Can't stream to Chromecast

[vurt 19]

iHi! I've never been able to stream from the Emby web UI to a Chromecast.

 

I've attached a log of my last attempt.

 

Can someone point me in the right direction?

 

Thank you.

[Luke 39339]

Hi there, did you forget to attach the log? thanks !

[vurt 19]

Odd, let me try again. Thanks Luke.

Log.txt

[Luke 39339]

Can you also please describe the problem in more detail? what exactly happens when you try? thanks.

[vurt 19]

In Firefox, the browser can't see the Chromecast (blame that on the browser).

 

In Chrome, the browser detects the Chromecast and connects to it. I try to play a video in Emby's web app and either one of these happens:

 

1) I get a screen on the TV waiting for the video to load but nothing happens, or

 

2) Nothing on the TV at all, as though Emby is not connecting.

 

My setup is a Emby Server as a docker on an unRAID NAS behind a reverse proxy (https://mydomain.net/emby/)

 

I can access Emby webapp on a web browser and play a video with no problem.

Edited November 21, 2017 by vurt

[Luke 39339]

It sounds like your browser can reach your chromecast, but your chromecast cannot reach your emby server. i'm basing that on both your reports and also that your server log shows no communication from chromecast.

[vurt 19]

Sounds right!

 

Is it because of the reverse proxy or url (mydomain.net/emby)? The url is also password protected.

 

 

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

[Luke 39339]

It could be the reverse proxy, could also be the password protected url. I would start with a more simple setup and then work your way up from there.

 

Please also be advised that is https is involved, then you need to be using an SSL cert that Chromecast will accept. Thanks.

[pod0087 1]

It could be the reverse proxy, could also be the password protected url. I would start with a more simple setup and then work your way up from there.

 

Please also be advised that is https is involved, then you need to be using an SSL cert that Chromecast will accept. Thanks.

 

I have the same problem as OP, (if OP figured it out, please let me know). Streaming to web is fine, Chromecast is not. I'm also behind a reverse proxy but no auth with similar logs. I'm just wondering if the problem is due to the forcing of port numbers on IPs. I connect via https://emby.example.com. However, the following is shown in the dashboard:

In-Home (LAN) access: 192.168.1.2:8096

Remote (WAN) access: http://emby.example.com:8096

 

Not only is the port being added, but it's https and not http.

 

Edit: External domain is set to just "emby.example.com"

Edited December 4, 2017 by pod0087

[KMBanana 107]

Your public ports aren't setup right.  Technically these should be 80 for http and 443 for https, but you may need to workaround the Emby's lack of awareness of your reverse proxy by setting the public http port to 443 and the https port to some other meaningless port.  

 

The more correct way to do it would be set public http to 80, public https to 443, add your SSL cert to Emby itself so it reports the https link and set your reverse proxy to point to Emby's local https port (default 8920).

 

Luke I know a lot of users were getting confused by the "report https" checkbox setting that was replaced with "force https" a while back, but if you could reenable that legacy option somewhere for reverse proxy users it would make things a lot simpler.  

[DarkFeather 3]

I think I can make this more complicated. My domain is set up with a Let's Encrypt certificate, and Chromecast will intermittently decide to hang on playing some of my videos. For a while, I suspected that it was because .MKV file format, but now some MP4's are dying as well, and I know Chromecast supports .mp4. 

 

I do not suspect a permissions issue as the files will play normally in browser, Emby Theater, or the Emby Android app. Only Chromecast will not play them. Netflix will play just fine, so I don't believe the Chromecasts are foobar'ed. 

 

I'm running Emby Server 3.2.40.0-1 on ArchLinux with ffmpeg 3.4-4 behind a DD-WRT v3.0-r33525M kongac router. I have Chromecasts versions 1 and 2 and the affected Android devices are running 7.0. I have a NAT rule in place for Emby allowing external devices to try to access the server via https://aninix.net:8920/web/home.html. 

 

I'm attaching a log -- any help would be appreciated. Logfile: https://ptpb.pw/FX4r 

Edited December 4, 2017 by DarkFeather

[Luke 39339]

In this log you tried to play an mp4. Can you please copy and paste the media info from the web app detail screen into this thread? Thanks.

[DarkFeather 3]

Media info below:

Media Info
Video

CodecH264
Codec tagavc1
AVCYes
ProfileHigh
Level31
Resolution1280x536
Aspect ratio2.40:1
AnamorphicNo
InterlacedNo
Framerate23.9760246
Bitrate827 kbps
Bit depth8 bit
Pixel formatyuv420p
Ref frames1
NAL4
Title720P H264
Audio

Languageund
CodecAAC
Codec tagmp4a
ProfileHE-AAC
Layoutstereo
Channels2 ch
Bitrate64 kbps
Sample rate48000 Hz
DefaultYes
TitleUnd AAC stereo Default
Containermp4
Path/srv/yggdrasil/Videos/Movies/Technology/MI4 Ghost Protocol.mp4

[Luke 39339]

Well that's a pretty basic file. That really should not have any problems. Can you find out what version of the Microsoft .net core runtime you have installed? Thanks.

[DarkFeather 3]

Repo reports 2.0.3-1. 

 

[ AniNIX::Core(ShadowArch) DarkFeather Mon Dec 04 12:44:56 ~ ] 

|> pacman -Qo /usr/sbin/dotnet

/usr/bin/dotnet is owned by dotnet-host 2.0.3-1

[Luke 39339]

Can you do a test and compare with plain http?

[DarkFeather 3]

I don't think I can -- Chromecast expects to enter through the external address of the router, and I don't allow plaintext as a rule, as it contains authentication elements.

 

The only way I can think of is to change my server address to the internal address of the VM running emby and allow the plaintext on the subnet -- I can try that, but I imagine that the Chromecast will fail finding the host to connect to, since that address is nonrouteable? I have to step away for an hour but I can try afterwards.

[Luke 39339]

Correct it will fail because it can't resolve the local hostname but it will work with a local IP address.

[DarkFeather 3]

OK, this is REALLY dumb. I opened the plaintext port for my subnet only, and now it's casting. If I block the plaintext port, it fails. Logfile here: https://ptpb.pw/ML83

 

To be fair, I consider this a limitation of the Chromecasts and not of Emby, but if this is something you think you can fix, that'd be awesome for PoLP. 

[DarkFeather 3]

I'm also going to throw this in it's own post, but +1 to Luke for being so incredibly responsive.

[Luke 39339]

Where did you block the plaintext port? Whatever server address the casting app is using to connect to your emby server, that's what the chromecast receiver will also try to use.

[DarkFeather 3]

I block the plaintext port at the network edge. That's still blocked, and yet the Chromecast works. I have no idea why I can reproducibly turn off this rule and break Chromecast but turn it on and watch it work.

 

The following is the only firewall change I made, and it's on the server running Emby only (and not at network edge). That firewall rule restricts plaintext to just within my subnet. 

iptables -I INPUT 13 -s 10.0.1.0/24 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 8096 -j ACCEPT

[CorpusColossus 10]

In Firefox, the browser can't see the Chromecast (blame that on the browser).

 

Was this said in jest? Or is that a real limitation?

 

I ask because I use Firefox and have never been able to see our Chromecasts (but can see various Emby players just fine).

 

I installed the Chrome browser and can see the Chromecasts just fine.

Edited March 6, 2018 by CorpusColossus

[Luke 39339]

Firefox does not support Chromecast.

[CorpusColossus 10]

Thanks, Luke. Similarly, what are the requirements to cast from the Android Emby app to a Chromecast? (Permissions, system apps, etc.)

 

I ask because I recently installed a pure Android distro (LineageOS) on my phone and now the Emby app on that devices does not detect our Chromecasts where it did before.