Emby theater Client stuck on pause

[filzituero 3]

Hello,

I’ve seen this issue raised before, but it has never received a clear answer, which is quite frustrating.

The Emby Theater application downloaded from the website frequently gets stuck during playback of certain media after 10 to 30 minutes. This seems random, as sometimes it continues playing without any issues.

The media I’m playing is not being transcoded, and the app’s quality settings are set to Auto. I am quite sure that the network and server performance are not the problems. This issue appears to be specific to the Windows Desktop App, as I haven’t encountered it on my TV or phone.

For testing purposes, I also installed Plex and played the same media on both platforms. Plex handled the media flawlessly, while Emby Theater got stuck, and the admin dashboard indicated that the media was still playing but looping every ~30 seconds.

My issue is quite similar to the one described in this post:

 

embyserver.txt

Edited September 29, 2024 by filzituero

[Abobader 3464]

Hello filzituero,

** 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

[Luke 42077]

Hi, that’s strange. If you play the same video again, does it happen in the same spot?

[filzituero 3]

No, it's truly random and happens across multiple videos. It can occur at the beginning, in the middle, or anywhere, typically after 10 to 30 minutes of playback, or sometimes after a longer pause in the video.

If I pause the video for too long (e.g., 1 hour) and come back, it will play for 5 to 10 minutes before pausing again and showing as looping on the admin dashboard.

I want to emphasize that this only happens when I'm using Emby Theater for Windows. My friend has the same issue, so we can rule out a problem with my PC.

I'm on W11, he is on W10.

[Carlo 4560]

Hi, have you tried this on multiple computers, just to rule out a possible local computer issue?

[pwhodges 2012]

2 hours ago, filzituero said:

I want to emphasize that this only happens when I'm using Emby Theater for Windows.

Can you clarify which Windows client this is - the downloadable Theatre for Windows Desktop, or the one installable from the Windows store.

Paul

[filzituero 3]

The download is for Windows Desktop.

I don't have another computer, but my friend has the same issue, so I think we can rule out the computer.

I'm using a reverse proxy to connect to my Emby server, following the guide provided on this forum, if that's relevant.

[filzituero 3]

It's really annoying, impossible to watch a file without being interrupted every 15min...

embyserver.txt

[pwhodges 2012]

6 hours ago, filzituero said:

I don't have another computer, but my friend has the same issue, so I think we can rule out the computer.

I'm using a reverse proxy to connect to my Emby server, following the guide provided on this forum, if that's relevant.

But then again, I don't have this issue, so by that argument we can rule out the client software.

Of course, it's not as simple as that! However, the log reports that the client has told the server that it has stopped playing.  Since this doesn't happen to everyone, it seems that some unexpected interaction with the environment is the cause.  Something happens in the computer which the client is interpreting as a stop command or equivalent keystroke, I guess.

Since you have a friend with the same symptoms, it might be interesting to examine what software (some kind of system add-on, perhaps) you have in common.

Paul

[filzituero 3]

I paused my media. Are you sure that's not what you're seeing in the log? I noticed that during a long pause, the admin dashboard shows the media as 'stopped,' but it's actually just paused. When I resume, it shows as 'started' again on the admin dashboard, but it stops after about 15 minutes in the client and loop on the admin dashboard.

We both have Afterburner/Rivatuner and ThrottleStop in common. Other than that, it's just the usual software like Steam, Chrome, etc

[filzituero 3]

I think I found the issue. It seems that the recommended NGINX reverse proxy from this forum is the cause of my problems. I used the basic reverse proxy provided by Swizzin, and it works much better for the Windows app, at least. There are no weird/unwanted stop on the client as long as I don't pause my media for too long. However, if I pause for an extended period and then come back, the issue still occurs. But at least now it's usable. I just need to restart the stream after a long break, and I can watch my media without interruption.

[Luke 42077]

HI, we'll take a look at it. Thanks for reporting.