Playback error getting no streams available

[ErikaJ 65]

Good day,

Yesterday I started getting the "no streams available..." playback error for movies that have been playing just fine for years. As the library increased, I made some new folders with names such as just added 2, movies 2, etc. on a seperate drive. I connected the drives when I created the new library. Nothing played. I thought that maybe using the "2" was confusing Emby so I consolidated the 4 "2" folders with the folders of the like name. Such as just added 2 with just added and so on. Still no joy. So I deleted the entire Emby setup and did a clean install of Emby 4.7.11.0. Then I only added 2 library folders, "cartoons" and "just added". Againg receiving th eplayback error of no compatible streams are currently available available bla bla bla...

Files attached for your assistance. Cheers!!!

ffmpeg-transcode-82a9c630-09b9-4cb8-ba63-ecbb61b7b6cc_1.txt embyserver.txt

[GrimReaper 4740]

You have permission issues:

Quote

06:47:49.975 E:\Cartoons\The Talking Magpies\HeckleJeckle_The_Talking_Magpies.avi: Permission denied

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file:E:\Cartoons\Betty Boop My Friend The Monkey\Betty Boop My Friend the Monkey.avi: Permission denied

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file:E:\Cartoons\Jerky Turkey\Jerky_Turkey.avi: Permission denied

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file:E:\Cartoons\The Talking Magpies\HeckleJeckle_The_Talking_Magpies.avi: Permission denied

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file:E:\Cartoons\How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) [1080p]\How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) [1080p].mp4: Permission denied

+20 more permission denied occurrences within your log. 

Edited March 14, 2023 by GrimReaper

[Luke 42079]

Are you able to play those videos by double clicking in Windows Explorer?

[ErikaJ 65]

Good day...Yes I noticed that about the permission issues however, I am able to play any and all of them directly using Explorer and VLC. Just will not playback through Emby.

[Luke 42079]

Can you try rebooting the machine and see if that helps?

[ErikaJ 65]

Yes, I did reboot the machine several times especially after the re-install of Emby. No joy. So I took a look at my notes as I usually do when all is lost and can't figure something out. I found that I had newly installed Iobit Malware Fighter a few days ago so just for the hell of it I uninstalled it and any remaining remnants of the program. Now everything works like it should!!! However, I don't understand why some of the movies could play and some wouldn't. The only thing I can come up with is that those that did play were added prior to the Iobit proggy and those movies that were added after the Iobit install did not play.

It still leaves me with the question of how Iobit proggy was able to deny access as it is not a firewall component. Now that everything is working again I am going to experiment the issue to figure out just how the proggy is able to deny access. I will re-install the proggy and troubleshoot. If the proggy denies me the access then maybe I can try and use the windows firewall to allow that proggy access. I will report back with any findings. Thanks to all for your assist. Cheers!!!

[ErikaJ 65]

Update...I re-installed IMF and some played on box #1 (W10 fileserver) but nothing played on box #2 (windows 10 client). B2 is located in the living room and we use it to access our files from B1. I took a closer look at the files that did not play from B2 perspective and they were all MKV files. The MP4 files played just fine. So then I dl'd Matroska MKV codec and still the MKV files did not play from B2. Then went to B1 to try and play the same MKV files that didn't play on B2 and I got a notice saying ffmpeg wants to get access to the movie file so I clicked on allow and it played. I went back to B2 to play the same file and it played fine. Next going back to B1 to start play on the MKV files so I could get the notice about wanted to grant access and I did. They played fine on B1 and also B2. 

So from this I gather ffmpeg was being denied access and that is what kept B2 from playing the files because all is well currently. At first I thought it might be a browser thing because from B2 no MKV file would play through Firefox but would play using Edge?? However, after allowing ffmpeg access from B1 the filesalso played fine from B2. Gonna leave things alone for now as all is good. Cheers!!!

[ErikaJ 65]

I am back again. Update here...Everything was working well as described above however, when I add a new MP3 or MKV movie file Emby will not allow me to play it. I keep getting the same error as before. In the logs attached, there is that same permissions denied as before. Also, the files that were in the database prior to the new files, can be played without any issue so its only when i add a new movie file. I am trying to play the movie from the file server as a check before I attempt to play it from the other room. Any ideas? TIA, cheers!!!

ffmpeg-transcode-d492b5e2-9d6a-4e90-b9c5-4c1b04185280_1.txt embyserver.txt

[Happy2Play 9780]

21 minutes ago, ErikaJ said:

I am back again. Update here...Everything was working well as described above however, when I add a new MP3 or MKV movie file Emby will not allow me to play it. I keep getting the same error as before. In the logs attached, there is that same permissions denied as before. Also, the files that were in the database prior to the new files, can be played without any issue so its only when i add a new movie file. I am trying to play the movie from the file server as a check before I attempt to play it from the other room. Any ideas? TIA, cheers!!!

ffmpeg-transcode-d492b5e2-9d6a-4e90-b9c5-4c1b04185280_1.txt 5.05 kB · 0 downloads embyserver.txt 826.32 kB · 0 downloads

Still looks like a permissions issue cause items to not be probed in which case cannot be play due to no media info.

ffprobe failed for file:"H:\Just Added\Babylon (2022) (1080p) (H264)\Babylon (2022) (1080p) (H264).mkv" - streams and format are both null: 

file:H:\Just Added\Babylon (2022) (1080p) (H264)\Babylon (2022) (1080p) (H264).mkv: Permission denied

Quote

{"Protocol":"File","Id":"ca341471248ef81397b7e5933874a01c","Path":"H:\\Just Added\\Babylon (2022) (1080p) (H264)\\Babylon (2022) (1080p) (H264).mkv","Type":"Default","Container":"mkv","Size":0,"Name":"Babylon","IsRemote":false,"SupportsTranscoding":true,"SupportsDirectStream":true,"SupportsDirectPlay":true,"IsInfiniteStream":false,"RequiresOpening":false,"RequiresClosing":false,"RequiresLooping":false,"SupportsProbing":false,"MediaStreams":[],"Formats":[],"RequiredHttpHeaders":{},"ReadAtNativeFramerate":false}

 

[ErikaJ 65]

@Happy...Thank you, I understand that however, previously when this same issue arose (see previous responses) I did get a windows/ffmpeg error stating that ffmpeg wanted to acces the movie file and would I give it permission to do so. So I did and everything worked just fine. What exactly causes this error specifically. When you say "cannot be play due to no media info", what exactly does that mean other than the obvious? What media info is it looking for? Where would the media info be located" so that I can attack the issue and figur this out? TIA Cheers!!!

EDIT: If there is no media info, why are the files (all of them) able to play just fine in VLC, explorer etc.?

Edited March 18, 2023 by ErikaJ

[Happy2Play 9780]

4 minutes ago, ErikaJ said:

@Happy...Thank you, I understand that however, previously when this same issue arose (see previous responses) I did get a windows/ffmpeg error stating that ffmpeg wanted to acces the movie file and would I give it permission to do so. So I did and everything worked just fine. What exactly causes this error specifically. When you say "cannot be play due to no media info", what exactly does that mean other than the obvious? What media info is it looking for? Where would the media info be located" so that I can attack the issue and figur this out? TIA Cheers!!!

EDIT: If there is no media info, why are the files (all of them) able to play just fine in VLC, explorer etc.?

If you go to itemdetails for any of these items it should show no media info so Emby has no idea how to play/deliver the content without it.

Per your transcode log you can see absolutely nothing is known about the file as it cannot be probed for some reason that points to permissions per server log.

Quote

{"Protocol":"File","Id":"ca341471248ef81397b7e5933874a01c","Path":"H:\\Just Added\\Babylon (2022) (1080p) (H264)\\Babylon (2022) (1080p) (H264).mkv","Type":"Default","Container":"mkv","Size":0,"Name":"Babylon","IsRemote":false,"SupportsTranscoding":true,"SupportsDirectStream":true,"SupportsDirectPlay":true,"IsInfiniteStream":false,"RequiresOpening":false,"RequiresClosing":false,"RequiresLooping":false,"SupportsProbing":false,"MediaStreams":[],"Formats":[],"RequiredHttpHeaders":{},"ReadAtNativeFramerate":false}

Until Emby can probe the media file for its media info it can not be played by Emby as it does not know what to do with it.

[ErikaJ 65]

That is what I thought as well but when I run mediainfo against the mkv file I get the following and there is data in there. So my question now is how is Emby not able to read it? Secondly, I noticed that this information appears to be missing in the nfo file. Is this where Emby is looking for the data? TIA Cheers!!!

 

Edited March 18, 2023 by ErikaJ

[pwhodges 2012]

49 minutes ago, ErikaJ said:

EDIT: If there is no media info, why are the files (all of them) able to play just fine in VLC, explorer etc.?

Presumably you have given the necessary permissions to access these files to your desktop user, but not to whatever user is running the Emby server.

Paul

[ErikaJ 65]

Thank you PW for your reply however, the necessary permissions have been set correctly as I am the administrator and sole user as well on the box that is running the server. Nothing has been added in terms of new proggys. The setup has been the same since I was able to access the files that were denied previously. Cheers!!!

[Happy2Play 9780]

In the end it is all about the context user that runs Emby and ffprobe as that is what Emby uses to read the data.  But if it failed in the past and the issue is corrected then all you need to do is Refresh metadata for Emby to reprobe the media.

Edited March 18, 2023 by Happy2Play

[ErikaJ 65]

Got it thanks. Will give that a go. Cheers!!!

[ErikaJ 65]

It looks like I may need to copy/paste the information in the nfo file. But is there some way to automate this? I just don't understand why/how certain files left off that information in the nfo file. Even when I refresh the metadata it still returns an nfo file that is missing that information. Any ideas? CVheers!!!

[Happy2Play 9780]

54 minutes ago, ErikaJ said:

It looks like I may need to copy/paste the information in the nfo file. But is there some way to automate this? I just don't understand why/how certain files left off that information in the nfo file. Even when I refresh the metadata it still returns an nfo file that is missing that information. Any ideas? CVheers!!!

Emby only writes this info for other programs like Kodi but never reads it from nfo file (media info).

For some reason Emby is unable to probe the media per permissions then assuming Refresh throws the same permissions denied errors.  

Is the media on a local or removable drive?

Edited March 18, 2023 by Happy2Play

[ErikaJ 65]

Thank you for your response. Emby server is on a local computer and is an air gapped environment. It only gets connected when necessary. The files it serves are located on the same box. I connect to the server to watch my content from any room in my house. All is hardwired.

The original fix to this issue was to clean install Emby and add in all my content. That content then played flawlessly including some content that did not play prior to the clean install because of the error. At first I thought it might have been because I had installed Iobit Malware Fighter but that proved out to be a non issue. Which is why I decided to do a clean install and wouldn't you know it, after the clean install everything started to play correctly. So I added 2 new movies, one was a set of mp4 and the other was a set of mkv. Neither played, which is where we are now. As stated before, I know it seems like a "permissions" error but since it is air gapped, there are no permission set because theyr are not needed. You have to be present in order to play the files. What I did however notice was when I tried to play a non playable file directly using explorer I go an error that asked for permission to allow ffmpeg to play the file which I did allow. After that the files(s) were playable from both the server and the client. Unfortunately, I cannot get that error message again for the remaining files. If I did ge that error message i am sure all that I would need to do is to allow ffmpeg access.

Just grins, the unplayable files play perfectly in Plex but I don't like Plex as it does not connect to live TV via m3u. Cheers!!!

[Happy2Play 9780]

54 minutes ago, ErikaJ said:

ust grins, the unplayable files play perfectly in Plex

Sure as they are probing the file and getting information by what ever method they use.

54 minutes ago, ErikaJ said:

What I did however notice was when I tried to play a non playable file directly using explorer I go an error that asked for permission to allow ffmpeg to play the file which I did allow. After that the files(s) were playable from both the server and the client. Unfortunately, I cannot get that error message again for the remaining files. If I did ge that error message i am sure all that I would need to do is to allow ffmpeg access.

Honestly don't know what programs on your system that are asking this as I have never seen it.  But suggest you have something preventing ffmpeg/ffprobe if they need to be allowed to function.

Edited March 18, 2023 by Happy2Play

[pwhodges 2012]

3 hours ago, ErikaJ said:

Thank you PW for your reply however, the necessary permissions have been set correctly as I am the administrator and sole user as well on the box that is running the server. Nothing has been added in terms of new proggys. The setup has been the same since I was able to access the files that were denied previously. Cheers!!!

Is the server running as a service?  What user is the server running as?  What rights does that user have?  It's all very well saying that the permissions are all correct - but the logs are reporting permissions errors which you need to find the reason for.

Also the behaviour of computer systems does not change without some change in the system setup having been made.  Identifying that change would help a lot.

Paul

[ErikaJ 65]

Agree to both comments. I will continue to try and identify the issue and report back. Cheera!!!

[Luke 42079]

Let us know how you get on. Thanks.

[ErikaJ 65]

Finally figured this out!! Yay! I was able to reproduce the error (by accident) where it was asking for permission to allow ffmpeg access. It wasn't on a movie file in Emby but another file using VLC. This time a took a real close look at it and discovered that it was indeed being caused by Iobit Malware Fighter. Previously when I though I had uninstalled the program, I was wrong. there were some remnants in a hidden folder so I unhid all folders and then I could delete the remnants. After this, all the movie files were working again using Emby. Now that I know what caused the problem I will try to figure out how I can still have IMF installed but allow FFmpeg through to do its thing.

Thanks to everyone who assisted on this issue. If I am able to figure out how to allow ffmpeg through and still use IMF I will report back. For now I am satisfied with the results. Cheers!!!

[ErikaJ 65]

Good day! As noted above I was able to resolve the issue by eliminating IMF completely but still wanted to use IMF. So I recreated the problem on another machine (Wndoze) and tinkered with IMF but no joy. Then for whatever reason I installed the portable version to the desktop and everything worked perfectly. Not being yet satisfied with the remedy I installed the production version (non beta) of Emby over the already installed Beta version. Since the portable version didn't appear to be "installed" I figured that it wasn't but I could be wrong. In any event, the result was that the production version had no problem running my files meaning I wasn't receiving a playback error. Again not satisfied I wanted to insure that it was indeed the production version alone getting past the error and not as a result of combining the beta then portable then production versions. So again I reproduced the error on another machine and just installed the beta to see if the error would arise and it did. I then installed the production version over the beta version alone, and all files could be played.

Therefore, based on my testing...

Beta version alone received the playback error

Beta version and portable no playback error

Beta and portable and production versions no playback error

Beta and production no playback error

Production version only no playback error

This leads me to believe that there are significant changes in the various versions that would not allow Emby to play the file or would allow Emby to play the file as the case may be. The odd thing about this sequence of testing also yielded a strange outcome. Meaning I could only produce the playback error if I introduced a "new" file to the library. If the files already existed there was no playback error. Cheers!!!