Live TV audio drops and buffering

[seangermany 5]

Hi Forum,

 

I finally convinced my wife and her mother to cut the cord.  I have plex and emby - but everyone prefers emby.  I have three smart TVs (1 LG and two Samsungs) all streaming my live TV from an HD Homerun Prime.  My server is running Win 10 (x64) with 16GB ram.  This PC is a dedicated media server.  My issue is with Live TV.  

We're experiencing buffering and audio drops rather frequently.  the audio is usually restored by rewinding 10sec. but the buffering is a real problem.  I started checking the logs, and I found something interesting regarding FFmpeg.  Server response is usually a few ms.  When the buffering starts, it really jumps. 

 

See below:

2021-01-06 20:44:06.317 Info Server: http/1.1 Response 200 to 127.0.0.1. Time: 110647ms. http://127.0.0.1:8096/LiveTv/LiveStreamFiles/fd47b92bae4749b299658bcdceee0602/stream.ts
2021-01-06 20:44:06.338 Info App: AppendExtraLogData - Read graph file: C:\Users\admin\AppData\Roaming\Emby-Server\programdata\logs\ffmpeg-transcode-03445ff4-7b61-44cb-8035-0aeca363320c_1graph.txt
2021-01-06 20:44:06.339 Info App: AppendExtraLogData - Deserialized GraphData fileStream: {0:n} bytes Graph Count: 0
2021-01-06 20:44:06.339 Info App: AppendExtraLogData - File Deleted
2021-01-06 20:44:06.339 Info App: ProcessRun 'StreamTranscode 03445f' Process exited with code 1
2021-01-06 20:44:06.383 Error Server: Error processing request
    *** Error Report ***
    Version: 4.5.4.0
    Command line: C:\Users\admin\AppData\Roaming\Emby-Server\system\EmbyServer.dll -noautorunwebapp
    Operating system: Microsoft Windows 10.0.18363
    Framework: .NET Core 3.1.9
    OS/Process: x64/x64
    Runtime: C:/Users/admin/AppData/Roaming/Emby-Server/system/System.Private.CoreLib.dll
    Processor count: 8
    Data path: C:\Users\admin\AppData\Roaming\Emby-Server\programdata
    Application path: C:\Users\admin\AppData\Roaming\Emby-Server\system
    System.Exception: System.Exception: Error starting ffmpeg
       at Emby.Server.MediaEncoding.Api.BaseStreamingService.StartFfMpeg(StreamState state, String outputPath, CancellationTokenSource cancellationTokenSource, Boolean acquireResources)
       at Emby.Server.MediaEncoding.Api.Hls.BaseHlsService.ProcessRequest(StreamRequest request)
       at Emby.Server.Implementations.Services.ServiceController.GetTaskResult(Task task)
       at Emby.Server.Implementations.Services.ServiceHandler.ProcessRequestAsync(HttpListenerHost appHost, IRequest httpReq, IResponse httpRes, RestPath restPath, String responseContentType, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
       at Emby.Server.Implementations.HttpServer.HttpListenerHost.RequestHandler(IRequest httpReq, ReadOnlyMemory`1 urlString, ReadOnlyMemory`1 localPath, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    Source: Emby.Server.MediaEncoding
    TargetSite: Void MoveNext()
    
2021-01-06 20:44:06.383 Info Server: http/1.1 Response 500 to 10.0.0.60. Time: 220654ms. http://10.0.0.33:8096/emby/videos/1170046/live.m3u8?DeviceId=a58fecbc-9bb0-4eb2-911a-452861d10764&MediaSourceId=native_d39298c6fe85cc70bdd70a4878d2330e_310fcbdc01b3e881a362e3787d2e8a32&PlaySessionId=63aeba593d2c4bb693cced08cb4c1680&LiveStreamId=06044cf0e6f93cdae5f285c9ecfaaeb4_01413a525b3a9622ce6fdf19f7dde354_native_d39298c6fe85cc70bdd70a4878d2330e_310fcbdc01b3e881a362e3787d2e8a32&VideoCodec=h264,h265,hevc&AudioCodec=ac3,eac3,aac,mp3,opus&VideoBitrate=139616000&AudioBitrate=384000&MaxWidth=4096&AudioStreamIndex=1&TranscodingMaxAudioChannels=6&SegmentContainer=ts&MinSegments=1&BreakOnNonKeyFrames=False&ManifestSubtitles=vtt&h264-profile=high,main,baseline,constrainedbaseline,high10&h264-level=51&TranscodeReasons=DirectPlayError&allowVideoStreamCopy=false
2021-01-06 20:44:06.418 Info App: ProcessRun 'StreamTranscode b4b391' Execute: C:\Users\admin\AppData\Roaming\Emby-Server\system\ffmpeg.exe -loglevel +timing -y -print_graphs_file "C:\Users\admin\AppData\Roaming\Emby-Server\programdata\logs\ffmpeg-transcode-b4b391de-f398-4153-ba4c-b0b9dd7bebe7_1graph.txt" -copyts -start_at_zero -analyzeduration 3000000 -f mpegts -c:v:0 h264 -hwaccel:v:0 d3d11va -hwaccel_device:v:0 0 -i "http://127.0.0.1:8096/LiveTv/LiveStreamFiles/fd47b92bae4749b299658bcdceee0602/stream.ts" -map 0:0 -map 0:1 -sn -c:v:0 libx264 -g:v:0 180 -maxrate:v:0 8000000 -bufsize:v:0 16000000 -sc_threshold:v:0 0 -keyint_min:v:0 180 -pix_fmt:v:0 yuv420p -preset:v:0 veryfast -profile:v:0 high -level:v:0 3.2 -x264opts:v:0 "subme=0:me_range=4:rc_lookahead=10:me=dia:no_chroma_me:partitions=none" -crf:v:0 23 -c:a:0 copy -metadata:s:a:0 language=eng -disposition:a:0 default -fflags +discardcorruptts+fillwallclockdts -max_delay 5000000 -avoid_negative_ts disabled -f segment -map_metadata -1 -map_chapters -1 -segment_format mpegts -segment_list "C:\Users\admin\AppData\Roaming\Emby-Server\programdata\transcoding-temp\A1C8AC.m3u8" -segment_list_type m3u8 -segment_time 3 -segment_list_entry_prefix hls/A1C8AC/ -segment_start_number 0 -individual_header_trailer 0 -write_header_trailer 0 -segment_write_temp 1 "C:\Users\admin\AppData\Roaming\Emby-Server\programdata\transcoding-temp\A1C8AC_%d.ts"
2021-01-06 20:44:06.719 Info Server: http/1.1 GET http://10.0.0.33:8096/emby/LiveTv/Channels?userId=338f38795e7641879f13cfe68e06b9c7&limit=1&ImageTypeLimit=1&EnableTotalRecordCount=false&EnableImages=false&EnableUserData=false&X-Emby-Client=Emby for Samsung&X-Emby-Device-Name=Samsung Smart TV (UN55TU7000FXZA)&X-Emby-Device-Id=a58fecbc-9bb0-4eb2-911a-452861d10764&X-Emby-Client-Version=1.0.88. UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (SMART-TV; LINUX; Tizen 5.5) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) 69.0.3497.106/5.5 TV Safari/537.36

 

Any ideas as to what the issue is, and how it can be addressed?  I do not want to go back to renting cable boxes.

 

Today's embyserver.txt log is attached.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

embyserver.txt

[Carlo 4560]

Likely a bit to much IO on the server.  Do you have an SSD drive in your server?  If so try pointing the transcode directory to this disc.
You can find this setting at the following menu location in web admin.

Transcoding.->Advanced settings->Transcoding temporary path:

[Luke 42077]

@seangermany has this helped?

[seangermany 5]

I relocated the transcode directory and am monitoring performance.

 

Thanks for the support.

[Carlo 4560]

Let us know how you make out.

[canada99 9]

Sean Germany I hate to say this and some people may not agree with me but in order to accomplish the best live tv streaming experience you will need to use linux as your main OS. A dedicated pc running linux with 16gig of ram would run silky smooth, I know it would be time consuming switching everything over to linux but it's the best option. HDhomerun can be a real pain in the you know what on windows, unless you run an astra control panel use high end gpu's forcing stream output to clients your SOL. Another nightmare for live tv users on windows is running programs like kaspersky or norton, sure movies and tv series you have on your pc will play great but not live tv streaming. I have my emby server on windows 10 x64 and love it for watching my movies and tv shows works perfectly, but for live tv I use slingtv and got rid of my satellite boxes and IKS server until I install linux on this mini pc.

[ebr 16169]

34 minutes ago, canada99 said:

Sean Germany I hate to say this and some people may not agree with me but in order to accomplish the best live tv streaming experience you will need to use linux as your main OS

You are correct, I don't agree .  I have a Windows server that works quite well for Live TV.

[seangermany 5]

I also disagree.  This is my 2nd server.  The other is beefier, but I've really had no issues.  I believe my problems were stemming from user error.  Introducing new technology to those who use pcs for facebook and email requires a bit of a learning curve - and a 2nd hdhomerun prime for more available tuners.

 

I do appreciate all of the input though.

[Carlo 4560]

1 hour ago, ebr said:

You are correct, I don't agree .  I have a Windows server that works quite well for Live TV.

You and me both brother!

Windows Server will always be my choice for running Emby Server on.  I've got over 30 tuners and guides setup on my system and once setup just works.

I see no advantage to moving to Linux for me personally other than OS license costs.  The NET framework was "born" on the windows platform and ported to other OSes.
Windows typically has better and new drivers than other OSes as well but there isn't the difference it once was.

[seangermany 5]

30 tuners??  What are you using?

Is this cable or OTA?

I don't know if I need 30, but I need more than 3.   

[Carlo 4560]

Total overkill and part just to see if I could do it.

A couple are for testing only so I can access one of my OTA tuners via m3u from NextPVR.  In my main residence I've got several prime tuners for cable, I have a few OTA HDHomeRun tuners, I have a vBox OTA as well. I have antennas pointed at Philadelphia , AC and another high gain antenna pointed toward Baltimore Md. I also have Channels DVR setup and can get LOCAST through that as well as TVEverywhere.

Then I have a bunch of tuners or CDVR setups in different family properties around the country that I can access and record from.
My family are sports nuts and we like a variety of teams so this way we can almost always watch our favorite teams.  If it were not for sports I wouldn't have this setup.

Since it's almost all OTA outside my house this gets my family the sports coverage it wants and is much cheaper (now) than getting different sports packages from a local cable or sat provider.

[seangermany 5]

Must be nice. 

Anyway, between my 2nd prime and some small changes in operation - I think I'm good.

Thanks again for the assistance.

[canada99 9]

To be fair I tested out different settings options etc and exhausted just about every idea I could think of. I got iptv running with almost no glitches by using the external player option on my android tv using vlc as the external player. Still glitches on roku's so I swapped them out for fire sticks and set direct play also using vlc as external player works great. When I run  iptv on my linux emby server it plays with no glitches on all devices.

@cayars 30 tuners, you remind me of someone 

 

 

[Carlo 4560]

LOL, that's funny!

I feel exactly like that some times.