Intermittent "No Compatible Streams..." Error (STRM files)

[sundevil67 28]

I'm posting this in the "web app" section, but it happens in every version of Emby I use (iOS, Samsung TV, Fire Stick).

"No compatible streams are currently available. Please try again later or contact your system administrator for details."

Content that plays fine in my IPTV provider's native app frequently throws this playback error when I try to open the STRM in Emby. Sometimes the URLs will work in VLC, but have the same playback error occur in Emby. I've played with every setting I can think of, but it is really hard to diagnose, as it seems to happen intermittently. I'm not seeing the failure recorded in my log at all.

If anyone can point me in the right direction toward a likely cause... 

 

 

[Luke 42115]

 

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

 

[sundevil67 28]

Strangely, I don't see anything related in the logs; maybe you'll notice something I don't. It references the transcoding-temp directory, but there are no new entries in there. It just happens on totally random episodes, many that used to work just fine. 

Thank you.

embyserver.txt.zip

[Luke 42115]

The remote server hosting the content is returning a 500 error code. Can you ask them why?

[Luke 42115]

Also what device on your network uses 192.168.0.108 ?

[sundevil67 28]

That IP address looks like my Mac Mini / Emby Server. 

I can’t say that my provider is blameless all of the time, or that my ISP never sneaks in & siphons some bandwidth, or that my VPN can be 100% counted on for consistent speed. Emby can randomly choke on a show the provider’s native app can play. It might work the next day. Finding a direct cause/effect has been impossible, but I may have stumbled upon a bit of helpful diagnostic info last night. Let's forget about the STRM files for a second...
 
I was watching a recording using the Samsung app, & the spinning wheel of despair showed up.. Emby was behaving as if I was trying to render a 3D feature-length 3D. I switched over to my Mac Mini & popped open the (local .ts) file with VLC. The app was speedy, responsive, and the playback flawless. Does that tell you anything? Is there anything else I can try? ChatGPT was directing me to adjust transcoding settings that I couldn't actually find. Thanks for the assist... 
 

[Luke 42115]

On 2/23/2026 at 1:10 PM, sundevil67 said:

That IP address looks like my Mac Mini / Emby Server. 

I can’t say that my provider is blameless all of the time, or that my ISP never sneaks in & siphons some bandwidth, or that my VPN can be 100% counted on for consistent speed. Emby can randomly choke on a show the provider’s native app can play. It might work the next day. Finding a direct cause/effect has been impossible, but I may have stumbled upon a bit of helpful diagnostic info last night. Let's forget about the STRM files for a second...
 
I was watching a recording using the Samsung app, & the spinning wheel of despair showed up.. Emby was behaving as if I was trying to render a 3D feature-length 3D. I switched over to my Mac Mini & popped open the (local .ts) file with VLC. The app was speedy, responsive, and the playback flawless. Does that tell you anything? Is there anything else I can try? ChatGPT was directing me to adjust transcoding settings that I couldn't actually find. Thanks for the assist... 
 

This does not indicate anything. Before emby server can try to transcode the stream, first it has to be able to pull it in. It can't do that if the remote server is sending back a 500 error code. This needs to be resolved first.

[Happy2Play 9794]

Suggest the  strm files are not pointing to actual media files.  Emby will not play anything it cannot get media info from.

2026-02-12 03:15:34.623 Debug App: Running FFProbeProvider for /Volumes/My Passport/M3UFiles/TV Shows/The Pitt (2025)/Season 02/The Pitt (2025) [tt31938062] S02E03.strm
2026-02-12 03:15:34.624 Info MediaProbeManager: ProcessRun 'ffprobe' Execute: /Applications/EmbyServer.app/Contents/MacOS/ffprobe -i "https://providerURL/username/password/tvshow/tt31938062/2/3" -threads 0 -v info -print_format json -show_streams -show_chapters -show_format -show_data
2026-02-12 03:15:34.859 Debug MediaProbeManager: ProcessRun 'ffprobe' Started.
2026-02-12 03:15:35.234 Debug EncodingManager: Deleting temp folder /Users/username/emby-server/transcoding-temp/8B3B7E
2026-02-12 03:15:35.372 Info MediaProbeManager: ProcessRun 'ffprobe' Process exited with code 0
2026-02-12 03:15:35.375 Error App: Error in ffprobe
	*** Error Report ***
	Version: 4.9.3.0
	Command line: /Applications/EmbyServer.app/Contents/MacOS/EmbyServer.dll
	Operating system: Darwin 24.3.0 Darwin Kernel Version 24.3.0: Thu Jan  2 20:24:06 PST 2025; root:xnu-11215.81.4~3/RELEASE_ARM64_T8103
	OS/Process: arm64/arm64
	Framework: .NET 6.0.36
	Runtime: Applications/EmbyServer.app/Contents/MacOS/System.Private.CoreLib.dll
	Processor count: 8
	Data path: /Users/username/emby-server
	Application path: /Applications/EmbyServer.app/Contents/MacOS
	Emby.Server.MediaEncoding.Unified.Ffmpeg.FfRunException: Emby.Server.MediaEncoding.Unified.Ffmpeg.FfRunException: ffprobe failed - streams and format are both null: -i "https://providerURL/username/password/tvshow/tt31938062/2/3" -threads 0 -v info -print_format json -show_streams -show_chapters -show_format -show_data
	ffprobe version 5.1-emby_2023_06_25_p4 Copyright (c) 2007-2022 the FFmpeg developers and softworkz for Emby LLC
	  built with clang version 18.1.8
	[https @ 0x600002e68240] HTTP error 404 Not Found
	https://providerURL/username/password/tvshow/tt31938062/2/3: Server returned 404 Not Found
	
	
	{
	
	}
	   at Emby.Server.MediaEncoding.Probing.MediaProbeManager.GetMediaInfoInternal(String inputPath, String primaryPath, MediaProtocol protocol, Dictionary`2 requestHeaders, Boolean extractChapters, String probeSizeArgument, Boolean isAudio, Boolean hasMixedProtocols, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
	   at Emby.Providers.MediaInfo.FFProbeVideoInfo.ProbeVideo[T](MetadataResult`1 metadataResult, MetadataRefreshOptions options, BaseItem[] collectionFolders, LibraryOptions libraryOptions, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
	   at Emby.Providers.Manager.MetadataService`2.RunCustomProvider(ICustomMetadataProvider`1 provider, MetadataResult`1 itemResult, String logName, MetadataRefreshOptions options, BaseItem[] collectionFolders, LibraryOptions libraryOptions, RefreshResult refreshResult, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
	Source: Emby.Server.MediaEncoding
	TargetSite: Void MoveNext()