MKV with AC3 sound Dreambox Two

djalexnl · Nov 14th 2021

Hi guys,

I have 2 Dreambox One devices and recently bought a NEW Dreambox Two to add to my collection and play with.

After setting up my NEW Dreambox Two (same as both of my Dreambox One) i noticed that I could not get ac3 sound playing MKV files.

I tested alot (believe me) and see following:

For instance...Flash latest image dreambox-image-dreamtwo-20211029.tar.xz

boot to a black channel, so after the boot no sound is playing....just select my harddrive with the MKV, or select a stream with MKV play it ... perfect AC3 sound on reciever. GREAT.... BUT

Then after I switch to any channel fta or stream or MP4 file AC3.. i hear the normal sound from the channels so no issues.., Then go BACK to my harddrive and play the MKV or MKV stream again... no sound on my reciever... signal blinks...

got back to the FTA channel or stream or MP4 AC3.. no problem.. normal sound.. the MKV AC3 sound just wont work nomore...

Reboot the dreambox Two to a black channel so no sound.. play the MKV AC3 directly after the fresh reboot...perfect sound... AC3 on my reciever. swich to MP4 file AC3 or FTA channel or other play other sound and then back to MKV no more sound AC3 MKV... etc..

Switch back from Dreambox Two to my Dreambox One do the same thing... MKV plays fine... always fine... MP4 or MKV AC3 no issues..play channels FTA or Stream, or OSCAM ... MKV always plays fine... just happends on the Dreambox Two

I also tried several images also... same result...playing MKV

After the setup of the image.. After booting no channels so no sound... the MKV AC3 files play fine.... as long as its the first file you play after the reboot.

After setup up some FTA or play other stream with sound or play a MP4 with AC3... swiching back to the MKV ... no more sound...it tries to but reciever signal blinks...

(only happends with the dreambox Two .. not with the dreambox One...)

If anyone knows how to fix this it would be great... Most movies and streams with AC3 are MKV in my case so this is mayor disapointment for me...

Thanx in advanced..

**seagen** · Nov 14th 2021

You should try and create a log file and see if there is some information about your problems.

Open a Telnet connection with DCC or Putty

Type the command belowe and press enter on your keyboard to start logging

Now repeat the actions you describe when done go back to your Terminal/Telnet and press CTRL+C to stopp logging

You will now have a log file in your /tmp folder with the name ac3.log

You can check the file for any errors that might point to a solution.

Or post it here and we can have a look at it to see if we can figure out what goes wrong.

Code

journalctl -f > /tmp/ac3.log

djalexnl · Nov 15th 2021

Hi Seagen,

First of all thanx for responding, i was kinda hoping for it ;-)

I just tested the following Steps SOUND NOT WORKING

1 * I started the Dreambox Two with some channel so sound is running perfect before starting the movie.

2 * I started the MoviePlayer en selected the Movie (No time to Die) (so you can search for it in the log) MKV file with AC3 (DID NOT START IT yet...)

3 * Started the journalctl -f > /tmp/ac3.log

4 * Pressed OK so the Movie (no time to die) starts playing... No sound with te reciever....

5 * Let it play for few seconds and pressed stop.

6* Captured the output in the log file... NotWorking.txt -> see the attatchment.

Then the following Steps SOUND IS WORKING

1 * I started the Dreambox Two with NO channel (Black channel scrambled....) so NO sound is running before starting the movie.

2 * I started the MoviePlayer en selected the Movie (No time to Die) (so you can search for it in the log) MKV file with AC3 (DID NOT START IT yet...)

3 * Started the journalctl -f > /tmp/ac3.log

4 * Pressed OK so the Movie (no time to die) starts playing... Sound is playing with te reciever....

5 * Let it play for few seconds and pressed stop.

6* Captured the output in the log file... Working.txt -> see the attatchment.

I hope you can see something in these loggings. If you search in the top on No time to day you will see:

Nov 15 13:11:37 dreambox enigma2[460]: playing 4097:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:/media/hdd/movie/No Time to Die (2021).mkv

My SETUP is following:

I have connected my Dreambox Two (or the One) with HDMI to my SONY AG8 TV from there a S/PDIF Cable is running to My Reciever PIONEER VSA-AX10 ...

Also another question:

Before I started playing with these Dreambox One's and now the Dreambox Two i had a Dreambox 820HD ... From there the S/PDIF Cable run directly to my Reciever PIONEER VSA-AX10 ...

but with the Dreambox One and now the Two no Sound is coming at all from the S/PDIF ... so I run from my Sony AG8 TV ... Never understood why these ports on the Dreambox-es didnt work...

Greetings... and thanx again for responding.

Alex

**seagen** · Nov 15th 2021

Hi and thanks for having such faith in me :)

Let's first se abit at your setup. Yes the S/PIDF is not good with the new Dreambox HW and only works with 2 channel stereo at the moment so here is an known driver issue.

Your log files are good and give good information, but the problem is that the none working log does not pin point any driver issues or other problems with the audio. Looks just fine so we have to go to next step in the chain.

Check if the gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly-a52dec is installed on your Dreambox Two

Code

apt-get update && apt-get install gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly-a52dec

I see that you are using TrackAutoSelection plugin. I assume you also use that on your Dreambox One?

I hade some issues with that plugin my self when it comes to audio where it did not release the current audio stream when i was

switching from Movie back to live TV. This is the reverse issue of yours. Could never find the problem so I removed the plugin

Sorry for not being more of help

djalexnl · Nov 15th 2021

Hi Seagen,

I installed the plugin with apt-get update && apt-get install gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly-a52dec

But unfortunately it did nog make any difference..

Regarding the TrackAutoSelection plugin... it doesnt make a difference.

I tested with serveral images. right after the setup with no plugins, setting, services, channels ... just play from the harddrive after the setup.

Plays fine, then play another format... like MP4 ... play again... no more sound...

regarding the S/PDIF with Dreambox One and Two... i have no sound at all... not 2 channel stereo.. nothing... strange... they sell it as plug and play... :-)

I have 3 of these boxes and no output of any 3 of them...

Greetings Alex

**seagen** · Nov 15th 2021

Ok the we can rule out Track Autoselection since your issues appear before installing the plugin.

Also the Audio driver works proper that i can see in your log files. So now we are at the HDMi setup.

Your setup is from dmtwo you are connected to your Sony TV with a hdmi 2.0/2.1 cable I assume so the cable should also be ruled out.

But from your TV to your soundsystem you are using a S/PIDF connection?

Is it possible to change that connection to HDMI since your TV support ARC

Also the HDMI-CEC can be the problem

Check in Menu >> Setup >> Devices >> HDMI-CEC if activated (Yes) then turn it of and do a full reboot

It's strange that you don't get 2ch stereo from none of your devices because that should work.

Plug & Play

djalexnl · Nov 16th 2021

Well unfortunately i cannot connect my reciever to HDMI as it does not have HDMI connection only SPDIF.

This 30 KG monster reciever was build way before HDMI was born... SPDIF was the new best stuff..

The Dreambox 820 was a perfect match. Dune MediaPlayer all work great with SPDIFF superb sound quality.

Now trying to acchief this with the Dreambox Two.

I did disable the HDMI CEC as its default enabled after image is installed. (good thinking) en rebooted sadly with no result.

I can play MP4 files AC3 perfectly ... only NO sound from the MKV files...

It has defenately is a software / driver issue. Same actions on the Dreambox One seem to work fine.

Fresh reboot no sound after boot then.... play MKV ... ac3 SOUND OK... play MP4 ac3...SOUND OK play MKV again NO More SOUND.... only if I downmix AC3 i hear the sound....

Are people working on the SPDIF problems by the Dreambox developpers?

Geetz Alex.

**seagen** · Nov 16th 2021

The real problem is in the Gstreamer and .mkv containers. But in your case it looks like something with the hw is not working proper.

But another question you have set AC3 to yes in settings for Picture and Audio?

Also since you are using a old Reciver you shoul test this plugin. When installed you find it in the Pictur and Audio meny

Then test your S/PIDF connection direct from your Dreambox

Regards Thomas :)

djalexnl · Nov 17th 2021

99e89f22afe188caa6427.jpg

Hi Thomas,

Yes i already tried this plugin, and I always run with it now. Unfortunately it doesnt make a difference. I Also thought that one would make a difference.

Ac3 is set to yes, then the MKV issue occures, AC3 to No and the sound is working all the time. Just the AC3 MKV breaks when playing other format then MKV.

Connecting directly from the Box itself that one i will trie again later this week. But it should run Fine when connected just as it is now.

I also bought an HDMI capture device with S/PdIF output from China it is on the way so when it arrives i am currious what that will accomplish.

I Also compare when working to not working see alot of difference, maybe that has someting to do with it?

Greetz Alex

**seagen** · Nov 17th 2021

Yes i did see that but since you are not using the S/PIDF port the disabling should not break the audio since you are sending the audio over hdmi

But you can be on to something here anyway so would be nice to see what happen when you connect through the S/PIDF

MKV with AC3 sound Dreambox Two

master G Nov 14th 2021

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