lal 3 Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 I've been using emby for well over 1.5 years without any serious issues. I recently started having streaming issues both internally and externally. My problem started with my Panasonic VT60 freezing once in a while under DLNA direct streams. This is very sporadic and I can go 10 movies without a single issue, then I get hit with multiple freezes to the point of it stopping. I usually get fed-up with my stream stopping and restarting I end up going to my roku3 or chromecast since transcoding never freezes. Mom recently got back into watching stuff from my server (which has always worked fine before). My Intel I5 2500k struggles with 2 transcoding streams while I'm gaming, usually lagging my games out. So I resumed looking at fixing my DLNA problem so that I could game while the GF watches a direct stream upstairs on the Panasonic VT60 , mom can stream back home, and I get to game at the same time. Recently, external streaming has stopped working. It freezes all the time on her, and she recently told me she can't play anything anymore. So I gave it a try on her laptop, chromecast and tablet, all the same issue. Content plays 2-3 seconds, freezes, another 5-15s play, freeze, rinse repeat. I tried a few movies / tv shows, all the same problem. I tried the same thing on my android phone and can replicate the issue while streaming in chrome. DLNA Issue - I recently read on how to post logs, I'll make another post to fix this issue once I capture the issue with a log once we figure out my external streaming issue. As for my external streaming issue - See attached logs. List what I have tried so far: My internet connection is 25/10 Contacted my ISP and they couldn't find any problems. I tried a different emby port, no improvement. I've done speed tests when this happens to ensure there is no network congestion. I've also tested this at 1-2am and replicated the issue. I swapped routers given the internal / external issue to give that a try, no relief. Tried direct connecting to modem, no dice. I installed a fresh copy of emby server on my 2nd PC with a direct connection to my modem, same issue. Here's a line from the server log showing latency when I'm streaming, I don't know what this means: 2016-01-06 21:43:54.6904 Info HttpServer: HTTP Response 200 to 199.119.233.199. Time: 17488ms (slow). TLDR; Extrernal streams continuously freeze, unwatchable. Server log is showing latency during playback, what does it mean? How can I fix this? Any help would be greatly appreciated! transcode.txt server-Log.txt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37099 Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Yea something is definitely going on because there are some http requests that are taking a long time to transmit over the network. Unfortunatley I can't really tell what this is and it could very well be something environmental. For example, this request here: 2016-01-06 21:42:19.8469 Info HttpServer: HTTP Response 200 to 199.119.233.199. Time: 13445ms (slow). http://24.53.245.180:8096/emby/Playback/BitrateTest?Size=1000000 This is a bitrate test the app performs with the server. There is no server-side processing here, it is simply writing 1MB worth of 1's and 0's to the response stream (network). This is something that normally takes under two seconds and yet here from some reason it's taking 13.5 seconds. I would suggest focusing on the server machine itself, look at what other processes are running, look at cpu usage, network and disk usage before you attempt to play something, and also I would do a virus and malware scan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37099 Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 And by the way, I don't mean to pass the buck here, if you determine that cpu usage is already high before playing, and that the usage is coming from emby server, then it's something we can definitely investigate. I am only saying that I cannot determine this from the server log and it has to be done by monitoring the machine actively at the right time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lal 3 Posted January 7, 2016 Author Share Posted January 7, 2016 I would suggest focusing on the server machine itself, look at what other processes are running, look at cpu usage, network and disk usage before you attempt to play something, and also I would do a virus and malware scan. Done all this on 2 different PC's: The CPU usage is only 100% when I game + 2 transcode. While testing all this I'm doing nothing but the transcode on the PC. Virus / malware clean on both server machines, both clean on processes running and I always ensure CPU usage is <5% before I start my test and monitor throughout to ensure it stays under <100% CPU utilization during transcode. I also tried putting a tv show and my transcoding folder on my SSD on my main machine to eliminate hard drive read / write issues. Not sure what else to try. Any other suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lal 3 Posted January 7, 2016 Author Share Posted January 7, 2016 Forgot to mention I also monitor network traffic on my router (dd-wrt). Nothing out of the ordinary, my upstream is always we'll below 5mb/s. I've also done a speedtest at the same time as my external stream to ensure the upstream capacity is there, and it always is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deathsquirrel 741 Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Have you taken your internet out of the equation? Run two clients inside the network that approximate your load with your existing clients. From the logs I'd expect the problem to persist but it would be good to verify so you can focus on the server...though honestly I don't expect a lot of success with gaming while serving transcoded media. Too much opportunity to generate cpu/disk lag spikes that would result in exactly what you're seeing now. If it is local you might try intel quicksync for your transcoding. I haven't used it for that but it made a world of difference in my being able to game while running handbrake reencodes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lal 3 Posted January 8, 2016 Author Share Posted January 8, 2016 Two transcode at the same time internally without any problems. CPU spiked to 100% for a few seconds when I fired up the 2nd transcode, but stayed well below 100% after that. Watched them both on my phone and tablet over wifi without any freezing. Any more suggestions? 0107server.txt 0107transcode1Log.txt 0107transcode2Log.txt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lal 3 Posted January 8, 2016 Author Share Posted January 8, 2016 I also ran: 1- android nexus 4 chrome browser play (transcode) 2- android nexus 7 chrome browser play (transcode) 3- kodi on another PC (direct play) 4- panasonic dlna stream (direct play) All 4 streams played without any problems. 0107-4play-ServerLog.txt 0107-4play-transcode1.txt 0107-4play-transcode2.txt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vick1982 15 Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 (edited) hi.. i am having the same problem.. i have tested on 3 external computers... the problem is that automatic bitrate is not working... on 2 computers that only have max 5 Mbit download it is trying to send 12Mbit video (the movie i am testing with is 12Mbit) to when it should be adjusting it to 4-5Mbit.... with the 3rd computer i tested that has a 16Mbit connection its ok because it doesnt need to reduce it. this has been happening in the last few days.. so something has changed with the last few updates as it was adjusting fine before.. this is my speedtest too: Edited January 8, 2016 by vick1982 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lal 3 Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share Posted January 24, 2016 (edited) I installed a bandwidth monitor tool and for the past week tested the following daily: -FTP upstream capping my connection at 10mbit for 30min. solid during peak time (9pm eastern). -I also installed plex and was able to stream externally to my mobile phone (not wifi) without any issues while watching my bandwidth monitor spike to 700-800kbps (on server PC) for the first couple of seconds while it buffered, the upstream capacity is there. I also replicated both these tests on my 2nd PC as the server with the same results. My original symptom is still present and believe the issue is with Emby, not my connection. Given this problem only recently started for me, I'd like to see if installing a previous version of Emby resolves my problem. I found old versions here: https://github.com/MediaBrowser/Emby.Releases/tree/master/Server I couldn't find any instructions on how to install an old version. How do I install an old version of Emby? Do I have to remove my current version, or are there files I can simply overwrite? Edited January 24, 2016 by lal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37099 Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 You can overwrite but there have been database changes along the way, so I would not suggest it. Instead I would try just downloading the zip from github and running portable. You'll need to change the .exe.config file ReleaseProgramDataPath to point to an alternate location so that it doesn't mess with your existing installation. We haven't really documented the portable install yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lal 3 Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 (edited) Ok, I'd rather keep it simple. How to I get a fresh install of an old Emby version on my 2nd PC that currently doesn't have Emby installed? I downloaded Emby.Mono-3.0.5724.6.zip and MediaBrowser-3.0.5724.6.zip from https://github.com/MediaBrowser/Emby.Releases/tree/master/Server but neither have a setup or any executable that kicks off the install. I tried MediaBrowser.Server.Mono.exe, but I only get a cmd window that doesn't seem to kick off an Emby install. I looked for install instructions online but couldn't find any. What am I missing? Edited January 25, 2016 by lal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37099 Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 You will just have to use the zip file directly, there's no installer for old versions. Also if you're on windows you want to use the zip file called emby.windows.zip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy2Play 8296 Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 @@lal This link will probably be better. https://github.com/MediaBrowser/Emby/releases Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lal 3 Posted February 17, 2016 Author Share Posted February 17, 2016 No dice. Older version from November is the same problem. I noticed this issue in another thread: http://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/30932-hw-acceleration-overriding-max-bitrate/ Could that be related to my issue? Is so, when is that going to live? Or is it in dev or beta? I can install it on my 2nd pc and give it a go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37099 Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 The fix for that is now in the stable release. That only affects chrome, mobile android, chromecast, and some dlna devices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lal 3 Posted February 18, 2016 Author Share Posted February 18, 2016 My testing has been with the chrome browser on mobile android phone & tablet. Stable didn't fix this issue for me. I'll try theater / emby app given the bug I mentioned didn't affect that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37099 Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 My testing has been with the chrome browser on mobile android phone & tablet. Stable didn't fix this issue for me. I'll try theater / emby app given the bug I mentioned didn't affect that. I think you're connecting two things that are probably unrelated. The issue I linked to above IS fixed, but that doesn't mean it has any bearing on this topic at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lal 3 Posted February 18, 2016 Author Share Posted February 18, 2016 Agreed, but our symptoms are the same and I still haven't fixed my problem. Looking at what others might be experiencing is all I got Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lal 3 Posted February 21, 2016 Author Share Posted February 21, 2016 I installed a fresh copy of Emby again on my 2nd pc and was finally able to stream externally without any problems with the latest stable. It's been solid for 3 days, multiple TV shows & movie tests at different bitrates without any problems. Now to figure out what settings I messed up on my main box to get that going again, but good news, fresh install is working great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37099 Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 Well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heckler 147 Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 Have you checked if the chapter image extraction is running... I've found that this process can keep running for hours, days perhaps if left alone. Just the other day I found it had been running for nearly 13hrs and it made streaming/transcoding impossible, even on a 6core CPU with loads and loads of ram. That ffmpeg process is nearly maxing out cpu cycles for the entire time it is runnning. I tried limiting it to run for an hour and adjusted the start time to run overnight... but that 'feature' doesn't work as I found it running still 5hrs later. If that's running... then watching anything remotely that involves transcoding will be impossible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mporcas 3 Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 (edited) HI, Did anyone ever work out the odd settings that were causing this as I've just set up external streaming and found that it's freezing even on a 720p @1Mbps stream! My server is only at about 15% util when transcoding and there's nothing else running on the server so it's not that. I've got 6Mb uplink so that ought to be fine for the above stream. I'd really rather not wipe and start again as re-setting the 'watched' flags will just kill me!! Thanks! Update - updated figures on a 480p - 720kbps stream: CPU: 18%, network (via task manager) around 200Kbps (although spiking to 4-6Mbps). Do we think maybe network drivers??? Edited December 7, 2016 by mporcas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mporcas 3 Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 I also noticed that there's no option to down-mix audio in the streaming and transcoding settings areas. I only keep DD/DTS where it's available and not any of the lesser quality streams so is it trying to send 1.5Mbps worth of audio with a 1Mbps video stream?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37099 Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 Hi there @@mporcas, we're sorry to hear about your issue. Please provide the emby server and ffmpeg logs and we'll do our best to help you: https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/739-how-to-report-a-problem/ To answer the question about downmixing, we already do this automatically. Thanks ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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