[Shield] Dashboard shows a black screen and kicks me out after signing in

[virtualtinker 8]

Server version: 4.0.1.0 (this happened in the 3.X release prior to this)

Client version: 1.6.79g (this happened in the client release prior to this)

Shield version: 8.0.0 (this happened in the release prior as well)

Video: link:https://www.dropbox.com/s/3fs030su0rgp0ug/VID_20190206_194039.mp4?dl=0

 

When I open the Emby app, I go to the user screen. When I attempt to login, the screen goes black and never actually brings up the dashboard. It stays this way for a while until I am kicked out. If I use the play next feature on the Shield to directly resume playback on some of my media, that will successfully play. If I try backing out, I can get the initial screen, but if I back out further to where it would have shown my media, it hangs until I am kicked out again. If I clear the data on the app, I am able to successfully login for a few days until this happens again; only the data option, clearing the cache alone won't be enough. I've tried reinstalling Emby from the app store with no luck.  I've also done a factory reset on the Shield and started over with a fresh install of Emby with no luck. You can see the video to better illustrate the problem. I also sent logs after making the video at ~7:40 PM Central time, the user being Chris. This issue only is occurring on the Shield. I have had no problems with using the Roku, the app on my android phone, or using the web browser. I've also attached a clean log from the server with debug mode on in case that can provide some insight beyond the client logs.

 

Let me know if there is anything else I can provide or any other questions I can answer to help clarify if needed.  Thanks!

embyserver-63685078919.txt

[ebr 14939]

Hi. What was the name of the local Emby user and server you were connected to when you sent the log?

[virtualtinker 8]

Hi. What was the name of the local Emby user and server you were connected to when you sent the log?

My Windows server is cleverly named "Media" and the user I was logging into was "Chris". This is a local user on the server and not an Emby Connect one. The log was sent at 7:40 PM Central time.

[ebr 14939]

I found it.  Thanks.

[virtualtinker 8]

Just wanted to follow up if any headway has been made on this, or if there is anything I can do to help.

 

Also, and this question may be coming out of left field, but after the Shield has been initially connected to the media server, is there any discovery that goes on after the fact? I was thinking about any major differences my setup might have compared to the masses and the big thing is that my Shield and Media server are in different subnets. As such, discovery has historically never worked and I would initially have to point the IP manually to the media server. I was just thinking that if Emby ever tried to do another discovery that would have failed and wasn't sure if it could have caused the black screen and hanging I have been experiencing.

 

Now all that said, I managed to figure out how to get discovery working across subnets so that is now working. I will report back after a couple of weeks if the occasional black screen goes away since discovery was fixed, but just wanted to bring this up.

[virtualtinker 8]

It's been a couple of weeks now and i haven't had any problems with logging in since fixing the discovery, so it seems the issue is resolved for me. However for discovery working to be the fix to my problem, that would suggest some sort of issue in the Android TV app where discovery is trying to occur after the fact even if the app has been prior manually pointed to an IP, and that failed discovery is timing out the main dashboard loading up. It's purely conjecture on my part, but maybe it's tied to some kind of periodic license check for on the app to confirm that the Emby server it's talking to is premiere enabled? I don't know why the app wouldn't use the IP manually configured, but I am fishing a bit here as to why the app would be initiating discovery again after the fact in the first place.

 

I know this is something of a fringe case because discovery not working probably means multiple subnets which is something that's not going to be seen in most home setups, but it's something I just wanted to bring to your attention just the same.

[Luke 37132]

Server Discovery runs on app startup. It's just part of the startup workflow. You could add or remove servers to your internal Network and the app is built to handle that.

[virtualtinker 8]

Server Discovery runs on app startup. It's just part of the startup workflow. You could add or remove servers to your internal Network and the app is built to handle that.

This is what I would have expected too. However, it is strange that fixing my routing issue between VLANs with multicast so discovery works properly also fixed my issue where I would get a black screen occasionally when opening Emby to view the dashboard, and only clearing the data from the Emby app would temporarily fix it. If not discovery directly, I can only assume there was some kind of multicast traffic occurring sometime after the fact that was locking up the Emby app and preventing it from getting further.

[Luke 37132]

Thanks for the info. Most likely there is an issue in the app that needs to be addressed where a discovery failure is not being handled correctly.

[whitesoxrob 0]

Hey virtualtinker, how did you manage to get discovery to work across subnets?  I'm experiencing the same black screen issues that only fix when I force close the emby app on my Android TV.

 

Just wanted to follow up if any headway has been made on this, or if there is anything I can do to help.

 

Also, and this question may be coming out of left field, but after the Shield has been initially connected to the media server, is there any discovery that goes on after the fact? I was thinking about any major differences my setup might have compared to the masses and the big thing is that my Shield and Media server are in different subnets. As such, discovery has historically never worked and I would initially have to point the IP manually to the media server. I was just thinking that if Emby ever tried to do another discovery that would have failed and wasn't sure if it could have caused the black screen and hanging I have been experiencing.

 

Now all that said, I managed to figure out how to get discovery working across subnets so that is now working. I will report back after a couple of weeks if the occasional black screen goes away since discovery was fixed, but just wanted to bring this up.

[virtualtinker 8]

Hey virtualtinker, how did you manage to get discovery to work across subnets?  I'm experiencing the same black screen issues that only fix when I force close the emby app on my Android TV.

I have a Unifi setup, so I don't know how much this will help you. What I ended up doing was install a broadcast-relay service on my USG. Follow this https://community.ubnt.com/t5/EdgeRouter/Multicast-Sonos-Phorus-amp-Play-Fi-Broadcast-255-255-255-255-lt/td-p/1259616 for more info on how I set it up.

 

You will also need to add the following to your config.json file if you want the settings to survive a reprovision. Change out the interface/vlan id as appropriate for your setup.

{
        "service": {
                "bcast-relay": {
                        "id": {
                                "1": {
                                        "description": "Emby",
                                        "interface": [
                                                "eth1.10",
                                                "eth1.11"
                                        ],
                                        "port": "7359"
                                }
                        }
                }
        }
}