Black screen when reopening Emby on Shield

[zigil64 0]

Every now and then, when I try to reopen Emby on my Shield (e.g., after I navigated to another app, and then came back to Emby), it gives me a black screen. I need to force close the app, and then open it again for it to work. Any idea what's causing the issue? It initially happened on the stable version. I signed up for the beta version, and this is happening again on the latest beta.

[CBers 6771]

It's always recommended to exit the app correctly, rather than just jumping back to the home screen.
 

[zigil64 0]

can you please explain what you mean? For every other app on Android, we just go back to the home screen by pressing the home key/button, open another app, then back to home, and then Emby. Do you always force close Emby when you are navigating to another app?!

[ebr 14925]

Hi.  He means back all the way out but hitting the home button should be fine - except perhaps not during playback.  That really should be fine too but may cause issues if that is what you are doing.

The black screen is just an indication that the app has crashed.  The next time this happens please force close it then re-open it and immediately  follow the instructions to send a log from the app.

Thanks.

 

 

[CBers 6771]

3 hours ago, zigil64 said:

can you please explain what you mean? For every other app on Android, we just go back to the home screen by pressing the home key/button, open another app, then back to home, and then Emby. Do you always force close Emby when you are navigating to another app?!

Which app are you using the ATV app, or the standard Android app, as exiting is different in each app.

It's never a good idea to leave apps running on an Android device, but each to their own.
 

[zigil64 0]

6 hours ago, CBers said:

Which app are you using the ATV app, or the standard Android app, as exiting is different in each app.

It's never a good idea to leave apps running on an Android device, but each to their own.
 

This is probably one of the least helpful and more inaccurate responses I've seen in any forum here. See these two links just for a couple of easy to read summaries why what you suggest makes no sense:

https://www.howtogeek.com/771413/stop-closing-apps-on-your-android-phone/

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/12/4/16725812/force-close-apps-good-or-bad

Also, see ebr's response just before yours....

[zigil64 0]

8 hours ago, ebr said:

Hi.  He means back all the way out but hitting the home button should be fine - except perhaps not during playback.  That really should be fine too but may cause issues if that is what you are doing.

The black screen is just an indication that the app has crashed.  The next time this happens please force close it then re-open it and immediately  follow the instructions to send a log from the app.

Thanks.

 

 

OK, I'll send the log, and update this post here when that's done.

[zigil64 0]

15 hours ago, ebr said:

Hi.  He means back all the way out but hitting the home button should be fine - except perhaps not during playback.  That really should be fine too but may cause issues if that is what you are doing.

The black screen is just an indication that the app has crashed.  The next time this happens please force close it then re-open it and immediately  follow the instructions to send a log from the app.

Thanks.

 

 

OK, i just sent the log after another black screen. I force closed the app, opened it again, and then sent the log. Time: 11.23pm EST.

[CBers 6771]

9 hours ago, zigil64 said:

This is probably one of the least helpful and more inaccurate responses I've seen in any forum here. See these two links just for a couple of easy to read summaries why what you suggest makes no sense:

https://www.howtogeek.com/771413/stop-closing-apps-on-your-android-phone/

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/12/4/16725812/force-close-apps-good-or-bad

Also, see ebr's response just before yours....

As I said, each to their own.

If you want a system where you have to keep force closing apps, then that's your decision.

Have a good day.
 

[ebr 14925]

Hi.  How long had it been since you last used the app when you tried to return to it and it showed the black screen?

Do you remember exactly what you did on the device between those two times?

In the app settings, what is the "Auto logoff" set to?

[zigil64 0]

The usual stuff, i don't know, using other apps like YouTube, etc. However, this issue is more of random thing, sometimes occurring after i turn the tv on, or sometimes when the system is on and i just used another app. Emby is the only app on the system having this issue. 

[ebr 14925]

On 12/7/2023 at 11:55 AM, ebr said:

In the app settings, what is the "Auto logoff" set to?

 

[zigil64 0]

I doubt that option affects the issue because I've experienced the problem under both 30min logoff and the 'never' option.

[ebr 14925]

18 hours ago, zigil64 said:

I doubt that option affects the issue because I've experienced the problem under both 30min logoff and the 'never' option.

That option will definitely affect the issue.  What is it set to at this time?

Setting it to a lower value will greatly reduce the possibility of this occurring.

You can also try sideloading our standard android app on the same device and see how that compares.

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

Thanks.

 

[zigil64 0]

I have had it on 30mins and it still had the same issue. I have also set it on never auto logoff and the problem did not resolve. I'll delete the app and install the standalone apk, then will report back. However, I think the root cause of this issue needs to be identified and rectified in your apps.

[Luke 37099]

Let us know how you get on. Thanks.

[zigil64 0]

Sure, I'll let you know; however, just a question before I install the apk: The link ebr put here points to the 'Emby for Android' page. For Shield / Android TV, do you guys have a different apk? or shall I just go ahead and install arm64 version for my 2019 Shield?

[Luke 37099]

11 minutes ago, zigil64 said:

Sure, I'll let you know; however, just a question before I install the apk: The link ebr put here points to the 'Emby for Android' page. For Shield / Android TV, do you guys have a different apk? or shall I just go ahead and install arm64 version for my 2019 Shield?

It supports the Shield so yes go ahead and install that. Thanks.

[zigil64 0]

I played around with the installed apk a few minutes last night. I'll report if the issue happens with this version; however, one thing that's now happening everytime is that it takes a few seconds (5-6) each time you want to open the app or go back to the home screen of Shield, essentially you'll see a black page before the transition happens.

[zigil64 0]

I deleted the apk because of multiple issues that the Android TV app does not have. The most important one was failure to play DTS-HD. While the Android TV version of the app direct plays DTS-HD, using the apk version results in the soundbar to display the format as Multichannel PCM, and often fails to play the file properly.

[Luke 37099]

8 hours ago, zigil64 said:

I deleted the apk because of multiple issues that the Android TV app does not have. The most important one was failure to play DTS-HD. While the Android TV version of the app direct plays DTS-HD, using the apk version results in the soundbar to display the format as Multichannel PCM, and often fails to play the file properly.

It fully supports DTS-HD. Can you try it again?

[zigil64 0]

So I installed the apk again and did a bit more testing. Most of the video files with DTS-HD for audio are played correctly, as in I have direct play and the soundbar (Q930B Samsung) picks up DTS-HD as the format. There is, however, at least one file with DTS-HD, that as I said before, is played as multi-channel PCM. The Android TV app version of Emby, however, plays this one correctly as well. See the screenshot for the exact format of the audio in this file:

 

[zigil64 0]

And one more thing to add, which I'm not sure will help diagnosing the issue, is that those files that are correctly picked up by soundbar as DTS-HD have a separate line called 'embedded title' in the Audio properties. See this one for an example:

[Luke 37099]

Can you provide a sample video for testing?

[zigil64 0]

No, unfortunately, I won't be able to share the file. However, if I come across any more info that shows how the file is different to the other DTS-HD ones, I'll let you know.