OpenCPN Freezing

[geoffr]

I'm running OCPN on a Raspberry Pi (3B) and it works well when it is working. Our problem is that it randomly freezes. Initially it was freezing up when panning the chart using the mouse - changing the GPU memory seems to have fixed that problem. Now it freezes up for unknown reasons - not as a result of us changing anything - as we motor along.

The rest of the Pi software is working fine, just OCPN.

Can anyone provide any pointers as to what to look at to figure out this problem?

Rpi 3B
Openplotter upgraded to OCPN 5.0
either mbtiles or KAP charts in use
(both installed each in own chart group)
Faytech 10" touchscreen
USB wireless mouse
USB GPS
AIS via 232->USB. (although no boats around transmitting)



thanks,
Geoff.

[NahanniV]

YES !

I had exactly the same symptoms.

Here are the things I did to fix it (not sure what actually fixed it).

Update the RPi Kernel:
With the Rpi connected to the internet:
In a terminal window enter:
sudo rpi-update
(wait for download, answer yes,...)
sudo reboot

Update all the software on the RPi:
With the Rpi connected to the internet:
In a terminal window enter:
apt update
sudo apt upgrade
(answer yes,...)
sudo reboot

Add Memory limit to OpenCPN config:
edit /home/pi/.opencpn/opencpn.conf
add line "MEMCacheLimit=200" just after the config version (3rd line).
re-start OpenCPN.

In Old Raspberry Pi config i have the following settings:
This might seem odd, but if you use the new OpenGL driver the memory split is not used, so set it to minimum.
Advanced Options->Memory Split = 16
Advanced Options->GL Driver = G2 GL (Fake KMS) OpenGL desktop driver
reboot

In OpenCPN config:
Display-Advanced->Use accelerated graphics (ticked)
Display-Advanced->Use accelerated graphics->Options-> (nothing ticked)
restart OpenCPN

With all these changes I have a very stable and fast system.
I leave it on for weeks at a time without crashes.

Hope that works as well for you as it did for me.

[NahanniV]

One more thing, I had also updated OpenPlotter from 1.0.0 to 1.2.0Alpha using the built in update.

[NahanniV]

Did that fix your issues ?

[geoffr]

JM,

Thanks - just got internet again, so am updating the Pi as I type this.... I'll let you know in a couple days when I have internet again if it worked.

I did run today with the changes which did not need internet and didn't have any problems, so may have fixed it.

Geoff

[geoffr]

JM,

Ran yesterday after the updates with lots of zooming in/out and panning and it did not freeze So it looks like that fixed it - thanks!

Will be 100% sure in about a week as we have a number more days of narrow challenging channels to navigate.

thanks,
Geoff.

[geoffr]

JM,

I've now had it freeze up again a couple of times. I have removed my MbTiles and turned off OpenGL and it's very stable.

I'm going to try to play with a bit more to see which is causing the problem as I need the MBtiles (support which needs OpenGL) in about a months time...

[geoffr]

JM,

Just played with OpenGL enabled and it was fine when I was using my KAP chart group, but froze up as soon as I used the MBtiles group. So I assume it's an MBtiles issue...

Are you using MBtiles?

[NahanniV]

Besides MBtiles, what charts are you using ?

I don't have MBtiles, and Lately, have been using mostly US Raster charts with OpenGL and the Beta OpenGL driver with Fake KMS.

I have not had any crashes in months. I leave the system on all the time.

[geoffr]

I am using KAP charts (created with GE2KAP) mainly, but would like to use mbtiles (created with SAS Planet).


The MBTiles work fine on my Win10 laptop on OCPN

[NahanniV]

As you say, probably something in MBtiles.

When my system was freezing up, I was still able to connect by SSH from another computer on the same network and look at the system log ($dmesg) to get an idea of what was happening.

Checking the OpenCPN log might also reveal an error message.

If you don't have a router aboard to create a network, you can use OpenPlotter on the RPi to create an access point.

[geoffr]

I have been testing using VNC and when it dies with MBtiles I loose my connection..

I'll check the logs...

[NahanniV]

SSH works on a lower level than VNC.

You need to enable SSH access in Rpi config and download a PuTTY like client for Win10.

[geoffr]

JM,

After a crash dmesg (via SSH) I see the following - any ideas?


[ 136.034532] [drm:vc4_bo_create [vc4]] *ERROR* Failed to allocate from CMA:
[ 136.034546] [drm] V3D: 252964kb BOs (843)
[ 136.034550] [drm] V3D shader: 440kb BOs (106)
[ 136.034553] [drm] dumb: 3088kb BOs (2)
[ 136.035130] [drm:vc4_bo_create [vc4]] *ERROR* Failed to allocate from CMA:
[ 136.035136] [drm] V3D: 252764kb BOs (837)
[ 136.035140] [drm] V3D shader: 440kb BOs (106)
[ 136.035143] [drm] dumb: 3088kb BOs (2)
[ 136.045796] [drm:vc4_bo_create [vc4]] *ERROR* Failed to allocate from CMA:
[ 136.045810] [drm] V3D: 252764kb BOs (837)
[ 136.045814] [drm] V3D shader: 440kb BOs (106)
[ 136.045818] [drm] dumb: 3088kb BOs (2)
[ 136.046214] [drm:vc4_bo_create [vc4]] *ERROR* Failed to allocate from CMA:
[ 136.046219] [drm] V3D: 252764kb BOs (837)
[ 136.046223] [drm] V3D shader: 440kb BOs (106)
[ 136.046226] [drm] dumb: 3088kb BOs (2)
[ 136.046234] vc4_v3d 3fc00000.v3d: Failed to allocate memory for tile binning: -12. You may need to enable CMA or give it more memory.
[ 136.046807] [drm:vc4_bo_create [vc4]] *ERROR* Failed to allocate from CMA:
[ 136.046812] [drm] V3D: 252764kb BOs (837)
[ 136.046816] [drm] V3D shader: 440kb BOs (106)
[ 136.046819] [drm] dumb: 3088kb BOs (2)
[ 136.047173] [drm:vc4_bo_create [vc4]] *ERROR* Failed to allocate from CMA:
[ 136.047177] [drm] V3D: 252760kb BOs (836)
[ 136.047180] [drm] V3D shader: 440kb BOs (106)
[ 136.047184] [drm] dumb: 3088kb BOs (2)
[ 136.047600] [drm:vc4_bo_create [vc4]] *ERROR* Failed to allocate from CMA:
[ 136.047604] [drm] V3D: 252760kb BOs (836)
[ 136.047608] [drm] V3D shader: 440kb BOs (106)
[ 136.047611] [drm] dumb: 3088kb BOs (2)

[NahanniV]

I had similar error messages.

Could you have missed a step from my first post ?

Make sure that you have the latest kernel:
$uname -r
should show 4.19.66 or close to that.

Check and Make sure that you added Memory limit to OpenCPN config:
+++be sure to edit the OpenCPN config file with OpenCPN closed or OpenCPN will overwrite your changes when it is shutdown.
edit /home/pi/.opencpn/opencpn.conf
add line "MEMCacheLimit=200" just after the config version (3rd line).
re-start OpenCPN.