Transcoding failure on IPTV

[csadoian 36]

Not sure if this goes here or would be more appropriate in another topic, feel free to move it if needed.

I recently bought an inexpensive HDMI to H264/H265 streaming box on Amazon.  If anyone is interested, it's this one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FDZ2VNZ

It actually works pretty good, so I wanted to interface it into Emby using the IPTV plugin.  This was easy to do, using the default settings of the box.  It can output HTTP and RTSP, so I tried RTSP first and had good results.  Eventually I started having some issues with Emby just dropping playback, so I tried HTTP, and it did the same thing.  Sometimes it will play for quite a long time, other times it will drop playback within 30 seconds.

After some experimentation I narrowed it down to direct play and transcoding.  If I play the channel using Emby Theater, it will direct play and works great.  However, certain other devices require transcoding and that's where my problem is.  Specifically, when I play it on my Roku Express 4K, the stream needs to be transcoded and that's where I pick up errors that causes playback errors and stream termination.

Attached are my server log and the transcode log that shows the issue.  The transcode log shows several errors, among them:

PES packet size mismatch

Packet corrupt (stream = 1, dts=111207150)

AAC packet too short

I assume these errors are being generated by ffmpeg during the transcode process.  My first thought is my cheap streaming box is not delivering a properly formatted stream to Emby.  But if that is true, why does Emby have no problems Direct Playing the stream?  I would think if there is something wrong with the packets coming from the streaming player that Emby would choke on it while direct playing, but it doesn't seem to have any problems playing it at all.

Appreciate any comments or thoughts.

 

 

embyserver.txt ffmpeg-transcode-eab6e509-9197-4236-a9a5-054cc1e0c27e_1.txt

[Luke 42083]

Quote

But if that is true, why does Emby have no problems Direct Playing the stream?

Hi, it just depends on what player is processing it, and what it's able to tolerate in the stream.

[Luke 42083]

It's hard to pinpoint an obvious problem. If you turn off hardware transcoding in server transcoding settings, how does that compare?

[csadoian 36]

20 minutes ago, Luke said:

It's hard to pinpoint an obvious problem. If you turn off hardware transcoding in server transcoding settings, how does that compare?

When I turn off hardware transcoding on the Server status screen under "Stream" it shows MPEGTS, second line shows HLS, third line says "Converting to compatible container".  After a few seconds the last two messages go away and all that is left is MPEGTS and then the Roku displays the red banner "No compatible streams" and gives up.

Interesting, on my Server Config Page, under Transcoding, I have Hardware transcoding set to NO.  If I go down to the Software encoders and try to click on either one of the gear icons I get a spinning circle on my screen which goes on and on.  Might there be something screwed up on my server?  I've had my Emby server for a long time,  at least 5 years of updates.

 

[Luke 42083]

Quote

When I turn off hardware transcoding on the Server status screen under "Stream" it shows MPEGTS, second line shows HLS, third line says "Converting to compatible container".  After a few seconds the last two messages go away and all that is left is MPEGTS and then the Roku displays the red banner "No compatible streams" and gives up.

I

Can we see log examples of that? Thanks.

[csadoian 36]

19 minutes ago, Luke said:

Can we see log examples of that? Thanks.

1.  Restarted Emby Server

2.  After about a minute I used Emby for Windows to go to the server dashboard.

3.  Clicked on Trancoding, then clicked on the gear icon under Software Encoders, H.264 (AVC)

4.  Spinning circle in the center of the screen.  After about a minute I went back to the home screen, still had the spinning circle.

5.  Shut down both Emby Server and restarted Emby Theater.

6.  I should also mention I get the spinning circle when doing the same thing on Emby Theater on Linux Mint.

 

embyserver-63818215217.txt

[Luke 42083]

Ok I haven’t tested this device so I’m not sure. The upcoming 4.8 release will have a new ffmpeg build so there’s a chance it may be improved with that.

[csadoian 36]

2 hours ago, Luke said:

Ok I haven’t tested this device so I’m not sure. The upcoming 4.8 release will have a new ffmpeg build so there’s a chance it may be improved with that.

Ok, thanks.  Additional information ... when viewing the stream from the streaming box using VLC it works fine, even at 1080p.  Watched 2 hours worth of videos from Youtube without issues.   I haven't tried that long using Emby and direct play, but I'm thinking it would work just as well.

Two things ... does FFMPEG have an option to be more "forgiving" to stream errors, rather than just giving up on a minor error?

Secondly, any thoughts on why I am get the spinning circle when attempting to configure the software Encoder?  I originally set up my server back in 2018, so I'm thinking a fresh install might be in order.

Thanks.

 

[Luke 42083]

On 4/28/2023 at 2:21 PM, csadoian said:

 

Secondly, any thoughts on why I am get the spinning circle when attempting to configure the software Encoder?  I originally set up my server back in 2018, so I'm thinking a fresh install might be in order.

Thanks.

 

What exactly are you doing? Is this with your built-in web app?

[csadoian 36]

13 minutes ago, Luke said:

What exactly are you doing? Is this with your built-in web app?

On the server dashboard, then transcoding.  There is a section titled "Software Encoders", with H.264 and H.265 listed.  They both have gear icons next to them, implying I can configure them.  If I click on either one of the gear icons all I get is a spinning circle in the middle of my screen.  This happens when using Emby Theater or through a browser like Chrome.  However, the "Software Encoders" section is missing on Emby for Android 3.2.92.  Perhaps it's not supposed to be there any more?

[Luke 42083]

Is this your built in web app?

[csadoian 36]

28 minutes ago, Luke said:

Is this your built in web app?

Not sure what you mean by "built-in" web app.  I am using Emby Theater for Windows 10 (downloadable, not the one through the Microsoft Store), and the other example was simply using Chrome to access the Emby Server dashboard/configuration.   As mentioned in the previous message, if I go to my Android tablet and use Emby for Android to access the server dashboard, the section "Software Encoders" does not appear.

[Luke 42083]

OK those buttons should not be there for 4.7. We'll take a look at that.