DVR ?: Watch in-progress recording from beginning and skip forward

[SWKerr 4]

I am running Emby with UnRaid using HDHR Extend tuners.

At some point I had the ability to watch a in-progress recording from the beginning and skip around.  But now I seem to only be able to watch from the beginning with no ability to skip forward. If try to navigate around it just starts from the beginning.  This is really a news and sports problem but it is very annoying.  I know that this has not always been the case.  I had to rebuild the server and am not sure if this behavior started with the rebuild or before.  I also have used the HDHR Connect in the past as well and moved to the HDHR Extends to cut down on cpu usage.  It some point I was recording mp4 but now it appears that I have only an mkv option.

 

Is there a setting or setup that would allow me to have better control of in-progress recording?  Or is this a change that was made in the server software for stability or compatibility?  

     

[ebr 16169]

Hi.  In order to seek in-progress recordings, you will need to turn off the on the fly conversion option.

 

Thanks.

[SWKerr 4]

Hi.  In order to seek in-progress recordings, you will need to turn off the on the fly conversion option.

 

Thanks.

 Well that kind of defeats the purpose of the HDHR Extends.  Is there anyway I could use one of the old HDHR Connects and assign a specific tuner to the recording?  (I suspect no but don't see a better option.  Or even the ability to turn off the conversion on a per show basis maybe?

[ebr 16169]

 Well that kind of defeats the purpose of the HDHR Extends. 

 

Sorry, I don't mean the transcoding feature on the tuner itself.  I mean the "Automatically convert to a streaming friendly format" setting in Emby.

[SWKerr 4]

This seems to create ts files with h264 video which is really not ideal.  I would like to have everything as a mkv or mp4 for long term storage.  Playback support of ts files is not always good. 
Is there a easy way do convert to the mkv post processing?   

[Luke 42077]

This seems to create ts files with h264 video which is really not ideal.  I would like to have everything as a mkv or mp4 for long term storage.  Playback support of ts files is not always good. 

Is there a easy way do convert to the mkv post processing?   

 

We will be adding a dedicated feature to handle this after recording. In the meantime it is still possible now using our folder sync feature:

https://github.com/MediaBrowser/Wiki/wiki/Folder%20Sync

 

It will not replace the existing version so that last part you'll have to do manually. Once we have a dedicated feature for this, then it will handle the entire process for you. Thanks.

[bman212121 1]

Sorry, I don't mean the transcoding feature on the tuner itself.  I mean the "Automatically convert to a streaming friendly format" setting in Emby.

 

So to be clear, you need to uncheck the box next to "automatically convert to a streaming friendly format" correct? I'm trying to figure out if there is a way to achieve feature parity with the other DVRs that I've used in the past. I think part of the issue right now is that I'm using Emby theater, which is transcoding the recording stream regardless of whatever setting I choose.

 

Is there a way to have it record a show, play the recording directly without converting and still be able to skip through the timeline up until present time in the recording?

[Luke 42077]

Yes you need to uncheck that in order to be able to seek the in progress recording

[tadr 1]

Is unchecking this box still the solution to this problem?  I am also unable to skip ahead while playing back an in progress recording (instead, it starts over from the beginning if I try to skip).  But I don't see a checkbox labeled "automatically convert to a streaming friendly format" under Live TV settings.  I'm a premiere user.   I assume the interface has changed since 2018 - where do I find this setting to fix this?

[Luke 42077]

On 5/17/2024 at 11:53 PM, tadr said:

Is unchecking this box still the solution to this problem?  I am also unable to skip ahead while playing back an in progress recording (instead, it starts over from the beginning if I try to skip).  But I don't see a checkbox labeled "automatically convert to a streaming friendly format" under Live TV settings.  I'm a premiere user.   I assume the interface has changed since 2018 - where do I find this setting to fix this?

Hi @tadrwe are working on improving this. Thanks.

[scottymeuk 3]

Any updates on this? Is there a recommended way to be able to fast forward while it’s still recording? 

[Carlo 4560]

On 4/18/2025 at 8:34 AM, scottymeuk said:

Any updates on this? Is there a recommended way to be able to fast forward while it’s still recording? 

Have you tried playing the recording in progress?
That's what I'll typically do.

[scottymeuk 3]

On 4/22/2025 at 10:00 PM, Carlo said:

Have you tried playing the recording in progress?
That's what I'll typically do.

I’m not sure what you mean. You either start from the start with no way to fast forward, or you watch live from what I can tell. 

[ebr 16169]

2 minutes ago, scottymeuk said:

I’m not sure what you mean. You either start from the start with no way to fast forward, or you watch live from what I can tell. 

If you are using the Android app be sure you select the option to remux mpegTS.

[scottymeuk 3]

6 minutes ago, ebr said:

If you are using the Android app be sure you select the option to remux mpegTS.

Where is that option?

[Luke 42077]

2 hours ago, scottymeuk said:

Where is that option?

 There is a playback option in the app to force a conversion on mpegts.

[scottymeuk 3]

On 5/3/2025 at 7:07 PM, Luke said:

 There is a playback option in the app to force a conversion on mpegts.

I am not seeing that option on the Emby for Android app. Where exactly is it? 

[pwhodges 2012]

App settings/Playback - right at the bottom there are options to transcode several formats.

Paul

Edited May 23, 2025 by pwhodges

[scottymeuk 3]

28 minutes ago, pwhodges said:

App settings/Playback - right at the bottom there are options to transcode several formats.

Paul

Just installed Emby for Android TV, and I see "Allow Direct Play of TS Files", which i assume is the setting i need to disable. That setting does not exist on Emby for Android (the app that Emby recommens people use)

Edited May 23, 2025 by scottymeuk

[pwhodges 2012]

It exists in Emby for Android v3.4.67 in the place I indicated under the heading Force Conversion for Formats, which has options for AVI, AV1, VC1, and MPEGTS; I checked before posting.

Paul.

[scottymeuk 3]

On 5/23/2025 at 3:31 PM, pwhodges said:

It exists in Emby for Android v3.4.67 in the place I indicated under the heading Force Conversion for Formats, which has options for AVI, AV1, VC1, and MPEGTS; I checked before posting.

Paul.

Ahhh, the MPEGTS vs TS threw me off. Thank you, i will give that a try.

[scottymeuk 3]

Seems to work well. Thank you very much. This solves me one remaining problem with Emby!