimes see skipping, lag etc. that is not present in HW(+) decoding.
a) If it starts playing OK, then why does it need to switch to other modes? If it works then i dont understand why that happens
b) The older FTV2 does not have this issue, I have never seen this before. It starts with HW or HW+ and stays that way, never any issues in this regard. The new stick hardware codec support is even better than the older FTV2.
2) No audio on many streams
I found that many streams starts in HW modus, with no audio at all. It stays that way if I let it run.
If I switch it to HW+, it does have audio, but out-of-sync.
Also, after a while it switches back to HW or sometimes SW.
a) why does it choose HW, not HW+?
b) why out of sync in HW+?
c) Why does it switch back to HW or SW, if it working (out-of-sync)
d) Installed custom-codec all-in-one, did not solve it
-------------------------------
I have also tried several other players, to some success. But they have their own issues, like buffering, laggy playback, stutter when FWD etc.
So I need to get this working, there are no real alternatives
I have done some extra testing. I now got it all working on my FTV2, with an older version 1.9.11 (+compatible codec pack).
I also set HW+ as default for network streams. I have tested several video's, x264/x265, dts/ac3 they seem to all work and keep working OK. Usually they stay in HW+ modus until the end and all smooth.
I couldnt find the older version, so I tried the latest MX 1.10.25, with latest codec pack. At first, it was working...but later when watchin an episode it gave me all sorts of trouble:
- blocking issues
- streams stops
- stream does not start again after trying new
- switch from HW+ to SW
- cant switch manually to HW+, gives error HW+ not supported
So weird, especially since it is working fine on the older FTV2.
Anyway, will try to get the older version and see if that helps.
timtoolman2k11 said:
I have done some extra testing. I now got it all working on my FTV2, with an older version 1.9.11 (+compatible codec pack).
I also set HW+ as default for network streams. I have tested several video's, x264/x265, dts/ac3 they seem to all work and keep working OK. Usually they stay in HW+ modus until the end and all smooth.
I couldnt find the older version, so I tried the latest MX 1.10.25, with latest codec pack. At first, it was working...but later when watchin an episode it gave me all sorts of trouble:
- blocking issues
- streams stops
- stream does not start again after trying new
- switch from HW+ to SW
- cant switch manually to HW+, gives error HW+ not supported
So weird, especially since it is working fine on the older FTV2.
Anyway, will try to get the older version and see if that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In general, It will automatically try the next decoder when the playback has failed before completion of the file. It is an intended behaviour since 1.8.x. Kindly collect the bug report from the latest version immediately after the issues. It will help us to understand better.
Thanks for your reply. I will try to get the report next time.
In meantime I have tested with exact same (old) version, 1.9.11 + codec pack on fire stick 4K.
I had set HW+ as default for network, same as on the FTV2.
So basically, exactly same set-up, same streams, but on newer hardware.
At first it seemed ok, however:
- setting HW+ as default, at some streams, I cannot FWD, it just jumps back to beginning
- on tv episodes, it starts with HW+, then jumps to HW for some reason (no change in audio or video) - does not happen on FTV2
- on certain movies, it starts with audio on HW+, then jumps to HW modus without audio, makes no sense - does not happen on FTV2
- on movies with multiple audio tracks, in HW modus it plays just one track , cannot switch to other track, stuck in commentary track. same stream in HW+ modus has the main track selected and playing.
All in all very weird, never had so many issues. I just installed it and it would work. What troubles me is that I now have a working FTV2 setup, ubt exact setup does not work on the Fire stick 4K. Very frustrating.
I also found that HDR playback is very dull, very dim, not bright at all. So staying on old version is ok up until 1080P. 4K+HDR is not working ok, but will be probably be fixed in newer version.
I will keep the FTV2 at the now working setup.
I wil re-install latest mx and codec pack on 4K stick and test again.
If I encounter errors, I will try to post bug report. Hopefully that will help the devs to fix this. It seems it is not really liking the new Fire stick hardware for some reason.
Ok. Did some testing again. Here my results + logs.
- Fire 4K Stick
- MX 1.10.25 (default settings)
- codec pack: https://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4656301&d=1543696913
(from a post saying that it worked perfectly on ac3, while another didnt)
- 6 different network streams
---------------------------------
1. 720P X264 - single channel audio (stereo i think)
- starts in HW+
- stays in HW+
- FFWD OK
- keeps playing OK
2. 1080P X264 - multichannel 5.1 audio
- starts in HW
- commentary track on - cannot switch to other tracks
- FFWD not working OK
After a short while:
- restarts video in HW+
- audio main channel on
Very short after:
- switched to SW
- no audio
- choppy playback
Log: report_2018-12-03_194334.zip
-------------------------------------
3. 4K X265 stream
- MX crashes directly after start
- Starting 2nd time, MX starts playing in HW+
- Audio/video OK
- FFWD OK
- Keeps playing ok
Log: report_2018-12-03_194948.zip
-------------------------------------------
4. 1080P X264 stream
- starts in HW
- No audio
- FFWD not working OK
After short while:
- restart in HW+
- audio not starting right away, after about 10s it starts (but sync)
- FFWD OK
- keeps playing OK
5. HD 5.1 audio
- starts in HW
- no audio
- FFWD not working
After short while:
- restart in HW+
- audio working
- FFWD working
- keeps playing OK
Log: report_2018-12-03_200011.zip
--------------------------------------
6. 720P X264 - stereo
- starts in HW
- No audio
Shortly after playing:
- switch to HW+
- audio working
Very short after:
- Switch to SW
- Choppy playback
Log: report_2018-12-03_200412.zip
---------------------------------------------
My conclusions so far:
- Stream 1 starts in HW+, keeps playing OK, no issues
- Stream 4 & 5 should be fixed by setting HW+ default for network streams.
(except for the small delay in start of audio of 4, but that is ok)
- Stream 2 & 6, can partially be fixed by HW+ default, but not the switch to SW
- Stream 3: crash is not OK, but after 2nd try it works OK
- I dont understand why some streams start in HW+, while other start in HW then later switch to HW+
This is now keeping me from using my stick. While on my old FTV2, with old MX it seems to all work just fine.
Seems like it is not liking the new 4K stick hardware / does not seem to see the hardware decoding abilities - which are matching and surpassing the old FTV2.
Hopefully my testing and logs can help you guys to fix these issues. - if fixed it will be an instant Pro buy for me thats for sure!
I have tried other players, but they all have their own issues - and not the level of support of MX devs.
So I will now sit back and wait for the fixes to come on.
Ofcourse I am happy to test again to verify correct workings after updates.
timtoolman2k11 said:
My conclusions so far:
- Stream 1 starts in HW+, keeps playing OK, no issues
- Stream 4 & 5 should be fixed by setting HW+ default for network streams.
(except for the small delay in start of audio of 4, but that is ok)
- Stream 2 & 6, can partially be fixed by HW+ default, but not the switch to SW
- Stream 3: crash is not OK, but after 2nd try it works OK
- I dont understand why some streams start in HW+, while other start in HW then later switch to HW+
This is now keeping me from using my stick. While on my old FTV2, with old MX it seems to all work just fine.
Seems like it is not liking the new 4K stick hardware / does not seem to see the hardware decoding abilities - which are matching and surpassing the old FTV2.
Hopefully my testing and logs can help you guys to fix these issues. - if fixed it will be an instant Pro buy for me thats for sure!
I have tried other players, but they all have their own issues - and not the level of support of MX devs.
So I will now sit back and wait for the fixes to come on.
Ofcourse I am happy to test again to verify correct workings after updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The HW decoder directly uses the android mediaplayer framework implemented on the device. So, most of the issues on HW decoder might be caused by the firmware itself. It looks like Amazon has heavily modified the android mediaplayer and media codec frameworks or its implementation has issues. According to the logs, the media server process ( a system process) which plays a vital role in hardware accelerated playbacks (HW & HW+) has died in the midway. So, the player has encountered the issues and switched to the next decoder. So, MX Player doesn't have much scopes for the improvement on this issue.
Wow really? That would mean everyone with this new device should have these issues. That has not been reported anywhere. All praise for this stick. Or am i the only one to have a faulty one? Very odd.
I installed MX fresh out of the box. I can try to do a reset and re-install. If that doesnt work, then I guess I have to return it.
Is there really nothing you can do to fix this? You are on amazon store as well, right? Then I guess it should work, but it currently doesnt.
Ok, did a reset of the stick, only installed bare minimum for testing.
Now, it seems to work ok !
I guess something was messed up causing the media server issues. Don't know what, maybe some other apps I installed.
Yes, still some streams start in HW, with no audio or wrong audio.
However, I have set HW+ as default - so that is fixed.
I have watched several streams last night, they started in HW+ and kept playing in HW+, all working fine. No fallbacks to SW.
The only issue I have now is the crash on some 4K streams on first play still happens. After 2nd try it works fine. Not a biggie, still would be good if this is fixed.
timtoolman2k11 said:
Ok, did a reset of the stick, only installed bare minimum for testing.
The only issue I have now is the crash on some 4K streams on first play still happens. After 2nd try it works fine. Not a biggie, still would be good if this is fixed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you please collect the bug report immediately after the crash?
In your previous bug report, the logs were so limited. Looks amazon has set the log buffer size to the minimum. If it possible, enable the developer option and increase the log buffer side.