Subtitles not displaying with multiple audio tracks

[rechigo 364]

When trying to enable subtitles with a second audio track selected, the subtitles do not display unless you switch to the first audio track, then back to the second one. This is happening with internal/embedded subrip. I havent any media with multiple audio tracks and external SRT files, but I could set this up if requested to test behavior.

ROKU LOGS SUBMITTED 9:11 PM PACIFIC STANDARD TIME. Twice in this log I: Play a video -> attempt to select various subtitle tracks with second audio track selected (english), which results in no subtitles being displayed -> switch language to first track (japanese), which causes subtitles to appear -> switch track back to second/english track and the subtitles continue to display as they should.

[Luke 42077]

 

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

 

[ebr 16168]

Did this get moved from somewhere?  I could have sworn I responded to this and asked about the flags in the content...

[rechigo 364]

6 hours ago, ebr said:

Did this get moved from somewhere?  I could have sworn I responded to this and asked about the flags in the content...

I don't remember seeing any notification about the post being moved. Are you able to find the response?

[Luke 42077]

I can't. Did you post in a topic not related to this?

[ebr 16168]

Well, in any case, what are the flags on the tracks?  The Roku gets very persnickity about those being just right.

[rechigo 364]

47 minutes ago, ebr said:

Well, in any case, what are the flags on the tracks?  The Roku gets very persnickity about those being just right.

Could you elaborate more on what flags means in this context? I know Roku is weird with subtitles, but they play just fine once I switch audio tracks. They don't disappear unless I close playback and restart, in which case I must toggle through the audio tracks to get them to display. This is speculation obviously, but this feels like more of an app issue.

 

If you mean ffprobe output, here is that for all 4 subtitle tracks:

 

  Stream #0:3(eng): Subtitle: subrip (default) (dub)
    Metadata:
      BPS             : 35
      NUMBER_OF_FRAMES: 394
      NUMBER_OF_BYTES : 12611
      _STATISTICS_WRITING_APP: mkvmerge v92.0 ('Everglow') 64-bit
      _STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC: 2025-11-15 06:29:36
      _STATISTICS_TAGS: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
      DURATION        : 00:46:51.750000000
  Stream #0:4(eng): Subtitle: subrip (dub) (forced)
    Metadata:
      title           : Dubtitle | Forced
      BPS             : 1
      NUMBER_OF_FRAMES: 17
      NUMBER_OF_BYTES : 425
      _STATISTICS_WRITING_APP: mkvmerge v92.0 ('Everglow') 64-bit
      _STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC: 2025-11-15 06:29:36
      _STATISTICS_TAGS: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
      DURATION        : 00:43:08.916000000
  Stream #0:5(eng): Subtitle: subrip (dub)
    Metadata:
      title           : Dubtitle
      BPS             : 44
      NUMBER_OF_FRAMES: 428
      NUMBER_OF_BYTES : 14305
      _STATISTICS_WRITING_APP: mkvmerge v92.0 ('Everglow') 64-bit
      _STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC: 2025-11-15 06:29:36
      _STATISTICS_TAGS: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
      DURATION        : 00:43:08.458000000
  Stream #0:6(eng): Subtitle: subrip (dub) (hearing impaired)
    Metadata:
      title           : Dubtitle | SDH
      BPS             : 49
      NUMBER_OF_FRAMES: 563
      NUMBER_OF_BYTES : 17185
      _STATISTICS_WRITING_APP: mkvmerge v92.0 ('Everglow') 64-bit
      _STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC: 2025-11-15 06:29:36
      _STATISTICS_TAGS: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
      DURATION        : 00:46:48.166000000

 

Edited November 30, 2025 by rechigo

[Luke 42077]

He means default, forced, etc.

[rechigo 364]

Just now, Luke said:

He means default, forced, etc.

Well in that case

Track 1: Default
Track 2: Forced
Track 3: N/A
Track 4: HI

 

[ebr 16168]

As a test, if you use mkvtoolnix to remove the default and forced flags, does it make a difference?

[rechigo 364]

On 12/1/2025 at 7:57 AM, ebr said:

As a test, if you use mkvtoolnix to remove the default and forced flags, does it make a difference?

I tested this today... the Roku selects the correct subtitle track regardless of audio language after removing default and forced flags. What does this mean?

[Luke 42077]

9 minutes ago, rechigo said:

I tested this today... the Roku selects the correct subtitle track regardless of audio language after removing default and forced flags. What does this mean?

The Roku player seems to check those flags and override our selections. When those flags are removed it must no longer be an issue.

[rechigo 364]

11 minutes ago, Luke said:

The Roku player seems to check those flags and override our selections. When those flags are removed it must no longer be an 

While that makes sense, that doesn't explain why switching between audio tracks causes the subtitles to appear. I tried keeping all the flags but just removing the first audio track with mkvtoolnix as well, and the subtitles display just fine with all the flags present. There has to be something that can be done on the Emby side to stop this..?

Edited December 8, 2025 by rechigo

[Luke 42077]

If changing the audio track triggered a transcode then it would be a whole new stream as far as the video player is concerned.

[rechigo 364]

11 minutes ago, Luke said:

If changing the audio track triggered a transcode then it would be a whole new stream as far as the video player is concerned.

Changing the audio isn't causing a transcode. Both audio tracks are EAC3 which is a codec my streambar can direct play. 

Let me try to clarify a bit: The subtitles display just fine on the first audio track. It's when trying to enable subtitles on the second audio track that they do not show up. The only way to get them to show up on the second audio tracks is to switch back to the first audio track and then back to the second.

example 1: Play video with Japanese (first) audio track selected -> enable subtitles -> subtitles display

example 2: Play video with English (Second) audio track selected -> enable subtitles -> no subtitles display -> switch to first audio track (japanese) -> switch back to second audio track (english) -> subtitles display

[ebr 16168]

Can you provide us this exact video for testing?

[rechigo 364]

Is it fine if I just take a provide a short snippet of the video (no re-encoding/muxing)?

[speechles 2055]

37 minutes ago, rechigo said:

Is it fine if I just take a provide a short snippet of the video (no re-encoding/muxing)?

A short snippet would remux. That is why the sample is needed in the original format the way it is. Then it has the same problems without doubt.

[rechigo 364]

2 hours ago, speechles said:

A short snippet would remux. That is why the sample is needed in the original format the way it is. Then it has the same problems without doubt.

True, true.... When I get a chance I'll PM one of you with a download link to an archive & decryption key (for copyright reasons) from gdrive

[rechigo 364]

@speechleshave you been able to take a further look at this yet?

[speechles 2055]

32 minutes ago, rechigo said:

@speechleshave you been able to take a further look at this yet?

I have and it is sporadic. If I rewind some into the video, inexplicably they might start to work. I have no rhyme or reason why. But I have seen people mention having the same issues with Hulu and the Howdy app on Roku unable to start subtitles correctly. It might be some kind of Roku firmware thing since they did rework the video player for the firmware v15. Which firmware is on your Roku?

[rechigo 364]

16 hours ago, speechles said:

I have and it is sporadic. If I rewind some into the video, inexplicably they might start to work. I have no rhyme or reason why. But I have seen people mention having the same issues with Hulu and the Howdy app on Roku unable to start subtitles correctly. It might be some kind of Roku firmware thing since they did rework the video player for the firmware v15. Which firmware is on your Roku?

I could get them to display with a rewind sometimes as well. The surefire way to get them to show is to switch to first then back to second audio track.

I am on version 15. I do have a streaming stick that I last used around October/November, that MIGHT be on the previous version still... I will have to block WAN access so I can test it out without worry of it updating..

What about direct playback of the file I provided you with Roku Media Player over USB? Does it have the same subtitle display issues there?

On 11/25/2025 at 9:15 PM, rechigo said:

I havent any media with multiple audio tracks and external SRT files

This does work... I only tested it with a file that had one external SRT, the subtitles show up when you enable them for the second audio track. It looks like whenever you enable external subtitles on Roku, it reloads the whole video player... why does it do that instead of just load the subtitles in the background? 

I see this as a pretty big issue.. Affects every non-anime foreign show with multi-track audio that I've tested. Anime is a different story, I just burn the subtitles in because Roku has never been able to properly display SSA.

Edited December 28, 2025 by rechigo

[rechigo 364]

I'm observing this behavior happening now in a show with a single audio track with embedded subtitles...

After reading through another post, I found that through some weird quirk in how roku interprets flags in MKV, if subtitle is marked as FORCED, Roku will only display that subtitle. The solution is to playback correct to get an HLS container to fix the issue.

I did that, but now the problem is no matter what track I select (forced, sdh, etc.) Only one subtitle track actually shows... 

Edited January 27 by rechigo

[Luke 42077]

Can you give it another try?

[ebr 16168]

On 1/26/2026 at 10:31 PM, rechigo said:

I did that, but now the problem is no matter what track I select (forced, sdh, etc.) Only one subtitle track actually shows... 

The "forced" one, correct?