Android TV (Sony) emby app - "Server Unavailable" message

[snowborder714 1]

I have an Android TV (Sony) and emby running in a docker container on an Unraid server that's in my house.  I have it set up to be able to be accessed via DuckDNS as I have a dynamic IP.

Within the last month or so, when I go to launch the emby app on my Sony TV, it comes up to the "Select a server" page.  I can see my server as I have it linked to my emby account.  When I click on it, I receive a "Server Unavailable" error saying it can't be reached with the option to wake, remove, or cancel.  I know the server is up as I can get to it from a laptop and I have another TV in the house (LG, non-Android based) that also has the emby app installed and can access it.

I've tried clicking on it multiple times with no luck.  I've tried connecting to a "different server" and just typing it in with no luck.  Most of the time I uninstall the app and reinstall it works but this is sometimes happening multiple times per day.

For reference, I turned my TV on 10 minutes ago and tried to connect - no luck.  I restarted the TV and tried to connect again - no luck.  The screen sat on the "Server Unavailable" pop up while I was typing this post for a few minutes to which I chose cancel and backed all the way out to the home screen.  I clicked on emby again and this time it went in.

Are there any log files I can look at/post up to help troubleshoot this issue?  Has anyone else run into this?

[seanbuff 1316]

48 minutes ago, snowborder714 said:

Are there any log files I can look at/post up to help troubleshoot this issue?  Has anyone else run into this?

Steps to provide logs in the link above.

[Luke 42077]

Hi, yes let's start with an Emby Server log file. Thanks.

[snowborder714 1]

Here's the server log.

embyserver.txt

[Luke 42077]

Does your emby server dashboard display the correct LAN and WAN addresses?

[snowborder714 1]

6 minutes ago, Luke said:

Does your emby server dashboard display the correct LAN and WAN addresses?

The LAN address shown is the app address (left in the screenshot below) in docker, so technically that's correct.  However, when I try to go to that IP in a browser, it doesn't work.  I need to use the IP on the right hand side to gain access via a browser.

The WAM address is correct and works.

[ebr 16171]

10 hours ago, snowborder714 said:

However, when I try to go to that IP in a browser, it doesn't work.  I need to use the IP on the right hand side to gain access via a browser.

Hi.  Okay, so that is your issue.  You need to use the server network settings to make the LAN address displayed be the correct one and then the app will be able to reach  your server.

[snowborder714 1]

1 hour ago, ebr said:

Hi.  Okay, so that is your issue.  You need to use the server network settings to make the LAN address displayed be the correct one and then the app will be able to reach  your server.

Ok, I'll see what I can do about it.  Thanks!

[snowborder714 1]

I found the area in emby that allowed me to override the LAN address so now it shows the .14 address in the above screenshot.  I'll see if this helps as I use it over the next week or so and report back.

[Luke 42077]

Please note this is to be considered more of a workaround. Ideally you'd configure the Docker container network settings so that you don't have to customize the lan address in emby server network settings and it can be detected automatically. Usually this requires using host networking mode.

The downside of customizing the lan address in emby server network settings is that you will have to remember to update it in the event it ever needs to change. If you forget then you're going to run into problems and probably end up coming back here for help.

[snowborder714 1]

28 minutes ago, Luke said:

Please note this is to be considered more of a workaround. Ideally you'd configure the Docker container network settings so that you don't have to customize the lan address in emby server network settings and it can be detected automatically. Usually this requires using host networking mode.

The downside of customizing the lan address in emby server network settings is that you will have to remember to update it in the event it ever needs to change. If you forget then you're going to run into problems and probably end up coming back here for help.

Makes sense.

I thought about how to do the change in docker but since I'm running it through a custom proxy network in the back to allow public access, I'm not even sure it'd be possible.

[snowborder714 1]

I tried to log into emby tonight on my TV and no luck.  Lots of spinning and then it showed me the "Select a server" screen.  If I can get into the Android app at some point, I'll see if I can send in logs from it.  Maybe they'll have more info since it seems the access issue is specific to that TV/app.

[ebr 16171]

13 hours ago, snowborder714 said:

I tried to log into emby tonight on my TV

Hi.  Exactly how did you do that?  If you clicked on the existing server icon that was already there, then it probably is still trying to talk to the wrong IP address.  Try using the option to connect manually and enter the proper IP.  Then, after that, the tile for the server should be updated.

[snowborder714 1]

55 minutes ago, ebr said:

Hi.  Exactly how did you do that?  If you clicked on the existing server icon that was already there, then it probably is still trying to talk to the wrong IP address.  Try using the option to connect manually and enter the proper IP.  Then, after that, the tile for the server should be updated.

I did click on the existing server.  When I programmed the server in, I used the public address and not the local address.  So in theory, it should be reaching out to my DuckDNS URL.  Maybe I should be using the internal IP instead for the TV?

[ebr 16171]

16 minutes ago, snowborder714 said:

Maybe I should be using the internal IP instead for the TV?

Yes.  You would want to keep the access local - and also not potentially introduce any loopback or certificate restrictions.

[snowborder714 1]

5 hours ago, ebr said:

Yes.  You would want to keep the access local - and also not potentially introduce any loopback or certificate restrictions.

Ok, I've switched it over to IP access.

[ebr 16171]

And is all working properly now?

[snowborder714 1]

14 minutes ago, ebr said:

And is all working properly now?

It connected very quickly using the IP.  I opened it up again just a few minutes ago and it's still connecting just fine.  I'll monitor it for a few days but it sounds like this did the trick.  Thank you!

[snowborder714 1]

I opened emby tonight on my TV and it went back to not connecting.  I tried uninstalling it thinking maybe my Emby Connect account was causing issues.  I reinstalled it and tried to use "Skip and Enter IP Address" to not use Connect.  After I enter the IP and verify the port is correct, I hit OK and nothing happens.  The pop-up window just goes away.

I then went the Connect route.  I got the "Pin Confirmed. Thank you." message from the website.  I clicked on "Next" on the TV.  I don't see the expected server already there that's in Connect. I then used the "Enter Manually" option to enter the IP.  After a little wait, I was shown "Error Connecting to Server".

I know the server is up and accessible as I can reach it from my PC.  I switched to the other wireless network that the TV is connected to and verified I can still get to the IP via a web browser.  I'm really at a loss now.

 

Edit:  I tried the IP again after writing the above post and it worked.  This isn't making any sense.

Edited February 4, 2022 by snowborder714

[ebr 16171]

9 hours ago, snowborder714 said:

I tried the IP again after writing the above post and it worked.  This isn't making any sense.

Hi.  Really sounds like some sort of intermittent network issue...

[snowborder714 1]

2 hours ago, ebr said:

Hi.  Really sounds like some sort of intermittent network issue...

That's the only thing that I could think of but I'm not noticing anything from my laptop and the TV isn't saying it's disconnected from WiFi.  I'll have to keep playing with it to see if I can find out any more.

[Luke 42077]

Did you find anything?

[snowborder714 1]

12 hours ago, Luke said:

Did you find anything?

I haven't yet.  I was looking at the TV in the wireless management software (I have a Unifi system) and I didn't see it disconnecting at all.  I installed a wifi analyzer tool on the TV and ran some tests (speed, ping, and one or two others) and they all tested out fine.  The download speed was slower than I expected but that might be a limitation of the TV.  No slow or dropped pings.

I'm still looking but running out of ideas.  The next thing I might try is to see if I have a really long ethernet cable to plug the TV in to a switch and see if that helps or not.

[Luke 42077]

OK let us know how things go. Thanks.