Emby on Android Devices Black Screen but Audio working

[ralothar 1]

Good evening,

unfortunately I ran into a problem when trying to play certain episodes on my android devices (Tab S7plus and LG Vevlvet). When playing this exact series every episode has a black screen but I can hear the audio track. I can't replicate the same problem with other series or movies. However it happens with both my mobile android devices (which is a bummer because those are my main way of consuming content). The same episode works flawless on the webui or if I enable an external media player on android. I have attached the Log File from the webui. I hope that's the right one.

Now I can't really say if this is a server side problem (in my case a Synology NAS) or if this a android app problem.

Any help would be very much appreciated. Best regards,

ralothar

embyserver.txt

[Luke 38493]

Hi, what version of the emby Android app do you have?

[ralothar 1]

Hi,

Version 3.2.61 on Tablet

Version 3.2.57 on Phone

and Version 4.7.5.0 on Server

[Luke 38493]

That's strange. Can you please try this version of the android app:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/u1obwrckg4lkjc8/emby-android-google-armeabi-v7a-release.apk?dl=0

And then provide a log from the app by following these instructions: 

Thanks !

[ralothar 1]

I've installed the recommended version on my tab and started the same file. I attached the generated logs to this reply

3a2bcced-dbee-4481-a20a-a9f765500304.log 3d9b2fb9-742b-4553-a2e6-88891c83d69d.log

[ralothar 1]

Didn't want to bump this thread cause it was the weekend but Is there anything I can learn from these two files? Is the problem on my side or a bug?

[Luke 38493]

Hi, Can you please try the latest build from our website:

https://emby.media/emby-for-android.html

Please let me know how 3.2.62+ compares. Thanks.

[ralothar 1]

Tried it and it unfortunately didn't help. As a bonus the app doesn't seem to be producing logs anymore

[JoshL 13]

Hi, I'm curious what the Media Info section says for the episodes that display a black screen. Particularly the video stream and what codec it is.

Could you possibly share a screenshot of that section?

[ralothar 1]

Sure. I can do that.

[JoshL 13]

Thanks. I have an idea what's happening based on this and the app log but I have no way to test it. 

Could you PM a sample for testing?

[ralothar 1]

I would like to do that however upon sending, a warning pops up that you can't receive messages @Abobader

[Luke 38493]

21 minutes ago, ralothar said:

I would like to do that however upon sending, a warning pops up that you can't receive messages

You can send it to me instead and I'll make sure he gets it. Thanks.

[Abobader 3204]

34 minutes ago, ralothar said:

I would like to do that however upon sending, a warning pops up that you can't receive messages @Abobader

His PM storage is over limited, but try again now.

3 hours ago, JoshL said:

Thanks. I have an idea what's happening based on this and the app log but I have no way to test it. 

Could you PM a sample for testing?

You need to organized your PM storage, since you reach the limited allowed for storage, but for now, I increase it.

Edited August 7, 2022 by Abobader
Typing correction

[Abobader 3204]

11 minutes ago, Luke said:

You can send it to me instead and I'll make sure he gets it. Thanks.

No need, I already increase the limited storage

[Luke 38493]

Hi, this will be resolved in Emby for Android 3.2.62+. Thanks.

[ralothar 1]

Alright. Thank you very much. Is there an ETA for this Update?

[ralothar 1]

I can report that the new update did indeed fix the issue. Thank you very much

[Luke 38493]

Thanks for the feedback 

[bookw 6]

I seem to be having the same issue on my note to an external display, just a black screen like in this thread earlier. On version 3.2.75.

[slavave 0]

Hello.
I have the same problem, but on android version 4.2. And Emby version 2.9.90. (above does not work on Iconbit Toucan Duo).
Can I fix it somehow?

[bookw 6]

I don't know if it helps at all - but on the external display basically everything works except the video itself.  The GUI / program prior to starting the video works all normal on the display - and even during the video - the controls/overlay and logos all display, just over a black screen.

If I use an external player - that works fine, any of them.  Just doesn't save progress that way etc.

[Luke 38493]

On 9/29/2022 at 10:59 AM, bookw said:

I don't know if it helps at all - but on the external display basically everything works except the video itself.  The GUI / program prior to starting the video works all normal on the display - and even during the video - the controls/overlay and logos all display, just over a black screen.

If I use an external player - that works fine, any of them.  Just doesn't save progress that way etc.

That's strange. Can you please try this version of the android app:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/u1obwrckg4lkjc8/emby-android-google-armeabi-v7a-release.apk?dl=0

And then provide a log from the app by following these instructions: 

Thanks !

[DragonSkills99 3]

I have the same problem... I just installed the latest Beta-Version on my Synology and looked if there is a later Version on Google Play. As long as I'm watching on my build in screen, it works, but as soon as I attach a monitor to it, the video output stays black. I guess it's quite common as it's not the first smartphone with that problem, maybe it's also cause by Samsung DEX as both were from Samsung. The Screens I used were NReal Air Glasses and ViewSonic TD1655. Both are connected via USB-C. But using HDMI via a Docking Station, doesn't matter. (The problem persists even without said station in between)

 

Smartphones with said problem I used: Samsung S21 Ultra 5G, Samsung Z4 Fold

 

For Logs, there are none under the specified path in the linked thread on my mobile:

 

and there is only a windows path for the server but I'm on synology, but I higly doubt that the server logs would be helpful as the videos are sent correctly but not displayed on external devices...

 

Greetings 

DragonSkills99 

[Luke 38493]

On 5/15/2023 at 11:38 AM, DragonSkills99 said:

I have the same problem... I just installed the latest Beta-Version on my Synology and looked if there is a later Version on Google Play. As long as I'm watching on my build in screen, it works, but as soon as I attach a monitor to it, the video output stays black. I guess it's quite common as it's not the first smartphone with that problem, maybe it's also cause by Samsung DEX as both were from Samsung. The Screens I used were NReal Air Glasses and ViewSonic TD1655. Both are connected via USB-C. But using HDMI via a Docking Station, doesn't matter. (The problem persists even without said station in between)

 

Smartphones with said problem I used: Samsung S21 Ultra 5G, Samsung Z4 Fold

 

For Logs, there are none under the specified path in the linked thread on my mobile:

 

and there is only a windows path for the server but I'm on synology, but I higly doubt that the server logs would be helpful as the videos are sent correctly but not displayed on external devices...

 

Greetings 

DragonSkills99 

@DragonSkills99what version of android does this device run?