Playback issues with Samsung TV and iPad

[aarpat 1]

I am running emby in a docker container on ubuntu server.  Playback works fine when I access it through a browser on my win10 desktop.  However, when I try to play videos using the emby app on my samsung tv (tizen) or using chrome on my ipad, files either do not play (the spinning wheel never ends after hitting play) or start and stop (the file plays for a few seconds, then stops for a few seconds, and that repeats).  I can browse through emby without issues.  And it looks like it is not a transcoding issue--the stats for nerds menu on my tv shows directplay.  I do not believe it is a networking issue (the win10 machine is wired, while the tv and ipad are wireless) since I can watch the tv shows without issue using other apps.

My log file is attached.  I ran into both versions of this issue earlier.  Around 1:37 am UTC, I navigated to a tv show.  When I tried to play, it got stuck on the spinning wheel.  I tried again with the same result.  I tried once more, and then the video played; but would stop every 5-20 seconds for 5-10 seconds with the spinning wheel showing.

Thanks in advance for the help.

embyserver.txt

Edited February 9, 2021 by aarpat

[Abobader 3464]

Hello aarpat,

Please wait for someone from staff support or our members to reply to you.

It's recommended to provide more info, as it explain in this thread:

Thank you.

Emby Team

[Luke 42078]

Hi there, was there an ffmpeg log? Can you please attach that as well? Thanks.

[aarpat 1]

Hi Luke, I couldn't find an ffmpeg log that covered that period.  There was a log that started at 1:47 UTC, right after I gave up trying to play the file on the tv and started playing it through a browser on a laptop.  That log is attached.

If it is abnormal that there is no ffmpeg log, I can try to reproduce the issue and see if the log shows up.  Just let me know if that would be useful.

ffmpeg-remux-602b8e3a-5010-4c62-9ab4-7b72b33e1601_1.txt

[Luke 42078]

Can you try lowering the in-app quality setting so that the server does a full transcode and see if that helps? Thanks.

[aarpat 1]

Thanks, Luke.  I tried lowering the home network quality to varying levels, and playback for my test show worked once I hit 1080p-4Mbps.  Anything higher than that resulted in the spinning wheel.  Unfortunately, I used that same setting on a different show, and the spinning wheel issue returned (even when I lowered further to 720p-4Mbps).  The source media is 720p-5Mbps for the first show and 1080p-16Mbps for the second show, and the tv is UN50KU6300, in case that matters.  And attached is the log (again, no ffmpeg log for the period).  The relevant time is ~2:11 UTC.

embyserver.txt

[Happy2Play 9780]

One thing that looks confusing to me is the responses IP appears to be the same for both clients.

Info Server: http/1.1 Response 200 to 192.168.1.1

 

[aarpat 1]

I'm not well versed enough to understand the logs.  But the emby server is 192.168.1.50 and the tv is 192.168.1.169.

[Happy2Play 9780]

7 minutes ago, aarpat said:

and the tv is 192.168.1.169.

But I am not seeing this IP in either log anywhere.

[aarpat 1]

That's very odd.  I'm not sure why that's happening, but emby loads on the tv and I can browse all my files.  It looks like accessing emby from my desktop doesn't have that same issue (the correct IP shows up).  Do you think that has something to do with the playback issue?  Is it worthwhile deleting and reinstalling the emby app on the tv?

[Happy2Play 9780]

I honestly don't know. 

@Lukeany reason almost all responses would come from 192.168.1.1 instead of actual client?

[Luke 42078]

Reverse proxy configuration. Are you using a reverse proxy?

[aarpat 1]

No.  I just have a standard Linksys router running a dhcp server that does all the networking.

[Carlo 4561]

By any chance is your Server connected by Ethernet but the client via WIFI?

If so it depends on the WIFI setup as it could run everything through the router main IP.
Kind of like some routers have a GUEST NETWORK that does this as well but could show the router inside or WAN address.

But with the internal IP address it shouldn't be applying any bitrate limits.

If your TV is on WIFI how far is it from the Wifi AP/Router?
Using 2.4 or 5GHz?

Edited February 12, 2021 by cayars

[aarpat 1]

Yes, the server is connected by ethernet and the tv by wifi, although everything is internal (I do not allow wan access to the server).  The tv is roughly 25 feet from the router, without any walls or obstructions, and it uses 5 ghz.  The tv connection doesn't look that great according to the router (2 of 4 bars right now), but a speed test shows it gets ~40 mbps down.

[Carlo 4561]

This to me would be wear I'd focus my trouble shooting.  If your download is only 40Mb on a large file and if the slowdown is due to latency then this will be much worse with small segment files and general "chit chat" communications that take place.

You may want to try using other 5GHz channels as the one you're using might be getting interference.
The ultimate test would be if you could connect the TV via Ethernet at least temporary to test that way for a definitive network test.  This could be done using a long Ethernet cable, moving the TV to the router area or moving the Emby Server and stuff over to the TV.

[pwhodges 2012]

If the TV can be switched to use 2.4GHz wifi, that might well get you a better signal - I'd try that first, as it's the easiest (unless you have a long ethernet cable lying around, which I guess not so many people have).  In spite of the limited channels, my experience is that in typical circumstances 2.4GHz is a better bet than 5GHz.

Paul

[nmkaufman 50]

Does the server have a wifi adapter, by any chance?

Manually enter 192.168.1.50 as your local IP address in the dashboard, and see if that helps.

Dashboard>Server>Network>Local IP Address, and then save at the bottom.

[Carlo 4561]

No don't do that.  You don't want the server routing packets through WIFI if there is an Ethernet connection.
Keep WIFI turned off on the Server!

@aarpat BTW, unless someone has asked you to turn on DEBUG turn this off.
It's only needed in specific situations but shouldn't be left on for normal use.

Edited February 13, 2021 by cayars

[nmkaufman 50]

4 minutes ago, cayars said:

No don't do that.

Right. They said their server is .50; so manually binding Emby to .50 will avoid Emby responding to requests over Wifi/other adapters.

Edited February 13, 2021 by nmkaufman

[Carlo 4561]

Not sure I follow what you're getting at.  It's already bound to .50 or it wouldn't show up in the logs.

[nmkaufman 50]

39 minutes ago, cayars said:

Not sure I follow what you're getting at. 

I was only thinking it may circumvent whatever packet switching the router seems to be doing, and was worth a shot.

My server has several virtual  adapters, and manually binding Emby to the correct IP did solve some spooky intermittent playback problems in the past.

 

edit: I did some testing, and manually assigning an IP address doesn't work like I thought; Emby still responds to alternate IP's and isn't actually 'bound' at all.

Edited February 13, 2021 by nmkaufman

[aarpat 1]

@cayars Thanks for the suggestions.  I will try to rework the networking to see if that's the issue.  I can either switch to another 5 ghz channel or switch to 2.4 ghz (thanks, @pwhodges).  I will see if I have a long ethernet cord that I can connect temporarily too.  I'll test these out and report back.

I also turned off debugging mode for the logs.

@nmkaufman The server does not have a wifi adapter, so that's not an option.

[nmkaufman 50]

apropos of nothing, my dad has a linksys wrt3200acm that's connected by ethernet to a vizio smart tv with built in chromecast

wireless clients cannot find this tv. there's definitely some strangeness with respect to the way linksys handles wired/wireless bridging

he has no guest network. i used to know my way around linksys/tomato/dd-wrt firmware, and I can find nothing wrong

it may be worth borrowing a different router, to see if that might be the issue

Asus seem to be fairly foolproof

Edited February 14, 2021 by nmkaufman

[Carlo 4561]

If you want an extra set of eyes to look at your router/lan setup let me know as we can do a remote session to assist you.

PS I run ASUS myself but have at least half a dozen different vendor routers on hand so I'm pretty familiar with most brands.