[PROBLEM] Kernel 5.4.32 breaks HDMI

[Darkguy]

TLDR:

• uprading from Kernel 5.4.27 to 5.4.32 breaks HDMI output
• rolling back thorugh BTRFS snapshots or downgrading through apt doesn't fix things
• even re-flashing Xbian doesn't fix things
• using the latest Raspbian gets the picture back
  

Hi,

had to reinstall an RPi due to an SD card failing. Took the opportunity to replace the aging RPi 2B I was using up to that point with an RPi 3B.

I used the latest image (installed to USB instead of SD-card this time), hooked the Pi up to the TV and Ethernet and got the boot animation and Xbian welcome screen. Went to set everything else up through SSH (this installation doubles as a local MariaDB/Samba Server for a few other installations, media files are at a remote location and are being accessed through SSHFS) and the TV was used for other things in the meantime.

At some point, I checked for updates and was offered to upgrade the Kernel from 5.4.27 to 5.4.32. Thought nothing of it, installed it, rebooted a few times (the system was fine through SSH) and eventually went to see if the databases I had restored from SQL dumps from the old installation worked correctly - and had the attached telelvision display "no signal".

Tried a number of various HDMI-related config changes in the config.txt to no avail (mind you, the same config and cable was working for years and everything displayed fine after the inital flash).

Tried the USB in an RPi 3B+ I also had around with the same result. Tried rolling back to a previous snapshot (before the Kernel upgrade and MariaDB installations) with the same result. Re-flashed the USB stick and still got no picture on the 3B.

Put the stick (with the fresh installation) into the 3B+ and it booted/displayed an image. Started setting everything up again (this time with the TV turned on and in sight) and lo and behold, after upgrading the Kernel, same result as before - no picture, not even after rolling back.

So this means, something seemingly is being done to the GPU firmware as well, at least that is my guess. I ended up downloading the latest Raspbian, flashing that and booting it up and got an HDMI signal again.

I once again flashed Xbian, set everything up yet again this morning, made sure not to manually upgrade the Kernel and thought that was it. Everything seemed to work. I did enable auto-updates within Xbian (previously, I had done the updates manually) and thought maybe that Kernel wasn't meant to be used yet and Xbian would handle it.

A few hours later, Kodi displayed a request to reboot, which I did. As you can guess, no picture after that. SSH'd in, and of course, Kernel 5.4.32 had been installed automatically. Sigh.

This time, I tried manually downgrading to the previous Kernel (5.4.27), but it still won't display a picture and the TV still shows "no signal".

Any ideas/fixes or anyone else with the same issue?

[Nachteule]

Seems that Raspberry Pi guys has been broken kernel. You could revert to older kernel 5.4.27, that should not be a problem. But you already wrote that this does not fix your issue

And, btw, reverting to an older snapshot does never work in case of kernel fault, because /boot partition is not snapshotted

[Nachteule]

Just tested again 5.4.32 on my Pi3B and Pi3B+, absolutely no problem with HDMI output.

And I remember yesterday installed devel image with same 5.4.32 kernel for testing on my Pi3B+, no problem seen.

[Nachteule]

(30th Apr, 2020 07:24 PM)Darkguy Wrote:  This time, I tried manually downgrading to the previous Kernel (5.4.27), but it still won't display a picture and the TV still shows "no signal".

Any ideas/fixes or anyone else with the same issue?

I've absolutely no idea whats causing this issue. I read here and on other places from hdmi issues some time ago, but never had them. So can't give any hints how to solve it, sorry

Maybe this setting could help to turn on TV on Pi start:

/boot/config.txt

Code:

# Doesn't sent initial active source message.
# Avoids bringing CEC (enabled TV) out of standby and channel switch when
# rebooting.
hdmi_ignore_cec_init=0

[gkusiak]

Happy to report no issues thus far with latest xbian, kodi 18.6 on Pi4 (EXCEPT with InputStream Helper and CastagnaIT's Netflix..but those devs have been working on troubleshooting and getting fixes together all weekend)

May the 4th be with us all!

[Nachteule]

Good news

FYI: Kernel 5.4.32 has issues with Pi4B playing HEVC vids. Seems that Raspberry Pi guys broken this kernel. Have removed this version from repo

[gkusiak]

(5th May, 2020 02:11 AM)Nachteule Wrote:  Good news

FYI: Kernel 5.4.32 has issues with Pi4B playing HEVC vids. Seems that Raspberry Pi guys broken this kernel. Have removed this version from repo

for anyone following this still, the InputStream Helper and Netflix (by CastagnaIT among others) addons are back to their usual flawless as of today.

as far as xbian/kodi/Pi4/HEVC...well, kodi 19 is getting closer. I'm sure those devs will get things sorted on the kernel side of things sooner than later because it's a significant stumbling block to progress on the project in the long term. It'll trickle down to here and us

[gkusiak]

Today’s raft of what I can only assume are “housekeeping” updates really improve responsiveness for me here on Pi4: zippitydoodah it’s snappy, [mention]Nachteule [/mention]
I’ve noticed the cores don’t seem to be as jumpy and the RAM is much more available in the past few weeks...as in, RAM usage has dropped 50% at idle.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dimension]

(8th May, 2020 01:22 AM)gkusiak Wrote:  

(5th May, 2020 02:11 AM)Nachteule Wrote:  Good news

FYI: Kernel 5.4.32 has issues with Pi4B playing HEVC vids. Seems that Raspberry Pi guys broken this kernel. Have removed this version from repo

for anyone following this still, the InputStream Helper and Netflix (by CastagnaIT among others) addons are back to their usual flawless as of today.

as far as xbian/kodi/Pi4/HEVC...well, kodi 19 is getting closer. I'm sure those devs will get things sorted on the kernel side of things sooner than later because it's a significant stumbling block to progress on the project in the long term. It'll trickle down to here and us

Thanks.