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Roku Beta: MP4 crashes consistently on startup suddenly


bardmaster

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bardmaster

Hi all, I'm hoping somebody can help me diagnose this new issue.  My new MP4 recordings from live TV, when started from the beginning of the file, consistently crash all my Roku boxes (I have 3 ethernet-connected Rokus).  This started happening yesterday!  In the attached logfile, I'm providing an example of an episode of The Simpsons I was watching previously.  When I go into Recordings (or in the "continue watching" section), the video plays fine.  But when I start from the beginning, Roku crashes - as in the progress bar freezes at about 40%, a buzzing sound is heard, a few seconds later the screen shows a bunch of broken gray lines, and the Roku reboots with a bright flash of its indicator light.

 

The only error I'm seeing in the log is related to the Roku Thumbnails plug-in, but that doesn't appear to suggest any root cause for this catastrophic failure (and I'm wondering if that's related to the plug-in not having an update for Roku Beta).

 

I have gone so far as to uninstall and reinstall Emby, using the latest stable version 3.2.14.0, but the problem persists.  I checked the Roku version and it's still version 7.5.0 which it's been on since Nov 2016.  I noticed there was an update to 7.6 available if you did it manually so I did that too...same result.

 

Help!!

server log.txt

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can you go through the in-app log submission process? thanks.

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bardmaster

I'm not sure how I am able to do that, since Roku crashes before I can send a log from the Emby channel.

 

I am continuing to research.  It may be related to my commercial cutting script, but more testing is needed.  Interestingly, the same video file runs without issue on Plex.

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bardmaster

OK I really can't figure this one out - MKV replays fine but MP4 consistently crashes my Roku - but only on starting the video!  Playing from a RESUME (accomplished by first starting the video from the web client) works fine.  Very odd.

 

I transcode to MP4 using a very basic command line:

  • ffmpeg -i input.ts output.mp4

 

My MKV transcode works fine, to the point where I've been able to use the settings I want:

  • ffmpeg -i input.ts -b:v 1500k -s 720x400 -y output.mkv

 

I've attached the mediainfo files for all three - the original TS file, the failing MP4, and the working MKV.

 

Obviously I will just use the MKV format on a go-forward basis, but @@Luke thought you guys should know about this anomaly.  Even more odd, my MP4's transcoded by MCEBuddy2.3 seem to play back just fine in Emby.  So I'm feeling a slight bit self-conscious! :{

 

 

BTW I'm using the latest ffmpeg available for download:

ffmpeg version N-85653-gb4330a0 Copyright © 2000-2017 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 6.3.0 (GCC)
 
 
I notice Emby uses the following:
 
ffmpeg version N-83781-g3016e91 Copyright © 2000-2017 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 6.3.0 (GCC)
 
So I tried that version as well.  The progress bar goes all the way to 100% but otherwise the same Roku crash.
 

2 Broke Girls 2017-05-07 - And the French Kiss.ts.txt

2 Broke Girls 2017-05-07 - And the French Kiss.mp4.txt

2 Broke Girls 2017-05-07 - And the French Kiss.mkv.txt

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What if you uninstall the roku thumbnail plugin, does that make any difference?

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bardmaster

I tried that too. And reinstalled with the new version.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

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Do they crash in the older app, or blue neon? If using blue neon, try to use all "force" methods and see if you notice a difference. The roku rebooting immediately suggests to me the item is direct playing, and something is "out of parameter range" for it to be doing so, and we arent checking at all what that something may be. If you use the blue neon app, and force transcode before playing from beginning it should work. This will validate my theory.

 

Also, would be helpful to know what is the media info for the mp4 you created that causes the problems?

Edited by speechles
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Yea checking against the other roku apps would be helpful too, thanks speechles.

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Yea checking against the other roku apps would be helpful too, thanks speechles.

 

Roku is known to introduce these issues in their firmware updates. The fact that h264 in 10bit would direct play albeit with some oddball colors in spots before, but now with the firmware 7.6 update the video stream isnt rendered at all, you just see blackscreen with audio. So they have done some "adjusting" to some of the behind the scenes stuff that we may no longer be doing right. Things like max refframe where its safe to go to 16 before, this may have changed. I am suspecting it is something to do with level 51 or refframes. Without seeing the media info one can only point the finger, can't really interrogate a suspect.

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bardmaster

Mediainfo output was previously posted.

 

I can try the blue Roku for the sake of research, but not as much priority since MKV files work fine so I have a solution.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

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The roku supports eia-608 subtitles only inside digital tv containers. I know it works with .ts or .m3u8 streams as these are digital tv containers, but I am not sure the roku classifies .mp4 as a digital TV container. This is the likely problem entirely, with MKV the roku sees this as a digital tv container too, so this will work.

 

If you strip the subtitles from your mp4 does it still crash the app?

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bardmaster

Those text files in the container came across from the original TS recording by Emby, I've honestly been ignoring them as "noise" and letting everything pass to the MP4 or MKV container in the transcode.  Curious thought though @spechles, I am at work now (so inconvenient) but will try doing this tonight.

 

Why wouldn't Roku recognize MP4 as a digital TV container?  Seems kind of odd since this is a universally-recognized format, and it seems from my experience more supported than MKV.  Plex, for instance, seems to be able to play MP4 better than MKV - as evidenced by the speed of video start and restoring the play stream from FF/RW.  In fact, Comcast keeps saying it will be converting its stream format to H.264 from the ancient MPEG-2 format (they haven't yet in the SF Bay Area), and I could have sworn they indicated they would use MP4 but maybe I just assumed as much.

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You will have far better luck with mkv, as far as switching audio streams and subtitle/caption support. Look no further than every anime group and how they package things. Ive noticed personally that in regards to roku, mkv is far the better container to use if multiple audiostreams/captions exist. Can switch on the fly audiostreams/captions in mkv, but in mp4 this ability is quite lacking and most of the time doesnt work. This behavior is consistent on both roku3, and ultra, confirmed. So you made the better choice, use MKV as often as possible. ^__~

Edited by speechles
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bardmaster

OK so I'm not sure how to get rid of those text files from the TS container?

 

I tried running ffmpeg to transcode without the subtitles as in:

 

ffmpeg -i input.ts -sn -b:v 1500k -s 720x400 -y output.mp4

 

But mediainfo still shows the files (are they 0-byte??) and mkvtoolnix doesn't acknowledge any subs either.

 

post-206588-0-63171200-1494288351_thumb.jpg

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bardmaster

@@speechles I tried blue neon and the same MP4 that crashes the Roku Beta starts up just fine...without any settings changes (this is the first time I tried the channel, very nice work btw!).

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