Linux [SOLVED] XBMCbuntu - Impossible to change refresh rate?
#1
Hi all. I have a question about the possibility to change your refresh rate and/or resolution from within XBMC.

I have modified my xorg.conf a while back to include modelines. This to try to eliminate the judder i experienced on most of my movies. This worked (almost) perfectly. I could always switch between these different refresh rates in the settings menu. Also the option "Adjust display refresh rate to match video" worked perfect.

Since i updated to Eden this changed. I use the same xorg.conf file as before, but within XBMC the only refresh rate that i can select is "0.00". I can't change this, no matter what i do. Even if i completely remove the xorg.conf file and reboot, the only choice is "0.00", which according to my TV is 60 Hz.

Problem is that the movies now all play on the same refresh rate, this never changes no matter what the refresh rate of the video i play is. Also, the "Adjust display refresh rate to match video" doesn't work anymore. Result is that almost all videos i play stutter again...

Before i post a log or a copy of my xorg.conf i thought i'll ask if this is a known problem or maybe even intended. And if there is something i can do to fix this. Big Grin

Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks!
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#2
I didn't update to Eden - mine was a fresh Eden install (new XBMC user) - but I see the same problem. The refresh rate in prefs only shows "0.00" and my receiver only ever gets a 1080p/60 signal over DVI/HDMI (adapter from video card to receiver). I have the "Adjust display refresh rate to match video" option on as well and, while the frames/second according to the debug display is synced to whatever the video is (24hz), the signal out never changes.

My install is not XBMCbuntu, though. I just installed the Eden version available now through the 12.04 Precise repositories since this was a pre-existing system.
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#3
(2012-04-23, 09:21)hfjfgd46 Wrote: -bump-Image

Thanks Big Grin

(2012-04-23, 02:00)Sbrocket Wrote: I didn't update to Eden - mine was a fresh Eden install (new XBMC user) - but I see the same problem. The refresh rate in prefs only shows "0.00" and my receiver only ever gets a 1080p/60 signal over DVI/HDMI (adapter from video card to receiver). I have the "Adjust display refresh rate to match video" option on as well and, while the frames/second according to the debug display is synced to whatever the video is (24hz), the signal out never changes.

My install is not XBMCbuntu, though. I just installed the Eden version available now through the 12.04 Precise repositories since this was a pre-existing system.

OK so it's nice to know i'm not the only one Wink. What i find really weird is the fact that "0.00" is the ONLY refresh rate i can select. And if there is only one possible option to select, the setting should (if i'm not mistaken) be removed from the settings menu altogether.

In the mean time i've tried many different things, all without the desired result. It's really starting to bother me because most movies i play now have judder or ghosting. Maybe i will have to reinstall, but i'd prefer to find a solution. Not only because reinstalling is in my view averting the problem, but also because i just reinstalled everything around the time Eden came out. But it's no problem if i have to ofc. Wink

Any pro out there who can point us in the right direction?

I'll post my logs and xorg.conf later today. Gotta go to work first and make some money to improve my HTPC set... Laugh

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#4
Hi all.

Here's the information and the logs i promised to post earlier today. This is the first time i do this, so i hope i post the correct stuff. If not, please let me know.

Platform: Linux (Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, 3.2.0-23-generic-pae i686). Built on Apr 7 2012
XBMC: XBMCBuntu 11.0 Git:Unknown (downloaded from the website and regularly updated with "apt-get upgrade")
Nvidia drivers version 295.40 (Card: GT520)

Default resolution: 1920x1080 60Hz

My xorg.conf: http://pastebin.com/tyM8HwFa
My xbmc.log: http://pastebin.com/gXyN53MY

Any help or advise is greatly appreciated!
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#5
I have the same problem after upgrading from Ubuntu Oneiric to Precise. I'm using the XBMC and nvidia driver from the official Ubuntu repo, which are 11.0~git20120403.ec33f1f+repack1-4 and 295.40, respectively. My X log shows all modes are properly assembled, but XBMC doesn't seem to pick it up.

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#6
Anybody? ... Sad
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#7
A couple of days ago I received an update from Ubuntu for XBMC. It fixed the problem (for me at least).

Also, it never had anything to do with XBMCbuntu. I'm running XBMC standalone on my server/HTPC and use a remote to control it. No DE/WM involved whatsoever.
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#8
And how did you install that update? With apt-get update/upgrade? It's weird that an update resolved it for you. Makes me think it's some sort of bug in a driver or something, but then why aren't more people reporting this?

Can't test it myself anymore though. I decided to reinstall and i hope the problem won't come back.
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#9
Yes, the latest version in the Precise Universe repo is 11.0~git20120423.cd20772-1. So from 3 days ago. Got it through an apt upgrade.
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#10
Actually you should not need to fiddle with your Xorg modelines. Xorg should run pretty well without you needing to add any.

Try this in a terminal on Ubuntu (you can switch between Ubuntu and Xbmc):
Code:
$ DISPLAY=:0.0 xrandr
That will list you the supported resolutions and refresh rates, with an asterisk next to the active one. If all is well you should see 60 Hz, 50 Hz and (if your TV supports it) 24 Hz. Since 60 and 50 are multiples of respectively 30 and 25, you do not need any refresh rates at that frequency; those would be redundant.

If that looks allright, then set Xbmc to match the refresh rate of the display to refresh rate of the material you're displaying, not the other way around. It's somewhere in Video/Playback settings. That way Xbmc will make the TV switch refresh rate automatically when needed. Do this only if your TV supports 24 Hz (60 and 50 Hz aren't usually a problem).
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#11
Yesterday I upgraded my XBMC Eden / 11.10 Ubuntu box to 12.04LTS. This morning I experienced some judder in playback and discovered that in Settings/System/Video output some (fullscreen) options are 'locked'. To be precise; Resolution is locked to 1920x1080 (which is correct, but before I was able to change other resolutions) and Refresh Rate is locked to 0.00.

My xorg.conf does have some custom modelines for my Samsung HDTV, which have been working just fine. Disabling those didn't solve this problem.

In xbmc.log I found some errors:

# cat xbmc.log | grep ERR
10:05:26 T:139932101392256 ERROR: CXRandR::Query - unable to open xrandr xml
10:05:26 T:139932101392256 ERROR: GLX: Same window as before, refreshing context
10:05:29 T:139932101392256 ERROR: CheckDisplayEvents - no display event after 3 seconds

Xorg does not log any errors.

For reference:
xbmc 2:11.0~git20120423.cd20772-1
nvidia-current 295.40-0ubuntu1
linux-image-3.2.0-24-generic 3.2.0-24.37
xorg 1:7.6+12ubuntu1



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#12
@ .:B:.

Thanks for your suggestion, however that never worked for me. For some reason my monitor didn't return the correct EDID values, so i had to manually edit them in an attempt to make the judder disappear. This took some time but i got it working almost perfectly in the end.

I do however wonder why the command "DISPLAY=:0.0 xrandr" returns the message "Can't open display" and not the list of possible refresh rates. I have ALWAYS had this, with all the previous XBMC Live and the current XBMCBuntu version of XBMC. Any ideas on that?

@ daanwillems

I believe the "locking" of resolution and refresh rate has been resolved in one of the recent Ubuntu updates. So if you do a "apt-get update" followed by a "apt-get upgrade" (at own risk) the problem should disappear.

I do find it strange nobody else reported this problem (both end-users and XBMC developers) as it appears to have been a software problem that really did exist for a while. But i'm glad it got resolved... Smile

I will mark this thread as solved.
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#13
(2012-04-28, 14:35)Devaron Wrote: I believe the "locking" of resolution and refresh rate has been resolved in one of the recent Ubuntu updates. So if you do a "apt-get update" followed by a "apt-get upgrade" (at own risk) the problem should disappear.

I am afraid my HTPC has been completely upgraded but the issue still remains.

It would be helpful if you can provide a link to the related Ubuntu bug reports covering the mentioned issues.

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#14
Hmmm ... weird ...

Can't help you with the bug reports because i never found any! Now maybe i didn't look good enough, or not in the right places, but the few reactions i got in this thread is the only "proof" i got that this bug indeed exists. That's the weird thing.

I THINK the update of the nvidia driver has resolved the problem for me. Don't know if you have an nvidia videocard, but can you do a "sudo cat /proc/driver/nvidia/version" to see which version of this driver you have installed? My driver version is 295.40.
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#15
I am running Nvidia GT215 [GeForce GT 240] (rev a2) and driver 295.40 as well, the one that came with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. I also tried 295.33, but it had the same issue.

Meanwhile I learned that the problem is actually related to the xserver coming with 12.04 and the way it offers available display resolution/refresh rates through xrandr. For nvidia cards it is currently required to have "DynamicTwinView" "false" in xorg.conf to have a sane output. Then again, XBMC still doesn't pick up the proper values, so it requires a fix there too.

Also see:
https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/848
http://trac.xbmc.org/ticket/12799

Best solution is currently to stay away from 12.04 until this stuff is sorted and keep running 11.10 which has a working xserver/xbmc combination.
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[SOLVED] XBMCbuntu - Impossible to change refresh rate?0