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Unable to Stream Roku off Network


econ

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econ

I am no longer able to stream videos via the roku off the network anymore.  I am able to connect to the server and browse through movies.  However, when I try to play a movie it hangs at the loading screen (approximately 15% of the loading bar) for a few minutes, then plays 10 seconds or so of the video and then buffers in an endless loop.  It doesn't matter what video I try to play, direct play vs transcoding.  If I monitor the network traffic when trying to play via the roku it is very minimal.  

 

When I play a movie off the network via the web browser every movie plays perfectly and you see much more network traffic going across.  

 

I saw @@Luke comment that the iPad browser version uses the same protocol as the roku and tried that off the network.  The iPad sees a similar issue to the roku.  Able to load up and browse videos fine, when attempting to stream you see extreme buffering issues making the movie unwatchable.

http://mediabrowser.tv/community/index.php?/topic/7193-live-tv-roku-only-runs-a-second-then-crashes/?p=97633

 

I have included a log below of attempting to access all three scenarios.

 

http://paste2.org/tnmLAUUp

 

Server Version 3.0.5247.129

Roku Version 1.17.5

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econ

Initially I thought that was the issue as well.  I set the roku to the lowest video quality - 664kbps - and still see the exact issue as described above.  I can set the web client to the highest possible setting on a 1080 movie off the network and it streams perfectly fine without any buffering.

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you probably want to adjust your bitrate settings in the client apps then. the web client has a pretty low default which could explain the difference.

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Ok. You'll need to post new server logs though because there's no playback in there. just post the entire file.

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  • 2 weeks later...
thisguy2626

I am no longer able to stream videos via the roku off the network anymore.  I am able to connect to the server and browse through movies.  However, when I try to play a movie it hangs at the loading screen (approximately 15% of the loading bar) for a few minutes, then plays 10 seconds or so of the video and then buffers in an endless loop.

 

Version 3.0.5238.39498

 

I am experiencing a similar issue. Attempting to play any video file, mp4 MKV AVI etc, on a Roku outside of my local  network, the video buffers for around a minute and it will eventually play, then it will stop after 9 - 10 seconds and it will go back to buffer again, then this cycle repeats. If I pause the video during the initial playing cycle for a few minutes I can get an extended length of the video to play, but it will eventually go back to buffering.

 

this is similar to what happens on the Apple application, iphone 5 version 7.1.1, except in the application, the video buffers for a time and then the video freezes while the sound continues to play. there seems to be a similar issue using the Android application, utilizing my iPhones hotspot feature I was unable to get a video file to play on my samsung galaxy 10.1 2014 Android tablet, but it plays perfectly fine on my local network.

 

I read some of the other posts on this forum and tried the things they listed, restarting the server did nothing to solve my problem nor did clearing the temporary transcoding folder or turning off DLNA capabilities. I have played with the transcoding options on the dashboard, changing it from highest speed, highest quality, and auto, did nothing to solve the problem. I also manipulated the bitrate settings on the Roku and the iPhone to no avail. originally I thought it might have been my computer which has an i5 Intel CPU 16 gigabytes of RAM and is running Windows 7 x64 Home Edition, so I switched it to my HTPC which has an i3 intel CPU and 16 gigabytes of RAM also running Windows 7 x64 but the Pro Edition. both PCs play on my local network perfectly but the second I tried to access a file outside of my local network the stuttering and the buffering issues occur. I've tried to use a personal hotspot from my iphone on the Roku and the Android the other attempts were through a Comcast wireless network at another location.

 

one other thing after reading the forums I've gathered that H 264 files with AAC audio are supposed to play without needing to be transcoded, anytime I attempted to play a file MKV or otherwise the CPU usage would spike up to about 80 percent.

 

I believe I have uploaded the correct logs, so if you could look them over and help me in this issue I would appreciate it.

 

  I believe that this log file ending in 67 is the one for the roku and iphone...

 

transcode-0e8907a0-120f-4574-941b-4b1d8ec8a9d5.txt

 

the log file ending in 03 should show the roku and the android...

server-63536489267.txt

unhandled_ded5a3d5-341d-4350-94a8-b40857e154a2.txt

server-63536489303.txt

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What is the upstream bandwidth of your internet connection where the server is?

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thisguy2626

3520814106.png

 

both port 8096 and 8945 are forwarded, and it used to work brilliantly outside of my network. It seems it is only recenlty that this has become an issue.

Edited by thisguy2626
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thisguy2626

OK, an update...

 

After doing absolutely nothing with my network, my pc, or the server itself, it has begun to function normally again with the exception of a single file, the most recent file I uploaded to the server. Could this have confused something within the server itself and caused it to continue to overload or crash or something? I did not change anything after my first post on this topic, and now it is working again. I'm completely stumped as to what could have changed to cause it to function again. I have since deleted that file and it is still working strong just like before.

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Tikuf

Sounds like the file did not have any media information try re adding it and doing a forced refresh from the metadata editor in the dash

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thisguy2626

I just scrapped the file and started over. It plays fine now. Could one corrupt or incomplete file truly bring down the entire server?

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thisguy2626

408-  This is the first log file generated by this server as I switched PC's when I was trying to figure out the problem.

 

There are a few others from my other PC, but none have a time that correspond to when I added the film... They are all a few hours after the fact, and are rather large so I had to upload to dropbox.

 

file ending in 999 has a time stamp of 2 hours after the file was uploaded, around the time that I switched to a different pc.

 

150 was around 6 hours after.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3o679prf496hf57/AADWEnplF8qxBEf6HKbxjkAta

server-63536470408.txt

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Tharnax

I thought I'd update this thread, because I've recently also started seeing this same issue.  I was planning on attempting to trouble shoot this issue yesterday to provide more detail but didn't have the opportunity.  

 

Just as a reminder, I have three WHS2011 servers running in 3 different physical locations, I use one primarily for "on the go" streaming because it has the best down/up load bandwidth speeds.  I use BitSync to keep the three servers in sync with regards to the movies available to watch.  Earlier this week, I noticed the Primary service was "hanging" trying to stream a movie, didn't matter if it was attempting to play through Roku, Android app or iPad app.  However, web browser & WMC work work find to play the movie.

 

To solve the issue on the primary server, I restarted the Media Browser service.

 

This weekend I was at the location of one of the other two Media Browser servers (S2).  It was here my kids actually notice that on the Roku a majority of their movies wouldn't play, same issue as described above.  Roku app loads fine and display moves, can change users, can change preferences, however, when pressing play on a movie, the first 20% of the progress bar populates, it sits and then eventually crashes back to the movie menu screen, doesn't matter what preference setting I choose.  The Roku is connected through a gigabyte LAN and some movies do play, although the file type doesn't appear to matter.  

 

Also, without changing anything on the Roku box connected to S2.  I was able to stream the exact same movie from the Primary server to the Roku over the internet, albeit at a low quality to minimize buffering.  Therefore, it appears to be something in the server and not the Roku, maybe it has something to do with transcoding but I'm just guessing at this point.  

 

All follow this thread and add input/files/examples where possible, but I won't be back to the location of the "S2" for a few weeks to try anything out on it.  However, I'm glad I'm not the only one experiencing this issue and it is a fairly recent issue - I noticed it a bit last weekend on S2 and we experienced it twice on the Primary server last week and I continued to have issues this weekend on S2, but I've been unable to identify the cause.

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This topic may be related to ( http://mediabrowser.tv/community/index.php?/topic/962-roku-multiple-ffmpeg-instances/&do=findComment&comment=26031 ) but in reverse... ...and a close second cousin must be this topic ( http://mediabrowser.tv/community/index.php?/topic/6939-no-streaming-after-server-upgrade/ ). Playing over the internet most certainly a greater percentage of videos will transcode themselves rather than stream at full bitrates. The problem as I see it is ffmpeg never is invoked. Some ask for ffmpeg logs from people to see the issue. I can watch the process list all day long. Click movie after movie requiring transcoding on the roku and they just never play. Any time a mediabrowser client is used which requires transcoding to support whatever the codec it is it may be playing, it's as if ffmpeg never invokes. I've checked logs when this happens and most times this occurs I know it's if i go into a tv-show, say on the roku, it's late,  It plays theme-music loudly (some theme songs are loud as hell for no reason, go figure).. oops. So...to stop this you quickly click into any episode fast as possible and make it try to play that video, but before it even has a chance to display a progress bar you back out very quickly. This has worked before. Lately doing this quickly causes ffmpeg to never re-instanstiate again. Reboot the roku has no effect. This could be why the majority of users experience this issue on their rokus. Do they also start their videos and quickly exit before it has a chance to do anything as well? Do they also use tv theme-music? This has to be related.

 

Only thing proven that does indeed fix it "right now", reboot mediabrowser-server and let it run it's full scan. After which ffmpeg transcodes and spawns.. That is until a client quickly instantiates and de-instantiates too quickly causing it to never spawn again. This may be related to dlna features as ever since these were implemented i've had this issue

2014-05-26 19:57:30.0408 Debug - HttpServer: HTTP GET http://192.168.1.253:8096/mediabrowser/Videos/cdb0b456f7adee0ceece8cd0db84d579/stream.m3u8?profile=high&deviceid=1GJ37M000975&audiochannels=2&audiobitrate=128000&maxwidth=1920&timestampoffsetms=0&audiocodec=aac&videobitrate=20000000&level=4.0&maxheight=1080&videocodec=h264
2014-05-26 19:57:30.0564 Debug - Dlna: No matching device profile found. The default will be used. User-agent: Roku/DVP-5.4 (045.04E03340A). 

nothing ever happens. my episode of eastbound and down did not get transcoded and play, roku kicks back to details screen. ffmpeg never makes an appearance, but i do see dllhost making a random couple of quick appearances everytime the roku kicks back and playback fails.

 

Deleting contents of transcoding-temp does not help in this case for me. Sometimes it's hard to tell if people who tell you things really are being honest. If they really did try the things they were asked and aren't just feeding you lines. In this case, I know for fact this happens. I can help truly debug this issue if someone were to tilt their head in my direction. It frustrates me to no end when this happens too.. may the force be with us on this one. We need some jedi assistance and fast. **insert r2-d2 beep boops here**

 

Edit:

 

@@Tikuf @@Luke @@gcw07

 

I have reproduced the problem repeatedly and consistent. So can you quite easily. So can anybody with a roku and those who already have know if this is what caused their issue as well.

 

1) Go into a tv-show on the roku that has theme-music and videos that must be transcoded to play

     (maybe theme music isnt important, i just wanted the first way to replicate it so you have a chance to fix it)

2) Imagine its late at night and as soon as you hear the theme music start you must race as fast as possible to start any video to play

3) back out fast as possible before the progress bar even displays, then back up to the episode guide.

4) Now pick another video. This video will not play. ffmpeg will not spawn. You must restart mediabrowser-server.

5) ???

6) Profit

Edited by speechles
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Tikuf

I cannot repo this - I need full server logs in debug to even start.

 

I have tried with dlna on and off.l (have you tried with dlna disabled totally?)

 

Uncheck both boxes on this page (enable dlna and blast alive messages

http://localhost:8096/mediabrowser/dashboard/dlnaserversettings.html

On the roku try disabling  tv theme music (preferences tile on first content page)

 

If neither of these work try updating the server to dev build and see if the issue still exists. 

Edited by Tikuf
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I cannot repo this - I need full server logs in debug to even start.

 

I have tried with dlna on and off.l (have you tried with dlna disabled totally?)

 

Uncheck both boxes on this page (enable dlna and blast alive messages

http://localhost:8096/mediabrowser/dashboard/dlnaserversettings.html

On the roku try disabling  tv theme music (preferences tile on first content page)

 

If neither of these work try updating the server to dev build and see if the issue still exists. 

 

Ok.. full server logs will be posted shortly. In the meantime, it appears theme-music is irrelevant. DLNA options don't matter. It's simply the act of playing a video, and seeing perhaps .. oops .. wrong video. The speed in which someone starts and stops the transcoded video on the roku. This has a direct effect on something that controls ffmpeg. I do see dllhost pop up when start the video, then popup again when stopping. There is never anything transcoded. ffmpeg never invokes.

 

im copying my system to system_old and updating to devbuild (so i can easily revert back) and will report on that as well. But what exactly in regard to logs, which options produce the least amount of pollution for you to sift thru? dlna on, theme-music, etc? Whichever way is cleanest for you to see the issue works for me to start with.

Edited by speechles
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Tikuf
dllhost pop up

 

I do not know what that is or why you would get a pop up. @@Luke

 

Best method - turn off theme songs turn off dlna navigate to movie on roku delete all log files in the %appdata%\MediaBrowser-Server\logs folder

attempt playback then post all the logs in that folder.

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I do not know what that is or why you would get a pop up. @@Luke

Not a pop-up as in popup window, the process "dllhost" appears in process list is what I meant. Usually it appears alongside ffmpeg but sometimes it doesn't. That's the problem now, figuring out how to successfully reproduce the issue in the first place was the other. ;)

--------------------------------

 

With the dev-build ( Version 3.0.5256.36270 ), it behaves oddly. You have this strange lingering blackscreen everytime you exit a video before it ends. There is this oddball 5 seconds of blackscreen before it wants to kick you back to the details. If you are quick, like instantly start the video, then stop.. quick as *snap your fingers* ... well, you did it now. You reproduced the problem, ffmpeg wont spawn now.. DOH! oddly the blackscreen didn't occur either forcing you to watch it for 5 seconds. This is the clue letting you know you reproduced the issue in the dev-build.

 

So to me, the dev-build is actually a step backwards because of that lingering black screen the beta build didn't have. This is why it's a dev-build. I totally see how it's not ready for prime time the blackscreen may be a side effect of some larger feature evolving. This is a good thing I'm sure. But I don't actually see any effect on this issue as it's still happening.

 

so...

 

This the important part of the log where ffmpeg stops responding ever after.

2014-05-26 22:02:57.5822 Debug - HttpServer: HTTP GET http://192.168.1.253:8096/mediabrowser/Videos/364e802192cca5b123d5d4ebb5e45962/stream.m3u8?profile=high&deviceid=1GJ37M000975&audiochannels=2&audiobitrate=128000&maxwidth=1920&timestampoffsetms=0&audiocodec=aac&videobitrate=20000000&level=4.0&maxheight=1080&videocodec=h264
2014-05-26 22:02:57.5822 Debug - Dlna: No matching device profile found. The default will be used. User-agent: Roku/DVP-5.4 (045.04E03340A).
2014-05-26 22:02:57.5822 Info - App: C:\Users\speechles\AppData\Roaming\MediaBrowser-Server\ffmpeg\20140304\ffmpeg.exe -fflags genpts -i file:"L:\--TV SHOWS\Eastbound And Down\Season 1\eastbound.and.down.s01e03.dvdrip.xvid-reward.avi" -map_metadata -1 -threads 2 -map 0:0 -map 0:1 -map -0:s -codec:v:0 libx264 -preset ultrafast -crf 23 -maxrate 1226076 -bufsize 2452152 -r 23.97602 -vsync vfr -profile:v high -level 4.0 -force_key_frames expr:if(isnan(prev_forced_t),gte(t,.1),gte(t,prev_forced_t+5)) -vf "scale=trunc(min(iw\,1920)/2)*2:trunc(min((iw/dar)\,1080)/2)*2" -sc_threshold 0 -codec:a:0 aac -strict experimental -ac 2 -ab 128000 -af "adelay=1,aresample=async=1" -hls_time 10 -start_number 0 -hls_list_size 1440 "C:\Users\speechles\AppData\Roaming\MediaBrowser-Server\transcoding-temp\ac7107d5-3a45-5eda-e272-0e1155a32f36.m3u8"
2014-05-26 22:02:58.1750 Debug - HttpServer: HTTP DELETE http://192.168.1.253:8096/mediabrowser/Users/14da26f23a8692342b18ad401d2642ab/PlayingItems/364e802192cca5b123d5d4ebb5e45962?PositionTicks=00000000
2014-05-26 22:02:58.1750 Warn - App: PlaybackStopped reported with null media info.
2014-05-26 22:02:58.1750 Debug - HttpServer: HTTP Response 204 to 192.168.1.239:41589. Response time: 0 ms
    Url: http://192.168.1.253:8096/mediabrowser/Users/14da26f23a8692342b18ad401d2642ab/PlayingItems/364e802192cca5b123d5d4ebb5e45962?PositionTicks=00000000
2014-05-26 22:02:58.1750 Debug - HttpServer: HTTP DELETE http://192.168.1.253:8096/mediabrowser/Videos/ActiveEncodings?DeviceId=1GJ37M000975
2014-05-26 22:02:58.1750 Info - App: Killing ffmpeg process for C:\Users\speechles\AppData\Roaming\MediaBrowser-Server\transcoding-temp\ac7107d5-3a45-5eda-e272-0e1155a32f36.m3u8
2014-05-26 22:02:58.1750 Info - App: FFMpeg exited with code -1
2014-05-26 22:02:58.1906 Info - App: Deleting partial stream file(s) C:\Users\speechles\AppData\Roaming\MediaBrowser-Server\transcoding-temp\ac7107d5-3a45-5eda-e272-0e1155a32f36.m3u8

and here is the full log :: http://paste2.org/34HjmhIy

 

Any other questions, tests to try, babies to kiss, let me know I'll be up for awhile longer.

Edited by speechles
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econ

After continuous frustration with not being able to stream off the network I decided to see if a clean install of media browser would fix the issue.  To my amazement, it did!!!!   

 

Version 3.0.5238.39498 works off the network

Version 3.0.5253.35926 does not

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Tharnax

I agree with @@speechles it appears if you start a movie the requires transcoding and you cancel at some point through the movie you can't request another movie to start transcoding.

 

I just cleared by Mediaserver Logs and tried to launch a movie using the Roku, here are the logs:

 

http://paste2.org/apB3264M

 

I'm going to clear the logs, restart the media browser server and attempt to reproduce the issue and will post the logs.

 

MediaServer logs immediately after service restart - No video/music requests sent to MB Server.

 

http://paste2.org/XBkKpbK7

 

Cleared MediaServer logs - went to Roku - launch Media Browser app.  Went to Movies folder, scrolled to 21 and over and selected it.  Selected Play.  Loaded progress bar about half way and crashed back to menu. 

 

Log: http://paste2.org/nmw2C4Mg

There was no transcode log.

 

Left 21 and Over - Movie specs: 

Video

Codec: H264
Profile: High
Level: 41
Resolution: 1280x536
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Interlaced: No
Framerate: 23.97599
Bitrate: 6723 kbps

 

Audio

Language: eng
Codec: DCA
Profile: DTS
Layout: 5.1
Bitrate1536 kbps
Sample Rate: 48000 khz
Default: Yes

 

Loaded Trailer for 47 Ronin worked fine, exited before it was finish.  Started 47 Ronin full movie, watched the intro, exited before it was finished.  Loaded Abduction trailer - 1080p, crashed before loading.  Tried full movie - Crashed back to menu screen before loading.

 

Logs:

MediaServer - Logs: http://paste2.org/9LXWeEyp

Transcode log 1: http://paste2.org/Y403Nw23

Transcode log 2: http://paste2.org/m6pd95EC

Transcode log 3: http://paste2.org/Fys7AKYe

Transcode log 4: http://paste2.org/FJpM8YLL

 

21 and Over through MediaBrowser URL - Transcode log: http://paste2.org/5fFBZxDY - Movie play fine.  Selected different points in the movie on the web browser and not issues everything played fine.  Stopped the movie, went to the Roku and browsed to 21 and Over.  It had the option to Resume Playing.  Selected Resume playing on the Roku and it tried to load for about 30 seconds and crashed out to the menu screen:

 

Transcode Log: http://paste2.org/C0FcyZaJ

 

Finally full server log after all that:  http://paste2.org/tefp7AE2

 

I don't know if any of this is helpful, but it's what I've got.  

Edited by Tharnax
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  • 1 month later...
squatingyeti

Has this ever been sorted and if so how is it corrected? I've got a relative with a Roku that is having all kinds of trouble streaming anything from my server. I've tried to troubleshoot, but I don't have a Roku myself to take off network and see how it behaves.

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Try our new Roku app that has been released since the time of this discussion

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