Direct Play Problem - Emby For Fire Stick Version 2.0.39a

[davidb7170 7]

I noticed that since last weekend, my Emby for Fire Stick app is streaming some but not all video in Transcode mode, rather than Direct Play.

I've narrowed down the issue to those rendered with a NUC i3 with Intel Iris Plus 665 play in Direct Play mode, while those rendered with my newer Intel A380 6 GB GPU are all being Transcoded. Stats for Nerds indicates the reason for Transcoding is Direct Play Error.

My standard MP4 files are rendered in H.265 (HEVC) at 10 Bit depth, and AC3 or E-AC3 audio, depending on the source file. All are rendered on Handbrake. I am on the current version 1.6.1 (2023012300), but have been using it for several years. 

I replaced all my Fire Sticks with the 4K version so that Emby could Direct Play the HEVC files, and not tie up my server's GPU.

On looking into this, I looked up the Emby for Fire Stick app on my app store, and they indicated the version I currently have in my 4 Fire TV Stick 4K units are on Emby For Fire Stick Version 2.0.93a. The app store info indicated the last update was September 9, 2023, last Saturday. I did not see the update happen, so it must have occurred automatically in the background on my Fire Sticks.

The odd thing is that the Direct Play works on version 2.0.93a on the NUC-rendered files, but not on the A380 GPU rendered files. 

I purchased the A380 GPU in February 2023. It renders more than twice as fast as the NUC and does a very good job, but apparently there is a difference in the files that the Emby For Fire Stick App now chokes on, where it did not in the prior version.

I also have an LG smart TV with Emby for LG Version 1.0.39 that currently plays all of these same files in Direct Play with no issues.

My Fire TV Stick 4K's are on Fire Stick's Fire OS 6.2.9.7 (N56297/4660), except for one that during this process of discovery, I updated to Fire OS 6.2.9.8 (N56298/4758) as it was available and I wanted to see if that would clear the issue. It did not. I also know that this Fire Stick OS update is fairly recent, last couple of weeks, but the Direct Play problems didn't appear until last weekend. 

I included the Fire Stick OS info in case that may be a factor, but the timing would point more towards the Emby for Fire Stick version 2.0.93a as a likely issue.

Please advise.

Thanks,
Dave

Edited September 13, 2023 by davidb7170
typo

[Luke 37248]

 

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

 

[davidb7170 7]

Luke -

Thanks. The "how to report.." link did not specify which log file(s) were needed, so I took the initial 3, which were generated beginning with embyserver-63829900800 at 11:58:00 pm on Saturday 9/9/23, ffmpeg-directstream-7b95bd7b-4f97-45e4-8b91-9d38cd3cc243_1 at 10:35:50 am on Sunday 9/10/23, and ffmpeg-transcode-b89729b0-aff6-4e0c-bafb-3cd898f0e75d_1 at 10:35:56 am on Sunday 9/9/23. All the time stamps are CDT. These are the first entries in the log file list, and have happened every time I played a file as I described above on a fire stick 4K up through today. No log files were generated when I was using the LG smart TV with Emby for LG Version 1.0.39 and all files have continued to play in Direct Play Mode.

I first saw the behavior on Sunday morning 9/10/23. Prior to that time, the Emby for Fire Stick apps were operating as they should.

Thanks,

Dave

embyserver-63829900800.txt ffmpeg-directstream-7b95bd7b-4f97-45e4-8b91-9d38cd3cc243_1.txt ffmpeg-transcode-b89729b0-aff6-4e0c-bafb-3cd898f0e75d_1.txt

[Luke 37248]

HI, is it consistent if you try to play them again?

[davidb7170 7]

Yes, when playing them again, they still transcode if they did before. 

I was able to take screen shots (see attached jpg's) of the Fire Stick 4K outputs. The first image 0002 is the Emby Fire Stick app settings screen showing the current version 2.0.93a. The second and third 0003 and 0004 show Stats For Nerds data of files that transcode. The fourth and fifth 0005 & 0006 show files that Direct Play. All the Stats For Nerds captures are from different files. I flipped through my library and found files that play direct and files that transcode. In every case I checked, the transcoding files show Stream Type: HLS and Conversion Reason: Direct play error. The files that play direct all showed Stream Type: HTTP.

I know that HTTP is a network protocol that is familiar, assuming it means what it usually means, but I'm not familiar with HLS, though. It's not a rendering difference I made from file to file that I'm aware of. Ok, looked it up: HTTP Live Streaming (HLS). Now I'm confused, so does Stream Type: HTTP mean HLS anyway?

I found some files that were rendered before I changed from the NUC to the Intel Arc A380 GPU to render with, so it's not only A380 files that don't stream direct, but some NUC files as well... It's just that all the A380 GPU rendered files don't play direct at this point. That was my first impression that something was different with the A380 GPU output, but that theory kind of goes out the window, I guess, when I found NUC rendered files that also need to transcode for some reason. 

Were you able to find anything in the log files?

Thanks for your looking into this.

Dave

[pwhodges 1538]

34 minutes ago, davidb7170 said:

Ok, looked it up: HTTP Live Streaming (HLS). Now I'm confused, so does Stream Type: HTTP mean HLS anyway?

HLS is a protocol on top of HTTP: HTTP Live Streaming.

Paul

[Luke 37248]

Hi.  Can you try sideloading our standard android app on the same device and see how that compares?

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

Thanks.

 

[davidb7170 7]

Ok will try on my fire stick 4K in my computer room (close by to my PC's). I did a sideload or 2 when trying to solve an issue on my old fire sticks a while back (couple or so years ago) so I'm relearning it... That time you had me download a beta version for Fire Stick. I can't find the post thread on that...

I took a look at the apk's listed on the https://emby.media/emby-for-android.html link you provided, but I am unsure which of the listed apk to choose. Seems the x86 and x64 would be for windows(?) or Intel processors, so which apk is the "standard" android  arm7 or arm64 are  compatible for Fire Stick 4K? Need to pick the right one. I don't know what processor is in a Fire Stick, but would venture it likely would be an ARM rather than Intel.

Was able to DL the Downloader app, and enable Developer mode to get at the permission to DL apps from unknown sources. Always a bit uneasy about that... Anyway, I am guessing the arm7, as it's first on the list, but need to make sure. The arm7 link shows a file name:

emby-android-google-armeabi-v7a-release.apk

Please verify the version I will need to install. 

Please advise. Thanks for your help.

Dave

[Luke 37248]

9 hours ago, davidb7170 said:

Ok will try on my fire stick 4K in my computer room (close by to my PC's). I did a sideload or 2 when trying to solve an issue on my old fire sticks a while back (couple or so years ago) so I'm relearning it... That time you had me download a beta version for Fire Stick. I can't find the post thread on that...

I took a look at the apk's listed on the https://emby.media/emby-for-android.html link you provided, but I am unsure which of the listed apk to choose. Seems the x86 and x64 would be for windows(?) or Intel processors, so which apk is the "standard" android  arm7 or arm64 are  compatible for Fire Stick 4K? Need to pick the right one. I don't know what processor is in a Fire Stick, but would venture it likely would be an ARM rather than Intel.

Was able to DL the Downloader app, and enable Developer mode to get at the permission to DL apps from unknown sources. Always a bit uneasy about that... Anyway, I am guessing the arm7, as it's first on the list, but need to make sure. The arm7 link shows a file name:

emby-android-google-armeabi-v7a-release.apk

Please verify the version I will need to install. 

Please advise. Thanks for your help.

Dave

HI, yes armv7. Thanks.

[davidb7170 7]

I got the arm7 apk sideloaded successfully, and it functions, but the same outcome occurs on the same sets of files. The ones that Direct Played on the Firestick Emby 2.0.39a App still played on the Android 3.3.31 version. and the ones that transcode on FS app still transcode on the Android app, so think they both have issues, was worth a try... 

I uninstalled the FS app and cleared the cache prior to sideloading the Android version, just to be safe. They both just identify as "Emby", so didn't want to confuse the issue when using it.

Since the android app sideload had the same issues, I will probably uninstall it and reload the FS 2.0.39a version until a revised version comes out that fixes the issue.  

If you wish, I can re-render a short section maybe 5 or 10 minutes of a file on both my NUC and my Intel A380 GPU. I did this in my investigation with some files, the NUC ones Direct played and the A380 ones transcoded when played. That's why I went down that line of thought initially, but I did find a rare few that were NUC files that also transcode when played on the current Emby for Firestick and the android app. The A380 files transcoded whether it was HEVC 8 bit or 10 bit depth. 

Please advise.

Thanks

Dave

[davidb7170 7]

I just realized I had a dyslexic moment when naming this thread, said 2.039a instead of 2.093a, and also in the typing in some of my posts on this topic. I hope that's not pushing down the progress on my issue...

I'm wondering if I can sideload the prior Firestick version of the app, think it's 2.0.90 (from your release notes post) to see how it acted for sure. I really hadn't paid much attention to the version updates prior to this when I saw the issues I starting having last Sunday. One reason I switched to the Firestick in my PC room was that one hadn't been on in weeks, but when I started it up, the Firestick OS was immediately updated, and apparently so was the Firestick version at the same time, so it woke up in 2.093a. I was going to see if whatever version was on that one acted as I remembered, just to make sure. Do you have an archive of past versions for such a purpose?

On your forum Android TV/ Fire TV release notes post, I see that it's dated December 16, 2016. Apparently, the date doesn't change as it is revised. It would be helpful to the users to put the date in the text of the release note as it is revised. 

I can still do short renders (to keep file size down) of the same source file on the different PC's and send if you'd like to see if you can tell differences that the Firestick 2.0.93 and Android 3.3.31 are choking on. I can see the messages in Stats for Nerds within jus a few seconds, so if you'd like a shorter length, just let me know.

Please advise 

Thanks

Dave

Edited September 16, 2023 by davidb7170
typo

[davidb7170 7]

OKAY, Progress. I kept noticing UPnP Errors in the logs, but didn't see any connection to the issues at hand. However, I seem to remember enabling the port forwarding manually in my router. I looked and it is. I also looked at my plugins on emby server and saw the port forwarding plugin was installed. I uninstalled it and restarted the emby server, and tried the Emby Android app 3.3.31 I had sideloaded, and all the files now direct play! -- COOL!!

I uninstalled the Android app, and reinstalled the Fire Stick version 2.0.93a hoping this UPnP error thing was the issue, but the same behavior is still happening: transcoding some, direct playing others, the same files as before.... Emby for Fire Stick 2.0.93 is definitely borked up and needs to be fixed.

I uninstalled 2.0.93a and reinstalled the Android 3.3.31 version, and again, all files played direct. 

Please advise

Thanks

Dave

[davidb7170 7]

Update. With what I found last night, I tried the Emby Android app 3.3.31 sideload on my Livingroom Samsung HD (1080) tv, with Fire Stick 4K this morning. The same files that transcoded, on my Emby Firestick app 2.093a were transcoding on the Android app... I went back to my pc room and checked the Firestick 4K with the Android sideloaded app on my LG 4K pc monitor, and it was also now transcoding again.

Last night when I thought I made the breakthrough, I had uninstalled the port forwarding plugin, and that required a restart of the Emby Server, currently 4.17.14.0. So, I tried restarting the Emby Server again this morning, and the Android version started Direct Playing again. I went back to the Livingroom TV and it was now Direct Playing. I came back to the pc room and the 4K monitor was transcoding again. It seems to straighten up and Direct Play for a while, but will ultimately fall back into a state where it transcodes again. Sometimes in just a few minutes, sometimes longer, at this time tonight as I'm writing this, it's continued to Direct Play for about an hour so far on the android app.

As a quick test this morning to see if the Android 3.3.31 could coexist on the firestick alongside the firestick 2.0.93a app, I reinstalled the 2.0.93a Emby for Firestick on my 4K PC monitor, and it can indeed coexist. It also again was transcoding, as was the android version, so I restarted the Emby Server. The Android version began to Direct Play and when I tried the 2.0.93a Firestick version, it ALSO WAS Direct Playing the files that previously were transcoding. Though, within a fairly short amount of time, it reverted to transcoding the same files if tried again. In testing tonight, I have not seen the firestick app direct stream, where this morning it did.

I am now considering that there is a condition in the Emby Server version 4.17.14.0 that, in combination with the firestick 2.0.93a and Android 3.3.31 apps forcing a stop in Direct play and after some period of time are forced to transcode due to Direct Play Error for whatever reason. 

Oddly enough, my LG 4K smart TV in my media room with Emby for LG Version 1.0.39 does not have any problems with the Emby Server version 4.17.14.0 interactions or output and is Direct Playing all files I have thrown at it.

At least I'm not seeing any UPnP errors in my logs since removing the port forwarding plugin....

I'm really hoping someone is actually reading what I'm seeing and has some Ideas to fix this problem.

Please advise, your help is much appreciated. Thanks

Dave

[ebr 14959]

4 hours ago, davidb7170 said:

I came back to the pc room and the 4K monitor was transcoding again. It seems to straighten up and Direct Play for a while, but will ultimately fall back into a state where it transcodes

Yes, if an error is encountered, the app will fall back to transcoding.  This sounds like either something in the files or, perhaps, some condition on your network is causing this to happen.  Please play one of these items until it starts transcoding and then  follow the instructions to send a log from the app and also provide here the ffmpeg log(s) that is/are produced.  Thanks.

[davidb7170 7]

Ok, did some investigating on a couple of fronts.

First off, when I found out the Android Emby App 3.3.31 could coexist on a fire stick 4k, I sideloaded the Android app on my 3 other 4K fire sticks. So I have one in my PC Room on an LG 4K pc monitor (new this year), one on an LG 4K smart TV (a couple of years old) in my Media Room that also has the native LG Web OS that has the LG version of Emby app installed, version 1.0.39, last updated in July. Then I have a Samsung HD (1080) TV in the Living Room probably over 10 years old, and a Samsung HD (1080) in the Bedroom, that is several years older than the living room TV. All 4 units have the Fire TV Stick 4K of the same age - a couple years old, except for the the PC room unit I picked up a couple months ago. The PC room firestick is the only one I can directly capture screen shots from.

I started with the Living Room TV, installed android app 3.3.31 on it, but it Transcoded, until I restarted the Emby server software, then it Direct Played. I checked the firestick app 2.0.93a, it transcoded before and after the server restart. 

Shortly after, I installed the android version on the Bedroom TV, but this time it came up as version 3.3.32, within a hour of the Livingroom TV installing 3.3.31, so apparently I caught the timing of some update in between. Again it Transcoded until I restarted the server again, then Direct played. Again, the firestick ap 2.0.93a Transcoded before and after the server restart.

I then moved on to the Media Room TV firestick, with the android app 3.3.32, Transcode, server restart, Direct play, firestick Transcoding before an after. Same behavior as the others. 

Thought I had it knocked until the firestick version 2.0.93a can be figured out and hopefully fixed with a revision, but.... Last night when turning in I fired up the Bedroom TV, and brought up the android version of Emby, and it was Transcoding again. One nice thing in the android version is you have the ability to remotely manage the server to restart it, as I did on the android app installs. So, I restarted it, and it Direct played again. Didn't know why it needed to restart to get it Direct playing again.

So this morning, I used the Living Room TV to watch something, and the android app was transcoding again. I checked the firestick Emby app (2.0.93a) it was playing Direct! Wait a minute... Back to the Bedroom, checked the android app - Direct, firestick app - Transcoding. Checked the Media Room - android - Direct, Firestick - Transcoding. Checked the PC Room android app - Direct, firestick app - Transcoding. I made sure to play the same file on all the TV's.

The outlier is the Living Room TV. I restarted the Emby server, figuring it would straighten out the Living Room TV behavior, but after the restart, android app was still transcoding, and firestick app was still Direct playing.

I have no clue at this point....

I checked out the router and extension access point for issues, found none. Bounced my upstairs TV firestick network connections to different points, found no difference in behavior of the units, so don't really know what to look for, maybe you have other ideas on that.

I turned on the debugging option of the server, but in all the iterations, it's generated a ton of logs. I'll need to know what actions you'd like to look at specifically, or have me do, then grab the logs, then do the next thing, grab the logs generated for that action.

Ideas? Please advise. Thanks

Dave

Edited September 19, 2023 by davidb7170
typo

[Luke 37248]

Quote

Update. With what I found last night, I tried the Emby Android app 3.3.31 sideload on my Livingroom Samsung HD (1080) tv, with Fire Stick 4K this morning. The same files that transcoded, on my Emby Firestick app 2.093a were transcoding on the Android app... I went back to my pc room and checked the Firestick 4K with the Android sideloaded app on my LG 4K pc monitor, and it was also now transcoding again.

Did you check the stats feature in the video player to learn why it was transcoding?

[davidb7170 7]

If you're referring to the apps' Stats for Nerds, yes each time. The firestick app always says "Direct Play error", and the android app always says "Recovering from Direct Play error", so not much info there... No other details.

Dave

[ebr 14959]

Hi.  Using the Fire TV app, can you please play that item for a few seconds and then follow the instructions to send a log from the app?

 

[davidb7170 7]

Ok, finally found the place to enable it to send debug logs direct on the Fire TV app, and sent you one directly. It's from my PC room Fire Stick 4K on a 4K LG pc monitor a couple of minutes ago. 

Also to correct my replay to Luke above "...android app always says "Recovering from Direct Play error", so not much info there..." actually the android app always says "Recovering from playback error" when it transcodes... I remembered it wrong when I wrote my reply.

Thanks

Dave

PS - the Ling Room TV is still the only one where the Fire TV app is Direct Playing, and the android app is Transcoding, still today. I watched a full movie on Fire TV Direct Playing this morning. Only one of my 4 Firestick 4K's that is in that state...

Edited September 20, 2023 by davidb7170
added a comment

[ebr 14959]

Getting an unspecified error with one of the streams - I'm guessing it is the audio.  Do you know how to sideload onto your Fire stick?  If so, I'll PM you a version to try.

[davidb7170 7]

ebr - 

Yes I sideloaded the android version of the Emby app on my 4 firesticks in this process from the https://emby.media/emby-for-android.html link.

If you pm me a version directly, I assume I'll have to sideload it from my pc, so will need to know how to access it with the firestick Downloader app to get it from my PC. A quick run-through in your PM will be helpful that process. 

I have been rendering with HEVC 10 Bit video and pass through E-AC3 and AC3 audio in Handbrake for a very long time. Just checked an older video with E-AC3, and it Direct played, and a recent vid with E-AC3 and it Transcoded. this will be interesting. 

Thanks!

Dave

[davidb7170 7]

ebr -

After some struggles to get the apk file you PM'd me sideloaded, (removing the 2.093a first), I got the Firestick Emby app 2.094a (I assume it's a beta of some sort) installed on my PC room LG 4K monitor Fire TV Stick 4K. It is in a state of Direct Playing now. Oddly though, the Android Emby app 3.3.31 that was Direct Playing (before this version of Firestick app) is now Transcoding what it used to direct play of the newer files done with the Intel A380 GPU, though not the older NUC rendered files in the exact same formats and settings.

This matches the behavior of the Living Room TV that is Direct Playing the same files in Firestick Emby app 2.093a, and Transcoding on the Android app. The other 2 of my 4 TV's are vice versa, Direct in the Firestick app, and Transcoding in the Android version. Can there be some conflict between the 2 different types? I don't have a clue.

I do not know what to make of this.

One other behavior that I have noticed since this all started, is that the audio volume of the newer A380 GPU rendered files are significantly lower than before the 2.093a revision. The older NUC rendered files are (for the vast majority) still at the volumes I recall all (old and new) playing prior to the 2.093a revision. The Android versions 3.3.31 and now 3.3.32 do not show a volume difference between the old and new files that I have noticed. 

When I say about volume, I usually have my Livingroom TV at a volume of 20 when on Cable TV, but when I switch to the Firestick and Emby App, I was getting a higher volume so I would turn the volume down to 16 - 18. Since the 2.093a version, now that (for some reason) that app is Direct Playing, I now have to turn up the volume to about 24 to get the same general volume level. On the old NUC files of the same render settings, the behavior is as it was before (turn down to 16-18). I know these are relative numbers, and may not be of much help. Now the 2.094a version is also showing the same volume behavior on the PC room Firestick App. 

Anyway, the thing is, the Android app doesn't exhibit this behavior that I can tell between the old and new files. 

I am at a total loss here. I will be away for a week or so, so will give you a rest for a bit, I guess...

Thanks 

Dave

[ebr 14959]

7 hours ago, davidb7170 said:

the audio volume of the newer A380 GPU rendered files are significantly lower than before the 2.093a revision

My guess is the differences you are seeing are coming down to which audio renderer is being used and this volume difference is an indicator of that.  The TV app stats for nerds will show if the audio is being passed through or decoded in software.

[Luke 37248]

Quote

The Android versions 3.3.31 and now 3.3.32 do not show a volume difference between the old and new files that I have noticed. 

Are you happy continuing to use this?

[croaton 7]

Good Morning and have a nice Sunday,

I run into the same Problems with the Transcodes and i don't think we use the same files,

after massive Testing with 20 different Movies the Conclusion is...

 

FireTVStick First Gen non 4k with Amzon Store App 2.093a  : Transcoding due to lack of 10 bit Support

FireTVStick Second Gen non 4k with Amzon Store App 2.093a  : Transcoding after 30-60s Direct Play

FireTVStick Third Gen non 4k with Amzon Store App 2.093a  : Transcoding after 30-60s Direct Play

Roku 4K Express :  Direct Play all the Way

 

FireTVStick Second Gen non 4k with with sideloaded 3.3.38 arm7  : Direct Play no Problems

FireTVStick Third Gen non 4k with with sideloaded 3.3.38 arm7  : Direct Play no Problems

Tomorrow i can check a waipu stick wit 2.0.93g on it and a Xiaomi 4k TV Stick will arrive this Week.

But as from my Point something is wrong with the Amazon Build. 8 Bit Hevc no Problem, and before you ask, 10 bit is enabled on the Sticks in System Settings

 

Best Regards

Edited October 15, 2023 by croaton