EAC3 Audio Not Working

[tattler 31]

The issue with playing too fast on Chromebook seems to be resolved. But the audio is not working for (E)AC3 and any high resolution sound except for DTS-HA MA (downmixed). AAC is working fine though.

Emby seems to not be able to detect that Chromebook cannot play AC3 and should downmix the high resolution audio to either MP3 or AAC. The transcoding happens only for movie resolution but audio is not converted (downmixed) on Chromebook with the Emby for Android app. I tried with multiple movies and can confirm that only DTS-HA MA gets downmixed to AAC correctly but not other formats. Even AC3 stereo is not downmixed to MP3 or AAC. The option to convert to uncompatible audio to AC3 is not enabled.

All other HD sound produces no audio at all. It seems to be in the audio capability detection that does not work.

Can you take a look at this? Before this, everything was playing fine with audio and media. Something must have been changed since either in the server or the Emby app.

 

Edited January 24 by tattler

[tattler 31]

That is why I said it seems... at least on the Acer Chromebook one of my family members has. The playback is normal now, only audio issues.

[Luke 42085]

14 hours ago, tattler said:

That is why I said it seems... at least on the Acer Chromebook one of my family members has. The playback is normal now, only audio issues.

HI, what version number of the app are you on?

[tattler 31]

Hi @Lukeany update on the audio issue?

[Luke 42085]

@tattler

 

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

 

[tattler 31]

Hi @LukeI got the logs now for Emby server and Emby for Android app on Chromebook.

I am at Europe/Amsterdam timezone (CET/UTC+1). I started with the test at around 15:19.

The profile name is Celine and I have attached the logs (after removing sensitive info).

Only the movie Once Upon a time in China is playing correctly and the audio is converted to AAC. All other media is playing without any sound. I even turn on/off the option to convert audio to dolby digital but it does not solve the no audio issue.

Let me know if you need more details to troubleshoot this issue. Thanks in advance!

 

embyserver(3).txt hardware_detection-63907266840.txt emby_android_1771684158719.txtffmpeg-remux-64644ad7-555d-45b8-8b4d-bf7c7d6be80a_1.txt ffmpeg-remux-1a89af0b-58e5-4a84-b480-bb3c1f63dd74_1.txt ffmpeg-transcode-68aa5159-5a47-4dc4-bd57-17b3b38b96b5_1.txt ffmpeg-transcode-18814479-a2f0-4164-8e7f-ed01c3c1304b_1.txt ffmpeg-remux-97a179bc-2401-4cf7-8073-f4bec0109b1a_1.txt ffmpeg-remux-04eaec9e-2d41-4970-a3d5-98462c32edd5_1.txt ffmpeg-directstream-66974c3c-5cc6-41a3-bb07-d796ae803704_1.txt ffmpeg-directstream-74768858-077a-4652-be1a-b9ec61fa0d0a_1.txt ffmpeg-transcode-54957088-b66b-433e-93d1-c21d869320b2_1.txt ffmpeg-transcode-fc31c6b0-6ba1-4223-ba3a-1d5bded9504e_1.txt ffmpeg-directstream-2ef70f43-a32d-43af-bf29-9cd064055a9c_1.txt

emby_android_1771683865995.txt

Edited yesterday at 10:43 AM by tattler

[visproduction 316]

Your AC3 shows up as EAC3 Dolby Atmos in your remux log.  I think Atmos is the problem.  See:
https://support.emby.media/support/articles/LG-Why-not-Atmos.html?q=atmos

Other related dscussions on this online:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Dolby+Digital+AC3+audio+convert+Emby&ia=web

Solution may be to remux the audio to another codec and save new media verisons.  I don't deal with Atmos.  This is a guess.

[tattler 31]

Hi @visproductionI have no issues of playing EAC3 Atmos on my Shield, Emby will convert it to DD anyway. This is not an issue on my end.

But on Chromebook, the same media is not converted properly by Emby either to AAC or MP3. On a browser, the audio is converted to MP3 so it plays well.

I just don't understand why Emby does not convert the audio to a compatible audio for Chromebook now. This was never an issue in the past.

[visproduction 316]

Of interest:
 https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/2982029?sjid=5743134076073193503-NC

Quote

Audio Issues on Chromebook After December 2025 Update

Common Causes of Audio Errors

• Missing Drivers: After updates, some Chromebooks may not have the correct audio drivers installed. This can lead to the system not detecting audio devices.

• Firmware Requirements: Certain hardware may require non-free firmware files to function properly. If these files are not available during installation, audio issues can arise.

Troubleshooting Steps

1. Check Volume Settings: Ensure that the volume is not muted. Click on the status bar in the lower right corner and adjust the volume slider.

2. Verify Audio Output Device: Go to Settings > Device > Audio. Make sure the correct output device is selected.

3. Install Required Packages: For Linux-based systems, ensure that packages like sof-firmware and alsa-ucm-conf are installed and up to date.

4. Run Audio Setup Scripts: Use scripts like setup-audio to configure audio settings. This can help detect and enable the correct audio drivers.

5. Clear Browser Cache: If audio issues occur while using web applications, clear the browser cache and reload the page.

Additional Considerations

• Kernel Version: Sometimes, changing the kernel version can resolve audio issues. Consider switching to a Long-Term Support (LTS) kernel if available.

• Check for Updates: Ensure that your Chromebook is fully updated, as subsequent patches may fix audio-related bugs introduced in the December update.

Following these steps should help resolve audio issues on your Chromebook after the December 2025 update.

===

Possible hack fix?
https://github.com/cjw1115/enable-chromium-ac3-ec3-system-decoding

Edited 1 hour ago by visproduction