Problem Running Kodi 18 (Leia) - New Sound Drivers needed?

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pdoth

Member
My Kodi 17.6 upgraded its self 2 days ago to v18 Leia. Even though all settings from 17.6 copied themselves over to the new version, right from the beginning I hit problems. Only some movies worked properly. At first it seemed that any movie with AC3 or HEVC or DolbyDigital coded Kodi crashed in the form of blank black screen. No sound no picture requiring a reboot to get working.

After a lot of fiddling about with the settings I almost got it working apart from an audio stutter and echo when first loading kodi. I have to select my movies so that they are not encoded in AC3/HEVC or DD but it just about works.

Reading the Kodi 'Wiki' on 'Sound settings' it says - "If using WASAPI do not use the Realtek HD Audio drivers as they do not work with the event driven mode Kodi uses for WASAPI. To use WASAPI you must use the AMD High Definition Audio drivers."

Looking at the Windows 10 sound set up on my NEO-Z83-4 it shows there is ONLY Realtek drivers installed, therefore I can not get HD sound plus I 'think' this is what is causing the crashes.

So, the question is: "how do I get the Intel HD drivers on the Z83? According to the specs it shows that there is Intel HD GPU installed. Why is that not showing up in the Windows sound Output properties of my Pioneer SX330?
 
pdoth said:
My Kodi 17.6 upgraded its self 2 days ago to v18 Leia. Even though all settings from 17.6 copied themselves over to the new version, right from the beginning I hit problems. Only some movies worked properly. At first it seemed that any movie with AC3 or HEVC or DolbyDigital coded Kodi crashed in the form of blank black screen. No sound no picture requiring a reboot to get working.

After a lot of fiddling about with the settings I almost got it working apart from an audio stutter and echo when first loading kodi. I have to select my movies so that they are not encoded in AC3/HEVC or DD but it just about works.

Reading the Kodi 'Wiki' on 'Sound settings' it says - "If using WASAPI do not use the Realtek HD Audio drivers as they do not work with the event driven mode Kodi uses for WASAPI. To use WASAPI you must use the AMD High Definition Audio drivers."

Looking at the Windows 10 sound set up on my NEO-Z83-4 it shows there is ONLY Realtek drivers installed, therefore I can not get HD sound plus I 'think' this is what is causing the crashes.

So, the question is: "how do I get the Intel HD drivers on the Z83? According to the specs it shows that there is Intel HD GPU installed. Why is that not showing up in the Windows sound Output properties of my Pioneer SX330?
Click to expand...

Do you have an option for WASAPI Default in Kodi? If yes, try it & see if you get normal audio without it crashing.

I haven't set up my Z83-4 Plus yet but I use an N42C-4. Same issue, Realtek drivers are essentially useless when using an AVR over HDMI, (the Realtek drivers are for SPDIF or the analogue jack). Additionally, Windows doesn't even see my AVR as the sound device despite all high quality audio options & formats right up to Atmos also being recognised. It basically sees my Panasonic TV as the audio device. I simply set my TV as the sound device in Windows & configure it & then choose WASAPI Default in kodi, everything works 100%.

Obviously with so many TV's & AVR's available no 2 setups will be the same but see if some tinkering helps your issues :).
 
Many thanks for the ideas Articwolf. Yes there is an option for WASAPI which I can set to default but is seems to effect the picture on certain formats. DirectSound seems to be the only one so far that doesn't cause video problems. I think this is because the AVR is not receiving the correct format from kodi

I first noticed this issue when I looked at the Sound Device Output Properties dialog box under - 'Supported Formats' and realised that WASAPI was only showing me (3) 'none' HD encoded formats. I know my Pioneer SX330 can handle virtually all formats (with the exception of Atmos) so, by rights, all the HD formats 'should' have been visible. They were there under 17.6. What formats are showing on your system?

That's when I read the above reference to the Intel Management Interface Engine and how if that is not present WASAPI will not work. It is definitely not present under the Device Manager, Sound, video and game controllers properties. Only Realtek is there, and even that is not the HD driver just the standard one.

I'm starting to think that following the recent Windows autumn update somehow the Intel driver has been swapped or deleted.

According to Intel Support the Z83-4 'should' have this driver as standard on their Cherry Trail GPU processor. But I can't find it. Is it visible on your's?
 
pdoth said:
Many thanks for the ideas Articwolf. Yes there is an option for WASAPI which I can set to default but is seems to effect the picture on certain formats. DirectSound seems to be the only one so far that doesn't cause video problems. I think this is because the AVR is not receiving the correct format from kodi

I first noticed this issue when I looked at the Sound Device Output Properties dialog box under - 'Supported Formats' and realised that WASAPI was only showing me (3) 'none' HD encoded formats. I know my Pioneer SX330 can handle virtually all formats (with the exception of Atmos) so, by rights, all the HD formats 'should' have been visible. They were there under 17.6. What formats are showing on your system?

That's when I read the above reference to the Intel Management Interface Engine and how if that is not present WASAPI will not work. It is definitely not present under the Device Manager, Sound, video and game controllers properties. Only Realtek is there, and even that is not the HD driver just the standard one.

I'm starting to think that following the recent Windows autumn update somehow the Intel driver has been swapped or deleted.

According to Intel Support the Z83-4 'should' have this driver as standard on their Cherry Trail GPU processor. But I can't find it. Is it visible on your's?
Click to expand...

Have a read HERE. It's all drivers for the Z83-4 range. Hopefully you can reinstall your missing driver :).

As mentioned, I'm using a Neo N42C-4 at present, (I haven't setup my Neo Z83-4 Plus yet, so I can't be anymore specific unfortunately, obviously there will be differences). The info was purely generalised in case the same applied to your situation.

If you've recently had a major Windows update AND updated Kodi too, you'll have to do the good old process of elimination shuffle :(. I'd start by reverting Kodi to 17.6 first (or install a new copy separately purely for testing) & see what results that yields. It'd be the quickest way to a definitive answer before getting messy with drivers that may or may not be missing.

Keep us posted :).
 
pdoth said:
So, the question is: "how do I get the Intel HD drivers on the Z83? According to the specs it shows that there is Intel HD GPU installed. Why is that not showing up in the Windows sound Output properties of my Pioneer SX330?
Click to expand...
isnt the Intel HD GPU for the display / graphics not the sound ??

Capture.JPG
 
"isn't the Intel HD GPU for the display / graphics not the sound ??" - Good question pusb87. You would have thought so but, if that was the case why is it not showing up under my Device Manager, Sound, video and game controllers properties ? Only 3 encoders are listed here; DTS, Dolby and Dolby Digital. No HD codecs

Referring back to the Kodi v18 Wiki, perhaps this is why it says - "If using WASAPI do not use the Realtek HD Audio drivers as they do not work"

It 'appears' that the Intel HD Graphic (GPU) is only providing......... graphics. There may very well be an audio codec in there but it is not showing up anywhere. I have even looked through the complete list of all drivers on the system and can not find it.
 
ArcticWolf said:
Have a read HERE. It's all drivers for the Z83-4 range. Hopefully you can reinstall your missing driver :).

As mentioned, I'm using a Neo N42C-4 at present, (I haven't setup my Neo Z83-4 Plus yet, so I can't be anymore specific unfortunately, obviously there will be differences). The info was purely generalised in case the same applied to your situation.

If you've recently had a major Windows update AND updated Kodi too, you'll have to do the good old process of elimination shuffle :(. I'd start by reverting Kodi to 17.6 first (or install a new copy separately purely for testing) & see what results that yields. It'd be the quickest way to a definitive answer before getting messy with drivers that may or may not be missing.

Keep us posted :).
Click to expand...
Thanks again ArcticWolf. Alas, if I am unable to resolve this I may very well have to take up your suggestion of reverting back to 17.6. At least I know it was all working properly then. :(
 
pdoth said:
Thanks again ArcticWolf. Alas, if I am unable to resolve this I may very well have to take up your suggestion of reverting back to 17.6. At least I know it was all working properly then. :(
Click to expand...

Install a copy of 17.6 to a separate directory & it won't affect your Kodi 18 at all. You don't need to go through every single setting & set it all up the same as your main Kodi 18 ;). Just briefly setup the bare minimums required to get 17.6 running & see if your audio issues are as good as before or if you definitely have a new problem with something else.

It'll only take a few mins & you'll then know one way or the other ;).

Depending on what recovery options you've been using or if you created a full system image whilst using Win 10 1803 too, you could also try a full rollback. Stop Windows updating to 1809 until there's better driver support if a driver is indeed missing.

Let us know if you're making progress :).
 
Some great advice ArcticWolf, thank you. I have set aside 4 hrs today to try and resolve this issue. Intel have been no help at all saying the 'usual' thing - "go back to your supplier" and so far Minix have said, apart from reloading the driver pack, they are "looking at it".

From what I have seen thus far going back to 17.6 will be no big deal. Its just a shame that these things spring up to make your life......... interesting :(
 
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