[PROBLEM] MoOde 7.3 unresponsive after 4-5 hours with Raspberry Pi 7" Touchscreen Display

[jv275475]

Hi Moode community 

My MoOde setup: Pi 3B+, official 7" Pi Touchscreen, boot from SD card, music on a USB disk, USB DAC (AudioQuest Dragonfly 1.2), official power supply. No network connection (only during first installation, then no cable). Wifi off, bluetooth off, HDMI off.

History: I have used this same setup for >2 years, cannot even remember how many different versions of MoOde I've gone through. Did not use this setup in the past 15 months (work from home, MoOde at the office), I now did a fresh install of 7.3.

Recurrent scenario: I arrive at work, the Pi is "catatonic". I touch the screen, the image shows after 60 seconds. With a keyboard attached, I use a console with CTRL-ALT-1. No memory free, chromium uses it all. Reboot - all works fine, and before I notice any problems, things work well for quite some time. Never had music stop while playing. I listen with moodeutl -m, memory stays stable at 38-39%. Let playlist finish, screen goes to sleep, I go for lunch -> when I come back the Pi is catatonic again. Repeat from the beginning.

Places I already looked:

• I ruled out power supply problems, vcgencmd get_throttled reports 0 (no undervoltage occured).
  
• Ruled out SD card problem, redid the whole setup with a 16 GB card.
  
• Extended the root file system to the whole 8 GB SD card. Disk free close to 4GB, does not seem to be the problem.
  

With my limited knowledge, I traced the whole thing to chromium eating up the memory, so it would be a bug outside MoOde. But I cannot find what triggers it. Seems to happen only while I'm not using the Pi, so difficult to know. 

It seems very similar to the problem described here: http://moodeaudio.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=3331, only it's not an HDMI display, but the official Pi 7" display.

Any hints for further troubleshooting? Running out of ideas...  :\   I could try to avoid it? Or try to update chromium? Or go back to 6.7.x and wait until chromium gets fixed...

jv

[Sehnsucht]

Is chromium there as part of your touchscreen solution? Perhaps try a different browser? Uninstall chromium. Or try using another mpd client temporarily and see if it reoccurs. (I don't use the officlal moOde web interface at all - it's nice but i'm not interested in playlists and album art and radio stations etc, so having configured moOde using the web interface I use an android app to select music to play). Maybe stay connected to the pi via SSH whatever diagnosis you try, then run htop and see if the memory increase happens slowly over time or something triggers it. If it's chromium, kill it via htop or kill instead of rebooting - is that a 100% fix? Anything interesting in the log files in /var/log at the point you have problems?

[TheOldPresbyope]

@Sehnsucht

Enabling the local display function spins up a bunch of Chromium browser processes. Consult the linked post and read the code (start with /home/pi/.xinitrc). We don't know yet why this brain-eating zombie behavior gets triggered. I only scratched the surface with my testing. Any test data you can contribute which points to a root cause would be great.  

As well, in private Testing Team discussions I reported on the failure occurring when I tried using Vivaldi as an alternative----not surprising since it shares the same rendering engine---as well as when I tried different versions of Chromium. There are other browsers available for RaspiOS but I haven't tried using them for moOde's local display.

@jv275475

I never saw this issue with an official DSI display, only with an HDMI display, but that's not definitive.

Pretty much all my gear is packed away at the moment (just one player with headphones to while away time in our extended stay hotel room when I get bored with Olympics coverage) so no testing possible.

Obviously, we want all features of moOde to Just Work™. Some months ago, @Tim Curtis  had suggested to the Test Team that a brute-force solution might be useful while we try to sort out the local display issue with Chromium eating memory. Looks like it's time to revisit that proposition. It's ugly (screen flashing, etc., while Chromium re-initializes) but it's easy.

Regards,
Kent

[jv275475]

Is chromium there as part of your touchscreen solution? Perhaps try a different browser?  Uninstall chromium.  Or try using another mpd client temporarily and see if it reoccurs. (I don't use the officlal moOde web interface at all - it's nice but i'm not interested in playlists and album art and radio stations etc, so having configured moOde using the web interface I use an android app to select music to play).    Maybe stay connected to the pi via SSH whatever diagnosis you try, then run htop and see if the memory increase happens slowly over time or something triggers it.  If it's chromium, kill it via htop or kill instead of rebooting - is that a 100% fix?  Anything interesting in the log files in /var/log at the point you have problems?

Thanks for the suggestions. Chromium is part of the Local UI display of MoOde, I use MoOde through the touchscreen. The reason for this setup is I want to have all my music with good sound quality at work. I cannot anything into my company's network, so I use a Pi with MoOde with the touchscreen + USB disk and DAC. All standalone, no network connection.

I've seen suggestions to replace Chromium with Firefox, but I'd rather avoid big modifications to MoOde. I'd rather stay on 6.7.1 in that case.

[jv275475]

My config, FWIW:

Code:

pi@moode:~ $ moodeutl -l
20210729 015435 worker: -- Start
20210729 015435 worker: Successfully daemonized
20210729 015435 worker: Integrity check (passed)
20210729 015436 worker: File check (OK)
20210729 015436 worker: Session vacuumed
20210729 015436 worker: Session loaded
20210729 015436 worker: Debug logging (OFF)
20210729 015436 worker: -- Audio debug
20210729 015436 worker: ALSA cards: (0:Headphones | 1:empty | 2:empty | 3:empty
20210729 015436 worker: MPD config: (1:AudioQuest DragonFly | mixer:(PCM) | card:1)
20210729 015436 worker: WARNING: No device found at MPD configured card 1
20210729 015436 worker: -- System
20210729 015438 worker: Host     (moode)
20210729 015439 worker: moOde    (7.3.0 2021-06-25)
20210729 015439 worker: RaspiOS  (10.6)
20210729 015439 worker: Kernel   (5.4.77-v7+ #1371)
20210729 015439 worker: Platform (Pi-3B 1.2 1GB)
20210729 015439 worker: ARM arch (armv7l, 32-bit kernel)
20210729 015439 worker: MPD ver  (0.22.8_p0x3)
20210729 015439 worker: CPU gov  (ondemand)
20210729 015439 worker: USB boot not enabled yet
20210729 015439 worker: File system expanded
20210729 015439 worker: HDMI port off
20210729 015439 worker: -- Network
20210729 015439 worker: eth0 exists
20210729 015439 worker: IP addr (192.168.178.28)
20210729 015439 worker: Netmask (255.255.255.0)
20210729 015439 worker: Gateway (192.168.178.1)
20210729 015439 worker: Pri DNS (192.168.178.1)
20210729 015439 worker: Domain  (fritz.box)
20210729 015439 worker: wlan0 does not exist
20210729 015439 worker: -- Audio config
20210729 015439 worker: ALSA card number (1)
20210729 015439 worker: MPD audio output (AudioQuest DragonFly)
20210729 015439 worker: WARNING: No device found at MPD configured card 1
20210729 015439 worker: ALSA mixer name (PCM)
20210729 015439 worker: MPD volume control (none)
20210729 015439 worker: Hdwr volume controller exists
20210729 015439 worker: Max ALSA volume (100%)
20210729 015439 worker: ALSA output mode (Default: plughw)
20210729 015439 worker: ALSA loopback (Off)
20210729 015439 worker: Reset renderer active flags
20210729 015439 worker: CamillaDSP (off)
20210729 015439 worker: -- MPD startup
20210729 015439 worker: MPD started
20210729 015440 worker: MPD accepting connections
20210729 015441 worker: MPD output 1 ALSA Default (on)
20210729 015441 worker: MPD output 2 ALSA Bluetooth (off)
20210729 015441 worker: MPD output 3 HTTP Server (off)
20210729 015441 worker: MPD crossfade (off)
20210729 015441 worker: MPD ignore CUE files (no)
20210729 015441 worker: -- Feature availability
20210729 015441 worker: Source select (available)
20210729 015441 worker: Source select (source: MPD)
20210729 015441 worker: Source select (output: AudioQuest DragonFly)
20210729 015441 worker: Bluetooth (available)
20210729 015441 worker: Airplay renderer (available)
20210729 015441 worker: Spotify renderer (available)
20210729 015441 worker: Squeezelite (available)
20210729 015441 worker: RoonBridge renderer (not installed)
20210729 015441 worker: UPnP renderer (available)
20210729 015441 worker: DLNA server (available)
20210729 015441 worker: UPnP browser (available)
20210729 015441 worker: GPIO button handler (available)
20210729 015441 worker: Stream recorder (n/a)
20210729 015441 worker: -- Music sources
20210729 015441 worker: USB sources (none attached)
20210729 015441 worker: NAS and UPnP sources (none configured)
20210729 015441 worker: -- Other
20210729 015441 worker: USB volume knob (Off)
20210729 015441 worker: USB auto-mounter (udisks-glue)
20210729 015441 worker: LED0 (On)
20210729 015441 worker: LED1 (On)
20210729 015441 worker: Saved MPD vol level (0)
20210729 015441 worker: Preamp volume level (0)
20210729 015441 worker: MPD volume level (20) restored
20210729 015441 worker: ALSA PCM volume (Invalid card number.)
20210729 015441 worker: Auto-play (Off)
20210729 015441 worker: LocalUI started
20210729 015441 worker: Maintenance interval (3 hours)
20210729 015441 worker: Screen saver activation (Never)
20210729 015441 worker: Session permissions (OK)
20210729 015441 worker: Watchdog started
20210729 015441 worker: Ready
20210729 201328 worker: Job mpdcfg
20210729 201330 worker: Job mpdcfg: devchg|mixchg (1|0), alsavol (100%), playstate (paused)
pi@moode:~ $

[Sehnsucht]

Is chromium there as part of your touchscreen solution? Perhaps try a different browser?  Uninstall chromium.  Or try using another mpd client temporarily and see if it reoccurs. (I don't use the officlal moOde web interface at all - it's nice but i'm not interested in playlists and album art and radio stations etc, so having configured moOde using the web interface I use an android app to select music to play).    Maybe stay connected to the pi via SSH whatever diagnosis you try, then run htop and see if the memory increase happens slowly over time or something triggers it.  If it's chromium, kill it via htop or kill instead of rebooting - is that a 100% fix?  Anything interesting in the log files in /var/log at the point you have problems?

Thanks for the suggestions. Chromium is part of the Local UI display of MoOde, I use MoOde through the touchscreen. The reason for this setup is I want to have all my music with good sound quality at work. I cannot anything into my company's network, so I use a Pi with MoOde with the touchscreen + USB disk and DAC. All standalone, no network connection.

I've seen suggestions to replace Chromium with Firefox, but I'd rather avoid big modifications to MoOde. I'd rather stay on 6.7.1 in that case.

You don't need to use your company's network.  By default, moOde will become an access point you can connect to directly from your phone/laptop the same way you connect to your router at home/work.  Turn it on, give it a minute or so, then look for the Wifi SSID Moode, with password moodeaudio on your phone/laptop. Then connect and use this url:
172.24.1.1
on your phone/laptop. No other network is involved. If you have Android, maybe install M.A.L.P. (free, open source) and satisfy yourself you're happy controlling moOde using it.

[gforster]

Is chromium there as part of your touchscreen solution? Perhaps try a different browser?  Uninstall chromium.  Or try using another mpd client temporarily and see if it reoccurs. (I don't use the officlal moOde web interface at all - it's nice but i'm not interested in playlists and album art and radio stations etc, so having configured moOde using the web interface I use an android app to select music to play).    Maybe stay connected to the pi via SSH whatever diagnosis you try, then run htop and see if the memory increase happens slowly over time or something triggers it.  If it's chromium, kill it via htop or kill instead of rebooting - is that a 100% fix?  Anything interesting in the log files in /var/log at the point you have problems?

Thanks for the suggestions. Chromium is part of the Local UI display of MoOde, I use MoOde through the touchscreen. The reason for this setup is I want to have all my music with good sound quality at work. I cannot anything into my company's network, so I use a Pi with MoOde with the touchscreen + USB disk and DAC. All standalone, no network connection.

I've seen suggestions to replace Chromium with Firefox, but I'd rather avoid big modifications to MoOde. I'd rather stay on 6.7.1 in that case.

I did the modification and replaced Chromium browser by Firefox http://moodeaudio.org/forum/showthread.p...9#pid33369
Since that mod, moOde is just working flawlessly for more than 2 months now, no memory eating chromium zombie anymore. Even the mod reads difficult, it is straight forward. I was at the same difficult decision point you are to go back to an older moOde version or to apply that mod. For me it was the right decision. The only thing you should avoid to do - after you changed from chromium to firefox - is to upgrade to a newer moOde version as this probably would ruin your setup.

[jv275475]

Is chromium there as part of your touchscreen solution? Perhaps try a different browser?  Uninstall chromium.  Or try using another mpd client temporarily and see if it reoccurs. (I don't use the officlal moOde web interface at all - it's nice but i'm not interested in playlists and album art and radio stations etc, so having configured moOde using the web interface I use an android app to select music to play).    Maybe stay connected to the pi via SSH whatever diagnosis you try, then run htop and see if the memory increase happens slowly over time or something triggers it.  If it's chromium, kill it via htop or kill instead of rebooting - is that a 100% fix?  Anything interesting in the log files in /var/log at the point you have problems?

Thanks for the suggestions. Chromium is part of the Local UI display of MoOde, I use MoOde through the touchscreen. The reason for this setup is I want to have all my music with good sound quality at work. I cannot anything into my company's network, so I use a Pi with MoOde with the touchscreen + USB disk and DAC. All standalone, no network connection.

I've seen suggestions to replace Chromium with Firefox, but I'd rather avoid big modifications to MoOde. I'd rather stay on 6.7.1 in that case.

I did the modification and replaced Chromium browser by Firefox http://moodeaudio.org/forum/showthread.p...9#pid33369
Since that mod, moOde is just working flawlessly for more than 2 months now, no memory eating chromium zombie anymore. Even the mod reads difficult, it is straight forward. I was at the same difficult decision point you are to go back to an older moOde version or to apply that mod. For me it was the right decision. The only thing you should avoid to do - after you changed from chromium to firefox - is to upgrade to a newer moOde version as this probably would ruin your setup.

Thanks for the suggestion! If that’s known to work, I think I’ll follow that. Do you have it running on a 1-GB Pi?

I love using and testing every new version of MoOde, I guess I will try new versions and, if the problem is still there, I’ll reapply the modifications.

Or even devs might want to put a toggle in the config screen to select the browser…

Thanks!

Jv

[gforster]

Is chromium there as part of your touchscreen solution? Perhaps try a different browser?  Uninstall chromium.  Or try using another mpd client temporarily and see if it reoccurs. (I don't use the officlal moOde web interface at all - it's nice but i'm not interested in playlists and album art and radio stations etc, so having configured moOde using the web interface I use an android app to select music to play).    Maybe stay connected to the pi via SSH whatever diagnosis you try, then run htop and see if the memory increase happens slowly over time or something triggers it.  If it's chromium, kill it via htop or kill instead of rebooting - is that a 100% fix?  Anything interesting in the log files in /var/log at the point you have problems?

Thanks for the suggestions. Chromium is part of the Local UI display of MoOde, I use MoOde through the touchscreen. The reason for this setup is I want to have all my music with good sound quality at work. I cannot anything into my company's network, so I use a Pi with MoOde with the touchscreen + USB disk and DAC. All standalone, no network connection.

I've seen suggestions to replace Chromium with Firefox, but I'd rather avoid big modifications to MoOde. I'd rather stay on 6.7.1 in that case.

I did the modification and replaced Chromium browser by Firefox http://moodeaudio.org/forum/showthread.p...9#pid33369
Since that mod, moOde is just working flawlessly for more than 2 months now, no memory eating chromium zombie anymore. Even the mod reads difficult, it is straight forward. I was at the same difficult decision point you are to go back to an older moOde version or to apply that mod. For me it was the right decision. The only thing you should avoid to do - after you changed from chromium to firefox - is to upgrade to a newer moOde version as this probably would ruin your setup.

Thanks for the suggestion! If that’s known to work, I think I’ll follow that. Do you have it running on a 1-GB Pi?

I love using and testing every new version of MoOde, I guess I will try new versions and, if the problem is still there, I’ll reapply the modifications.

Or even devs might want to put a toggle in the config screen to select the browser…

Thanks!

Jv

Yes, it is running on a 3B+ with 1GB RAM and using the original 7" touchscreen. I did also successfully test it on a pi4. Your idea with the configurable browser sounds good.

[Sehnsucht]

Is chromium there as part of your touchscreen solution? Perhaps try a different browser?  Uninstall chromium.  Or try using another mpd client temporarily and see if it reoccurs. (I don't use the officlal moOde web interface at all - it's nice but i'm not interested in playlists and album art and radio stations etc, so having configured moOde using the web interface I use an android app to select music to play).    Maybe stay connected to the pi via SSH whatever diagnosis you try, then run htop and see if the memory increase happens slowly over time or something triggers it.  If it's chromium, kill it via htop or kill instead of rebooting - is that a 100% fix?  Anything interesting in the log files in /var/log at the point you have problems?

Thanks for the suggestions. Chromium is part of the Local UI display of MoOde, I use MoOde through the touchscreen. The reason for this setup is I want to have all my music with good sound quality at work. I cannot anything into my company's network, so I use a Pi with MoOde with the touchscreen + USB disk and DAC. All standalone, no network connection.

I've seen suggestions to replace Chromium with Firefox, but I'd rather avoid big modifications to MoOde. I'd rather stay on 6.7.1 in that case.

I did the modification and replaced Chromium browser by Firefox http://moodeaudio.org/forum/showthread.p...9#pid33369
Since that mod, moOde is just working flawlessly for more than 2 months now, no memory eating chromium zombie anymore. Even the mod reads difficult, it is straight forward. I was at the same difficult decision point you are to go back to an older moOde version or to apply that mod. For me it was the right decision. The only thing you should avoid to do - after you changed from chromium to firefox - is to upgrade to a newer moOde version as this probably would ruin your setup.

Thanks for the suggestion! If that’s known to work, I think I’ll follow that. Do you have it running on a 1-GB Pi?

I love using and testing every new version of MoOde, I guess I will try new versions and, if the problem is still there, I’ll reapply the modifications.

Or even devs might want to put a toggle in the config screen to select the browser…

Thanks!

Jv

Yes, it is running on a 3B+ with 1GB RAM and using  the original 7" touchscreen. I did also successfully test it on a pi4. Your idea with the configurable browser sounds good.

Maybe moOde could just switch to Firefox and be done with it, if Chromium is going to use up all the memory for no good reason.