Roku playback issue

[Mosetter27 0]

I added the newest episode of a show to my server. it showed up and sat down at my tv to watch it and when I went to play it I kept getting an error saying no compatible streams. I checked and was able to play it from my computer, my iPhone and even my firetv stick. everything else that I've played works on the roku but this single episode will not play. any help?

[ebr 16548]

 

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

 

[paddy75 18]

have the same problem. a series which was working before, can't be playbacked again. 

let me see if i can report it via roku

[ebr 16548]

1 hour ago, paddy75 said:

have the same problem. a series which was working before, can't be playbacked again

Hi.  That is not the same problem as:

On 5/20/2026 at 7:36 PM, Mosetter27 said:

I added the newest episode of a show to my server.

 

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

@Mosetter27my best guess for you is that the file had not been properly probed yet.

 

[speechles 2107]

It depends on if the item can be direct played. If the item has been noticed and added, but not yet been scanned (filled in metadata/streams) into the sytem. It hasn't had a chance for ffprobe to have probed it. It may show up without any artwork, or metadata, and just a placeholder image. This is before the sytem has scanned it in. It has identified it is new, it is listing it. But none of the metadata or stream info is filled in yet. If the item is direct played then it might work. Since it can pass the object to the player without needing ffmpeg involved. But if for some reason it has to use ffmpeg to convert the audio, or transcode the video, or add external srt subtitles. If it is using ffmpeg in some way. In order to use ffmpeg the file must have been previously probed. This is where the statement the file had not been properly probed comes in. Because other players are playing it directly they can play it without probing. The Roku in this case must be converting/transcoding something and calling upon ffmpeg to do the heavy lifting and because the file isn't yet probed this fails with no compatible streams.

Edited May 23 by speechles

[Luke 42810]

@Mosetter27?

[Mosetter27 0]

sorry didnt get notified of replies. randomly new shows being added have this happen. I have 2 shows that have previous seasons that this happens with. 

 

its not a matter of metadata and such not being scanned in as these were added days ago. 

[ebr 16548]

Again we'd have to look at a specific example but the fact the item was added "days ago" does not guarantee it has been successfully probed.

[Mosetter27 0]

Gotcha so what is needed to help me out. 

[Mosetter27 0]

6 hours ago, ebr said:

Again we'd have to look at a specific example but the fact the item was added "days ago" does not guarantee it has been successfully probed.

I just sent a log from my Roku

 

exactly what I was doing

 

Trying to play S01E01 of Lucky (2026). it would just spin the loading screen and then eventually got the prompt that there's no compatible streams and to contact my administrator.

log was sent at 5:07 est

user was Billy

 

[Mosetter27 0]

Also of note. I tried watching the same episode on my son’s Roku in his room, and it didn’t work. 
 

it does work when I watch on my iPhone app, on my computer& on the same TV with a fire stick. 
 

i had access to a beta version of the Emby roku but it seems to have disappeared from my Roku account. 

[pwhodges 2079]

Roku betas have a limited life (Roku policy).  If you're still in the beta team, you can go back to the DM thread to get the current link to add it back to your Roku account.

Paul

[Mosetter27 0]

3 hours ago, pwhodges said:

Roku betas have a limited life (Roku policy).  If you're still in the beta team, you can go back to the DM thread to get the current link to add it back to your Roku account.

Paul

The code that was DMed no longer works. 

[ebr 16548]

Its just a generic playback error on the app end.  The issue is related to the transcoding and the other apps may not be doing that.  Please provide the server log and all the ffmpeg logs that correspond with that failed playback.

Thanks.

[Mosetter27 0]

12 minutes ago, ebr said:

Its just a generic playback error on the app end.  The issue is related to the transcoding and the other apps may not be doing that.  Please provide the server log and all the ffmpeg logs that correspond with that failed playback.

Thanks.

How do I do that 

[ebr 16548]

Log Files

[Mosetter27 0]

2 minutes ago, ebr said:

Log Files

got it. here you go. 

there's a few shows its doing this to. but I figured if a solution can be found for one it should work for all correct?

embyserver.txt ffmpeg-transcode-1c3f7918-338a-4251-aa05-2ddb78e13c44_1.txt ffmpeg-transcode-72bbe66a-d0b7-4650-99ff-1d60a727fc83_1.txt ffmpeg-transcode-613e42d9-1b7a-4817-870e-7a9722e050ba_1.txt ffmpeg-transcode-8771eea2-5db2-4378-9f91-4b6c2b56488d_1.txt ffmpeg-transcode-c1aa1bb9-dffe-4708-9c2b-c23bf00b8909_1.txt

[speechles 2107]

AudioCodec=ac3,aac,mp2,mp3,eac3,flac,vorbis,lpcm

TranscodeReasons=VideoCodecNotSupported,DirectPlayError&allowVideoStreamCopy=false&allowAudioStreamCopy=false

For some reason AC3 is in the front before AAC. In checking the capabilities code in the Roku app we always placed the AAC codec first in the transcoding profile. So that the server understands to convert to that when it must transcoding audio. But look at this here the server is showing us. AC3 is placed first. I do not think you can convert EAC3 to AC3 or rather it isn't converted but stripped of the extra channels. Because it is trying to pass the stream in untouched from the audio.

My guess is your Roku only supports Stereo due to how you have set up the audio settings on the Roku. I've confirmed this happens and got the same error on my Roku. I disabled audio transcoding for that user. Now when I only support stereo via Roku audio settings and attempt to play that item with EAC3 back I get the "No compatible streams" error with a red box.

@ebrDo you see anything where AC3 would be placed at the front of the transcoding profile? Maybe my eyes missed something. This is defintely the issue is the audio transcoding EAC3 to AC3 instead of AAC. Its weird because if you notice in the Roku code AC3 and EAC3 are always be placed together. One after the other and always after AAC. But here in the AudioCodec line from the server its changed position. How is the happening?

 

Edited 1 hour ago by speechles

[Mosetter27 0]

1 minute ago, speechles said:

AudioCodec=ac3,aac,mp2,mp3,eac3,flac,vorbis,lpcm

TranscodeReasons=VideoCodecNotSupported,DirectPlayError&allowAudioStreamCopy=false
 

For some reason AC3 is in the front before AAC. In checking the capabilities code in the Roku app we always placed the AAC codec first in the transcoding profile. So that the server understands to convert to that when it must transcoding audio. But look at this here the server is showing us. AC3 is placed first. I do not think you can convert EAC3 to AC3 or rather it isn't converted but stripped of the extra channels. Because it is trying to pass the stream in untouched from the audio.

My guess is your Roku only supports Stereo due to how you have set up the audio settings on the Roku. I've confirmed this happens and got the same error on my Roku. I disabled audio transcoding for that user. Now when I only support stereo via Roku audio settings and attempt to play that item with EAC3 back I get the "No compatible streams" error with a red box.

@ebrDo you see anything where AC3 would be placed at the front of the transcoding profile? Maybe my eyes missed something. This is defintely the issue is the audio transcoding EAC3 to AC3 instead of AAC. Its weird because if you notice in the Roku code AC3 and EAC3 are always be placed together. One after the other. But here in the AudioCodec line from the server its changed position. How is the happening?

 

I'm mildly following what this means. 

[speechles 2107]

Just now, Mosetter27 said:

I'm mildly following what this means. 

It is more for @ebrand I to see if perhaps the server is adjusting our things after the fact. I think we are sending them correctly and the server is change them or something. The order of the AudioCodecs matters. The very first codec listed is what the transcoding will be used. In this case it has AC3 there which is most defintely wrong.

Have you disabled any transcoding for that user. Specifically have you disabled audio transcoding for that user?

[Mosetter27 0]

5 minutes ago, speechles said:

It is more for @ebrand I to see if perhaps the server is adjusting our things after the fact. I think we are sending them correctly and the server is change them or something. The order of the AudioCodecs matters. The very first codec listed is what the transcoding will be used. In this case it has AC3 there which is most defintely wrong.

Have you disabled any transcoding for that user. Specifically have you disabled audio transcoding for that user?

negative. I'm mildly good at computer things and tend to only change things when told. most stuff is defaults. 

is there something I should check on my computer end to see?

 

also of note I only have one user and just log in that way onto my devices. never dove into setting up different users for fear of something getting messed up. im of the age old if it aint broke don't fix it type. 

Edited 1 hour ago by Mosetter27

[speechles 2107]

2 minutes ago, Mosetter27 said:

negative. I'm mildly good at computer things and tend to only change things when told. most stuff is defaults. 

is there something I should check on my computer end to see?

This is for me and @ebrto fix (and perhaps @Luketoo). I've only asked that question of you to make sure you aren't creating the issue yourself like I did. I had to disable audio transcoding to get the same failure you had. Since you did not have to do this it is something on our end we must fix. You do not need to change anything. We need to investigate why and how this happens and fix it. Thank you for reporting the bug. We will try to get to the bottom of this. When we do we will follow up in this thread to keep you in the loop too. But for the moment it appears a breaking change somewhere has caused this and we need to identify where.

Edited 1 hour ago by speechles

[Mosetter27 0]

1 minute ago, speechles said:

This is for me and @ebrto fix (and perhaps @Luketoo). I've only asked that question of you to make sure you aren't creating the issue yourself like I did. I had to disable audio transcoding to get the same failure you had. Since you did not have to do this it is something on our end we must fix. You do not need to change anything. We need to investigate why and how this happens and fix it. Thank you for reporting the bug. We will try to get to the bottom of this. When we do we will follow up in this thread to keep you in the loop too. But for the moment it appears a breaking change somewhere has caused this and we need to identify where.

gotcha. so for now for the shows that give me this error ill watch them on my old firestick, and everything else on my roku..

 

off topic question. I run my server off a Mac and have just a plain old tv. what's the best "streaming item" to use emby on. I was usually using a fire stick but then I kept having issues with everything freezing constantly until it buffered and caught up. then I would have to drop the quality and it became a pain. so I switched to the roku. is there a preferred way to get emby to smart tv. my current main tv is Vizio.