Freezes with IPTV sources

[dcol 175]

Using Android TV (Nexus Player). When I play a live tv channel in Emby I get occasional freezes. Some channels are worse than others.

I have done a lot of testing the last couple of days.

This happens on two different computers running the Android OS.

Does not occur when watching live TV with other apps.

Does not freeze when viewing live TV from Emby on a Window comptuer via a web browser.

I have tried direct stream, internal player, VLC, and MX Player all freeze.

All system have local ethernet wired connections. I see no relevant errors in the server log.

 

Also, shows in the Emby library all play will occasions stutter. Do not see any stutter when playing the same media from a PC or other android apps.

The logs do show the library monitor running every minute and sometimes errors with 'another process is using this file'. Don't think it is related.

 

Any ideas on what I can try?

[Luke 42077]

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

[dcol 175]

Followed the instructions. Started a live TV show at about 12:52 and it froze @ 12:57. Attached is the Emby serverlog.

No errors on the screen, just a frozen screen

Attached is the Emby serverlog..

embyserver.txt

Edited November 12, 2018 by dcol

[Luke 42077]

Is this IPTV imported into next pvr?

[dcol 175]

No. The M3U is from epg for IPTV and the XML is from epg123. I only use NPVR for recordings with a different IPTV provider.

It does seem to be a bit more stable using VLC with a 2000ms buffer for LiveTV. With direct stream or the internal player, freezes a lot.

The IPTV stream is not 100% on these problem channels, but what seems to be happening is it can't recover from any gaps/pixelation in the stream. Just hangs.

And VLC doesn't help with the playback stuttering. But plays back fine using the VLC standalone app.

Think tomorrow I will pop Plex back on the server and see how that does with the playback.

[Luke 42077]

Was there an ffmpeg log?

[dcol 175]

No, these shows were not encoded. Direct feed. I do not use transcoding either.

[dcol 175]

I have resolved the stuttering issues with workarounds. But the Freeze still exists when using direct stream on Live TV. And there is nothing in the logs about it.

Simply, Emby does not recover from a stream interruption. VLC Player with a 5 second buffer seems to work, so I am using that for now.

[Luke 42077]

Can you provide a sample m3u8 feed that we can test with that has frequent enough interruptions that we can reproduce this?

[dcol 175]

Not sure how to do a sample stream, and the frequency is unpredictable. Sometimes an hour sometimes minutes.

Haven't seen any freezes in days since I am using VLC.

[Luke 42077]

Maybe you can provide a sample of the one you had a problem with? Thanks.

[dcol 175]

What is the best way to do that? Only happens during a live stream. Not the recordings.

[Luke 42077]

You can PM me a sample m3u8 with the url for that one channel.

[dcol 175]

Sent PM

[pir8radio 1312]

i see this as well with unstable iptv streams..  most other players can ride through the minor glitch only showing a video/audio anomaly, where as emby totally freezes for a few seconds, and sometimes just drops you back to the guide.  Android TV as well as FireTv.   same reason i posted here:  https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/65135-firetv-buffer-size/   to start to do some trouble shooting. 

Edited November 17, 2018 by pir8radio

[BillOatman 596]

I see this as well FWIW on my shield.  Last night was very bad.  Other days, no issues at all.  I tend to eventually (maybe a minute or so later) get the popup "video playback error".  Usually need to wait a few minutes then select the same or different channel and playback starts again.  I agree with dcol that it looks like it is due to a stream interruption.  Let me know if my log would be helpful.  

 

EDIT:  It was perfect last night.  Seems to happen more on weekends when there are more people using the streams.

Edited November 20, 2018 by BillOatman

[Luke 42077]

Thanks for the feedback. dcol sent us a sample stream and we will be testing that.  @@ebr

 

Thanks.

[D34DC3N73R 18]

Also noticing this on Nvidia Shield (no transcoding). It does seem to occur more frequently around high bitrate scenes.

[Luke 42077]

Also noticing this on Nvidia Shield (no transcoding). It does seem to occur more frequently around high bitrate scenes.

 

Does it recover?

[D34DC3N73R 18]

Does it recover?

 Yes, it recovers. The pauses/skips are sometimes milliseconds up to a full second.

 

EDIT: the same channels play without skips on the web player.

Edited November 24, 2018 by D34DC3N73R

[Luke 42077]

 Yes, it recovers. The pauses/skips are sometimes milliseconds up to a full second.

 

EDIT: the same channels play without skips on the web player.

 

Can you PM me a sample stream that i can test this with? Thanks !

[D34DC3N73R 18]

I'll keep an eye out for it and pm you a stream when I notice it. Unfortunately/ fortunately I don't watch a lot of live TV. I just noticed it when watching the Macy's parade. (don't judge me! )

[ebr 16169]

I just noticed it when watching the Macy's parade. (don't judge me! )

 

May or may not be the issue but it is possible there were a few other people watching that stream (from the source you were using) at that time .  The provider may have actually been hitting a bottleneck.

[dcol 175]

Doesn't explain why it only occurs when using internal player. Never see it freeze with VLC. It probably has to do with buffering.

[ebr 16169]

Doesn't explain why it only occurs when using internal player. Never see it freeze with VLC. It probably has to do with buffering.

 

The two of you are also not necessarily encountering the same issue (cause).