Raspberry PI 4 Kodi - Error: Unable to create gui. exiting

[Kallestofeles]

Hi,

Just got a new RPI4 ARMv8 unit and installed Arch Arm on it with the objective of replacing my old ARMv7 Kodi box with this one, yet I am unable to get Kodi started.
When I enable and start up kodi.service, the process exits with the message:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', 'ERROR: Unable to create GUI. Exiting')
Interesting FATAL point in the kodi.log regarding the matter is:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '2019-10-04 18:23:32.310 T:2977099792 FATAL: CApplication::Create: Unable to init windowing system')
Full kodi.log:
https://pastebin.com/yFDekry8

I am using the kodi-rbp4 18.4-2 package. If I switch to kodi-rbp3 or kodi-rbp packages, then it seems that the GUI is somewhat started as the screen goes completely black like it is starting X, but nothing further - not even sounds when trying to navigate around.

The only logs from kodi.service from journal are:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', 'Oct 04 22:17:29 archpi-v2 systemd[1]: Started Kodi standalone (GBM).
Oct 04 22:17:29 archpi-v2 systemd[312]: pam_unix(login:session): session opened for user kodi by (uid=0)
Oct 04 22:17:34 archpi-v2 systemd[1]: kodi.service: Succeeded.
')
Full /boot/config.txt is:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '# See /boot/overlays/README for all available options

gpu_mem=320
dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d
dtparam=audio=on

initramfs initramfs-linux.img followkernel
')
The driver used is xf86-video-fbdev 0.5.0-1... I tried the alarm/xf86-video-fbturbo-git also but the results are the same.
Also checked that the kodi user's home is set as /var/lib/kodi as I read that it could cause similar issues.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', 'kodi:x:975:975::/var/lib/kodi:/usr/bin/nologin')
I am running out of ideas on what to check as my ARMv7 seems to be running on a similar setup without any issues. Anyone else managed to turn RPI4 ARMv8 into a simple Kodi box?
Any help and tips are very highly appreciated! (wiki links are welcome if relevant )

EDIT: changed the pastebin url for logs as they were from an incorrect service start attempt

[graysky]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '2')019-10-04 18:23:24.632 T:2977099792 NOTICE: special://envhome/ is mapped to: /root
2019-10-04 18:23:24.632 T:2977099792 NOTICE: special://home/ is mapped to: /root/.kodi
2019-10-04 18:23:24.632 T:2977099792 NOTICE: special://temp/ is mapped to: /root/.kodi/temp
2019-10-04 18:23:24.632 T:2977099792 NOTICE: special://logpath/ is mapped to: /root/.kodi/temp

[Kallestofeles]

Thank you for the quick reply!
It seems that I made a mistake with copying the logs from an attempt when I was indeed trying to start it up as root, my apologies. Here are the latest logs when systemd starts the application during a fresh reboot:
https://pastebin.com/yFDekry8
(ignore the time-jumping - seems that the system starts off with local time but then jumps to UTC - hence the strange jump in time in the beginning of logs)
Thanks for the xf86 tip, removed them.

[graysky]

I'm not sure what you have going on... it should just work. Did you attempt to migrate any old kodi profiles to this? Recommend you rename your /var/lib/kodi to /var/lib/kodi-old and then:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '# mkdir /var/lib/kodi
# chown kodi:kodi /var/lib/kodi')

Then start the systemd service... Are you using HDMI0 or HDMI1? I seems to recall needing to use HDMI0 which is right next to the power supply.

[Kallestofeles]

Thanks for the help! Tried the folder replacement but no avail.
Did not try to migrate profiles, want a fresh start.
I am using HDMI-0 as I heard that sometimes HDMI-1 does not supply enough power and yeah, there is no image at all with the HDMI-1 connection, not even the console.

The strange thing is that with kodi-rbp package, all the extensions and resolutions load up normally:
https://pastebin.com/PkT5sTFZ
But the screen remains simply black.

EDIT:
Just for the completion's sake, I did a fresh Arch arm install on the RPI4 unit and the only additional packets I installed (with their dependencies) were:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', 'linux-raspberrypi4-headers base-devel kodi-rbp4 wget omxplayer-git xorg-xrefresh xorg-xset')
This is how the old RPI3 worked (with its respective rbp3 packages) with Kodi, but not the new RPI4.

[graysky]

I am at a loss to explain what is going on for you... are you certain your hardware is RPi4? Recommend you post with your debug log to the kodi forum.

[Kallestofeles]

Yes, I am 100% sure that it is the RPI4 which I purchased just yesterday, says it also on the board itself + the new layout and connectors in comparison to the old RPI3 models.
Thanks, I shall post to Kodi forums then as well and if I get anywhere, I will update this topic also.
https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=348014

[Kallestofeles]

I got the picture on!
After investigating a bit about the overlay options for config.txt, I had to add the cma-256 to vc4-fkms-v3d dtoverlay so that the whole line would read out like this:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', 'dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d,cma-265')
Have not yet tested out playback of any video files, but at least the interface is now operational and I can browse through Kodi's menus.

EDIT:
Yep, playback is fine, all is working exactly as expected. Thank you so much graysky for helping out on this! Perhaps this cma thingy could also be added to the kodi-rbp4 package notes during installation that in case the normal method does not work, it is worth a shot to try it with this parameter?

[graysky]

That's fucked up... mine works without that at all... 2 and 4 G versions if that matters.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '# See /boot/overlays/README for all available options
initramfs initramfs-linux.img followkernel

# turn tv on
# write out edid file with
# sudo /opt/vc/bin/tvservice -d /boot/edid.dat
# setting below will load it on boot

gpu_mem=406
hdmi_edid_file=1
dtparam=audio=on
dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d
hdmi_group=2
hdmi_mode=69')

[Kallestofeles]

Thanks!
Maybe not a great idea to bump the thread with a simple continuation of a conversation, but I also noticed one additional strange thing - namely, I seem to have to keep one of the following installed:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', 'xf86-video-fbturbo-git
xf86-video-fbdev')
If neither of the two is installed, then Kodi simply boots to black screen and nothing further. Kodi service in systemd shows all good and the service is started. I do not use any X nor do I have xorg.conf set up. Go figure.

At least the box is now up - reaching the heat limit pretty frequently as well. Need to modify the case with a tiny fan probably.