Live TV automatically unpauses after a couple minutes

[ProperlyFormattedDataFile 3]

I've reproduced this issue on a Roku stick and a stick+. When I pause live TV or an in progress recording on Roku, after a couple minutes it automatically unpauses itself. When I've timed it, it usually unpauses after about 2 minutes, which is not enough time.

 

Is this behavior intentional, and if so can it be disabled?

[speechles 1917]

I will know when I get my streaming stick+ today.

 

 

This behavior is not intentional. The Roku sticks are a creature we need more investigation on and I plan on discovering why this device is different.

[Luke 37008]

Hi there, let's look at an example. Please attach the information requested in how to report a media playback issue. thanks !

[speechles 1917]

@@Luke I will also personally address this as I will have the exact same model very shortly. This Roku streaming stick appears to be a problem child and we need one to discover why it is so troubled. Then once I give it some therapy and one-on-one time I can discover the cure. But yes, we do need the logs to discover exactly what the reason for the stoppage is. It may not even be related to the hardware but I need this device anyways. The streaming stick has tons of LiveTV issues all over the place and other peculiar things. So I want one to prod, poke and punch.

Edited August 1, 2019 by speechles

[ProperlyFormattedDataFile 3]

@@Luke I will also personally address this as I will have the exact same model very shortly. This Roku streaming stick appears to be a problem child and we need one to discover why it is so troubled. Then once I give it some therapy and one-on-one time I can discover the cure. But yes, we do need the logs to discover exactly what the reason for the stoppage is. It may not even be related to the hardware but I need this device anyways. The streaming stick has tons of LiveTV issues all over the place and other peculiar things. So I want one to prod, poke and punch.

 

Thanks!

 

I sent the Roku log through the Roku app at 9:31PM EDT as the user Properly Formatted Data File.  I started watching TV and at 9:29pm hit pause.  Setting a stopwatch on my phone, nearly exactly 2 minutes after I hit pause, playback resumed at 9:31PM.

 

This is with Roku app version 3.0.175, Emby Server version 4.2.0.40.  This is on the Stick.  I'll upload a log from the Stick+ later tonight, since it sounds like that's the hardware you'll have access to.

 

I've attached the emby server logs and the transcoding logs.  Please let me know if there's any other information I can provide.

embyserver.txt

ffmpeg-transcode-4ac2f85d-d8a5-4459-aafe-a975566b0e87_1.txt

[ProperlyFormattedDataFile 3]

I uploaded the Stick+ log around 10:30PM EDT.  Approximately the same behavior, though it took about 2.5 minutes to unpause itself.

[speechles 1917]

 

Now I can start the investigation. I now have the Roku streaming stick+ 3810. I will see what is up with LiveTV very shortly on this thing.

[ebr 14903]

I'm pretty sure pausing an HLS stream on the Roku is limited to the amount of internal buffer the device has available and, once you fill that buffer, it will automatically start playing again.

[speechles 1917]

I'm pretty sure pausing an HLS stream on the Roku is limited to the amount of internal buffer the device has available and, once you fill that buffer, it will automatically start playing again.

 

I know for sure that RokuTV on LiveTV that is through the OTA antenna on the TV I can use a USB thumb in the TV and gain a 30 minute+ pause buffer. You can go as high as 2TB in the USB slot for the pause buffer on RokuTV. But it only affects OTA antenna mode. Apps cannot make use of that space or any programs stored therein. 

 

So it is limited to available RAM on the device. With these Roku stick it looks like it should have the power. It moves like a Roku ultra. It is fast. But it might be crippled on RAM. I am still setting up developer mode on it and letting it update and download all my apps I have on other Rokus. So once that is done I can dig into this oddball Roku streaming stick+.

Edited August 2, 2019 by speechles

[ChesterLester 0]

I know for sure that RokuTV on LiveTV that is through the OTA antenna on the TV I can use a USB thumb in the TV and gain a 30 minute+ pause buffer. You can go as high as 2TB in the USB slot for the pause buffer on RokuTV. But it only affects OTA antenna mode. Apps cannot make use of that space or any programs stored therein. 

 

So it is limited to available RAM on the device. With these Roku stick it looks like it should have the power. It moves like a Roku ultra. It is fast. But it might be crippled on RAM. I am still setting up developer mode on it and letting it update and download all my apps I have on other Rokus. So once that is done I can dig into this oddball Roku streaming stick+.

 

I've had (still have) this same issue with full ROKU TV.  I've noticed that un-pausing only occurs on a few OTA channels, not all.  I'm beginning to think that the problem is related to resolution/video somehow in that the problem only seems be with highest resolution channels/broadcasts; most notably the big 3, ABC, CBS and NBC.  The channels that view with a border/less than full screen don't have the problem.

...trying to find a way to lower the resolution manually on my ROKU TCL, but don't think it an option on *my* particular model

[ebr 14903]

I've had (still have) this same issue with full ROKU TV.  I've noticed that un-pausing only occurs on a few OTA channels, not all.  I'm beginning to think that the problem is related to resolution/video somehow in that the problem only seems be with highest resolution channels/broadcasts; most notably the big 3, ABC, CBS and NBC.  The channels that view with a border/less than full screen don't have the problem.

...trying to find a way to lower the resolution manually on my ROKU TCL, but don't think it an option on *my* particular model

 

Lower resolution/bitrate channels would take up less space and, thus, have longer device pause buffers.  That's my guess anyway.

[speechles 1917]

The RokuTV is the only one really suffering because once you pause for so long on a stream to keep cost to benefit ratio this is limited to 30 minutes in the RokuTV. That 30 minutes is not really 30 minutes but whatever it is for the bitrate. That bitrate determines what resolution you are going to find acceptable. It might be 30 minutes at 2Mb/sec. To keep the RokuTV costs low on some models the pause buffers have to be extended by using a USB (thumb) drive in the #1 USB port. #1 = top. I think series 7 and series 8 actually have a full Roku Ultra in the Roku TV and not the equivalent of a Roku streaming stick like all other RokuTV models. They might allow larger pause buffers.

 

That is the only way for RokuTV to actually grow a better pause buffer. All other models of Roku do not have pause buffers for LiveTV or TS streams. They treat them like ordinary video streams. You can pause forever on a RokuSTB but not a RokuTV when dealing with TS streams.

 

https://support.roku.com/article/115005649508-how-do-i-pause-live-television-on-my-roku-tv-

 

https://support.roku.com/article/115005480247-what-should-i-do-if-live-tv-pause-buffer-is-lost-when-resuming-from-screensaver-

 

This is supposed to only affect OTA tuner but on some RokuTV it is confimed to affect TS streams as well. Mine (TCL 50S425) is one of those models it affects TS too. It seems if you direct play a TS to the Roku it causes the pause buffer on a RokuTV to activate. We do not direct play TS but maybe even direct stream TS in m3u8 because it has the same mpeg2/ac3 as normal OTA it causes it to believe it is OTA? In any case you can tell if the USB drive works on your model or not immediately. If it does you have a goofy model and it will work. If it does not you have a normal model and it won't.

Edited November 6, 2019 by speechles

[ProperlyFormattedDataFile 3]

@@speechles I'm a bit confused by your response. As I mentioned in the op, I have this issue on my Roku STBs. Should I expect it to work?

[speechles 1917]

@@speechles I'm a bit confused by your response. As I mentioned in the op, I have this issue on my Roku STBs. Should I expect it to work?

 

 

You should be able to pause beyond 2 minutes, yes. I haven't tested or confirmed that on my Roku streaming stick+ but it should be longer than 2 minutes. 

 

Is the item direct playing, or does it say remux/directstream/transcode (aka involve ffmpeg)? I am guessing remux or directstream if this is Live TV.

 

It might be the hardware-acceleration or transcode throttling causing this since it involves ffmpeg? I am not exactly sure. It should not be happening to a Roku streaming stick.

Edited November 6, 2019 by speechles

[ProperlyFormattedDataFile 3]

I might get to 2.5 minutes on the stick+, but not much more than that. This is for transcoded streams (Roku's mpeg2 implementation is basically worthless). I'll give direct streams a try tonight and see if I can pause for longer, but long term that's not really an option.

[speechles 1917]

I might get to 2.5 minutes on the stick+, but not much more than that. This is for transcoded streams (Roku's mpeg2 implementation is basically worthless). I'll give direct streams a try tonight and see if I can pause for longer, but long term that's not really an option.

 

DIsable transcode throttling. That might be prematurely making the Roku think it has acheived the end of the playback. Ffmpeg might be impose a limit on how long it waits as well. Not sure what else this can be because If this is transcoding it is defintely something on the server side doing something. That is why I find it odd. I do not experience this and can pause playback for indefinite periods. Even into the screen saver and have to wake the Roku to find the video player diligently waiting for me to unpause.

 

Try to pause music playback and see if that can last. That is a good test. Is it video only or both audio and video that disallow pause?

Edited November 6, 2019 by speechles

[ebr 14903]

Try to pause music playback and see if that can last. That is a good test. Is it video only or both audio and video that disallow pause?

 

Music playback in the app can be paused indefinitely because the stream stops getting delivered by the server...

[speechles 1917]

@@ProperlyFormattedDataFile

 

If you pause the stream and let it happen while you have debug logging enabled then send a log from the app that might show us what is going on. We have added more verbose debug to our video player error reporting. Once Eric pushes that to Beta it will make it much easier to know exactly what is causing your pause/resume issues. It might be an error and fallback recovery happens and starts the video playing again. This is how we will know for sure what is happening.

 

Wait until the next Beta appears for Roku. That will have the updated debug logic for the video player. Then you can turn on debug in the app, recreate the failure to stay paused, then send a log immediately after from the homescreen of the app. But please wait until the next Beta to do so. Thanks.

Edited November 6, 2019 by speechles

[ebr 14903]

@@ProperlyFormattedDataFile

 

If you pause the stream and let it happen while you have debug logging enabled then send a log from the app that might show us what is going on. We have added more verbose debug to our video player error reporting. Once Eric pushes that to Beta it will make it much easier to know exactly what is causing your pause/resume issues. It might be an error and fallback recovery happens and starts the video playing again. This is how we will know for sure what is happening.

 

Wait until the next Beta appears for Roku. That will have the updated debug logic for the video player. Then you can turn on debug in the app, recreate the failure to stay paused, then send a log immediately after from the homescreen of the app. But please wait until the next Beta to do so. Thanks.

 

This isn't an error.  It is simply resuming when it no longer has any more buffer.  If there were an error being thrown, we would start into our fallback and/or stop the stream.