To complain about lacking TVnext progress

[softworkz 5066]

Look here:

https://github.com/MediaBrowser/Emby.Releases/releases (Server)

or here:

https://emby.media/community/index.php?/profile/1236541-emby-releases/content/ (Windows + Xbox app)

or here:

https://github.com/MediaBrowser/Emby.Releases/commits/master/android (Android app)

or here

https://github.com/MediaBrowser/Emby.Releases/commits/master/macos (Mac)

or here

https://github.com/MediaBrowser/Emby.Releases/commits/master/tizen (Tizen)

 

This is just what I could find quickly and publicly available. It's in no way complete.

[CharlesF 36]

18 hours ago, softworkz said:

Look here:

https://github.com/MediaBrowser/Emby.Releases/releases (Server)

or here:

https://emby.media/community/index.php?/profile/1236541-emby-releases/content/ (Windows + Xbox app)

or here:

https://github.com/MediaBrowser/Emby.Releases/commits/master/android (Android app)

or here

https://github.com/MediaBrowser/Emby.Releases/commits/master/macos (Mac)

or here

https://github.com/MediaBrowser/Emby.Releases/commits/master/tizen (Tizen)

 

This is just what I could find quickly and publicly available. It's in no way complete.

for me, the upgrade to 4.9.0.37-beta hasn't been a great experience.  Server has hung twice in 2 weeks since install.  Had to reboot Syn NAS as it wouldn't shut down/restart by itself.  .35 was pretty stable for me.  wish I didn't upgrade.  

I think what people are trying to say is that upgrades to LiveTV has been teased for a long time, years from what I can read.  In fact the reason I came over to Emby recently was because of LiveTV support.  While you guys have pushed out updates, I think one year for a beta is pretty long, and multiple years talking about an update to LiveTV is pretty long too.  Its not to say hard work hasn't been done, its just people haven't necessarily been able to take advantage of it.  

[ebr 16169]

38 minutes ago, CharlesF said:

for me, the upgrade to 4.9.0.37-beta hasn't been a great experience.  Server has hung twice in 2 weeks since install.  Had to reboot Syn NAS as it wouldn't shut down/restart by itself.  .35 was pretty stable for me.  wish I didn't upgrade.  

Hi.  We thank you for participating in beta testing for the server.  It should not be unexpected for issues to occur with pre-release versions.

39 minutes ago, CharlesF said:

While you guys have pushed out updates, I think one year for a beta is pretty long, and multiple years talking about an update to LiveTV is pretty long too.  Its not to say hard work hasn't been done, its just people haven't necessarily been able to take advantage of it.  

[my emphasis]  That is not a fair statement.  It may be fair to say that you may not have been able to take advantage of some of the upgrades (although I imagine you actually have just not some of the features you want).

For everyone that uses Live TV, it is a big deal, but it is true that this is a minority of our users and the things we are working on for 4.9 will impact most Emby users and they have been slated for a long time as well.

[pwhodges 2012]

4 hours ago, CharlesF said:

multiple years talking about an update to LiveTV is pretty long too.

It's not a mere "update" to Live TV - it's a completely new implementation from scratch both improving on current features and also adding many new features.

Paul

[CharlesF 36]

Not arguing it isn't, I think the question forum members raise is the length of time it has been talked about and not released.

[CharlesF 36]

17 hours ago, ebr said:

Hi.  We thank you for participating in beta testing for the server.  It should not be unexpected for issues to occur with pre-release versions.

[my emphasis]  That is not a fair statement.  It may be fair to say that you may not have been able to take advantage of some of the upgrades (although I imagine you actually have just not some of the features you want).

For everyone that uses Live TV, it is a big deal, but it is true that this is a minority of our users and the things we are working on for 4.9 will impact most Emby users and they have been slated for a long time as well.

Great, now the question is 'when' people will see it.  4.9 has been in beta for a year, LiveTV rewrite for three or four.

[CharlesF 36]

17 hours ago, ebr said:

Hi.  We thank you for participating in beta testing for the server.  It should not be unexpected for issues to occur with pre-release versions.

Maybe issues now and then, but to have the server hang every other day requiring a reboot, when .35 and prior didn't experience this, no, i'd say there is quite a problem with .37

[gillmacca01 211]

It will be out of date by the time it is released.

Only joking...looking forward to it, whenever we get it

[ebr 16169]

54 minutes ago, CharlesF said:

Maybe issues now and then, but to have the server hang every other day requiring a reboot, when .35 and prior didn't experience this, no, i'd say there is quite a problem with .37

Yes it does and that is why we have folks like you test.  Thanks for that.  But if you are expecting smooth, stable operation of the server, you should not be using beta versions in that environment.

[CharlesF 36]

8 minutes ago, ebr said:

Yes it does and that is why we have folks like you test.  Thanks for that.  But if you are expecting smooth, stable operation of the server, you should not be using beta versions in that environment.

Noted.  I won't beta anymore.  When you put out a beta, that lots of people are saying hangs and requires a hardware reboot, maybe respond to those posts and don't just throw your hands up and say, 'well don't expect smooth'.  Kinda sets the wrong tone IMO

Edited February 2, 2025 by CharlesF

[softworkz 5066]

5 minutes ago, CharlesF said:

Noted.  I won't beta anymore.  When you put out a beta, that lots of people are saying hangs and requires a hardware reboot, maybe respond to those posts and don't just throw your hands up and say, 'well don't expect smooth'.  Kinda sets the wrong tone IMO

It appears that there's a general misunderstanding of beta releases. It is very normal that there are updates where important things aren't working anymore and it takes multiple releases until it's working again. The goal of publishing beta release is NOT to provide the latest features to users to make them happily use them and just the packaging is somewhat blemished.

Instead, this is giving us a chance to try out risky changes or even remove something old  to replace it with something new progressively while the old one get dropped instantly without replacement.

All these and many more things can happen. In the past, we've often been too careful about bringing cerain things into the beta, just because we knew that some ore using these versions for production - so this has also been a bit of our own fault, making the betas run too well. But in fact, this has delayed and slowed down development in various cases and delayed new features.
So, let me be very clear about this:

• Beta versions are not intended to always work in a useful way.
• When something doesn't work, then it's most likely due to some work in progress
• Beta versions include changes which need to get tested
• It can also be used fror testing multiple methods for something we want to try  out, where testing goes over multiple beta releases - and guess what: we would know exactly how to get it working again (e.g. like it did in an earlier state) - but we don't do that because we are testing something and it is a non-gual to provide continuously working betas.

5 minutes ago, CharlesF said:

maybe respond to those posts and don't just throw your hands up and say, 'well don't expect smooth'. 

This is exactly the kind of freedom that is required: not needing to run for a fix in the next update. There instead, we might try something else which can fail as well. 

 

5 minutes ago, CharlesF said:

maybe respond to those posts

We respond and fix issues in stable versions. That's the software we are publishing. 

Using beta versions doesn't turn one into a super-geek hero or something. These are made for the many people who are helping us testing new features and changes, dedicating time and passion on this - of course also satrisfying curiosity about the progress of development.
Those who are clever are using separate machines or are running betas in parallel to their main (stable) installation.

 

[CharlesF 36]

Well, when people are helping, and you release a beta that fundamentally breaks down daily and requires constant restarts, and then ignore it, and say you'll just focus on stable versions, that doesn't exactly entice people to want to help you test beta versions.

[gillmacca01 211]

1 minute ago, CharlesF said:

Well, when people are helping, and you release a beta that fundamentally breaks down daily and requires constant restarts, and then ignore it, and say you'll just focus on stable versions, that doesn't exactly entice people to want to help you test beta versions.

I'm in the same boat of having to restart everyday, but would that change my view of using a beta - no. I know the risks involved in using a beta, and i accept that things may not always work straight away. And sometimes when you change or add one thing, it accidentally breaks something else

If your can't accept that things will not also work in beta, then maybe beta testing isn't for you - but that is only something you can decide

[CharlesF 36]

Yep, clearly beta testing is not for me.  Especially when you and others feel its ok to have a result in requiring a restart daily...

[gillmacca01 211]

I'm not saying it's ok, but that's what beta testing is about and for. Things aren't going to work, other things break. It's designed so that when it goes stable, non beta users shouldn't have any issues with the changes

[CharlesF 36]

4 minutes ago, gillmacca01 said:

I'm not saying it's ok, but that's what beta testing is about and for. Things aren't going to work, other things break. It's designed so that when it goes stable, non beta users shouldn't have any issues with the changes

Well, I guess you kinda are saying its ok, but you're ok with it.  Look, my expectations were too high.  I get it.  I shouldn't beta test.  But people have been noting the issue with .37 since it was released and when you release something - to people who are trying to help you  - and that release makes the software crash daily, I would think people would want to respond to it.  Guess not.  Again, my bad, expectations too high.

[softworkz 5066]

2 minutes ago, CharlesF said:

Well, I guess you kinda are saying its ok, but you're ok with it.  Look, my expectations were too high.  I get it.  I shouldn't beta test.  But people have been noting the issue with .37 since it was released and when you release something - to people who are trying to help you  - and that release makes the software crash daily, I would think people would want to respond to it.  Guess not.  Again, my bad, expectations too high.

Just for context: even though I'm working on and am deeply familiar with the software, I don't use beta versions privately. When I'm not working, I really don't want to have to deal with any troubles. I just need something that works without needing to stand up again and "shake it"  

[gillmacca01 211]

9 minutes ago, CharlesF said:

Well, I guess you kinda are saying its ok, but you're ok with it.  Look, my expectations were too high.  I get it.  I shouldn't beta test.  But people have been noting the issue with .37 since it was released and when you release something - to people who are trying to help you  - and that release makes the software crash daily, I would think people would want to respond to it.  Guess not.  Again, my bad, expectations too high.

If you mean response from the devs, then I agree. Normally there is some sort of response, even if it's were looking into it, but to get no response is poor service

[pwhodges 2012]

21 minutes ago, CharlesF said:

Yep, clearly beta testing is not for me.  Especially when you and others feel its ok to have a result in requiring a restart daily...

Well, it runs - mostly (and as it happens, 37 is not crashing for me).  It's a little more vexing when a new beta simply won't run at all, which has happened to me on two occasions.  

But then (a) I have a parallel release installation (which I hardly ever use), and (b) whenever I update the beta I keep the previous system directory (several, actually) so that it's trivial to go back to the version that was previously working well for me.

Paul

[CharlesF 36]

1 minute ago, gillmacca01 said:

If you mean response from the devs, then I agree. Normally there is some sort of response, even if it's were looking into it, but to get no response is poor service

Correct, its been crickets on the thread specifically calling out this problem with .37.  But is what it is.  I jumped in and supported Emby by purchasing a lifetime Emby Premier, spoke to some devs via DM bc the reason for my switch was for LiveTV support, who suggested i try the beta.  Is what it is.  Not a great impression though.

[gillmacca01 211]

1 minute ago, CharlesF said:

Correct, its been crickets on the thread specifically calling out this problem with .37.  But is what it is.  I jumped in and supported Emby by purchasing a lifetime Emby Premier, spoke to some devs via DM bc the reason for my switch was for LiveTV support, who suggested i try the beta.  Is what it is.  Not a great impression though.

Don't know why they suggested beta, as there is live tv in the stable version, and currently (as far as i am aware) there is no beta stuff relating to live tv

[arrbee99 1815]

3 hours ago, CharlesF said:

Correct, its been crickets on the thread specifically calling out this problem with .37.  But is what it is.  I jumped in and supported Emby by purchasing a lifetime Emby Premier, spoke to some devs via DM bc the reason for my switch was for LiveTV support, who suggested i try the beta.  Is what it is.  Not a great impression though.

As far as I am aware, you can go back to the previous version by finding a directory along the lines of -

C:\Users\YOURNAME\AppData\Roaming\Emby-Server\

in which you'll find the files 'system' and 'system.old'. You shut down Emby and swap the file names round, then restart and you should be on the previous beta version.

This is not to be done if there have been any database changes between versions. And of course make backups. And listening to any advice from me can be a very dangerous proposition, so be warned...

I may also be completely out of date with such advice.

[SamES 1056]

4 hours ago, CharlesF said:

Correct, its been crickets on the thread specifically calling out this problem with .37. 

There is a whole seperate thread dedicated to that issue. 

 

[CharlesF 36]

21 hours ago, SamES said:

There is a whole seperate thread dedicated to that issue. 

 

Correct, and I have posted there as well, no response yet from Emby for the past week plus.

[Carlo 4560]

With the exception of a couple OSes, I wish every customer who is past the "newb" stage would run the beta, 
as a 2nd instance used for testing. 

Steps to Run a Second Emby Server Instance:

1. Download: Download the portable Emby Server ZIP file: https://emby.media/download

2. Extract: Extract the ZIP file to C:\EmbyPortable.

3. Shutdown Existing Server: Safely shut down your existing Emby Server instance.

4. Start Portable Version:

   • Navigate to the C:\EmbyPortable folder.
   • Double-click EmbyServer.exe to launch the second Emby Server instance.

5. Login: Log in to the portable Emby server using your newly created admin credentials.

6. Port Change: Navigate to the "Network" settings in the Emby web interface for the portable server.

   • Change the Local & Public HTTP ports (non-secure) to 8097.
   • Change the Local & Public HTTPS ports (secure) to 8921.

7. Restart Portable Server: Save the changes and then restart the portable Emby Server instance.

8. Restart Production Server: Once the portable server is back online, restart your existing production Emby Server instance.

You can run multiple servers this way on the same computer. Use the portable version to run the beta!