Limp - automatically trigger software decoding when it's needed

bossanova808 · 26 August 2026 05:31

I’m putting out a new add-on called Limp which forces software decoding for videos that Amlogic’s amcodec hardware decoder gets wrong

CoreELEC’s Amlogic hardware decoder (amcodec) mishandles certain video files:

Rotated phone/camera clips usually play stretched (and occasionally with the wrong orientation)
Some old MJPEG-in-AVI clips hang and never play at all

Limp is a small Kodi service addon that detects these specific files and forces software (FFmpeg) decoding just for them, then restores your normal hardware decoding setting once playback ends. Everything else — including 4K/HDR footage, which is too CPU-heavy for software decoding — is left untouched.

You can scope it to specific folders, or apply it everywhere if your library isn’t organised into dedicated folders.

Confirmed working on Amlogic S9xx (CoreELEC/Ugoos AM6B+). Other platforms aren’t tested — issues and PRs welcome on GitHub.

Install:

In Kodi: Settings → Media → File manager → Add source, add https://repo.bossanova808.net
Add-ons → Install from zip file → pick that source → install the latest repository.bossanova808-x.y.z.zip
Add-ons → Install from repository → Bossanova808’s Kodi Addon Repository → Limp

Full details/source: repository.bossanova808/staging/script.limp/README.md at main · bossanova808/repository.bossanova808 · GitHub

Portisch · 26 August 2026 07:22

Would be a fix not better in Kodi itself?

github.com/CoreELEC/xbmc

xbmc/cores/VideoPlayer/DVDCodecs/Video/DVDVideoCodecAmlogic.cpp

aml-5.15.196-22.0


      
          
          m_nalLengthSize = 0;
          m_streamMeta = {};
          m_stripHdr10Plus = false;
          m_metadataSequencer.Reset();
          
          CLog::Log(LOGDEBUG, "CDVDVideoCodecAmlogic::Opening: codec {:d} profile:{:d} extra_size:{:d}", m_hints.codec, hints.profile, hints.extradata.GetSize());
          
          switch(m_hints.codec)
          {
            case AV_CODEC_ID_MJPEG:
              m_pFormatName = "am-mjpeg";
              break;
            case AV_CODEC_ID_MPEG1VIDEO:
            case AV_CODEC_ID_MPEG2VIDEO:
              if (m_hints.width <= CServiceBroker::GetSettingsComponent()->GetSettings()->GetInt(CSettings::SETTING_VIDEOPLAYER_USEAMCODECMPEG2))
                goto FAIL;
          
              switch(m_hints.profile)
              {
                case AV_PROFILE_MPEG2_422:

bossanova808 · 26 August 2026 07:24

Sure but I don’t know how to do that.

Also - some of these problems have been reported here and on the Kodi forums for years (rotation/stretch issues) - and there’s been no fix. So to keep my family happy I made a workaround.

Would love for it to be solved properly, of course, but I am not up on CE development (and only very slight Kodi itself work…)