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takemehomegrandma
PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 12:46 am 
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I just spotted in the "Efika MX Development Blog" to the right, that a new version of the "Official" Efika MX OS has been released in a new version, and it seems it finally incorporates HW video acceleration! :-)

Not tested it yet myself though, will do it later today...

Blog: http://blog.efikamx.info/2011/09/maveri ... ernel.html

Download: http://www.powerdeveloper.org/platforms/efikamx/linux
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czp
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 1:04 am 
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Downloading it right now! It's a pity, that it did not arrive a day earlier and that I got a very bad cold. Other way I could have demoed it at the local Software Freedom Day conference. HW video acceleration was the most asked feature at previous demos, and now it's finally here!
Thank you!

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Neko
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 1:34 am 
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Quote:
Downloading it right now! It's a pity, that it did not arrive a day earlier and that I got a very bad cold. Other way I could have demoed it at the local Software Freedom Day conference. HW video acceleration was the most asked feature at previous demos, and now it's finally here!
Thank you!
Note that it's JUST video acceleration, and only the basic codecs are supported: MPEG4, H.264 (and VC-1) and MPEG2. There might be another couple in there, and XviD movies will work (along with the commercial kind, but we're not certified so no guarantees) - however, I think DivX 3 movies will explode (since the MS-MPEG DivX3 hack is so old I doubt it will matter). Genesi is licensed to ship anything in the MPEG-LA patent pool (click "Current Pools" on that website) and nothing else.

You are also reliant on the rather crufty demuxers and audio codecs shipped with Maverick - Totem will give you a warning about licensing, and I suggest you follow it to the letter. Freescale have a bunch of binary codecs we could have shipped, but since we cannot split them up as well as we'd like (and in the end, binary stuff that we can't compile is hard for us to validate) the awesome demuxers and the optimized audio codecs aren't there.. sorry.

Some performance optimizations: compile yourself libc-neon from the http://github.com/genesi/imx-userspace git repo, that makes a difference in some areas.. we'll be providing a version of that very soon on the package repository.

If you're using a big screen at a high resolution (above 1280x1024 or so, i.e. you enabled siihdmi.teneighty=1 in your boot.script) then the default mfw_v4lsink sink will cause horrible problems. In this case, you may have to run "gstreamer-properties" and pick "mfw_xvimagesink" to run your video. This is a lot slower though (it should still hit ~30fps nonetheless, but it may have a noticable tear at 1024 pixels if double buffering couldn't be enabled, and this is entirely down to your screen resolution)

There will be no more releases of 2.6.31 nor new Mavericks; it's package updates only from here on in. I'm fighting with the package repo right now, but it will be updated over the weekend..

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takemehomegrandma
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 5:17 am 
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OK, I have now installed it.

Can't open "Ubuntu Software Center". It just say "Starting Ubuntu Software Center" for a couple of sceonds, something appears to be loading, and then it just stops and vanishes.

???
Quote:
Note that it's JUST video acceleration, and only the basic codecs are supported: MPEG4, H.264 (and VC-1) and MPEG2.
Quote:
NOTE: NO audio codecs are included. As we do not license MP3 or AAC formats, your use of these codecs is your own responsibility.. If Totem or another GStreamer capable media player asks you to install new codecs, Genesi is not responsible for the quality of these codecs, and cannot assist users in installation of these codecs.
This is a big disappointment, MP3 and AAC being two of the most widely used formats in the world?! It would be interesting to know how Genesi reasons, regarding this...?

Well, trying to play some video file, I get a requester to install MP3 codec for the audio, and I do. Video plays (very smoothly, and in full screen as well, yippie!), and there is audio, but it sounds like *shit*. Like a constant, sparking-like distortion. Also sounds like crap in music players, but less disturbing.
Quote:
You are also reliant on the rather crufty demuxers and audio codecs shipped with Maverick - Totem will give you a warning about licensing, and I suggest you follow it to the letter. Freescale have a bunch of binary codecs we could have shipped, but since we cannot split them up as well as we'd like (and in the end, binary stuff that we can't compile is hard for us to validate) the awesome demuxers and the optimized audio codecs aren't there.. sorry.
"Sorry", yeah...

So instead of sending out the "awesome demuxers and optimized audio codecs" that *obviously are there*, you send out *nothing*, just because what you have have ready at hand happens to be binary only?

The Efika MX Smartbook has been out for sale for *one year and one month* now, and you *still* haven't been able to provide an OS containing the necessary drivers and software for using all the HW accelerated multimedia features in the i.MX51, only a lot of *talk* about Flash, hardfloat, upcoming HW accelerated drivers, etc, etc, etc. Start delivering Genesi! What is the point of developing new HW like the i.MX53 stuff at all, if you aren't able to provide the OS and SW to make it *usable*? I must say that the SW side seems to be terribly under-prioritized at Genesi, which is a shame...
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acrux
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 8:21 am 
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The Efika MX Smartbook has been out for sale for *one year and one month* now, and you *still* haven't been able to provide an OS containing the necessary drivers and software for using all the HW accelerated multimedia features in the i.MX51, only a lot of *talk* about Flash, hardfloat, upcoming HW accelerated drivers, etc, etc, etc. Start delivering Genesi! What is the point of developing new HW like the i.MX53 stuff at all, if you aren't able to provide the OS and SW to make it *usable*? I must say that the SW side seems to be terribly under-prioritized at Genesi, which is a shame...
i really hope Freescale doesn't destroy, again, the future of their platforms like they did with PowerPC e600 family.
It's quite insane that, instead, nVidia already released hardfp video drivers to developers community for their Tegra2 on TrimSlice (rif.)

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PurpleAlien
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 9:42 am 
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Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2006 2:28 am
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Hi.
Quote:
This is a big disappointment, MP3 and AAC being two of the most widely used formats in the world?! It would be interesting to know how Genesi reasons, regarding this...?
MP3 and AAC can be easily done in software on the mx51 without noticeable performance hit.
The other reason, two words: "License restrictions".
Quote:
... and there is audio, but it sounds like *shit*. Like a constant, sparking-like distortion. Also sounds like crap in music players, but less disturbing.
This has to do with some configuration, not with the lack of hardware audio decoding. My bet is on PulseAudio. Try playing with gstreamer-properties and setting e.g., make sure 'default-sample-rate = 48000' is set in /etc/pulse/daemon.conf.

I don't have a system present here at this time on which to verify this or test. We will try to check this issue out and see what causes this and what the solution is.
Quote:
"Sorry", yeah...

So instead of sending out the "awesome demuxers and optimized audio codecs" that *obviously are there*, you send out *nothing*, just because what you have have ready at hand happens to be binary only?
2 words again: "Licence restrictions". It's not that we don't want to ship them. We can't ship them without having a license, but the license required is prohibitively expensive at this point.
Quote:
What is the point of developing new HW like the i.MX53 stuff at all, if you aren't able to provide the OS and SW to make it *usable*? I must say that the SW side seems to be terribly under-prioritized at Genesi, which is a shame...
MX51 is going away, we can't make new products with it. However, the mx51 and mx53 are similar enough that software developments for the mx53 will benefit the mx51 product range as well.

The more volume we can ship, the more money we will have to get the licences. Many applications which we're dealing with for the MX53 board we're making don't need multimedia.


Johan.

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Director, Software Engineering

Yep, I have a blog... PurpleAlienPlanet
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PurpleAlien
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 9:44 am 
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Quote:
i really hope Freescale doesn't destroy, again, the future of their platforms like they did with PowerPC e600 family.
It's quite insane that, instead, nVidia already released hardfp video drivers to developers community for their Tegra2 on TrimSlice )
We're working on this directly with Freescale. The GL stuff for HardFP is done and there should be a HardFP image available with this soon.
Multimedia stuff will follow.

Johan.

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Director, Software Engineering

Yep, I have a blog... PurpleAlienPlanet
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markos
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 2:59 pm 
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Quote:
We're working on this directly with Freescale. The GL stuff for HardFP is done and there should be a HardFP image available with this soon.
Multimedia stuff will follow.
Proof:
Code:
$ dpkg-architecture -qDEB_BUILD_ARCH && dpkg -l|grep imx
armhf
ii imx-firmware 1.1.0-20110420 Firmware binary package.
ii imx-freescale-eula 11.01.00 Freescale EULA package
ii imx-lib 1.1.1-20110406 Libraries for ipu, vpu and sahara2
ii imx-lib-dev 1.1.1-20110406 Headers for ipu, vpu and sahara2
ii imx-libc-neon 1.0.0-20110617.1 LD_PRELOADed NEON optimized libc functions for ARM cpus
ii imx-udev-rules 1.3.1-20110503 udev rules for devices on Freescale i.MX processors
ii libc2d-imx-dev 2.0.1-20110921 Common 2D acceleration API -- development headers
ii libc2d-z160-imx 2.0.1-20110921 Common 2D acceleration API for Z160 unit -- runtime
ii libc2d-z430-imx 2.0.1-20110921 Common 2D acceleration API for Z430 unit -- runtime
ii libegl1-imx 2.0.1-20110921 EGL native platform graphics interface library for Freescale
ii libegl1-imx-dev 2.0.1-20110921 EGL native platform graphics interface library for Freescale
ii libgles1-imx 2.0.1-20110921 OpenGL|ES 1.x API -- runtime for Freescale i.MX processors
ii libgles1-imx-dev 2.0.1-20110921 OpenGL|ES 1.x API -- runtime for Freescale i.MX processors
ii libgles2-imx 2.0.1-20110921 OpenGL|ES 2.x API -- runtime for Freescale i.MX processors
ii libgles2-imx-dev 2.0.1-20110921 OpenGL|ES 1.x API -- runtime for Freescale i.MX processors
ii libkgsl-imx 2.0.1-20110921 Graphics System Layer Interface Library for i.MX processors
ii libkgsl-imx-dev 2.0.1-20110921 Graphics System Layer Interface Library for i.MX processors
ii libopenvg1-imx 2.0.1-20110921 OpenVG API -- runtime for Freescale i.MX processors
ii libopenvg1-imx-dev 2.0.1-20110921 OpenVG API -- runtime for Freescale i.MX processors
ii x11proto-imxext-dev 2.0.1-20110909 X.Org X server -- i.MX extension
ii xserver-xorg-video-imx 2.0.1-20110909 X.Org X server -- i.MX display driver
Should be uploaded as soon as I finish upgrading the sd card image. Expect the image tomorrow. :)
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Chips
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 01, 2011 4:35 am 
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video decoding was the culprit for slow video playback.
I just installed the September image and tested some video and they played smoothly. It wasn't the case previouly. So it's going into the right direction.

But it looks like sound get easily disturbed (some kind of fly sound), but works from time to time. If some find a solution, i'm interested.
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wschaub
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 1:40 pm 
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Quote:
video decoding was the culprit for slow video playback.
I just installed the September image and tested some video and they played smoothly. It wasn't the case previouly. So it's going into the right direction.

But it looks like sound get easily disturbed (some kind of fly sound), but works from time to time. If some find a solution, i'm interested.
edit /etc/pulse/daemon.conf

change the following line for both smartbook and smarttop machines:
Code:
resample-method = speex-fixed-1
change it to
Code:
resample-method = ffmpeg
On the smartbook only:
Code:
; default-sample-rate = 44100
change it to
Code:
default-sample-rate = 48000
That should improve the audio quality quite a bit.

Hope this helps.
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czp
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 6:36 am 
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Thanks, it improved sound quality a lot, especially in Totem. BTW: Totem seems to be the only working media player when it comes to normal movie files (the rest can only play low resolution, sound still distorted, etc....). But is there any way to playback DVDs with menu with Totem? I simply grabbed most of my DVDs instead of transcoding them...

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wschaub
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 1:21 pm 
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Quote:
Thanks, it improved sound quality a lot, especially in Totem. BTW: Totem seems to be the only working media player when it comes to normal movie files (the rest can only play low resolution, sound still distorted, etc....). But is there any way to playback DVDs with menu with Totem? I simply grabbed most of my DVDs instead of transcoding them...
I have never tried it on the Efika but I would guess if you have an actual DVD drive that is USB you could install libdvdcss and see if it works. I know totem seems to play dvds with menus just fine for me on the PC using that method. I never tried with an Efika though since I have no way to feed DVDs to mine. it might also work mounting a dvd iso but again i have never tried that.
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glitchvern
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 6:44 pm 
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I have two tv's with hdmi. Neither of these will display anything with the September installer. I pressed "Y" on one of them anyway with the hope it might display when the full system was installed. No luck. I reinstalled the July image fine. With the July image one tv has a overscanning problem made slight by reducing the image to a 720x480 resolution, which is fine since this is suppose to be a myth frontend for sd content. The other tv works fine with the July image.

I do not have a serial console. Is there any way I might be able to get the September image working? I really want to use this as a myth frontend and it doesn't work very well as that with the July image. Is there any chance the debian hardfp image would do any better? I don't suppose I could mount the image in a loopback and change some boot parameters somewhere or something simple like that is there? Ditto to installing from sd blind then using the July image as a rescue disk and changing something on the system to get it to boot with a display.
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Chips
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 6:49 am 
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Quote:
Thanks, it improved sound quality a lot,
me too, so that's good.
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Neko
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 6:47 pm 
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Quote:
I have two tv's with hdmi. Neither of these will display anything with the September installer. I pressed "Y" on one of them anyway with the hope it might display when the full system was installed. No luck. I reinstalled the July image fine. With the July image one tv has a overscanning problem made slight by reducing the image to a 720x480 resolution, which is fine since this is suppose to be a myth frontend for sd content. The other tv works fine with the July image.

I do not have a serial console. Is there any way I might be able to get the September image working? I really want to use this as a myth frontend and it doesn't work very well as that with the July image. Is there any chance the debian hardfp image would do any better? I don't suppose I could mount the image in a loopback and change some boot parameters somewhere or something simple like that is there? Ditto to installing from sd blind then using the July image as a rescue disk and changing something on the system to get it to boot with a display.
The September/October images suffer from overly aggressive power management; if the monitor hasn't sent a ReceiverSense event via the HDMI chip by about 5 seconds into boot, the software thinks there's no monitor (but ironically manages to read EDID which by spec is not possible before ReceiverSense has come in).

Previous HDMI driver didn't power manage at all which meant in headless scenarios it'd draw a ridiculous amount of power driving a monitor that wasn't connected. Unfortunately to get HDMI hotplug support to work (i.e. know when you connected the cable :) the power management is a sort of requirement.

We're still tracking the bug. What I think the plan is, is to make the power management only fire during Linux suspend and resume power management functions or when no EDID could be read within a reasonable amount of time. If an EDID is valid then we can keep the chip powered up and this should fix all these problems.

Unfortunately that in itself is a race condition; some monitors take wildly variable amounts of time to respond, so we could wait a very reasonable amount of time (half a second, maybe a full second) and it would still power down if your TV was coming out of standby instead of just swapping inputs. If we don't power down we have a power consumption and heat generation problem.. and on the desktop unit, Linux "suspend" doesn't happen anyway as there is a potential hardware flaw that wakes it immediately.

So yeah, I'm giving it a week to see if we can fix it, since the new Ubuntu is still basically useless to us (several standard shipped components are way too buggy as of this week, so as to make Natty or Oneric unusable before we add in the MX51 specific stuff) and we might do a late October release before we move on..

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