Android TV app crashes on Nvidia Shield upon attempting to play 4K hevc / aac files.

[Meltx103 3]

Recently acquired an Nvidia Shield for better performance. Whenever I attempt to play a 4K hevc title however the Emby app plays about three seconds of the film (transcoding I assume) before it crashes and the entire device freezes, forcing me to unplug it to reset.

Now I'm pretty confident the Shield can direct play hevc titles (please correct me if I'm wrong). Hopefully there's something else causing this - surely this $200 device should perform better than the godawful chip which is in my Samsung TVs - which have no trouble playing the files.

In addition. My server has a 2700x and relatively beefy hardware. Tried multiple 4K files (hevc, 7.1 AAC and no subtitles). I'm not entirely sure what the Shield can pull WiFi wise but the connection itself is 100/100 and there is nothing else using it.

Let me know if you want me to attach a server log (bit of an effort at the moment but if no one has a clue what's causing this I'll make one).

[Carlo 4331]

This sounds like bad media causing the crash to me based on what you just said, but that's only a guess.

I use a Shield TV as my main box and playback HEVC content all the time including HDR/4K.
I however do have my Shield TV hooked up via Ethernet and don't use WIFI with it.

Do you get crashing on every 4K media you play?  How were these files encoded if so?

[vdatanet 1549]

You said you have a 100/100 connection. So are you connecting to a remote server? Try to manually adjust video quality instead of Auto.

[Meltx103 3]

19 minutes ago, cayars said:

This sounds like bad media causing the crash to me based on what you just said, but that's only a guess.

I use a Shield TV as my main box and playback HEVC content all the time including HDR/4K.
I however do have my Shield TV hooked up via Ethernet and don't use WIFI with it.

Do you get crashing on every 4K media you play?  How were these files encoded if so?

Files run fine using Emby theater on Arch. Tried two different files on the Shield with the same result. Thing is both of them run fine on the Samsung TV app and that device is connected to the same WiFi.

 

10 minutes ago, vdatanet said:

You said you have a 100/100 connection. So are you connecting to a remote server? Try to manually adjust video quality instead of Auto.

It is not remote. I would adjust quality if I could but it pretty much crashes before I can navigate to the settings wheel.

[vdatanet 1549]

1 minute ago, Meltx103 said:

It is not remote. I would adjust quality if I could but it pretty much crashes before I can navigate to the settings wheel.

Just to test, change that quality in app settings.

Can you post the server and transcoding log?

You can also send a report to @ebr from the app. Enable debug options and after crash, send Error Report from user menu.

[Meltx103 3]

Attached the server log. It's been a while since I tried the files so the Shield playback isn't the latest entry. Ctrl F Arrival or Green Book to find the 4K stuff. Doesn't seem to be a transcode log so perhaps I was wrong, but then the crash makes even less sense to me.

embyserver-63761462421.txt

Edited July 9, 2021 by Meltx103

[Meltx103 3]

4 minutes ago, vdatanet said:

Just to test, change that quality in app settings.

Can you post the server and transcoding log?

You can also send a report to @ebr from the app. Enable debug options and after crash, send Error Report from user menu.

I'll have a look at the quality setting and debug options tomorrow. Log attached above.

Edited July 9, 2021 by Meltx103

[Meltx103 3]

Plugged it to an Ethernet cable which made no difference. Soon as I play the file the app reloads and freezes the entire  shield.

[ebr 14959]

Hi.  Is this the "tube" Shield and is this very high bitrate content?

[vdatanet 1549]

3 minutes ago, ebr said:

Hi.  Is this the "tube" Shield and is this very high bitrate content?

I thought the same thing, but as he says it's a $ 200 device I've assumed it's a Shield Pro.

[Meltx103 3]

It is the 'tube' (not pro) version yes. It is $200 where I live. Bitrate of file #1 is 8900 and file #2 19774.

[vdatanet 1549]

2 minutes ago, Meltx103 said:

It is the 'tube' (not pro) version yes. It is $200 where I live. Bitrate of file #1 is 8900 and file #2 19774.

Ohhh, sorry to tell you this device sucks. I have one in the drawer unused. It gives a lot of problems playing HEVC, even with low bitrate.

[Meltx103 3]

6 minutes ago, vdatanet said:

Ohhh, sorry to tell you this device sucks. I have one in the drawer unused. It gives a lot of problems playing HEVC, even with low bitrate.

That's disappointing. Wish I had known that before purchasing it. Hard to believe my smart TV which can barely run tizen has no issues playing the files but the $200 device specifically developed for this type of thing can't. Baffling.

[vdatanet 1549]

27 minutes ago, Meltx103 said:

That's disappointing. Wish I had known that before purchasing it. Hard to believe my smart TV which can barely run tizen has no issues playing the files but the $200 device specifically developed for this type of thing can't. Baffling.

If you can still request a refund, hurry up.

[justinrh 175]

11 hours ago, vdatanet said:

Ohhh, sorry to tell you this device sucks.

And why does the non-Pro suck and the Pro doesn't suck?  Both have the same capability, with the main diff between them is just storage, correct?

[vdatanet 1549]

10 minutes ago, justinrh said:

And why does the non-Pro suck and the Pro doesn't suck?  Both have the same capability, with the main diff between them is just storage, correct?

RAM 2 Gb instead of 3 Gb and 32 bits instead of 64 bits. In my opinion, the problem is in the firmware, there's a memory leak.

Shield TV 2019 (tube) & High Bitrate Content | NVIDIA GeForce Forums

The hotfix doesn't fix this. So for Nvidia the issue is fixed, but the truth is that it is not fixed.

Edited July 11, 2021 by vdatanet

[Heuer 76]

I had a similar problem with the tube 2019 Shield, solved by doing a factory reset. With hindsight I should have tried clearing the Emby app cache and data or reinstalling the app but the factory reset certainly worked. You will find that using an Emby external player (MX Player) will solve the issue as will Plex if it is the same problem as mine.

The tube now works perfectly with high bitrate HEVC (30 Mbs/ sec.) and works exactly the same as the 2019 Pro so unfair to dismiss it.

My guess is the problem lies with HDMI handshaking and Exoplayer.

Edit: I tried playing a full HEVC movie and the Shield introduced crackling noises on the audio and dropped frames after about 10 minutes of viewing. Tried the same movie on the 2019 Pro and it had no problems playing the movie. 

Edited July 13, 2021 by Heuer

[vdatanet 1549]

You can try this:

 

[justinrh 175]

@vdatanet how do you set the buffer size?

[vdatanet 1549]

3 hours ago, justinrh said:

@vdatanet how do you set the buffer size?

Emby app options - playback - buffer size

[Heuer 76]

That worked for me.

[Meltx103 3]

Switching to an external player seems to have resolved the issue.

[ebr 14959]

3 hours ago, Meltx103 said:

Switching to an external player seems to have resolved the issue.

Hi.  Can you please try changing your buffer size instead?

[vdatanet 1549]

For me changing the buffer size gets a significant improvement, but some files, including bitrate not too high, leave the Shield irresponsive.

[justinrh 175]

10 hours ago, Meltx103 said:

Switching to an external player

What does this mean?  How do you do that?  Is it just using a player to access the files directly (i.e., bypass Emby)?