[cank]

I'm using this version http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid...4+alpha%22 and had trouble with tearing and high cpu usage so I tried several guides to update the catalyst driver and each time had to do a clean install to get xbmc to work again:

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=116996
http://youresuchageek.blogspot.fr/2012/0...linux.html
http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Ubuntu_...tion_Guide

I would remove old version of fglrx (did I need to do this with the version of xbmcbuntu that I have?) then follow all the steps. With the first and second guide I could never get amd config to work (amdconfig: command not found). And I can't log into xbmc because the 3d hardware acceleration drivers can't be found(I think thats what it says)
So I did some more searching and found the third guide. This had more trouble soothing tips to help sort some things out but now I can't even log into ubuntu or xbmc.

I get this error when I Ctrl-Alt-F1 into a terminal
/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/gtk-2.0/gtk/--init--.py:57: gtk warning: could not open display warnings. warn(str(e), -gtk.warning)
Error: unable to open display
FEH.py: cannot connect to X server

I have not used this guide yet but that will be next if I can't get this to work:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid...pid1138272

So a few questions:
Is it better to use something other than the prebuilt [XBMCbuntu 12.04 alpha release] with pre-Frodo, AudioEngine and XvBA backend?
What drivers do I need to re-install to log back into xbmc from ubuntu when I get the message that 'xbmc needs hardware accelerated OpenGL rendering?
How can I get amdconfig working?
Will updating the driver actually help tearing and high CPU usage?
How else can I get CPU usage lower? (other than Dirtyregions because that does not help much)

Why is this so hard to get working? I'm thinking I would be better off with a lower end GeForce 210 card, any thoughts? I don't want to spend more than $50 but would rather not because I want to buy a silent fan for my CPU as everything else in my case is whisper quiet and when the CPU usage runs high the fan gets rather annoying to me(and the wife).

My hardware is:
AMD Phenom II black
Gigabit GA-MA785GPM-UD2H with on board ATI Radeon HD 4200 Graphics
4 GB Ram

[fritsch]

@cank:
Just follow one of the howtos you linked (not the on to wiki.cchtml)
It will work out great.

I cannot name the reason why it is that difficult. Biggest problem is, that there is currently no working support for your graphics card in xbmc mainline. Therefore you have to use a specific PPA.

And as tipp: Start http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=116996 from a Ubuntu Quantal minimal iso. This will save you from installing anything additional and installing fglrx is only: sudo apt-get install fglrx as the howto states. (Reason: only working for HDXXX, with X > 4, so at least HD5000 is required).

If you want further information, join #xbmc-xvba on freenode.

Update: Wait. Your Graphics card is not supported by Ubuntu Quantal anymore. You need to start with a precise Installation mini.iso and install the Legacy driver. You linked that one yourself. It links to a post written by me.

[atltrickster]

@cank:
I have a RadeonHD 4800 card as well and share your frustration!! Thankfully I was able to get things up and running after waaaay too many hours and OS reinstalls. To make things easier on you, the commands to use for getting the driver installed can be found below. They were taken from this post but I've cleaned things up a bit to make it easier to understand.

0. Install the dependencies you need to build fglrx-legacy (libc6-i386 is only needed on 64 bit systems):

Code:

sudo apt-get install dh-make dh-modaliases execstack libqtgui4 build-essential libc6-i386

1. Remove any graphics drivers that are leftover on your system. Unless you have nvidia hardware, leave the nvidia part in the command as I discovered some packages had found their way on to my system (despite my not having installed them) and interfered with the ATI stuff until removed.

Code:

sudo apt-get remove fglrx* nvidia*

2. Download and extract the legacy drivers.

Code:

wget http://www2.ati.com/drivers/legacy/12-6/amd-driver-installer-12.6-legacy-x86.x86_64.zip
unzip amd-driver-installer-12.6-legacy-x86.x86_64.zip

3. Build and install the drivers. (They are not compatible with Ubuntu 12.10 (Quetzal) as of 21 Oct 2012.)

Code:

sudo sh amd-driver-installer-12.6-legacy-x86.x86_64.run --buildandinstallpkg

4. Stop the xserver via terminal. (Press Ctrl+Alt+F1 to load a terminal interface if need be)

Code:

sudo service lightdm stop

5. Configure the drivers as outlined in the guides that you referenced, reboot, and continue with the instructions from there.

Code:

sudo aticonfig --initial -f
sudo aticonfig --vs=on
sudo aticonfig --set-pcs-u32=MCIL,HWUVD_H264Level51Support,1
sudo reboot

Hope this helps!

EDIT: Revised instructions to account for those that have lightdm desktop manager installed.

[fritsch]

@atltrickster:
Make sure, that absolutely no xserver is running when you do the 5. command. If you follow the howto you linked - you see that i wrote this as the first command. This one get lost during your cleanup :p

If xserver is still up those commands won't be saved.

so:

Code:

sudo service lightdm stop

It would be nice, if you could add it to the post above, as this was a major problem users ran into, when they tried to playback Level51 Content.

[atltrickster]

@atltrickster:
Make sure, that absolutely no xserver is running when you do the 5. command. If you follow the howto you linked - you see that i wrote this as the first command. This one get lost during your cleanup :p

Post has been updated accordingly Thanks for the suggestion!

[cank]

So just that I'm clear, I can use the pre frodo alpha build of xbmcbuntu(or I should be able to)? Or should I install Ubuntu then xbmc on top of that?

I went ahead and did a fresh install and am about to try again. I did notice I had a Nvidia driver installed so I will make sure I get rid of that too before I start.

And yes, I did try to use the Legacy driver since my chip is older and that version of Ubuntu is Precise.

[cank]

@cank:
I have a RadeonHD 4800 card as well and share your frustration!! Thankfully I was able to get things up and running after waaaay too many hours and OS reinstalls. To make things easier on you, the commands to use for getting the driver installed can be found below. They were taken from this post but I've cleaned things up a bit to make it easier to understand.

Thank you so much. That worked the first time!!!
I gues maybe it was the Nvidia driver xbmcbuntu installed.

I was really excited the first time I logged into xbmc and the CPU ussage was almost nil but after logging out then back in, it has jumped back up to 100% on one core BUT tearing is gone!

Why is it that it could be low then jump back up?

[wsnipex]

So just that I'm clear, I can use the pre frodo alpha build of xbmcbuntu(or I should be able to)? Or should I install Ubuntu then xbmc on top of that?

I went ahead and did a fresh install and am about to try again. I did notice I had a Nvidia driver installed so I will make sure I get rid of that too before I start.

And yes, I did try to use the Legacy driver since my chip is older and that version of Ubuntu is Precise.

both works

[fritsch]

@cank:
Make sure you have Vertical Blank Synchronisation activated. This will reduce cpu load in the menus a lot. For perfect playback also: "Adjust Refresh Rate to match video" and "Sync playback to display" with method Video Clock (Drop / Dup).

First setting is under "System -> Video Hardware", the other one under System -> Video -> Playback.

[atltrickster]

@cank:
Glad to hear that it started up on the first try!

Regarding the high level of cpu usage that your machine is encountering, my limited knowledge of lightdm and the XBMC code itself means I can't really tell you why it is doing that. I am seeing the same spike on my machine, however, and it may be attributed to both of us having installed a full Ubuntu distribution on our machines instead of minimal (in my case Xubuntu). Depending on how the preloaded desktop manager is configured to start, there might be additional processes running in the background that wouldn't be otherwise. I don't know for sure though.

Have you enabled the setup options that fritsch recommended? If so, what kind of playback performance are you experiencing? With 4 gigs of ram and a slightly older Gigabyte motherboard than the one you have, video playback stutters (even at lower resolutions) while audio plays flawlessly at 5.1 dts...

@fritsch
Regarding the video playback, have any other users reported a similar experience? I suspect that the legacy code is to blame here but I don't have enough information to troubleshoot...

[cank]

@atltrickster:
Yes, I have the settings that fritsch recommended with no change. I tried dirtyregions 1,2,and 3 with no change. I will try and look at some logs to see if I can find anything.

Also, playback is so much better than before. I would say perfect, but when I change the resolution to 1080 through catalyst, the menu in xbmc is grainy and playback seems to stutter just a little. When I change it back to 720 (which catalyst shows as recommended) it seems flawless. Sound is good too but I am only playing it thru my TV using HDMI. It is nice that I don't have to jump thru hoops to get the sound working like I used to.

Thanks again for the help.

[fritsch]

Can you pastebin:
DISPLAY=:0 /usr/lib/xbmc/xbmc-xrandr

I think your 1080 modes are foobar :-)

And a log while playing something would also be nice. Make sure you have set Deinterlace to Auto and not forcefully enabled.

[cank]

Pastbin for DISPLAY=:0 /usr/lib/xbmc/xbmc-xrandr:
http://pastebin.com/19xS3p8D

Log file for 720:
http://pastebin.com/0PC7t0DC

Log file for 1080:
http://pastebin.com/dxwiBcte

[fritsch]

@cank:
Both look fine (from a first view). Make sure you have Vertical Blank Sync enabled.

1.)
What I see is: You don't have a 23.98hz mode. So for your 1080 movie it uses 24.0 hz which does not perfectly fit. Your 720p modes stay at 60hz, not a good match either, perhaps it seems better in your eyes.

2.)
Please disable VDPAU in the menus, cause you don' t have this hardware.

3.) Try to uncheck: Adjust RefreshRate to match video and Sync Playback to Display. This will force also 60hz on 1080, as with the 720 resolution.

[cank]

Thanks. I did notice the VDPAU error in my log so I disabled that. I will try the others tonight. Is the 23.98hz mode something that would be in the driver or is it just a limitation of the Radeon hd 4200 hardware? Also in my 720 log it looked like when the movie was played it switched to 1080. Is that correct?

I think this weekend I am just going to try and do a clean install of ubuntu precise minimal and follow your guide to see if it's xbmcbuntu that's the problem