Help! Emby Server is stuck in "Ready to Transfer" to my Android phone

[Luke 40121]

Why did this change? It use to allow you to select a location and now it only gives you the option to be internal or external.

 

The download process was not reliable and we were not really doing everything according to android best practices. Now we are using the built-in download manager. Downloads are much more reliable, except for the SD card problem that we are looking into. The cost of this is that we can only write to folders the app has permission to write to, so that's why you can't just pick any folder.

[Luke 40121]

There are improvements in the app's beta channel if you'd like to help test those out:

https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/76604-android-mobile-3069-new-download-manager/

 

Thanks.

[jamvids 38]

Mine did this yesterday, got stuck waiting to transfer. I went into the download and unticked the automatically add new content box, saved it. Then ticked the box and saved it and hey presto, away it went, downloaded 4000+ flac files to my SD card (Sony Xperia 1)

[revengineer 137]

13 hours ago, jamvids said:

Mine did this yesterday, got stuck waiting to transfer. I went into the download and unticked the automatically add new content box, saved it. Then ticked the box and saved it and hey presto, away it went, downloaded 4000+ flac files to my SD card (Sony Xperia 1)

This isssue has long been solved, so whatever your problem was it is different from that of the OP.

[drsalzman 1]

The issue isn't 100% solved, but at least it's mitigated. Whenever, for whatever reason, it gets stuck, you can get it unstuck by going into and then out of downloads. Weird, huh? 

[Luke 40121]

20 hours ago, drsalzman said:

The issue isn't 100% solved, but at least it's mitigated. Whenever, for whatever reason, it gets stuck, you can get it unstuck by going into and then out of downloads. Weird, huh? 

That will manually request the system to run the background download process, so yes. You may want to check your system settings to ensure the automated background process is not being blocked from running.

[tomdom34 3]

Hi, running emby 4.7.11.0 on raspberry with latest android client on fold4 and I have the same problem. the download job shows "ready for transfer", that' all.

thanks

thomas

[revengineer 137]

On 12/26/2022 at 8:00 AM, tomdom34 said:

Hi, running emby 4.7.11.0 on raspberry with latest android client on fold4 and I have the same problem. the download job shows "ready for transfer", that' all.

thanks

thomas

I cannot confirm this on my end. Just tried and downloads are working. Perhaps others above can chime in for which the issue may still be open.

Edited December 31, 2022 by revengineer

[solidsnakex37 54]

On 12/26/2022 at 8:17 AM, revengineer said:

I cannot confirm this on my end. Just tried and downloads are working. Perhaps others above can chime in for which the issue may still be open.

 

On 12/26/2022 at 8:17 AM, revengineer said:

I cannot confirm this on my end. Just tried and downloads are working. Perhaps others above can chime in for which the issue may still be open.

I am running into this issue currently, however I think I know my specific problem. It seems when you cancel a download, it doesn't actually cancel it. So Emby will continue to download something and anything after it will get stuck in 'Ready to Transfer' until the previously removed downloads complete. 

[jamesphw 3]

I've encountered this problem as well. I can't find any workaround. I'm on android app 3.2.90, sever is Ubuntu running 4.7.11.0

Downloads work if I don't cancel and retry, so I suspect it's related to how the cancellation is handled.

I downloaded some things, realized I needed to transcode, deleted the downloads, and then tried the download again with transcode. It queues up, the server does the transcode, then it's stuck in Ready to Transfer state. Even if I delete them and try to redownload without transcode, the same episodes get stuck in Ready to Transfer state.

 

[Luke 40121]

On 1/20/2023 at 7:51 AM, jamesphw said:

I've encountered this problem as well. I can't find any workaround. I'm on android app 3.2.90, sever is Ubuntu running 4.7.11.0

Downloads work if I don't cancel and retry, so I suspect it's related to how the cancellation is handled.

I downloaded some things, realized I needed to transcode, deleted the downloads, and then tried the download again with transcode. It queues up, the server does the transcode, then it's stuck in Ready to Transfer state. Even if I delete them and try to redownload without transcode, the same episodes get stuck in Ready to Transfer state.

 

Hi, we'll take a look at this. Thanks for reporting.

[seasonalskier 0]

Hello,

 

I am having the same problem as above.  I started a download a file.  Cancelled it (was getting on a flight) the tried to resume it or any download and they are now stuck in 'ready to transfer' state.  I have tried clearing the apps storage and cache, as well as restarting the emby app on the server as well as the server itself.  It seems it just wont download for me anymore.

Android version: 3.2.92

Linux Version: 4.7.11.0

embyserver.txt

Edited March 8, 2023 by seasonalskier

[nate1280 0]

Having this issue as well, its fairly hit or miss.  Happens with both TV episodes, and movies, whether they're downloaded original, or transcoded down and with or without subtitles.

I've looked through the log files, and I'm not noticing anything out of the ordinary.  I can see the converted file on my server, but it just refuses to transfer to my tablet.

I have my tablet configured for External (SD), I've tried all the other options as well and makes no difference.  There is 100% enough space on both internal and external for the files.

Trying to do this on my LAN as well.

If possible, an option within android to force the download to start would be handy.

I can try to provide logs when my server is not as busy and I can trim them a bit.

Android version: 3.2.92 (S8 Ultra)
Windows Server: 4.7.11.0

 

Edited March 10, 2023 by nate1280
Added note about external sd and space

[Lyfesaver 73]

If I am not mistaken, @ebr helped me with this before but I cannot, for the life of me, find the solution. If it was not you Ebr, I apologize for the the ping but I am like, 85% sure it was you. Do you remember at all?

[Lyfesaver 73]

On 2/22/2023 at 11:51 PM, Luke said:

Hi, we'll take a look at this. Thanks for reporting.

Have you found out anything?

[MikeB111 56]

Just thought I'd check in on this problem to see if there is any progress.

Getting ready to go on a trip, thought I'd download a few movies to my Samsung tablet.  Just sits there reporting "Ready to Transfer" forever.  My wife has exactly the same tablet, works for her no problem.  Doesn't seem to matter what settings I change, internal or SD card, launching from the app on my tablet or from the server, etc.  It has transferred a few times, but 90% of the time it just hangs, which I find very odd.

I hear that all our problems will go away with the new unified app across all platforms, but have been hearing this for a long time.  Any progress there, or progress on the Android app itself?

[parallaxview 1]

Piling on that I have a few random episodes stuck in "ready to transfer" and no amount of workarounds will get them to download.

embyserver.txt

[playloud 10]

Also reporting my Android Tablet with all downloads stuck at "Ready to Transfer"

[jamesphw 3]

I raised this issue in another thread as well. I had steps to reproduce, but strangely when I went back to the steps a few days later I wasn't able to reproduce.

So it's a timing related thing, or some other difficult to reproduce bug. Anyhow, here is my thread with the steps:

 

[solidsnakex37 54]

On 5/10/2023 at 3:54 PM, jamesphw said:

I raised this issue in another thread as well. I had steps to reproduce, but strangely when I went back to the steps a few days later I wasn't able to reproduce.

So it's a timing related thing, or some other difficult to reproduce bug. Anyhow, here is my thread with the steps:

 

I have to agree with the "timing" related thing to a degree. 

Here has been my experience with this issue. 

1. This issue happens whether I try and download on my local network, or externally. For example if I am connected to Emby through my reverse proxy and a download is "Ready to Transfer" I can take a totally different device connected to my LAN and try to download the same thing and that, too, "ready to transfer". I've even gone as far as setting up a wireshark tunnel to my LAN on devices to bypass the proxy and see if this helps, it doesn't. 

2. SOMETIMES, converting the file first helps this issue, but may be coincidental. Example: I will attempt to download a movie in either original quality, or a set MBPS, doesn't matter, it will get stuck in ready in transfer state. If I cancel that, run a "convert" task on the media, then download that concerted version instead, it will SOMETIMES work. Not enough to count this as a workaround though, as it doesn't work more often than it does. 

3. It doesn't happen for ALL media. If I attempt to download a movie to my phone, find that it doesn't start the download at all and just sits in Ready To Transfer, I can go to another movie and trigger the download and it works. So some movies do, some movies don't, some that didn't work before will work later, there is no pattern. 

4. Brute forcing it HAS worked for me. Where I will: 

- Start the download, stuck in Ready To Transfer State
- Cancel the download
- Start the download, stuck in Ready To Transfer State
- Cancel the download
- Start the download, will start downloading

5. Some items will show as "downloaded" on the device and it seems complete, but then the media can't be found on the device I downloaded it to. 

A note on the above, this doesn't always work either! 

Ultimately, I've tried many, many different methods to use Emby to download media and it's so disappointingly broken. If I could find one consistent workaround, I'd be happy...

Edited May 12, 2023 by solidsnakex37
spelling

[jillybean 2]

I am also having this problem.  Many items download fine on my samsung tablet but currenty 3 particular episodes will not.  They do download without problem on my zenfone so I thought as a workaround I could cast them from there to my tablet to view while I am away - but no, I discovered it is not possible to cast downloaded items to another device.

[Luke 40121]

Are you still having an issue with this? Have you updated to Emby Server 4.7.13?

[jillybean 2]

26 minutes ago, Luke said:

Are you still having an issue with this? Have you updated to Emby Server 4.7.13?

I am.  I updated to 4.7.13 a couple of days ago.  Episodes for 2 shows were still showing as 'ready to transfer' so I have now removed and re-added those shows to download but the problem persists with the same episodes.  As before, I can download all episodes to my ASUS Zenfone, just not to my samsung tablet.  I have given up.

[solidsnakex37 54]

11 hours ago, Luke said:

Are you still having an issue with this? Have you updated to Emby Server 4.7.13?

I am updated to the latest version, 4.7.13 on Unraid and still having the same issue this morning. Episodes I tried to download to my phone are "transferring 0%" and "Ready to Transfer". 

I read a post somewhere where you said the Transferring 0% isn't accurate and an actual download monitor is coming. I hope it is soon because one of the features I was excited about when I came to Emby was the Sync feature, where I can have new episodes automatically downloaded to a device as I get them. 

[matsonjr 6]

I am another with the problem.  I am running 4.7.13.0 on windows and trying to load stuff on a new lenovo android tablet for a trip.  I have done 60 movies without trouble, but one I can't get past "ready to transfer."  It transcodes just find and I can even find the file in the temp folder.  It just won't do the last step and transfer it over.