Kodi Community Forum
Zotac IONITX-A Atom N330 Nvidia Ion? - Printable Version

+- Kodi Community Forum (https://forum.kodi.tv)
+-- Forum: Discussions (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=222)
+--- Forum: Hardware (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=112)
+--- Thread: Zotac IONITX-A Atom N330 Nvidia Ion? (/showthread.php?tid=52365)

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

- Evanrich - 2009-08-02

just wanted to chime my 2 cents in since i just built my system yesterday (had to wait over a month for amazon to get them in stock)

Zotac ION A-U board, M350 case, 2GB PC6400 Ram 4.4.4.12 @2.1 v. I've tried running the atom at 2.06 Ghz, but it doesn't seem to make a big difference. I'm also using the 9.04.1 live disk installed on a 5400Rpm hard drive in the case.

Much like the rest of you, I have no issues with <=720p. using the plug:hdmi / hdmi settings in audio config, i can get audio over hdmi no problem. my only problem is 1080p videos. anything about around 9-11Mb/sec video starts to stutter a little bit. One thing thats odd though, is that at some points where it's 22Mbps, it plays fine (watching transformers now) I know almost nothing about unix so i don't know how to install new builds short of a clean install. The jitter is only once in a while, during heavy motion scenes when the bitrate goes up. I am streaming the videos across a gigabit network from my NAS, but i know its not a problem because XBMC on my windows desktop plays them without a problem, and my sustained transfer rate is around 40-50MB/sec, so no issue there.


My thought is that either the drivers for the chipset/video card need to be updated, or maybe XBMC needs to be optimized...i don't know what else it could be. If people are able to play killa sample, it should take these 9-15Mbps videos no sweat. (cpu usage stays below 30%)


Anyone with a zotac that have no issues playing 1080p care to share your entire north/south bridge setup as well? I'm totally confused by half the options in there. I love my zotac, but I'd really like to have smooth 1080p on my tv at all times.

Thanks for any tips anyone comes up with.

Actually one last thing: is there some way to change the buffers used like you could in the windows version? that might solve the 1080p issue, but i really dont know.

- snoxbox - 2009-08-03

Evanrich Wrote:I know almost nothing about unix so i don't know how to install new builds short of a clean install. The jitter is only once in a while, during heavy motion scenes when the bitrate goes up.

Thanks for any tips anyone comes up with.

Hate to tell you, but you're going to have to learn how to upgrade. There's a thread in the linux subforums called 'how to upgrade xbmc live' or something. I also, have no linux experience. I followed a combination of that and the XBMCBuntu guide, and got everything updated after a few tries.

You definitely need to upgrade. 9.4.01 does not run smoothly. You'll need to upgrade XBMC, and also the NVidia drivers.

- Geekzilla - 2009-08-03

My tips for ION success
1> Install xbmc from Nvidia upgraded XBMC Live 9.04.1 xbmc.zip link posted on item 3 here:
2> Add xorg to config folder
2.5> Putty this before starting step 3> sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 64234534
3> Upgrade xbmc
4> Change video render method to VDPAU and enable adjust refresh rate in XBMC Settings, Video, Video Player...

- Evanrich - 2009-08-03

hey wanted to post an update. I was reading around about using dual channel instead of single channel memory, so i added a 2nd stick of 2GB ram to my system, and 1080p videos seem to play perfect now. I was reading somewhere that systems that rely on integrated graphics (IGP) rely more on memory bandwidth than systems with addon cards, and it seems to support the theory. I know it wasn't a problem of quantity of memory, because with 2GB before, I was only using about 1gb of it. I watched a 1080p copy of watchmen tonight and there were no issues at all. I'll try it on transformers tomorrow night, which i was watching before and had some stuttering. Just thought I'd post as an FYI, that it does seem to help.

MCE remote and wake from S3 - micantox - 2009-08-03

vdrfan Wrote:FYI, disabling autosuspending on the kernel line via
'usbcore.autosuspend=-1' did the trick here. Using 2.6.31 on my ionitx-a. For more
information see http://lwn.net/Articles/253587/

Thanks vdrfan!!! Did the trick here as well (plain jaunty installation, with the standard kernel
2.6.28-13-generic). Now I have another small problem: I have a MCE USB remote receiver and
remote controller. I successfully take my platform to the S3 state by pressing the power button on my
remote, but I cannot make it wake-up through the same button. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

- mkortstiege - 2009-08-03

You have to enable it in /proc/acpi/wakeup. See http://lars.werner.no/?p=177 (thanks!) for more information.

- fdrzrich - 2009-08-03

Evanrich Wrote:hey wanted to post an update. I was reading around about using dual channel instead of single channel memory, so i added a 2nd stick of 2GB ram to my system, and 1080p videos seem to play perfect now. I was reading somewhere that systems that rely on integrated graphics (IGP) rely more on memory bandwidth than systems with addon cards, and it seems to support the theory. I know it wasn't a problem of quantity of memory, because with 2GB before, I was only using about 1gb of it. I watched a 1080p copy of watchmen tonight and there were no issues at all. I'll try it on transformers tomorrow night, which i was watching before and had some stuttering. Just thought I'd post as an FYI, that it does seem to help.

Had you tried changing the video memory allocation in the bios from 256mb to 512mb? That is all I had to do on my Asrock Ion 330, I can play 1080p fine. (Guess might be a bit late now you have 4gb installed!)

- este - 2009-08-03

micantox Wrote:Thanks vdrfan!!! Did the trick here as well (plain jaunty installation, with the standard kernel
2.6.28-13-generic). Now I have another small problem: I have a MCE USB remote receiver and
remote controller. I successfully take my platform to the S3 state by pressing the power button on my
remote, but I cannot make it wake-up through the same button. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

If your board is a V1.00 it will not wake from usb because on sleep the power to usb is cut. Its a known issue. A revision of the hardware adds a jumper to enable usb 5v power on sleep.

- Evanrich - 2009-08-03

snoxbox Wrote:Hate to tell you, but you're going to have to learn how to upgrade. There's a thread in the linux subforums called 'how to upgrade xbmc live' or something. I also, have no linux experience. I followed a combination of that and the XBMCBuntu guide, and got everything updated after a few tries.

You definitely need to upgrade. 9.4.01 does not run smoothly. You'll need to upgrade XBMC, and also the NVidia drivers.

I have no problems at all trying to learn, I'm doing so day by day, and I have no qualms about getting my hands dirty. The only thing is that for those of us that don't know anything about linux, we need a little more direction with step by stem proceedures. hell I tried to download and compile a new version of XBMC from the source, but i ran into some trouble, and of course couldn't fix it.

After upgrading to dual channel ram, my 1080ps seem to run find now, but I'd still like to get the latest SVN as Aeon and other skins aren't working. I'll try geekzilla's 4 steps when i get home tonight to see if I can upgrade that way....seeing as how a 9.04.2 or whatever release isn't going to come any time soon.

- snoxbox - 2009-08-04

Evanrich Wrote:I have no problems at all trying to learn, I'm doing so day by day, and I have no qualms about getting my hands dirty. The only thing is that for those of us that don't know anything about linux, we need a little more direction with step by stem proceedures. hell I tried to download and compile a new version of XBMC from the source, but i ran into some trouble, and of course couldn't fix it.

I'm in the same boat as you. I had never used Linux until about 2 weeks ago, and I haven't spent a lot of time learning it. As I mentioned, I followed a guide in the linux forums. I was nice enough to search for it for you:

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=54350

Just do steps 1 - 4.

- Evanrich - 2009-08-04

fdrzrich Wrote:Had you tried changing the video memory allocation in the bios from 256mb to 512mb? That is all I had to do on my Asrock Ion 330, I can play 1080p fine. (Guess might be a bit late now you have 4gb installed!)

I did change the video ram to 512, but even with that, i would get a little jittering maybe once or twice every 30-45 seconds...it wasn't SUPER noticeable, but it was just enough to make you start to get irritated. it seems to be fine now, but i'd still like a definitive how to on how to get xbmc live updated, as two of the ways mentioned don't seem to work right, and the most recent svn is like 1500 builds above the xbm live 9.04.1 image, plus there are new nvidia drivers out too.

- Evanrich - 2009-08-04

snoxbox Wrote:I'm in the same boat as you. I had never used Linux until about 2 weeks ago, and I haven't spent a lot of time learning it. As I mentioned, I followed a guide in the linux forums. I was nice enough to search for it for you:

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=54350

Just do steps 1 - 4.

and this is why this forum should have rep points, beause I'd give you a big warm fuzzy rep point for helping! I'm going to go try this, will let you know if it works!...also I've never even seen that post, guess i didn't look hard enough because i had tried searching for how to update before.

OMFG it worked :-) Now at pre-9.10 r21936 compiled Aug 3 2009... you rock! Time to go update nvidia drivers using this working guide: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=55543&page=2

- micantox - 2009-08-04

este Wrote:If your board is a V1.00 it will not wake from usb because on sleep the power to usb is cut. Its a known issue. A revision of the hardware adds a jumper to enable usb 5v power on sleep.

I actually was aware of this problem: I'm working with a newer revision (the jumper is there).

vdrfan Wrote:You have to enable it in /proc/acpi/wakeup. See http://lars.werner.no/?p=177 (thanks!) for more information.

Ok, I've gone through this process, but I probably miss something. In order to be sure, I loaded the "optimal default" values within the bios of the ITX-A, but it is still in "non-working" conditions.

This is the output of /proc/acpi/wakeup, after your suggested modifications:

Code:
Device    S-state      Status   Sysfs node
PS2K      S4     disabled  pnp:00:09
SMB0      S4     disabled  pci:0000:00:03.2
USB0      S4     enabled   pci:0000:00:04.0
USB2      S4     enabled   pci:0000:00:04.1
US15      S4     disabled  pci:0000:00:06.0
US12      S4     disabled  pci:0000:00:06.1
NMAC      S5     disabled  pci:0000:00:0a.0
PBB0      S4     disabled  pci:0000:00:09.0
HDAC      S4     disabled  pci:0000:00:08.0
XVR0      S4     disabled  pci:0000:00:0c.0
XVR1      S4     disabled  
P0P5      S4     disabled  
P0P6      S4     disabled  pci:0000:00:15.0
P0P7      S4     disabled  pci:0000:00:16.0
P0P8      S4     disabled  pci:0000:00:17.0
P0P9      S4     disabled  pci:0000:00:18.0
PWRB      S4    *enabled

Output of lspci [usb section]:

Code:
00:04.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP79 OHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev b1)
00:04.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP79 EHCI USB 2.0 Controller (rev b1)
00:06.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP79 OHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev b1)
00:06.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP79 EHCI USB 2.0 Controller (rev b1)

Output of lsusb:

Code:
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 195d:7002 Itron Technology iONE Libra-Q11 IR remote
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 152d:2338 JMicron Technology Corp. / JMicron USA Technology Corp. JM20337 Hi-Speed USB to SATA & PATA Combo Bridge
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

Any hints are, as always, really appreciated!

- mkortstiege - 2009-08-04

Had a similar issue while enabling all USB devices to wake-up from S4. Try to enable it just for the pci-id that belongs to your remote.

- micantox - 2009-08-04

vdrfan Wrote:Had a similar issue while enabling all USB devices to wake-up from S4. Try to enable it just for the pci-id that belongs to your remote.

Can't make it work. Tried enabling just one at a time. By the way, the suspend-wakeup procedure should work soon after the echo command, with no further actions, right?
I'm asking this because the /proc/acpi/wakeup gets back to its original contents (with both USB devices disabled) upon each reboot.