[noggin]

If the VPU/MFC in use for the C1 doesn't have good mainline support and requires either a specific forked version of XBMC and the patches aren't pushed back to the mainline version, or worse requires an external player, then XBMC support will be variable.

The demos posted don't show video playback last time I checked - which suggests VPU/MFC integration is still a work in progress. But it is early days

Pretty sure that you are wrong on all accounts there when it comes to the existing AMLogic VPU support in Kodi, as mainline Kodi already have had great support for AMLogic's VPUs on Android and Linux for a long time now,

To be fair I had an IF in there because I wasn't sure that the AMLogic support already in place was suitable for the new SoC. At the time I posted I don't think it was. But have now seen videos that demo it. Others have posted that different AMLogic SoCs need different binary blobs.

[j1nx]

btw, with the last sourcecode releases of amlogic all soc's run on the same binaries.

3.10.x kernel for both m6 and m8. (m3 also released, but we still work on that)
same mali drivers because of that
same gles blobs
same amcodec libs code


changes within the different devices are more in trend of different partition layouts, gpio's, wifi chips, bluetooth etc. Wifi and other drivers are already module based. gpio is difficult and nand layout is hardcoded within the kernel.

still some challenges to work on, but i think amlogic is looking better than i.mx6 at the moment.

[lrusak]

@Irusak, thanks for the update.

You are right. With the Amlogic project and "devices" overlay as it is now, you could just choose which devices to support.

And leave any other devices as "unsupported".

Yes, but how do we pick which devices should be supported and which shouldn't?

btw, with the last sourcecode releases of amlogic all soc's run on the same binaries.

3.10.x kernel for both m6 and m8. (m3 also released, but we still work on that)
same mali drivers because of that
same gles blobs
same amcodec libs code


changes within the different devices are more in trend of different partition layouts, gpio's, wifi chips, bluetooth etc. Wifi and other drivers are already module based. gpio is difficult and nand layout is hardcoded within the kernel.

still some challenges to work on, but i think amlogic is looking better than i.mx6 at the moment.

hmm, this will still need seperate builds for each SOC.

[j1nx]

you are 100% right.

how to pick which ones to support and which not. that is the million dollar question ?

i would say, build all different kernels in one amlogic flashable zip, and based on board ro.product indentifier flash the proper kernel from recovery. the OE system is the same for all.

how todo a similar trick from within the OE update system remains the question.

[illiac4]

So it does support h265? I know it is not implemented into Kodi yet but the support in gpu is there if i have read correctly from spec.

[j1nx]

correct, and with below PR it works.
https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/5533

Don't think it will be Helix tho

EDIT: Don't forget this is a S805, so 1080p HEVC only! If you want 4k you need a S812

[noggin]

Do any current ARM (or x86) boxes support 2160/50p or 2160/60p output with HEVC decoding (i.e. HDMI 2.0 or the nVidia hack of HDMI 1.4 bodged to output the 4:2:0 flavour of 2160/50p or 60p included in HDMI 2.0 that is backwards compatible with HDMI 1.4 bandwidths)?

[j1nx]

The newest Amlogic S812 SoC comes closest,

The latest kernel from Amlogic has these modes for screen output (grabbed from kernel sources);

typedef enum {
TVMODE_480I = 0,
TVMODE_480I_RPT ,
TVMODE_480CVBS,
TVMODE_480P ,
TVMODE_480P_RPT ,
TVMODE_576I ,
TVMODE_576I_RPT ,
TVMODE_576CVBS,
TVMODE_576P ,
TVMODE_576P_RPT ,
TVMODE_720P ,
TVMODE_1080I ,
TVMODE_1080P ,
TVMODE_720P_50HZ ,
TVMODE_1080I_50HZ ,
TVMODE_1080P_50HZ ,
TVMODE_1080P_24HZ ,
TVMODE_4K2K_30HZ ,
TVMODE_4K2K_25HZ ,
TVMODE_4K2K_24HZ ,
TVMODE_4K2K_SMPTE ,
TVMODE_VGA ,
TVMODE_SVGA,
TVMODE_XGA,
TVMODE_SXGA,
TVMODE_MAX
} tvmode_t;


The S812 has HEVC-4K decoding as well

[noggin]

Doesn't seem to include 4K2K at 50Hz or 60Hz which is a pity. That's the format that HEVC 4K test broadcasts (IP and DVB-T2) have been using. SMPTE could be 59.94/60Hz I guess?

Seems a lot of 4K devices are still HDMI 1.4 only.

[j1nx]

Guess so

Like I said S812 comes close, but considering the development speed of those SoC's I think it will not be long before the new Amlogic-M9 (ARM Cortex A5X CPU (64-bit ARMv8), Mali T7XX GPU) will come out. Reckon it will have those modes added to it.

[ronbaby]

I've read through this whole thread, but not being a developer (of either Kodi or OE) myself, a lot of it is greek to me.

So, um, let me just ask the obvious question that, I suspect, many ordinary end-lusers such as myself want the answer to (if possible): Is there any estimate... even a very rough one... as to when official support for Odroid-C1 will show up in some release for either (a) Kodi (on Linux) and/or (b) OpenELEC?

I'd love to just go any buy one of these boards right now, but I'm a bit leary about buying something for which there isn't yet official support for the one and only app I really want to run on the thing, i.e. Kodi.


P.S. Are there important developers (either Kodi or OE) who do not have one of these C1 boards in their hot little hands and who would be able to do more, or faster, if they had boards? If so, maybe we can take up a collection and/or bug the manufacturer.

P.P.S. I am guessing that the Pivos folks probably aren't entirely happy about the arrival of the Odroid-C1, yes?

[Hedda]

U-Boot and all available Linux source code for the ODROID-C1 board have now been released by Hardkernel

http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/12/16/u...-released/
http://odroid.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=en:odroid-c1


And in related news about getting support for AMLogic based devices, WeTek company have now become an official sponsor of both the Kodi/XBMC project and the OpenELEC project

http://openelec.tv/news/21-partners/150-...f-openelec
http://kodi.tv/xbmc-sponsor-page/
http://www.wetekforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19
http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/12/13/w...109-euros/


This hopefully means that both teams will work closer on fixes for optimizations of Kodi and OpenELEC on at least one more AMLogic device, though WeTek Play is based on the old AML8726-MX chipset

http://kodi.wiki/view/WeTek_Play

@Irusak, thanks for the update.

You are right. With the Amlogic project and "devices" overlay as it is now, you could just choose which devices to support.

And leave any other devices as "unsupported".

Yes, but how do we pick which devices should be supported and which shouldn't?

IMHO the OpenELEC team should simply begin by only focusing on specific devices from manufacturers and vendors that agree to partner and actively work with the OpenELEC team and in that process respect the GPL and provide financial support as much as it possibly for these companies. IIRC then OpenELEC is a not-for-profit project made out mostly of hobbyist same as the Kodi project, but even so it might still be nice for OpenELEC team to at least be sponsored by manufacturers and vendors for free devices to developers and its team testers.

If manufacturers and vendors are willing to actively work with the OpenELEC team to both endorse coding on their devices and assist in actual development as well also help commercially pressure AMLogic to be more open source friendly to the Kodi and Linux communities if the future then that will surely benefit all involved either directly or indirectly, and users too in the end.

Then just let third-parties build custom builds of OpenELEC for all other "unsupported" devices until the manufacturers or a vendors for those devices one day maybe become a partner/sponsor too. Users will have to buy supported devices listed on OpenELEC's website if they want good support, or otherwise take a chance on "unsupported" devices and rely on support for those non-cooperating manufacturers or a vendors instead.


Sounds harsh maybe but this way you do not endorse "unsupported" devices from manufacturers and vendors that do not actively support for respect open source project like OpenELEC and Kodi.

So it does support h265? I know it is not implemented into Kodi yet but the support in gpu is there if i have read correctly from spec.

VPU, not GPU. The video engine is usually not integrated into the GPU on embedded devices, instead video decoding/encoding normally have its own processing circuit inside the SoC.

[j1nx]

U-Boot and Linux Source Code for the ODROID-C1 board have now been released

http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/12/16/u...-released/
http://odroid.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=en:odroid-c1


And in related news about getting support for AMLogic based devices, WeTek company have now become an official sponsor of both the Kodi/XBMC project and the OpenELEC project

http://openelec.tv/news/21-partners/150-...f-openelec
http://kodi.tv/xbmc-sponsor-page/
http://www.wetekforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19
http://kodi.wiki/view/WeTek_Play
http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/12/13/w...109-euros/

This hopefully means that both teams will work closer on fixes for optimizations of Kodi and OpenELEC on at least one more AMLogic device.

@Irusak, thanks for the update.

You are right. With the Amlogic project and "devices" overlay as it is now, you could just choose which devices to support.

And leave any other devices as "unsupported".

Yes, but how do we pick which devices should be supported and which shouldn't?

IMHO the OpenELEC team should simply begin by only focusing on specific devices from manufacturers and vendors that agree to partner and actively work with the OpenELEC team and in that process respect the GPL and provide financial support as much as it possibly for these companies. IIRC then OpenELEC is a not-for-profit project made out mostly of hobbyist same as the Kodi project, but even so it might still be nice for OpenELEC team to at least be sponsored by manufacturers and vendors for free devices to developers and its team testers.

If manufacturers and vendors are willing to actively work with the OpenELEC team to both endorse coding on their devices and assist in actual development as well also help commercially pressure AMLogic to be more open source friendly to the Kodi and Linux communities if the future then that will surely benefit all involved either directly or indirectly, and users too in the end.

Then just let third-parties build custom builds of OpenELEC for all other "unsupported" devices until the manufacturers or a vendors for those devices one day maybe become a partner/sponsor too. Users will have to buy supported devices listed on OpenELEC's website if they want good support, or otherwise take a chance on "unsupported" devices and rely on support for those non-cooperating manufacturers or a vendors instead.

Sounds harsh maybe but this way you do not endorse "unsupported" devices from manufacturers and vendors that do not actively support for respect open source project like OpenELEC and Kodi.

So it does support h265? I know it is not implemented into Kodi yet but the support in gpu is there if i have read correctly from spec.

VPU, not GPU. The video engine is usually not integrated into the GPU on embedded devices.

Fully agree with you, however I think the supprot concern from OE devs comes from the fact they need to release a build of every version the make. So for them it would be the best to have a one fits all devices amlogic build instead of for example;

A wetek build, A Hardkernel build, A TLBB build, A Matricom build etc.


The VPU is not opensource, but is properly documentated and working well on all Amlogic Meson SoC's

[dschmelzer]

They sent mine out on the 16th and it arrived today. Any suggestions on where to start?

[ronbaby]

dschmelzer,

I assume that you are talking about the Odroid-C1.

As regards to "where to start", have you already got an SD card (or eMMC module) with Odroid's release of Ubuntu on it? Have you booted that? Has it got Kodi on it? Have you tried running that? Do you have some content, either on your network or on a USB drive hooked up to that? And if so, what happens when you try to play that content?

I personally would really like to know if Odriod's ported version of Kodi does or does not do hardware acceleration of MPEG2 content (e.g. DVD rips). If you have a keyboard attached to your C1, just clicking on the "o" key during playback will bring up a wealth of information about the playback process, including CPU usage (for each of the different cores) and the drop: count. If you can post that info, as it appears while doing playback on some MPEG2 video, that would be greatly appreciated (by me, at least).