Nanopi-a64 running kodi

This is a prebuilt Ubuntu 18.04 minimal image with linux 4.20.17 / 5.3.y to run Kodi.

Kernel features on NanoPi A64:

camera (ov5640)
cedrus (VPU)
mali (GPU)
hdmi
hdmi-sound
wifi
eth 100 Mbps / Gbps
ir
v4l2

Tested with Kodi 19.0 ALPHA1 and Kodi 18.3 RC1

Brief description of the OS Image

not too heavy not too light would fit precisely how we want it to be. This is a CLI (Command Line Interface) image with minimal packages so you can run Kodi while you can still have a powerful Linux to extend and play with. Eventually, this will be upgraded to Kernel 5.2 when time permits.

What works and what not (simple table)

This is a WiP (Work in Progress) and intended for learning purpose, what does not work today may work tomorrow but you can consider the kernel very stable.

Here is a very simple table to show the state of this work.

SBC Dev Board tested	NanoPi A64	NanoPi A64
kernel version	4.20.17	5.3.10
gcc version	7.3.0	7.4.1
display	hdmi	hdmi
graphical interface	CLI	CLI
KODI version	19.0-alpha1 / 18.3-rc1	19.0-alpha1 / 18.3-rc1
idle Temp ºC / freq	40 ºC / ~120 Mhz *	45 ºC / ~120 Mhz
full Temp ºC / freq	75 ºC / 1.15 GHz *	75 ºC / 1.15 GHz
RAM memory usage (avg)	75 Mbytes	78 Mbytes
i2c	yes	yes
spi		?
Camera	OV5640 (640x480 pix)	?
Wifi	8189es	yes
BT	none	none
ethernet	Gbps / 100Mbps	Gbps / 100Mbps
sound	hdmi-sound	hdmi-sound
ir	yes	yes
cedrus	yes	yes
mali-utgard	Mali-400	yes
------------------------	------------------------	-----------------------
issues	spdif setup not works	spdif / jack ?

Pre-Release

A pre-release image for testing is here: https://github.com/avafinger/nanopi-a64-kodi/releases/tag/v1.0

Release

The IMG file with Kodi on A64 is here: https://github.com/avafinger/nanopi-a64-kodi/releases/tag/v1.1

Kernel 5.3.1

Bootlog: https://gist.github.com/avafinger/c2338177117ff95fb3069c8f0c96dc62

Linux-image-5.3.1: https://github.com/avafinger/nanopi-a64-kodi/releases/tag/v1.4

Kernel 5.3.8

Bootlog: https://gist.github.com/avafinger/1286756a022fb9a20593c817e3d4bb02

Linux-image-5.3.8: https://github.com/avafinger/nanopi-a64-kodi/releases/tag/v1.5

Kodi limitations:

HEVC 10bit does not work properly
4K not yet

Kernel 5.3.10

Bootlog: https://gist.github.com/avafinger/a4e4e948feed26d84792280a0325b592

Linux-image-5.3.10: https://github.com/avafinger/nanopi-a64-kodi/releases/tag/v1.6

Kodi limitations:

HEVC 10bit
4K

IR

ir has been tested with this procedure:

Enable the right protocols for your TV control, in this case NEC

ubuntu@nanopi-a64:~$ sudo su
root@nanopi-a64:/home/ubuntu# echo nec > /sys/class/rc/rc0/protocols
root@nanopi-a64:/home/ubuntu# exit
exit
ubuntu@nanopi-a64:~$

Testing:

ir-keytable -t
Testing events. Please, press CTRL-C to abort.
2031.476557: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x18
2031.528357: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x18 repeat
2034.773938: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x5e
2034.825705: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x5e repeat
2036.602136: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x5e
2036.651578: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x5e repeat
2106.761334: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x5e repeat
2109.565189: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x18
2109.617021: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x18 repeat
2112.232368: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x18
2113.582986: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x18
2114.407440: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x18
2114.459277: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x18 repeat
2114.568423: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x18 repeat
2114.677493: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x18 repeat
2114.787119: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x18 repeat
2114.895715: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x18 repeat
2115.004819: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x18 repeat
2116.119229: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x5e
2117.288802: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0xd
2121.278938: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x5a
2121.330503: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x5a repeat
2122.939595: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x5e
2122.991345: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x5e repeat
2123.100414: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x5e repeat
2126.369606: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x4a
2129.019405: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x42
2129.071248: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x42 repeat
2129.931740: lirc protocol(nec): scancode = 0x52

Camera (OV5640)

Camera is enabled by default to work with latest OV5640 and sun6i_csi mainline kernel and you will need a special version of ffmpeg to be able to use HW encoder. Encoding via xlib64 has poor results. Be careful if you build any ffmpeg that can break KODI, KODI is highly dependent on a special ffmpeg version done by Kwiboo. Build any ffmpeg statically if you need ffmpeg.

ffmpeg -video_size 640*480 -pixel_format yuv420p -i /dev/video0 out.mp4

Using cap also need a tweak to work with sun6i_csi.

V4L2 works somehow but there are some compatibility issues i would say.

v4l2-ctl --list-devices
cedrus (platform:cedrus):
  /dev/video1

sun6i-csi (platform:csi):
  /dev/video0

Check video0 capabilities:

v4l2-ctl -d /dev/video0 -l

User Controls

                       contrast 0x00980901 (int)    : min=0 max=255 step=1 default=0 value=0 flags=slider
                     saturation 0x00980902 (int)    : min=0 max=255 step=1 default=64 value=64 flags=slider
                            hue 0x00980903 (int)    : min=0 max=359 step=1 default=0 value=0 flags=slider
        white_balance_automatic 0x0098090c (bool)   : default=1 value=1 flags=update
                    red_balance 0x0098090e (int)    : min=0 max=4095 step=1 default=0 value=0 flags=inactive, slider
                   blue_balance 0x0098090f (int)    : min=0 max=4095 step=1 default=0 value=0 flags=inactive, slider
                       exposure 0x00980911 (int)    : min=0 max=65535 step=1 default=0 value=885 flags=inactive, volatile
                 gain_automatic 0x00980912 (bool)   : default=1 value=1 flags=update
                           gain 0x00980913 (int)    : min=0 max=1023 step=1 default=0 value=152 flags=inactive, volatile
                horizontal_flip 0x00980914 (bool)   : default=0 value=0
                  vertical_flip 0x00980915 (bool)   : default=0 value=0
           power_line_frequency 0x00980918 (menu)   : min=0 max=3 default=1 value=1

Camera Controls

                  auto_exposure 0x009a0901 (menu)   : min=0 max=1 default=0 value=0 flags=update

Image Processing Controls

                   test_pattern 0x009f0903 (menu)   : min=0 max=4 default=0 value=0

mpjpg-streamer

./mjpg_streamer -i "./input_uvc.so -y 3 -r 640x480 -f 30 -q 90 -n" -o "./output_http.so -w ./www"
MJPG Streamer Version: svn rev: 
 i: Using V4L2 device.: /dev/video0
 i: Desired Resolution: 640 x 480
 i: Frames Per Second.: 30
 i: Format............: YUV - 0x59565955
 i: JPEG Quality......: 90
 o: www-folder-path...: ./www/
 o: HTTP TCP port.....: 8080
 o: username:password.: disabled
 o: commands..........: enabled

Limitations

640x480 window size only, 30 FPS or 60 FPS. Quality below average.

Sound

hdmi-sound works very nice, spdif / analog (jack) i could not figure out how to make it work.

CEDRUS and Mali

This work's done by Maxime from Bootlin.

KODI

Kodi 18.3 RC1 has been working fine with kernel 4.20.17 (unfortunatelly EOL) as of the tests.

To run Kodi type in shell:

kodi

Limitations

H265 does not work. (fixed)
10 bit not works. (fixed)
No 4K(yet)

Patch set

Patches has been applied manually in order to make it usefull. Contact the authors if you need help.

Mainline Kernel 5.2.0-rc6

Bootlog: https://gist.github.com/avafinger/a7b0164e42eac5722d9a6c03965ddd41

Mainline Kernel 5.2.0-rc6 deb package: https://github.com/avafinger/nanopi-a64-kodi/releases/tag/v1.2

Kodi 18.3-rc1

Screen Shot Kodi 18.3-rc1

Enable Wlan0

sudo apt-get install wpasupplicant

Edit /etc/network/interfaces and add/change

allow-hotplug wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
    wpa-ssid "AP_SSID"
    wpa-psk "PASSWORD"
# Disable power saving on compatible chipsets (prevents SSH/connection dropouts over WiFi)
#wireless-mode Managed
wireless-power off

Reboot:

sudo reboot

Check if wlan is up:

ubuntu@nanopi-a64:~$ dmesg| grep wlan
[   23.897094] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready

Wlan0 is lazy to accquire the IP from the DHCP, it takes a few seconds. Check wlan0 IP:

ip addr
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 02:ba:4d:d2:14:5b brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.254.100/16 brd 192.168.255.255 scope global eth0
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
3: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 34:c3:d2:13:f1:f0 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.254.101/16 brd 192.168.255.255 scope global wlan0
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet 192.168.254.102/16 brd 192.168.255.255 scope global secondary wlan0
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 fe80::36c3:d2ff:fe13:f1f0/64 scope link 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever



ip route
default via 192.168.254.254 dev wlan0 
192.168.0.0/16 dev wlan0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.254.101

Release 1.3

Mainline Linux Kernel 5.3.0-rc4

The DEB file will be in: https://github.com/avafinger/nanopi-a64-kodi/releases/tag/v1.3

Kodi 18.3-rc1 - Kernel 5.3.0-rc4

Credits

Bootlin (cedrus and mali)
Kwiboo (ffmpeg v4l2)
jernejsk (LibreElec)
KODI (Kodi)

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 31 Commits
patch		patch
README.md		README.md
kodi-v1.jpg		kodi-v1.jpg
kodi-v2.jpg		kodi-v2.jpg
kodi.jpg		kodi.jpg
mpjpg-streamer.png		mpjpg-streamer.png
nanopi-a64-kodi.jpg		nanopi-a64-kodi.jpg

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Nanopi-a64 running kodi

Brief description of the OS Image

What works and what not (simple table)

Pre-Release

Release

Kernel 5.3.1

Kernel 5.3.8

Kernel 5.3.10

IR

Camera (OV5640)

Sound

CEDRUS and Mali

KODI

Patch set

Mainline Kernel 5.2.0-rc6

Release 1.3

Credits

About

Releases 7

Packages

avafinger/nanopi-a64-kodi

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Nanopi-a64 running kodi

Brief description of the OS Image

What works and what not (simple table)

Pre-Release

Release

Kernel 5.3.1

Kernel 5.3.8

Kernel 5.3.10

IR

Camera (OV5640)

Sound

CEDRUS and Mali

KODI

Patch set

Mainline Kernel 5.2.0-rc6

Release 1.3

Credits

About

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Releases 7

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