Apple TV video fails to play with "Play On Another Device"

[Luke 42077]

On 11/1/2024 at 7:48 PM, Zander3768 said:

@SamESI setup a clean test instance today (without the plugins) and I get the same results where when watching movie ABC on the Apple TV and using my phone and clicking play with "play on" to watch movie ZYX instead stops what is playing on the apple TV but does not begin playing what I clicked on.

@Zander3768how does it compare if nothing is playing at the time that you do this?

[Luke 42077]

And also how does it compare with normal library content rather than virtual tv content?

[ZanderKeen 72]

18 minutes ago, Luke said:

@Zander3768how does it compare if nothing is playing at the time that you do this?

If nothing is playing when I attempt to start something it starts playing just fine.

Its only if something else is already currently playing and I try to switch to something else remotely via play-on (don't stop the currently playing movie, just try to watch something else with the first movie already playing).

 

 

17 minutes ago, Luke said:

And also how does it compare with normal library content rather than virtual tv content?

This issue is unrelated to the virtual tv plugin. As I said before, this issue is in relation to the "Play On" function and is affecting other things such as Virtual TV.

It doesn't matter what movies or series or home videos or mixed content videos I use, i get the same results with any video media type (when something else of any type is already playing).

I tested this issue and get the same results with different hardware and a fresh server install of emby-server without any plugins or setting changes and shows no server-side errors in my logs that I already attached previously.

[Luke 42077]

10 minutes ago, Zander3768 said:

If nothing is playing when I attempt to start something it starts playing just fine.

Its only if something else is already currently playing and I try to switch to something else remotely via play-on (don't stop the currently playing movie, just try to watch something else with the first movie already playing).

 

 

This issue is unrelated to the virtual tv plugin. As I said before, this issue is in relation to the "Play On" function and is affecting other things such as Virtual TV.

It doesn't matter what movies or series or home videos or mixed content videos I use, i get the same results with any video media type (when something else of any type is already playing).

I tested this issue and get the same results with different hardware and a fresh server install of emby-server without any plugins or setting changes and shows no server-side errors in my logs that I already attached previously.

OK, @SamEScan try to reproduce with these conditions. Thanks.

[hstamas 179]

On 11/13/2024 at 9:19 AM, pünktchen said:

Did you try changing the Playlist Intro Container under the plugins Playback Settings?

Switching the container doesnt make a difference @pünktchen. 

[SamES 1056]

@Zander3768what format is your media normally in?  Is it all mp4, mkv or a mixture (or something else)?  

Can you give some example media info that you know causes this issue?  I can't determine if the already playing video or the video you are attempting to 'play on' is the issue, so media info for both would be useful.

I can't reproduce this, so we need to try and understand more about your files and playback to try and reproduce it.

Do you know if either file is transcoding or are they both direct playing?  Any subtitles, or are they off? 

[Luke 42077]

OK reproducing this has been difficult, but we think we have this solved for the next update to the Emby Apple TV app. Thanks.

[ZanderKeen 72]

Hi all, sorry I have been away on extended holiday from Thanksgiving with family. I am just getting back into the daily norm now.

@SamESSorry I do not have a particular file-type as I do use both MP4 and MKV files with different resolutions and I have tried this with several different file-types with same results between them all.

@LukeThat would be AWESOME! And yes it was a hard one to get reproduced it seems . I will look forward to testing that out once the next update rolls out!

Thanks everyone!

[Luke 42077]

This is hopefully resolved now in the 1.9.3 beta.

[pünktchen 1409]

@Zander3768What's the status with the issue for you?

[ZanderKeen 72]

@pünktchensorry I only have the 1.9.2 app still. I haven't received the 1.9.3 app yet for my apple tv devices. I will update here once my TVs receive the update.

 

Thanks for following-up though. I appreciate it. 

Edited January 5, 2025 by Zander3768

[ZanderKeen 72]

@pünktchen@SamES I just tried it on 1.9.3 (3) and switching to resume different movies/shows while something is already playing using Play On from my phone worked the first 2 times i tried it, then it failed again the same way with the same results. I closed the application and reopened emby, then it worked first try then failed after that. So I closed and reopened emby again and it failed first try. So the issue seems to be random now.

Just thinking, maybe you could compare what changed between versions leading up to the version that started giving this issue in the OP? Because it didn't used to give this issue. Unless it was something apple tv changed at the same time.

[Luke 42077]

On 1/11/2025 at 6:09 PM, Zander3768 said:

@pünktchen@SamES I just tried it on 1.9.3 (3) and switching to resume different movies/shows while something is already playing using Play On from my phone worked the first 2 times i tried it, then it failed again the same way with the same results. I closed the application and reopened emby, then it worked first try then failed after that. So I closed and reopened emby again and it failed first try. So the issue seems to be random now.

Just thinking, maybe you could compare what changed between versions leading up to the version that started giving this issue in the OP? Because it didn't used to give this issue. Unless it was something apple tv changed at the same time.

Hi, can you try it again? Thanks.

[ZanderKeen 72]

@SamES@Luke@pünktchen
I noticed my tv app for apple tv os got updated  (1.9.5 (4) to be exact) & this is working great now no longer an issue. I'm not sure if it was the 1.9.4 or this 1.9.5 update since I didn't try to reproduce the issue lately, but either way its fixed now! This fixes the Play-On issue which as a result fixes the curated channels I have setup using the virtual-tv plugin. Thank-you all for pinpointing this and solving the issue. This can be marked solved now if its not already.

[Hypnotic01 0]

Having the exact same issue.  Emby, VirtualTV, and the AppleTV are all completely updated.  Same issue occurs, cannot play any VirtualTV channels on the AppleTV devices (we have multiple)

[Luke 42077]

4 hours ago, Hypnotic01 said:

Having the exact same issue.  Emby, VirtualTV, and the AppleTV are all completely updated.  Same issue occurs, cannot play any VirtualTV channels on the AppleTV devices (we have multiple)

 

Hi there, let's look at an example. Please attach the information requested in how to report a media playback issue. Thanks!

 

[Hypnotic01 0]

embyserver.txtI believe this is it!

[Luke 42077]

37 minutes ago, Hypnotic01 said:

embyserver.txtI believe this is it!

And what if you remove the whole intro thing from the equation?

[Hypnotic01 0]

Sorry I'm not sure what you mean, I don't believe I have any cinematic intros enabled

[Hypnotic01 0]

Update.. it seems to only be happening with a handful of media files, here's an updated log where the first few channels/videos work perfectly, and then an error prevents video playback for South Parkembyserver.txt

[ZanderKeen 72]

@Hypnotic01

I just tested mine on AppleTV with version 2.0.3 (2) and it seems to be working on my setup. 

You mention it happening with only a handful of files, so I was wondering, are the ones it's not playing in AV1 format?

I ask because I seen your message on the VirtualTV thread about flickering video and audio but no picture so I was wondering if it could be related to this issue...

Just trying to help troubleshoot

[Hypnotic01 0]

Thank you for your help, but no unfortunately not an AV1.  These ones are MKV x265

[Luke 42077]

23 hours ago, Hypnotic01 said:

Sorry I'm not sure what you mean, I don't believe I have any cinematic intros enabled

It's trying to play VirtualTVIntro. Where does that come from? Try eliminating that from the picture.

[pünktchen 1409]

30 minutes ago, Luke said:

It's trying to play VirtualTVIntro. Where does that come from?

It's a short clip that is provided as a live tv stream source every time a VirtualTV channel is tuned. I need that clip, because the playback start event generated by the client app is the only way to receive the correct session info object that i need to process some remote playback commands. Long time ago i asked you to provide the session id as part of the GetChannelStream request, but unfortunately you refused that.

[Luke 42077]

3 minutes ago, pünktchen said:

It's a short clip that is provided as a live tv stream source every time a VirtualTV channel is tuned. I need that clip, because the playback start event generated by the client app is the only way to receive the correct session info object that i need to process some remote playback commands. Long time ago i asked you to provide the session id as part of the GetChannelStream request, but unfortunately you refused that.

Even still, what are the consequences of removing it?