Emby Theater - Doesn't work without internet

[CharlieB 1]

Hi guys

So I purchased Emby Premiere, loaded my collection of movies and music.  Checked everything was working fine on localhost, the day before, great all working. 

Set off for a week away with my wife, nicely settled into our holiday location without wifi.  Sat down with a bottle of wine, good selection of cheese, spun up ET and ta-da it doesn't start up!  

Amazing job!  WAF went to zero at this stage, had to get my mobile out, go up three flights of stairs to try and get some reception and hotspot the laptop.  This would then enable ET to work for maybe a day unless you jumped around in your own music collection for a bit, which would cause it to lock up.  Yay great, another trip up three flights!

So while I appreciate the step count, really guys, is life so tough that Emby has to check its licence so frequently?  Its ridiculous that it doesn't have a two week grace period, we aren't all connected 24/7 to a network

Otherwise Emby is a great product, thank you for developing it but the licence thing is bonkers, I've paid for it, it should work until the expiry date! 

[Abobader 3464]

Hello CharlieB,

** This is an auto reply **

Please wait for someone from staff support or our members to reply to you.

It's recommended to provide more info, as it explain in this thread:

Thank you.

Emby Team

[GrimReaper 4740]

39 minutes ago, CharlieB said:

spun up ET and ta-da it doesn't start up!  

In the meantime, you can use your browser or Theater Store if on Windows, though you'll also have to validate it initially (i.e. more stairs) but it'll at least run some time (at least few days) on cache afterwards, though YMMV. 

Edit: Btw, wrote a long(ish) post re:offline usage quite some time ago, from what I can tell situation is the same as it was at the time:

 

Edited June 7, 2024 by GrimReaper
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[Luke 42078]

We have a new windows app coming soon that will handle this better, so stay tuned.

[AaronDow 0]

What about those using ET on Linux? A new Windows app isn't going to help people like me - like OP: with a Laptop (Ubuntu) for entertainment on the go... loaded with media + Emby + Premier + ET. But ET will not start without internet.

How hard will it be to cache the licence in Emby Theatre for a short period - say 7 days?

[Luke 42078]

5 minutes ago, AaronDow said:

What about those using ET on Linux? A new Windows app isn't going to help people like me - like OP: with a Laptop (Ubuntu) for entertainment on the go... loaded with media + Emby + Premier + ET. But ET will not start without internet.

How hard will it be to cache the licence in Emby Theatre for a short period - say 7 days?

It's been built multi-platform, so eventually it will take over for linux as well, but after windows.

[CharlieB 1]

On 07/06/2024 at 23:46, Luke said:

We have a new windows app coming soon that will handle this better, so stay tuned.

Is there a forecast release date for this new app? or any update?

[Luke 42078]

It is currently in beta testing, so most likely a few weeks away from everyone getting it.

[sailracer 9]

What does handling this better mean?  I ran into a problem yesterday- a truck took down the fiber to my neighborhood so I had no Internet, which seems to happen a few times a year.  The Patriots were playing that night, but I figured I would have no problem watching it since I have an OTA tuner and use Emby as the DVR on my computer.  The first problem I had was Emby Theater on my Windows PC wouldn't start.  The Emby LG App on my TV wouldn't start and connect to my Emby Server either.  My FireTV wouldn't even show me the Emby App on it without an Internet connection.  I was able to play a pre-recorded show back via the web browser on my computer, but when the game started, it wouldn't play the game or live TV as if I didn't have Emby Premiere.  

I finally figured out the workaround above to connect my computer to the Internet via a hotspot on my phone, start Emby Theater and then turn off my hotspot so I don't use up all my limited data.  However, playing live TV stopped every hour on the dot.  I assume because Emby Premier is trying to reauthenticate hourly and shuts off if it can't.  Hopefully a fix for this is part of making the app better?  Being able to use an OTA tuner without Internet seems like it would be a key requirement for cord cutters and I'm surprised Emby hasn't run into complaints about this long ago.  

As always, thanks for making a great product and actually listening to your users and working to implement their feedback.  I have never interacted with a more responsive company.  Kudos! 

[Luke 42078]

On 9/20/2024 at 8:30 AM, sailracer said:

What does handling this better mean?  I ran into a problem yesterday- a truck took down the fiber to my neighborhood so I had no Internet, which seems to happen a few times a year.  The Patriots were playing that night, but I figured I would have no problem watching it since I have an OTA tuner and use Emby as the DVR on my computer.  The first problem I had was Emby Theater on my Windows PC wouldn't start.  The Emby LG App on my TV wouldn't start and connect to my Emby Server either.  My FireTV wouldn't even show me the Emby App on it without an Internet connection.  I was able to play a pre-recorded show back via the web browser on my computer, but when the game started, it wouldn't play the game or live TV as if I didn't have Emby Premiere.  

I finally figured out the workaround above to connect my computer to the Internet via a hotspot on my phone, start Emby Theater and then turn off my hotspot so I don't use up all my limited data.  However, playing live TV stopped every hour on the dot.  I assume because Emby Premier is trying to reauthenticate hourly and shuts off if it can't.  Hopefully a fix for this is part of making the app better?  Being able to use an OTA tuner without Internet seems like it would be a key requirement for cord cutters and I'm surprised Emby hasn't run into complaints about this long ago.  

As always, thanks for making a great product and actually listening to your users and working to implement their feedback.  I have never interacted with a more responsive company.  Kudos! 

HI, it means the new app has more of its resources embedded rather than pulling them from our servers.

[ArloUSA 1]

Hi Guys, first of all, I LOVE Emby Theater - great work on that app.  However, I too am facing the same issue as the OP as would love to hear when we can expect an update re the disconnected internet enabled version of ET.  I built a traveling rig with my favorite media on it and most times, this will be off grid so having the ability to use ET while offline is important.  Great work regardless, thank you and I echo the previously expressed sentiments that this is a great and very responsive community with excellent support.  Look forward to an update!

[Luke 42078]

3 hours ago, ArloUSA said:

Hi Guys, first of all, I LOVE Emby Theater - great work on that app.  However, I too am facing the same issue as the OP as would love to hear when we can expect an update re the disconnected internet enabled version of ET.  I built a traveling rig with my favorite media on it and most times, this will be off grid so having the ability to use ET while offline is important.  Great work regardless, thank you and I echo the previously expressed sentiments that this is a great and very responsive community with excellent support.  Look forward to an update!

HI, yes it is coming very soon so stay tuned !