Movie playback issue

[acnp77 62]

Hi,

Issue: Several movies start playback with a hudge delay (around 30s to 1min) , or do not playback at all. Sometimes the client even get's disconnected and needs several attempts to reconnect to the server.

Emby server version: 4.7.11.0
Client: Apple TV 4K (2.Gen) - tvOS 1.7.0

As far as I can see, the formats that are supported by appleTV work (h.264, mp4) but all others do not. I can not see any transcoding errors though. I saw a similar issue on the 1.6.x version of tvOS client, but not sure if this is the same.

Anyone else having this issue?

Thanks,
 

[hi2hello 34]

Same here, since 1.6.x and native player. I learned it has to do something with HLS Subtitles. There is a plugin called "diagnostics plugin". Install it and check the button "disable HLS Subtitles", than save. Retry and media should play fine. 

Unfortunately you have to check this button over and over again every time the server restarts (so with every single little update) as diagnostics plugin is not made to save states.

So this is just a workaround that could help to play your files again. 

Would be nice if you could give feedback if that helped, so maybe it is a bit more obvious to the emby team that there is a problem with playback (for quiet some time now). 

Cheers

[acnp77 62]

Hi. Thanks a lot for this info. Since I do not have access to the player every day, it will take a few days until I can test. But I will update after I can test on the weekend.

Have you tried to use mpv player? - could this be a workaround also?

Cheers

[hi2hello 34]

I refuse to use MPV player as long as it is not supporting auto refresh rate as stuttering movies do drive me crazy. My ATV runs on 60 fps with autoframerate (and auto-dynamic range) turned on and most movies do run on 23,97 fps … 

I really appreciate the progress the emby team has made with features and stuff for the MPV player but latest evolution lead to versions where the once rock solid native player is now unpredictable while MPV has a ton of new features but most important things (stuttering playback in a movie player) remain unadressed.

[Luke 38842]

On 3/19/2023 at 12:05 PM, acnp77 said:

Hi,

Issue: Several movies start playback with a hudge delay (around 30s to 1min) , or do not playback at all. Sometimes the client even get's disconnected and needs several attempts to reconnect to the server.

Emby server version: 4.7.11.0
Client: Apple TV 4K (2.Gen) - tvOS 1.7.0

As far as I can see, the formats that are supported by appleTV work (h.264, mp4) but all others do not. I can not see any transcoding errors though. I saw a similar issue on the 1.6.x version of tvOS client, but not sure if this is the same.

Anyone else having this issue?

Thanks,
 

 

Hi there, let's look at an example. Please attach the information requested in how to report a media playback issue. Thanks!

 

[acnp77 62]

@Luke Thank you

Issue: 30s or more delay for movie playback start. (sometimes no playback at all)
Emby server version: 4.7.11.0
Client: Apple TV 4K (2.Gen) - tvOS 1.7.0
Example of a movie that refuses to start playback: "The Bourne Identity" mentioned on line 16626 of "embyserver-63814867200.txt"

Please let me know if I can do anything to support your investigation. Cheers

embyserver-63814867200.txt ffmpeg-transcode-d30c7716-b89c-40f5-acb4-b922bbd3924a_1.txt ffmpeg-transcode-d473d3bc-a4e5-4183-9871-3bc8b3447280_1.txt

Edited March 22, 2023 by acnp77

[GrimReaper 3795]

Have you tried playing that item without subtitles or with external srt subs? 

[acnp77 62]

@GrimReaperThanks, but this beyond the point. There seems to be an issue with playback of items that requie transcoding, and the issue has been around for quite some time now with ver. 1.6.x and 1.7.0. If we could admit to this and try to find a solution, this would help a lot of users I guess. Thanks

Edited March 23, 2023 by acnp77

[GrimReaper 3795]

1 minute ago, acnp77 said:

Thanks, but this beyond the point. There seems to be an issue with playback of items that requie transcoding, and the issue has been around for quite some time now.

That is incorrect on several levels, most notably: point IS to try to narrow down potential reasons, eliminating subtitles as a source is one of those, simple troubleshooting step. As for an "issue with playback of items that requie transcoding" is so broad that reasons could be literally countless, and generalising it like that is both misleading and not assisting in solving it any way as source of the issue remains elusive unless specific circumstances are found and issue recreated. 

[acnp77 62]

@GrimReaperYes, you are absolutely right. I was just wondering because many have complained about such playback issues for quite some time now and I expected it to be resolved by now. I will check on the weekend when I have access to the device and see if I can narrow it down.

Edited March 23, 2023 by acnp77

[acnp77 62]

@hi2hello@GrimReaper

I have now tested a few things. It is difficult to narrow it down reliably. But here is what I found:

Issue 1.
Movies with embedded subs do not play (I am not sure if all formats of subs are affected). After 20-30s I get the following on-screen error: "Playback Error - No compatible streams are currently available. Please try again later or contact your system administrator for details"
When playing without subs or with external srt subs, most movies start immediately.

Issue 2.
Some movies have a delay of around 20s (no error msg), even with no subs.
The movies with delay are on the same share as the ones without delay, so I think we can rule out problems with smb/cifs.

I changed the "Subtitle mode" in the settings to "No subtitles" (in the Apple TV client app). So as far as I could see the content plays, some content still has delays.

In the web-app Issue 1. also occurs. And Issue 2. also occurs, but not with the same movies.

There must be several things to figure out here. Let me know if I can help with some most testing. Cheers

Edited March 26, 2023 by acnp77

[acnp77 62]

@LukeHi. Any input or update here? - Cheers

[acnp77 62]

On 3/23/2023 at 4:41 AM, GrimReaper said:

Have you tried playing that item without subtitles or with external srt subs? 

Hi. I have tested. See above. Does this help in any way? - Is there anything we can do here?

[GrimReaper 3795]

On 3/25/2023 at 8:08 PM, acnp77 said:

Issue 1.
Movies with embedded subs do not play (I am not sure if all formats of subs are affected). After 20-30s I get the following on-screen error: "Playback Error - No compatible streams are currently available. Please try again later or contact your system administrator for details"
When playing without subs or with external srt subs, most movies start immediately.

For that group of movies, subs are obviously an issue, provide ffmpeg log(s) for one of those sessions - or obtain external subs, as Emby will pre-select those by default if present. 

On 3/25/2023 at 8:08 PM, acnp77 said:

Issue 2.
Some movies have a delay of around 20s (no error msg), even with no subs.

That group of movies apparently has some other underlying issue, provide ffmpeg log(s) for one of those sessions, as "some movies" is not really useful info, exact example(s) are required. 

On 3/25/2023 at 8:08 PM, acnp77 said:

I changed the "Subtitle mode" in the settings to "No subtitles" (in the Apple TV client app). So as far as I could see the content plays, some content still has delays

That is in line with what isues 1. and 2. have shown. 

Edited April 3, 2023 by GrimReaper

[Luke 38842]

Did you uncheck the server transcoding option about allowing subtitle extraction on the fly? Try checking that box again and seeing how things compare.

[acnp77 62]

On 4/3/2023 at 11:03 PM, Luke said:

Did you uncheck the server transcoding option about allowing subtitle extraction on the fly? Try checking that box again and seeing how things compare.

Thank you for your reply. I tried with checked/unchecked option, but I can not notice any difference.

[acnp77 62]

On 4/3/2023 at 10:18 PM, GrimReaper said:

For that group of movies, subs are obviously an issue, provide ffmpeg log(s) for one of those sessions - or obtain external subs, as Emby will pre-select those by default if present. 

 

On 4/3/2023 at 10:18 PM, GrimReaper said:

That group of movies apparently has some other underlying issue, provide ffmpeg log(s) for one of those sessions, as "some movies" is not really useful info, exact example(s) are required. 

I provided complete logs in my earlier post from March 22nd. The logs should include both encountered issues. Thanks

[Luke 38842]

On 4/10/2023 at 10:19 AM, acnp77 said:

Thank you for your reply. I tried with checked/unchecked option, but I can not notice any difference.

Can we see a log example from when it was checked? Thanks.