Consistent MB3 server crashes when playing certain ISOs

[e.Blue 0]

I am getting consistent server crashes when attempting to play certain ISO images remotely. The error states  'Unhandled exception: Object reference not set to an instance of an object'.

 

I am attaching the latest log files. 

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

crashlogs.zip

 

Password for logs sent via PM

 

Thanks,

-e.B

 

 

[Deihmos 169]

I was having  the same issue with crashes after installing auto box set. Removing it fixed the problem.

[e.Blue 0]

I was having  the same issue with crashes after installing auto box set. Removing it fixed the problem.

 

 

I don't have the Auto Box Sets plugin installed.

 

Thanks anyway,

-e.B

[gcw07 347]

ISO support is experimental. While I'm sure it shouldn't be crashing, playback might not work.

[e.Blue 0]

ISO support is experimental. While I'm sure it shouldn't be crashing, playback might not work.

 

I'm well aware that ISO support is experimental. However, generally experimental support tends to improve over time and not get worse. Until fairly recently it was working okay for most movies and not at all for some others. However, it wasn't bringing down the entire server.

 

To be honest, I'm really looking forward to the day when ISO support is actually taken seriously and not just seen as being 'experimental'. I know several other home theater enthusiasts that rely mainly on .ISO support. As of right now I'm hesitant to recommend MB3 because of this limitation. It's very frustrating to have access to these beautiful MB3 interfaces for viewing movie collections only to have it drop the ball while attempting to play them back.

 

I realize that ISO playback presents certain unique challenges, but I don't think that any of them are insurmountable. Slysoft's AnyDVD has found a way to be successful at it for years.

 

Nevertheless, it has been fun watching the progress of MB3 and I have nothing but the highest confidence that these issues will be worked out soon. For the most part MB3 is rock solid when using it on HTPCs. It really only seems to show its kinks when using the newer technologies like mobile, DLNA and media player streaming.

 

-e.B

[Tikuf 663]

Password for logs sent via PM

 

To who

 

Really would prefer not to have to open a zip.

Edited April 5, 2014 by Tikuf

[e.Blue 0]

To who

 

Really would prefer not to have to open a zip.[/quotI or

To who

 

Really would prefer not to have to open a zip.

 

Originally sent it to Luke, I've now sent it to you also.

 

Sorry for the hassle.

 

-e.B

[Tikuf 663]

Can i please see an ffmpeg log for JACK_AND_JILL

 

Can I see the media info for TWELVE_YEARS_A_SLAVE once before a refresh (copy it to a text file) and then after you try a force refresh from the dash meta editor

 

http://mediabrowser.tv/community/index.php?/topic/1209-getting-useful-logs-media-info/

 

Thanks

[e.Blue 0]

Can i please see an ffmpeg log for JACK_AND_JILL

 

Can I see the media info for TWELVE_YEARS_A_SLAVE once before a refresh (copy it to a text file) and then after you try a force refresh from the dash meta editor

 

http://mediabrowser.tv/community/index.php?/topic/1209-getting-useful-logs-media-info/

 

Thanks

 

 

I've also tried playing back '12 years a Slave' locally instead of remotely. It now attempts to play without crashing the server. However, I am still encountering an issue that was brought up by myself and others a while back where the ISO starts to play for a few seconds and then the FFMPEG process on the server abruptly exits.

 

This issue is documented here:

 

https://github.com/MediaBrowser/MediaBrowser.WindowsPhone/issues/136#issuecomment-36584561

 

and here..

 

http://mediabrowser.tv/community/index.php?/topic/4009-video-freezes-after-x-amount-of-seconds

 

It was originally thought that the FFMPEG issue was related to the Windows phone app. However, I can also reproduce it by attempting to playback certain movies using Internet Explorer instead of Google Chrome on my local network.

 

I've attached the requested logs as well as some additional ones related to the most recent FFMPEG crashes.

 

Thanks,

-e.B

server-63532252800.log

ffmpeg-a12af007-4bbb-4169-a64c-6192c4a335f1.txt

ffmpeg-6a31fe10-954f-4eca-b46c-e3017d080565.txt

ffmpeg-53df8ff4-c75e-43cb-bc93-d2529013abe1.txt

ffmpeg-ee003c70-bca9-461e-b358-902205441635.txt

ffmpeg-d3d19877-2bc4-45f4-babe-680db5e96194.txt

12YAS-MediaInfo.zip

[Luke 42078]

does it reproduce in chrome? the crash I believe is fixed for the next server release.

[e.Blue 0]

I haven't had the FFMPEG process exiting on the server issues when using Chrome. It only occurs when using Internet Explorer, either on a desktop PC or via the Windows Phone app.

 

Thanks,

-e.B

[Luke 42078]

Ok, try it out with the next release.

[ebr 16178]

I'm well aware that ISO support is experimental. However, generally experimental support tends to improve over time and not get worse. Until fairly recently it was working okay for most movies and not at all for some others. However, it wasn't bringing down the entire server.

 

To be honest, I'm really looking forward to the day when ISO support is actually taken seriously and not just seen as being 'experimental'. I know several other home theater enthusiasts that rely mainly on .ISO support. As of right now I'm hesitant to recommend MB3 because of this limitation. It's very frustrating to have access to these beautiful MB3 interfaces for viewing movie collections only to have it drop the ball while attempting to play them back.

 

Can you educate me on why you prefer to use ISOs?  They make everything harder and there are so many better alternatives that don't.  I don't see the advantage to an ISO in almost any circumstance.

[Deihmos 169]

I was wondering the same thing. Isn't a Blu-ray ISO about 50gb?

 

Sent from my Surface Pro 2 using Tapatalk

[e.Blue 0]

 

Can you educate me on why you prefer to use ISOs?  They make everything harder and there are so many better alternatives that don't.  I don't see the advantage to an ISO in almost any circumstance.

 

 

Sure, I'd be glad to:

• I have a large projection screen and I've had major quality and audio sync issues using other formats
• I honestly don't have the time to load up and run the utilities that go through each disc and 'strip' out content.
• I don't like the notion of re-compressing already compressed movies just to save disk space
• I prefer the full disk experience including menus, trailers and bonus content
• I've seen movies that started out as 40GB blu-ray shrunk down to fit onto dual-layer DVDs. There's no way that you can toss out 80% of the original content and still call it True HD.
• Most importantly, I like having access to the best available source. I'll take quality over convenience every day of the week.

To be honest, I'm amazed that MB3 handles ISOs for streaming at all. I've recently tested the Roku, Chromecast and DLNA support in MB3 and the fact that some of the movies play at all thrills me to no end. Of course, I'd like it to eventually get to where all of the movies play reliably but just the fact that the MB3 developers seem to be thinking in that realm keeps me hopeful. Ideally, I'd like to one day see a 'Configure ISO playback' option in the edit pages that allows you to specify playback defaults for problematic movies. It could let you select the correct default playlist, audio tracks etc when playing back from dedicated streaming devices.

 

 

 

I was wondering the same thing. Isn't a Blu-ray ISO about 50gb?

 

Sent from my Surface Pro 2 using Tapatalk

 

The average size for a Blu-ray ISO is about 35GB. 1TB of storage holds about 25 movies, 4TB drives hold about 100 movies. Which works out to well under $2 worth of storage per movie.

 

-Regards

-e.B

[Deihmos 169]

Wouldn't playing directly from the disc be simpler? I guess I don't see the point of copying a disc to a hard drive when you can just use the disc. I have not used a disc in so many years so I am kind of clueless.

Edited April 5, 2014 by Deihmos

[e.Blue 0]

Wouldn't playing directly from the disc be simpler?

 

Not really, when original DVDs came out at own point I owned over 800 movies. The cases took up a ton of space and some even started coming up 'missing'. Having them on the server and the cases stored away is so much more convenient and secure. Besides, I have absolutely no issues with standard ISO playback. MB has been rock-solid in this area for years. It's only the newer direct ISO streaming support where MB3 appears to have to mount and access the ISOs directly where things seem to be a bit picky. Like I said, I'm amazed that some of this stuff is even working AT ALL! 

 

-e.B

[ebr 16178]

None of the things you listed are dependent on the ISO format.

 

The quality can be completely maintained in any other container.

 

The tools that create things like MKVs are just like whatever you are using to create your ISOs.  Many of them are one or two clicks and you are done.

 

If you want the full menu experience you can still have it by ripping to a folder structure instead of the ISO.  This gives you a complete copy of the disc just like an ISO but without the additional hassle of mounting to see it and the fact that many tools cannot deal with it at all.  Folder structures will still have some issues but will eliminate the need for mounting and the additional software required to do that.

[e.Blue 0]

None of the things you listed are dependent on the ISO format.

 

The quality can be completely maintained in any other container.

 

The tools that create things like MKVs are just like whatever you are using to create your ISOs.  Many of them are one or two clicks and you are done.

 

If you want the full menu experience you can still have it by ripping to a folder structure instead of the ISO.  This gives you a complete copy of the disc just like an ISO but without the additional hassle of mounting to see it and the fact that many tools cannot deal with it at all.  Folder structures will still have some issues but will eliminate the need for mounting and the additional software required to do that.

 

I've actually spent a lot of time weighing the pros and cons of the various storage formats. Sure there are alternative tools out there that we can use to create the exact MKV or MP4 files that we prefer. However, at the end of the day you're still essentially undoing/redoing the same work that's already been done by the original discs producer.

 

I even went through a period where I was using folder structures. My problem with folder structures is that they are not very RAID friendly. The RAID software that I use provides recovery functions that depends on standard NTFS file structures. In essence I could lose an entire drive and the loss would be confined to only what was on that one disk. When using folder structures, unlike the ISO format, a single movie could be stored across multiple drives. So in theory you could lose a single disk and then still wind up with a bunch of incomplete movie folders strewn throughout the RAID array.

 

I finally got to a point where I admitted to myself that I didn't really need to be able to access my movies from anywhere other than my home theater. For me the ISO format works best in the home theater environment. Being able to access the movies from other places is nice but not really important. In fact, I actually prefer other services (Netflix, Vudu, Amazon) for streaming movies when I'm not at home. Those services don't require you to try and cram movies onto your mobile devices. They also don't tie up my server and network with trans-coding duties.

 

One of the things that us more geeky-minded have problems admitting is that sometimes the more simple solution is the best solution. I really don't want to have to think about each movie at the level that's required to convert them to other formats. Right now to add a movie to my collection all I do is insert the disk, create a folder and click go...that's it. I like that simplicity and will hold onto it for as long as I can.

 

Regards,

-e.B

[ebr 16178]

Okay, that's all fine.  You have your reasons for preferring ISOs.  You just will also have to accept their limitations - but it sounds like you have a handle on all of that.

 

As time and need allows I'm sure we will improve our support as well.