Live TV - Radio Stations - audio only failing on app - works elsewhere

[ttgapers 94]

Please take a look at the log below. This radio station works if I stream from the Emby Windows 10 App or via Web Browser (any) and Android and iPhone apps.

 

It does not work/fails to play with "Giving up too many errors" error. This was working fine for at least a year until recently.

 

Just sent a note to EBR to join the beta as my version is a bit behind where the beta releases are at.

 

Thanks and any help appreciated.

 

ffmpeg-transcode-673d1e63-043a-464b-89e2-0e52b3f300ec_1.txt

Edited December 29, 2019 by ttgapers

[ebr 14904]

Hi.  There is no log on your post but what we probably need to see is a log from the app.

 

Thanks.

[ttgapers 94]

Log re-attached from server, sorry. Let me know if you need the app logs also. Just waiting for the latest beta to be pushed to my FireStick now.

[ebr 14904]

Ah, this is some sort of live TV audio only channel?

 

There is no video stream and, I suspect that is where the problem lies as it is probably unexpected by the player.  Usually, even live TV radio channels have some sort of video stream.

 

Can you get me a sample of one of these somehow?

[ttgapers 94]

Here you go: http://media.guardian.co.tt:8000/slam100.5

 

 

 

It worked no problem until recently on all client platforms I use. Just this app gives the error log shown. There are other audio only radio stations that I assume are all related.

 

Thanks and let me know if you require any other details.

[ebr 14904]

It worked no problem until recently on all client platforms I use.

 

This worked before on Android TV?  Do you know when?

[ttgapers 94]

I would say up to two months ago.....

And note I was running the "official" non-beta app until yesterday. I use the app on all my TVs via FireSticks. In the car on my phone (Android) via VPN back to Emby and it also worked.

[ebr 14904]

@@softworkz - If you look at the ffmpeg log posted above, you can see that there is only an audio stream.  But, when the HLS manifest/stream is delivered to the app, it seems to think there should be a video stream:

2019-12-30 10:51:14.590 22173-22173/tv.emby.embyatv D/EventLogger:   Renderer:0 [
2019-12-30 10:51:14.590 22173-22173/tv.emby.embyatv D/EventLogger:     Group:0, adaptive_supported=N/A [
2019-12-30 10:51:14.591 22173-22173/tv.emby.embyatv D/EventLogger:       [X] Track:0, id=0, mimeType=video/avc, bitrate=80000000, codecs=avc1.640029, supported=YES
2019-12-30 10:51:14.591 22173-22173/tv.emby.embyatv D/EventLogger:     ]
2019-12-30 10:51:14.591 22173-22173/tv.emby.embyatv D/EventLogger:     Metadata [
2019-12-30 10:51:14.591 22173-22173/tv.emby.embyatv D/EventLogger:       com.google.android.exoplayer2.source.hls.HlsTrackMetadataEntry@eb4ab41f
2019-12-30 10:51:14.591 22173-22173/tv.emby.embyatv D/EventLogger:     ]
2019-12-30 10:51:14.591 22173-22173/tv.emby.embyatv D/EventLogger:   ]

This stream, of course, does not exist so the playback fails.

 

Did something change in how we build these manifests?

[softworkz 3326]

@@ebr - In case of VideoHls (Live-TV), we are currently delivering the m3u file that ffmpeg generates.

 

@@ttgapers - Before we can check out whether something is wrong, we first need to understand - or better actually reproduce - the situation that you considered as working in an earlier version of Emby.

 

I tried to replicate the "working-in-earlier-version" situation by creating a simple m3u playlist containing the radio link you posted above.

I added that as m3u tuner to an Emby server 4.2.1.0.

But I wasn't even able to play the radio stream with a Chrome desktop client (similar internal errors occuring due to missing video stream)

 

Could you please describe how I need to setup that "working-in-earlier-version" situation?

Edited December 30, 2019 by softworkz

[ttgapers 94]

@@softworkz good catch. It was probably in an earlier version than that.

 

1. I double checked my m3u tuners, and noticed the one as you noted doesn't work at all.

2. I have a second tuner tied to TVHeadend and it does work on the other clients except AFTV when presented in this manner. The mux is setup as follows:

pipe:///usr/local/bin/ffmpeg -loglevel fatal -i http://media.guardian.co.tt:8000/slam100.5 -vn -acodec copy  -tune zerolatency -f mpegts -mpegts_service_type digital_radio pipe:1

This also works natively in VLC, TVHeadend clients, and Emby web browser clients.

 

Apologies on the delayed response, had to double/triple check.

 

Here is also Playback Reporting for Slam against the said TVH mux/channel so that's why I posted here, as it seems limited to the AFTV app and not a "Emby server" issue. Hope this helps.

rowid	DateCreated	ItemId	ItemName	PlaybackMethod	ClientName	PlayDuration	PauseDuration
1112	2019-12-06 12:42:13.1369988	2057415	Slam 100.5	DirectPlay	AndroidTv	5	0
1113	2019-12-06 12:42:29.4880327	2057415	Slam 100.5	DirectPlay	AndroidTv	18	0
1229	2019-12-17 22:46:15.3124529	2057415	Slam 100.5	DirectPlay	AndroidTv	3	0
1230	2019-12-17 22:51:05.8822329	2057415	Slam 100.5	DirectPlay	AndroidTv	46	0
1323	2019-12-22 14:02:37.5990491	2057415	Slam 100.5	Transcode	Emby Theater	8283	60
1331	2019-12-23 10:43:30.4541296	2057415	Slam 100.5	Transcode	Emby Theater	3382	0
1346	2019-12-24 13:24:34.2284598	2057415	Slam 100.5	Transcode	Emby Theater	151	0
1347	2019-12-24 13:54:22.2193865	2057415	Slam 100.5	DirectPlay	AndroidTv	38	0
1354	2019-12-24 22:54:27.9694099	2057415	Slam 100.5	DirectPlay	AndroidTv	25	0
1396	2019-12-27 14:58:00.1202739	2057415	Slam 100.5	DirectStream	Emby for Android Mobile	1340	355
1397	2019-12-27 15:27:43.1998898	2057415	Slam 100.5	DirectPlay	AndroidTv	6	0
1411	2019-12-28 21:51:07.1802726	2057415	Slam 100.5	DirectStream	Emby for Android Mobile	72	3
1424	2019-12-29 06:13:34.0393816	2057415	Slam 100.5	Transcode	Emby Theater	112	0
1430	2019-12-29 11:22:08.4233271	2057415	Slam 100.5	DirectPlay	AndroidTv	4	0
1431	2019-12-29 11:24:10.8673519	2057415	Slam 100.5	DirectPlay	AndroidTv	4	0
1434	2019-12-29 11:26:57.8916971	2057415	Slam 100.5	DirectPlay	AndroidTv	8	0
1436	2019-12-29 12:44:35.9737139	2057415	Slam 100.5	DirectPlay	AndroidTv	34	0
1468	2019-12-30 16:48:19.3219548	2057415	Slam 100.5	DirectPlay	Emby Web	546	544

Edited December 31, 2019 by ttgapers

[softworkz 3326]

@@ttgapers - Thanks for clarifying.

 

Now that the "has-worked-recently" part is off the table, and it's also not an issue with the m3u tuner implementation, all points at the tvheadend plugin.

I'm not familiar with the tvheadend plugin, though. The only idea that comes to my mind is getting back to what @@ebr mentioned earlier: Radio broadcasts usually include some kind of (empty) video stream. Adding an empty video stream from the side of TvHeadend might possibly fix the problem.

 

But first of all, try the next beta (4.4.0.5). There are some changes included that might also tolerate a missing video stream - but that would be a coincidental fix rather than an intentional one, so don't hold your breath and resort to the suggestion above when it doesn't help.

[ttgapers 94]

@@ttgapers - Thanks for clarifying.

 

Now that the "has-worked-recently" part is off the table, and it's also not an issue with the m3u tuner implementation, all points at the tvheadend plugin.

I'm not familiar with the tvheadend plugin, though. The only idea that comes to my mind is getting back to what @@ebr mentioned earlier: Radio broadcasts usually include some kind of (empty) video stream. Adding an empty video stream from the side of TvHeadend might possibly fix the problem.

 

But first of all, try the next beta (4.4.0.5). There are some changes included that might also tolerate a missing video stream - but that would be a coincidental fix rather than an intentional one, so don't hold your breath and resort to the suggestion above when it doesn't help.

I am actually not using the TVH plugin. I am hitting the TVH directly via it's channel stream in a m3u file presented as a tuner to Emby. So no TVH plugin involved here. As mentioned, as of today it works on the Windows Emby Theater, Emby Web and Android mobile. AndroidTV app via FireTV doesn't unfortunately

 

Just thought I'd clarify.

 

Thanks.

[softworkz 3326]

@@ttgapers - Thanks for the clarification, obviously I misunderstood your explanation of the setup you're using. But looking at the facts again, that doesn't change much.

 

To summarize: 

 

What you have is not a tv signal, it's a web radio that you are trying to feed into Emby by faking it as a TV signal via a 3rd party application. That's not supported. The Emby TV feature is made for receiving live television broadcasts - and just that.

 

 

Though, one of Emby's primary objectives is to make any media content accessible from any device. That includes web radio of course. The TV feature is just not the right way to do that.

 

It might be a good idea to open a new topic asking for possible options how this can be done.

[ebr 14904]

Podcast plug-in might work...

[ttgapers 94]

Thanks for the replies gents. I like seeing the Radio stations with the TV stations for the guide data unfortunately as it does help. Would be great to see a Live Radio (non-podcast based) added. I use TVH on the backend as it has the self tests and ability to hide/present multiple streams for one channel over the current Emby TV Tuner. If/once those features get there, I'll happily retire TVH

 

Back to this, I took your advice and used the "Video" stream available, and it now works via TVH or native to Emby via any client although it's a static image.

https://api.new.livestream.com/accounts/27001737/events/8198119/broadcasts/200375041.secure.m3u8

It now works on all clients.

 

@@ebr and @@softworkz are you suggesting the other clients that worked before will eventually all fail since there is an assumption on the client that there always/must have a "video" stream eventhough a valid audio only stream is presented and accepted by the Emby server?

 

Thanks all. This thread helped a lot.

[ebr 14904]

In this case, the issue wasn't actually the lack of a video stream it was that the player was being told there was a video stream when there actually wasn't.

 

I believe that is due to how the stream was being delivered from the server.

[softworkz 3326]

@@ebr and @@softworkz are you suggesting the other clients that worked before will eventually all fail since there is an assumption on the client that there always/must have a "video" stream eventhough a valid audio only stream is presented and accepted by the Emby server?

 

@@ttgapers - I'm glad that you got it working. We'll be thinking about more natural ways to bring radio stations into Emby, as your approach is surely not suitable for the average user.

 

When the TV feature will receive its next updates, we will also release a specification for m3u tuners indicating what's supported and what's not.

[Snoopy1234 0]

Further to above... is there a specification available for stream types that are supposed to work with M3U tuners?  In particular, I was recently trying to add some radio stations (MP4A) that the TuneIn plugin does not play properly to no avail (whether using M3U Tuner or STRM in a library).  [M3U is vastly preferable to generating STRM files so ideally it should work via the M3U Tuner feature.]

[Luke 37024]

On 6/23/2021 at 4:22 PM, Snoopy1234 said:

Further to above... is there a specification available for stream types that are supposed to work with M3U tuners?  In particular, I was recently trying to add some radio stations (MP4A) that the TuneIn plugin does not play properly to no avail (whether using M3U Tuner or STRM in a library).  [M3U is vastly preferable to generating STRM files so ideally it should work via the M3U Tuner feature.]

@Snoopy1234 this should work, yes.

[Snoopy1234 0]

So what happens is ffprobe doesn't detect a video component to the stream, and it fails to play as a result.  I was just looking for the specification mentioned so that I could investigate further on my end without troubling you.

(The use case is just adding a few specific FM radio stations to my LiveTV channel list for convenience, rather than using the whole TuneIn Radio add-on.)

[Luke 37024]

@Snoopy1234 Are you still running into this?

[Snoopy1234 0]

Yes.. here's the debug log for an example. 

Thanks for following up!

embyserver.txt

[Luke 37024]

Are you sure the stream you're trying to play is valid?

[Snoopy1234 0]

Yes... I left it in the log so you could try it.  It's a public radio station URL that works fine in VLC.

[Carlo 4330]

Is the stream in question https://corus.leanstream.co/CFNYFM ?
That does not play for me.