Emby server not transcoding only to LibreELEC client

[Touz604 11]

Hello, I've been using Emby server 4.6.4.0 in docker on Unraid for a year and it's been working wonderfully. All remote clients (Android app, iPhone app, firestick, Chromecast, etc) are transcoding when the file bitrate is over the network limit set for each user, except for a new remote LibreELEC/Kodi box 10.0 I set up to a friend's house. The client bypasses the network/bandwidth limit set in the Emby server to users and always direct play.

Is there a setting, server side, or else client-side, to force the client to accept the limit imposed by the server and to tell the server to transcode the video accordingly?

When we try to impose a 10Mbps limit to streams directly on the client-side into Kodi, it looks like the server wants to start transcoding, but the playback fails and the user gets a generic error message saying "Playback Failed". I add here a log of the Emby server trying to start the transcode, but failing. It seems to me that this step isn't necessary, as the server should detect that the client should stream 10Mbps instead of 13Mbps.

If we can't troubleshoot with this, I'll try to get my friend to produce some Kodi logs.

Thank you for your help!

 

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by CBers
Removed logs as requested.

[quickmic 1136]

As a try, use the lowest possible bitrate for transcoding, and yes. I need a kodi.log, but probably you can try the same file with same transcoding setup on your (local) box or PC? I wanna know if this is a general issue, a file specific issue,or probably a special case with your friend's box.

[Touz604 11]

So, i set up a test Raspberry Pi with LibreELEC 9.2.8 and Emby-next-gen 5.3.2 at home using tethering to simulate remote connections. I tried with many files, each one that requires transcoding fails on the Pi, but direct play works on the Pi. Transcoding works with other clients (Android app, for example).

I add many logs here:

embyserver_direct.log

libreelec_direct.log

user is set to 10 Mbps in Emby, but Direct Play on the Pi, bypassing the user bandwidth restriction

 

kodi_10mbps.log

embyserver_10mbps.log

ffmpeg-transcode-332f148c-cd9d-445b-bcfe-f7cf3d35702a_1.log

in Emby-next-gen setting, on the Pi I set remote bandwidth to 10.7 Mbps (can't set it to 10), and it seems like Emby tries to start a transcode but fails, returning a generic error message on the Pi.

By the way, I tried to go to Under Advanced tab, set the Log level to Info. If you are asked to provide a more detailed log, set it Debug instead. Usually, setting the Log level to Info is enough. but I didn't find anything related to Log level under Advanced, is that normal? So I enabled debug on Kodi instead... Not sure if it's ok.

Thanks a lot for your assistance

 

 

Edited November 15, 2021 by CBers
Removed logs as requested.

[quickmic 1136]

As you have a test environment, can you please check again with latest beta please

[Touz604 11]

The issue is still there in the latest beta.

Something I noticed is that some files do transcode and play as it should on the tv (mostly movies), but most don't (movies and tv shows).

For those that don't, as per the Emby logs, it seems that the transcode does occurs on the server, but the playback shows as failed on Kodi. The transcode doesn't show up on the dashboard. The transcode continues on the server for about 1 minute even after the error is spat out on Kodi. Maybe it stops due to the throlling setting being turned on.

Another example in 2 more logs for you.

https://paste.kodi.tv/nonovejehe.kodi

I'd also add that it does take 30 seconds or so before the error is returned to Emby. Looking at the Kodi log, it seems to be related to those 2 lines:

2021-11-06 21:04:44.599 T:2253607744  NOTICE: Creating Demuxer
2021-11-06 21:05:14.686 T:2253607744   ERROR: OpenDemuxStream - Error creating demuxer

Then in the transcode log the transcoding starts at 21:05:21.838

There's a bunch of ThrottleBySegmentRequest before that, could the error be related to that?

EDIT: I noticed that sometimes, if I wait 2-3 minutes and try to play the same episode that wasn't working, the transcoded episode starts to play, but I don't see any stream on the Emby dashboard.

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by CBers
Removed logs as requested.

[quickmic 1136]

I'm still not sure if this is problem on server side or on Kodi client.

Is the same (transcoding) movie working on other devices?

I'll send you a PM...

[Touz604 11]

On 07/11/2021 at 03:58, quickmic said:

I'm still not sure if this is problem on server side or on Kodi client.

Is the same (transcoding) movie working on other devices?

I'll send you a PM...

Yes, the same movies and tv shows, transcoded, are playable on all other clients that I've tried.

[quickmic 1136]

ok, I also read your PM. Currently I'm very busy, not time yet for investigation and that's not an easy one. I need to setup a libreelec image for the raspi.

[Touz604 11]

No mean to rush, I'm just wondering if this is still on your todo list to fix, or else I'll purchase another device when I'm outside the house. I'd still much prefer to use the Pi though :)

Thanks

[quickmic 1136]

Have you tested with 6.2.7?

Is this still an issue, I thought it's already covered.

[Touz604 11]

Unfortunately, it's still an issue on my side. Only the transcoding for this specific client isn't working. Direct play is working.

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by CBers
Removed logs as requested.

[Touz604 11]

I switched to EmbyCon, which works fine for transcoding. I prefer the Emby for Kodi experience, but for remote streaming I guess the solution for me will be EmbyCon.

Thanks!

[quickmic 1136]

Ok, I let you know if/when I found the issue.

[quickmic 1136]

I performed another test. Libreelec 10.0.1, raspi 4, stock Kodi with just next-gen installed and transcode to 664kbps.

Still no problem on my box

 

[quickmic 1136]

On 11/7/2021 at 2:27 AM, Touz604 said:

EDIT: I noticed that sometimes, if I wait 2-3 minutes and try to play the same episode that wasn't working, the transcoded episode starts to play, but I don't see any stream on the Emby dashboard.

 

Is the websocket connection ok? Try to send a msg from Emby server to Kodi box.

Also try to adjust the cache settings on Kodi:

https://kodi.wiki/view/HOW-TO:Modify_the_video_cache

[Touz604 11]

Thanks again for looking into this. I tried sending a message to the Kodi box from the Emby server, and it's working.

I tried forcing transcoding on the LAN, and i'm noticing all the same issues as when trying to stream remotely, so I guess we can rule out the reverse proxy as an issue.

I didn't try modifying the Kodi cache. At this point, I think I'm gonna use Embycon.

Thanks