Stuck on "Retrieving"

[cryptonix 0]

Recently, I have been unable to play many of my video files (movies and TV shows). Once I press play on my Roku remote, it seems to get stuck on a blank screen with the name of the video and "Retrieving" showing, with the green progress bar 1/3 of the way through. I've attached my log file. I've searched and read through many trouble shooting techniques (including lowering the bitrate, deselecting hardware acceleration throttling, etc) but nothing seems to help. It is a wired system (not wireless). Any suggestions?

Log.txt

Edited January 13, 2018 by cryptonix

[ebr 15428]

Hi.  There is no log file but it sounds like the video player is having trouble with the content for some reason.  What is the firmware version of the device?

 

Also, would you please change your forum avatar?  Thanks.

[beatter 4]

I believe I'm having a similar, if not the same, problem.

Personally, I can watch content locally without issue, but my family members (remotely connected) are getting stuck at the initial loading screen after trying to play some videos.

My brother said that he was able to fast-forward a little bit and playback was fine until reaching the credits when it went back to the loading screen.

Like OP, they've lowered the quality setting, I believe my brother has set to 10Mbps. My internet is gigabit fiber, and he is on 100/10Mbps cable. I've also asked him to ensure the Roku is updated.

 

I'm running Windows server version 3.2.40.0 behind nginx 1.11.3. Could that be the problem?

 

He started watching Mr Robot s03e09 at 13:01:18. I don't see any errors around the stream on the emby server side. I do see some errors in nginx though.

I see that most errors are from the Roku Thumbnails plugin, so I'm going to remove that and see if things improve.

 

Edit: I uninstalled Roku Thumbnails and am still having the same issue.

Edit 2: This time testing with Mr Robot s03e04, my brother said it played for about a minute before stopping at the eternal loading screen.

Based on the upstream timing out on nginx, I upped the proxy_read_timeout to 120s, but the stream still consistently fails at the same mark.

 

I've attached the emby server log and the nginx error log.

server-63648216011 - Copy (2).txt

error.log

Edited December 7, 2017 by beatter

[pir8radio 1302]

I believe I'm having a similar, if not the same, problem.

Personally, I can watch content locally without issue, but my family members (remotely connected) are getting stuck at the initial loading screen after trying to play some videos.

My brother said that he was able to fast-forward a little bit and playback was fine until reaching the credits when it went back to the loading screen.

Like OP, they've lowered the quality setting, I believe my brother has set to 10Mbps. My internet is gigabit fiber, and he is on 100/10Mbps cable. I've also asked him to ensure the Roku is updated.

 

I'm running Windows server version 3.2.40.0 behind nginx 1.11.3. Could that be the problem?

 

He started watching Mr Robot s03e09 at 13:01:18. I don't see any errors around the stream on the emby server side. I do see some errors in nginx though.

I see that most errors are from the Roku Thumbnails plugin, so I'm going to remove that and see if things improve.

 

Edit: I uninstalled Roku Thumbnails and am still having the same issue.

Edit 2: This time testing with Mr Robot s03e04, my brother said it played for about a minute before stopping at the eternal loading screen.

Based on the upstream timing out on nginx, I upped the proxy_read_timeout to 120s, but the stream still consistently fails at the same mark.

 

I've attached the emby server log and the nginx error log.

 

Post your nginx config, your issue is probably different from the OP.

[beatter 4]

Post your nginx config, your issue is probably different from the OP.

I played around some more in nginx and I think I've resolved the issue, or at least improved it.

I set proxy_send_timeout and proxy_read_timeout to 120s and set Connection header to send close directives.

 

Here's the full config:

#user  nobody;
worker_processes  2;

#error_log  logs/error.log;
#error_log  logs/error.log  notice;
#error_log  logs/error.log  info;

#pid        logs/nginx.pid;


events {
    worker_connections  8192;
}




http {
    include       mime.types;
    default_type  application/octet-stream;

    log_format  main  '$remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] "$request" '
                      '$status $body_bytes_sent "$http_referer" '
                      '"$http_user_agent" "$http_x_forwarded_for"';

    access_log  logs/access.log  main;

    sendfile        on;
    #tcp_nopush     on;

    #keepalive_timeout  0;
    keepalive_timeout  65;

    gzip  on;
	
	map $http_upgrade $connection_upgrade {
        default     upgrade;
        ''          close;
    }


    server {
        listen 80;
		listen [::]:80;
        server_name  host.name;
		server_tokens off;
		return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
    }
	
	server {#emby
		listen 443 ssl;
		listen [::]:443 ssl;
		server_name host.name;
		server_tokens off;
		
		charset utf-8;
		
		access_log	logs/https.access.log	main;
		
		
		ssl_session_timeout 30m;
        ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.1 TLSv1;
		ssl_certificate keys/cert.pem;
		ssl_certificate_key keys/private.key;
        ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:10m;
		ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
		ssl_ciphers ECDH+AESGCM:ECDH+AES256:ECDH+AES128:DH+3DES:!ADH:!AECDH:!MD5;
		
		add_header X-Xss-Protection "1; mode=block" always;
        add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;
        add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN" always;
        add_header 'Referrer-Policy' 'no-referrer';
        add_header Content-Security-Policy "frame-ancestors beatter.ddns.net;";
		
		add_header 'Vary' "Origin" always;
		
		proxy_hide_header X-Powered-By;
		proxy_hide_header Server;
		
		location / {
			proxy_pass https://127.0.0.1:8920/;
			
			proxy_set_header Range $http_range;
			proxy_set_header If-Range $http_if_range;
			proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
			proxy_set_header Host $host;
			proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
			proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $remote_addr;
            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Protocol $scheme;
			proxy_redirect off;

			#Next three lines allow websockets
			proxy_http_version 1.1;
			proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
			#proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
			proxy_set_header Connection $connection_upgrade;
			
			proxy_send_timeout 120s; 
			proxy_read_timeout 120s; 
		}
		
		location /robots.txt {
			try_files $uri /Dev/nginx-1.11.3/html/robots.txt;
        }
		
		location /.well-known {
			root /Dev/nginx-1.11.3/html;
		}
	}
}

[pir8radio 1302]

 

I played around some more in nginx and I think I've resolved the issue, or at least improved it.

I set proxy_send_timeout and proxy_read_timeout to 120s and set Connection header to send close directives.

 

Here's the full config:

 

Did you add proxy_send_timeout and proxy_read_timeout while troubleshooting?  Or have they always been in your config?  I would comment them out.

 

Just a few minor things, I would set Sendfile to off,  try adding tcp_nodelay on;  just below that.  I would also comment out keepalive timeout, let the client handle it unless you are having issues. 

 

Loose the trailing slash /   proxy_pass https://127.0.0.1:8920/;  to proxy_pass https://127.0.0.1:8920;

Unless your emby and nginx are on different networks i would connect to emby with HTTP vs https, lots of weird issues can arise if the emby team doesn't think of every possible reverse proxy scenario.   People connecting through nginx will still be secure, you can still connect directly to emby using https within your network, so you don't really loose any security, unless someone is on your local network that you dont trust, but in your case the two are installed on the same box so you are good.  

[LegioX 2]

I'm having the same issue (happy to start a new post if that helps?)

I've just got a new Streaming Stick (3800X) running OS 8.0.1 and it won't play any videos from Emby. My old Roku 3 (running OS 7.7) still works fine. I've tried all the usual troubleshooting - both 2.4Ghz & 5Ghz networks, lowered the bitrate, force direct stream or transcode via Emby Neon app,etc 

Basically when playing a video file the Roku sits on Retrieving for a 2-3 mins, then plays 20secs of the video, then gets stuck on Loading. The Server Dashboard says the file is playing and the timeline counter increases.

 

No issues with Netflix or Youtube etc.

 

I think because of the number of people having issues with Roku's there is something going on with the Emby app....

[ebr 15428]

I think because of the number of people having issues with Roku's there is something going on with the Emby app....

 

Didn't you say it wasn't working in either the Emby app or Blue Neon?

[LegioX 2]

Yes, I've actually tried all three apps - the official Emby one, the Blue Neon one, and the Emby Beta for Roku. 
I can't get any of them to play back any videos properly. I've tried all sorts of files (MP4, MKV, AVI) and have tried Force Transcode and Force Direct. Nothing works!

 

I can see lots of posts with people having playback issues with Emby and Roku on the forums, that's what I meant. Most seem to be related to OS7.7 but that's not my issue...

[Luke 38807]

Can you discuss an example and attach the emby server log? Thanks .

[LegioX 2]

Ok, done that. 

Here's what I did:

• Restarted Emby Server
• Went to the Roku in the bedroom, opened the Emby App (channel)
• Logged into Emby from the Roku
• Browsed to Law & Order:SVU
• Selected Play

The file should direct play. Instead, the Roku sits on 'Retrieving' for about a minute, then plays maybe 15 secs of the video, then I get the black 'Loading' screen for about 2-3 mins before it plays another snippet of the video.

 

The same file works fine on my Roku 3, which is 3 years old. It feels like the network or something isn't buffering properly or gets stuck trying to stream but I can't see why that would be the case... as I mentioned, I've tried dropping the bitrate down to 3Mb but it doesn't help. 

 

Server log attached.

Edited December 12, 2017 by LegioX

[Luke 38807]

Did you forget to attach the log? Thanks !

[ebr 15428]

The same file works fine on my Roku 3, which is 3 years old. It feels like the network 

 

I agree without any other information.

 

Is the other device in the same location using the same network connection?  Wired or wireless?

[LegioX 2]

Is the other device in the same location using the same network connection?  Wired or wireless?

 

Both devices are wireless, although I think the Roku 3 is 802.11n and the Streaming Stick+ is 802.11ac. 

It's not device placement either, the Roku3 works fine is the bedroom plugged into the same TV as the streaming stick. 

 

I can't understand how only Emby is affected if it's a network issue...

[LegioX 2]

Did you forget to attach the log? Thanks !

 

Sorry, don't know what happened there?!

 

Log attached again.

 

Log.txt

[ebr 15428]

I can't understand how only Emby is affected if it's a network issue...

 

Well, the items being played are usually quite different and where they are coming from is different.

 

But, the first thing you want to do is install the server from the web site over top of your current installation to get the latest version.  Then, be sure that all your plug-ins are up to date after that version goes in.

 

Then, try again and let us know how it goes.

[LegioX 2]

Then, try again and let us know how it goes.

 

Ok, so I've updated the server and several plug-ins (there were some updates available).

It hasn't helped with the issue though...

 

Does anyone actually have a Roku Streaming Stick working with Emby?

[Erik 123]

I have a Roku streaming stick (Wireless) on one tv and a Roku Ultra (wired LAN) on another. Both had some recurring "retrieving" issues until I did a fresh emby install about a week ago.

 

The Ultra hasn't shown retrieving (other than the initial play of course) since.

 

The Streaming stick still does it randomly (but much, much less). I attribute it now to wifi buffering as I have an streaming stick from last year that doesn't support ac wifi so it's stuck on the 2.4 band and it's fairly congested at times.

 

Also, I did a manual update check as they had an update that wasn't being pushed out and only a manual check would do it.

[ebr 15428]

Thanks @@Erik.

[Luke 38807]

@@LegioX, please try removing the cover art plugin. that will reduce the size of images and that should help the Roku app perform better. thanks !

[ebr 15428]

I'm not sure that is going to reduce the size of images but, to test, you can simply turn off the "Enhanced Image" support in the app.

[cryptonix 0]

Recently, I have been unable to play many of my video files (movies and TV shows). Once I press play on my Roku remote, it seems to get stuck on a blank screen with the name of the video and "Retrieving" showing, with the green progress bar 1/3 of the way through. I've attached my log file. I've searched and read through many trouble shooting techniques (including lowering the bitrate, deselecting hardware acceleration throttling, etc) but nothing seems to help. It is a wired system (not wireless). Any suggestions?

 

Hi ebr and Luke, I've attached a log file. Can you see any issues in it?

[ebr 15428]

Hi ebr and Luke, I've attached a log file. Can you see any issues in it?

 

Hi.  Did you forget to actually attach the log?

 

What you describe sounds like it may be trying to extract subtitles.  How long have you waited?

[cryptonix 0]

I attached the log to my original post, But I've attached it again here now. I've also attached Log 2, which did manage to play through the web browser.

 

 

Log 1.txt

Log 2.txt

[ebr 15428]

The bitrate in the app appears to be set extremely low.  If the setting is on "auto" this might indicate a very slow network connection.