Emby Live TV Playback and Recording Failure

[digger11 1]

Emby Live TV Playback and Recording Failure

Summary for Support:
Live TV playback and recordings in Emby have stopped working. The issue began after the transcoding-temp directory (C:\Users\jv1sa\AppData\Roaming\Emby-Server\programdata\transcoding-temp) grew to ~1.2GB; I manually cleared it and implemented a daily PowerShell cleanup task. Since then, no recordings succeed, and live playback fails with the error: “Playback Error: No compatible streams are currently available. Please try again later or contact your system administrator for details.” I have verified permissions, reconfigured the transcoding-temp path to C:\ProgramData\Emby-Server\, removed and re-added all three HDHomeRun dual tuners, and refreshed guide data. The HDHomeRun app can access the tuners and play live TV normally, indicating the problem is specific to Emby.

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Detailed Report

System Environment:

• OS & Version: Windows 11 Pro Version 10.0.26100 Build 261000

• Emby Server Version: [e.g. 4.8.11.0]

• Installation Type: Running as Windows service

• Service Account: Local System account

• Original Transcoding-temp Path: C:\Users\jv1sa\AppData\Roaming\Emby-Server\programdata\transcoding-temp

• Current Transcoding-temp Path: C:\ProgramData\Emby-Server\

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Problem Description

Live TV recordings and direct playback in Emby are failing. The system had been functioning normally until the transcoding-temp directory grew to ~1.2GB. After cleaning the directory and scheduling daily cleanup, no Live TV functions (record or play) work. HDHomeRun tuners themselves are functional; the HDHomeRun app can access and play live TV without issue.

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Timeline

• Before issue: Live TV playback and recording were working normally.

• Observation: Transcoding-temp directory grew to 1.2GB and was not auto-cleaned.

• Actions Taken:

  Stopped Emby service and deleted contents of transcoding-temp.

  Created a Windows Task Scheduler job to run a PowerShell script once per day to clean transcoding-temp.

  After this change, no recordings succeeded.

  Verified permissions on transcoding-temp directory.

  Reconfigured transcoding temporary path to C:\ProgramData\Emby-Server\.

  Removed and re-added all three HDHomeRun dual tuners in Emby.

  Refreshed TV guide data.

Despite these steps, Live TV playback and recording remain broken.

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Steps to Reproduce

• Run Emby Server as Windows service (Local System).

• Attempt to record a Live TV program → fails.

• Attempt to watch Live TV directly → fails with error:
  “Playback Error: No compatible streams are currently available. Please try again later or contact your system administrator for details.”

• HDHomeRun app can access tuners and play live TV normally.

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Expected Result

• Live TV should play without error.

• Recordings should succeed.

• Cleanup of transcoding-temp should not interfere with Live TV functionality.

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Actual Result

• No Live TV playback in Emby.

• No Live TV recordings.

• Error consistently shown:
  “Playback Error: No compatible streams are currently available. Please try again later or contact your system administrator for details.”

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Troubleshooting Performed

• Stopped Emby service and manually deleted contents of transcoding-temp.

• Scheduled daily PowerShell cleanup of transcoding-temp.

• Verified permissions on transcoding-temp directory.

• Reconfigured transcoding-temp path to C:\ProgramData\Emby-Server\.

• Removed and re-added all three HDHomeRun dual tuners.

• Refreshed TV guide data.

• Confirmed HDHomeRun app can play live TV independently.

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Error Messages / Logs

[Attached below]

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Additional Notes

• Problem first appeared immediately after cleaning transcoding-temp and automating daily cleanup.

• Repointing transcoding path did not resolve the issue.

• Likely correlation between transcoding-temp cleanup and Emby Live TV failure.

embyserver.txt CleanEmbyTemp.ps1

[Luke 42077]

Hi, was there an ffmpeg log? Can you please attach that as well? Thanks.

[digger11 1]

27 minutes ago, Luke said:

Hi, was there an ffmpeg log? Can you please attach that as well? Thanks.

There were 3 generated.  The one starting with 098 is the only one that has an error in it, but I'll include all 3.

ffmpeg-transcode-098b589b-91ae-4239-91a7-473461e3b68b_1.txt ffmpeg-transcode-0b053f53-6497-4d64-b0a0-a64f6bfc8643_1.txt ffmpeg-transcode-71964399-a4c6-44ed-97ea-3113d7be4ea4_1.txt

[digger11 1]

@Lukewere the log files of any use?

[Luke 42077]

Hi, we are looking into it. Thanks.

[digger11 1]

FYI, to appease the wife I installed NextPVR and the NextPVR plugin and removed the hdhomerun sources and added NextPVR as my Live TV source.  That works fine.

If you come up with any suggestions to resolve the original issue I'll add an hdhomerun source back in and test to see if it resolves the issue.

[digger11 1]

Any suggestions? 

Unfortunately my workaround isn't working so well anymore.  The Emby guide data for my NextPVR source is 90% missing or flat wrong.  If I add in an HDHomerun source I get a second set of duplicate channel numbers. One channel has bogus data and the other with good data.  If I try to play the correct show from the guide it gives me the “Playback Error: No compatible streams are currently available. Please try again later or contact your system administrator for details.” error.  The other channel with the missing or bogus data plays fine, but obviously I can't schedule recordings because I don't have any useable data.

Is there any way to wipe out Live TV and start over?

Edited September 19, 2025 by digger11

[Luke 42077]

HI, can you try updating to the new 4.9 release and see how things compare?