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Direct Play Chromecast Blu-Ray Rips Stuck in a Loop


Saltyzip

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Saltyzip

Another log file attached.

 

1. Started Emby Server

2. Started Playing Angry Birds via Emby Android App - Direct Play

3. Clicked Chromecast icon - to SpareBedroom

4. Android app got stuck in play/pause flickering mode - Left if for 15 seconds or so, ffmpeg-transcodes files created 1 every second - stuck in loop

5. Pressed pause button on player in Android Emby app - which actually kicked off chromecast playing the movie, but now transcoding, not direct playing.

6. Shutdown Emby Server

Emby Take 2.zip

Edited by Saltyzip
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Another log file attached.

 

1. Started Emby Server

2. Started Playing Angry Birds via Emby Android App - Direct Play

3. Clicked Chromecast icon - to SpareBedroom

4. Android app got stuck in play/pause flickering mode - Left if for 15 seconds or so, ffmpeg-transcodes files created 1 every second - stuck in loop

5. Pressed pause button on player in Android Emby app - which actually kicked off chromecast playing the movie, but now transcoding, not direct playing.

6. Shutdown Emby Server

 

This video did actually start out direct playing, but the chromecast video player raised an error and so we did what we always do in that situation, which is automatically switch to transcoding.

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Thanks for the sample. I am able to direct play it to chromecast without any problems.

 

Is there some aspect of your network that we should know about that might be interfering? E.g. proxy, vpn, security software, etc.

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I'm experiencing the same issue as OP. Windows 10 Pro hosting the Emby server, Emby app for Android, Chromecast Ultra. Most files are playing fine, but I have some mkv files with H264 video (standard definition) and AAC 6ch audio, that when casted show "Direct Playing" on the server dashboard, ffmpeg is loaded and terminated repeatedly (according to resource monitor), no video plays through the Chromecast, which just shows the background image for this particular tv show. The play button quickly cycles through play/pause in the app and I am unable to stop it. In fact, when I hit stop, the dashboard switches to show it as transcoding, but It then usually goes back to showing direct play.

 

The same file plays successfully on the phone and in a desktop browser.

 

(suggest using new google drive link below instead) sample file: https://www.sendspace.com/file/lfwpxx

 

I've attached the server-log and the last four ffmpeg-transcode logs created. It keeps creating those each time it restarts ffmpeg.

 

EDIT: I've added a share of that mkv file to my google drive to avoid the annoying hosting service ads: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-PVJpcdGZ2LZGNxmVoV-7jgkJ52Gwmvi/view?usp=sharing

server-63646045325.txt

ffmpeg-transcode-7abbf32e-f1b1-4c9a-b697-7177793ce0a8.txt

ffmpeg-transcode-156eefa9-cfb2-4375-a225-e2e34a8ba5a9.txt

ffmpeg-transcode-13ce3073-7e5b-4d24-9b34-4f42abe805cb.txt

ffmpeg-transcode-d5953a4a-389f-412f-84d1-f2696d3567a6.txt

Edited by mawazi
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Saltyzip

Glad I'm not the only one having problems.

 

My windows server running emby has only the standard windows defender and firewall in situ, all running on standard home type network.

Edited by Saltyzip
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Is this the same issue I am having? https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/52767-latest-update-2967-playback-issue/

 

I've come to the conclusion this is a bad Chromecast dongle. I can play the video on another chromecast on my network without issue. But any device I try to play a certain file, it gets stuck in a loop only on that chromecast device. I have not looked into it further, but I did do a factory reset on the one chromecast and still can't get it to work fine with some episodes. But again, it's only that chromecast, all the others work fine. @@Luke, is there something I can look up for logs for the chromecast or some trick to remove any updates google did to it to start from scratch?

 

For anyone else, I would try a different chromecast if you have one and see if it still comes up with the same error.

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Not sure if this helps the dev's or not. But I am finding that my one Chromecast for some reason has a "Preview Program Firmware" ver. 1.28.10055 Installed even though I am not signed up for it. But my other Chromecast's that are working fine with the mkv files have the regular 1.27.96538. Friend of mine is having the same issues and asked him what version he has and he also has a "Preview Program Firmware" installed, but did not sign up for it.

 

Not sure if this is the problem or if it helps. Just figured worth noting.

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Well if the preview firmware is the issue, then we at least know it's not emby. No consolation, but narrows down the problem. Seems to only be with mkv files (at least some of them), unfortunately going to have to wait for a new firmware update or buy another one and double and triple check that I didn't sign up for the preview version. Not a fix, but helps a little with knowing what the problem probably is.

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My Ultra is also using the preview firmware, though I'm not signed up for the preview program with Google. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a way to roll it back to test it, nor is there a log file that I can view (that I know of) to see when the firmware was updated.

 

Would the Chromecast firmware cause these types of issues? The ffmpeg loading and terminating repeatedly issue and so forth? Because I have some mkv files with h264 and aac streams that still play just fine.

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I'm in the same boat, not sure on the technical side but some mkv's play just fine and some don't. I did search for a way to roll it back and came up empty. I even tried a factory reset and nothing, can't get out of that firmware. I did email google, so I should get a response next year by the time six more firmware releases come out...

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Tried doing a factory reset of the Chromecast, but no luck, same issue. Don't know if it matters, but when I cast the video to Chromecast and the dashboard shows direct play even though nothing is playing, the informational "i" button is above the direct play, when I click on it a small white empty box appears with the "Got It" button at the bottom. No actual information. 

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I started clicking on each video in that season playing each one in succession and one finally started playing through the Chromecast, transcoding. Here's what the information pop-up says:

5a095b0b42d5c_Capture.png

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Some new data. When I remux the mkv file with a copy of the video stream but transcode the AAC 5.1 audio to AAC Stereo, the file direct plays with no problem. If I do the same but transcode the AAC 5.1 back into AAC 5.1 (same codec, re-encoded), it fails as before. So, for some reason, mkv+h264+aac5.1 is a no go. I tried re-encoding the AAC 5.1 into OPUS 5.1, which plays (claiming Direct Streaming), but is actually re-encoding the OPUS into MP3 Stereo according to the ffmpeg log.

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Another chromecast issue thread here: https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/52793-chromecast-broken-again/page-2?hl=1.28.100555&do=findComment&comment=510314

 

All chromecast running 1.28.100555

 

That would make sense for me as this update came out at the end of october which is exactly when I started having issue.

 

and there is no way to flash back to the previous firmware :(

 

@@Luke can you get your hand on that build? you might have to enable Preview Program mode.

Edited by x-cimo
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Just a heads up, at least for me I just confirmed it is the 1.28.100555 build. Took a working Chromecast with the 1.27.96538 firmware, signed up for the preview firmware and installed it. Once the preview firmware was installed, having the issue with playing some mkv files. Now the only thing I can do is wait for another firmware update to fix these two dongles. Good thing they are only $35. Hopefully others will check and make sure they are not signed up for the preview version, seems to be hit or miss on who got it without being signed up.

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Saltyzip

I assume the Chromecast preview version firmware will indeed become the production version at some future date, therefore I think we need emby to address the issue before many more users are effected, does that sound the way forward?

 

I don't have any issue with Plex, YouTube or Netflix, so I can only assume at the moment it's emby specific.

 

https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/7124014?hl=en-GB

Edited by Saltyzip
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I removed plex, so I cannot test those mkv files through plex. I've only had the issues with certain mkv files on the preview firmware. Anything further than what I have done is above my pay grade.

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xsnipuhx

I want to add to this, I was also getting this same issue with x265 codecs. I messaged my SO to get the chromecast versions that we are currently on. Would my logs be beneficial at all?

 

Edit: We have the affected OS version on both of our chromecast ultras.

Edit2: Our Chromecasts updated to the preview version and they are not enrolled in the preview program...

Edited by xsnipuhx
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I assume the Chromecast preview version firmware will indeed become the production version at some future date, therefore I think we need emby to address the issue before many more users are effected, does that sound the way forward?

 

I don't have any issue with Plex, YouTube or Netflix, so I can only assume at the moment it's emby specific.

 

https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/7124014?hl=en-GB

 

Since people not on the preview program are starting to get this firmware, I would tend to agree with you.  

 

If it's a emby issue, then everyone using chromecast will be affected soon.

 

BTW: I filed a bug to google on this.  In case it's a bug on their end..  You can do the same by right clicking the chromecast icon in chrome while casting. (not the one in the web ui, there is another one above in the browser).

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I'm having issues playing some videos and hd pvr channels and only my chromecast appears to have the issues. PC or android plays fine. I also have fm 1.28.100555. Any fix?

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Wow. Google has intentionally removed support of AAC 5.1/Multichannel as of the new 1.28 firmware. Their suggestion is to use AAC stereo or AC3 or Opus. A fairly useless suggestion, unless we're all supposed to re-encode all of our AAC 5.1 audio. One of the whole reasons I use that codec is that it allows direct playing with Emby through the Chromecast. I started using Opus for new encodes, but that's only been the last few months. This decision seems short-sighted, and the fact that they still allow AAC stereo makes it even more confusing.

 

Luke, I did a test cast of a VP8/Opus webm file today, and it is transcoded to h264/mp3. Is that expected behavior? VP8/Opus/webm should be a direct play, correct?

 

Is there somewhere that I can see how Emby makes its decisions for the Chromecast Ultra? There must be a profile or something along those lines. Thanks.

Edited by mawazi
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