Resume stops after 30 seconds

[abailes 1]

Hi,

I posted this back in March, didn't get a good answer, went over to Jellyfin and found worse issues (the same ones I used to have with Plex), so I'm trying to make Emby work again.  Please help!

I'm having a annoyingly intermittent, but persistent, problem with my server and playing of files not from the beginning.  It is most noticeable when I try and resume playing a TV show, but it sometimes happens when I fast forward a show too.  This is happening amongst a number of different playback devices.

The problem is that it will play happily for somewhere between 15 and 45 seconds and then stop.  It feels like it just stops transmitting from the server to the device.  If I pause and play again, nothing happens.  If I choose a different Quality setting, it will do the same thing - play for 15 to 45 seconds or so and stop.  

Thoughts so far:

1) This is not a limits setting, none of the settings boxes have a number in

2) Some of my devices at home do Direct Streaming, others Transcode.  This is a Transcode issue only.  I have a feeling Transcoding happens where my device has a poor wifi chip (like my 3-year old tablet).  If I turn Transcoding off, then those devices do not play properly (audio plays, but video immediately freezes). 

3) I have watched the Transcode buffer on the server (in the device on the server dashboard) whilst watching the show and it all looks great, it is transcoding happily quicker than it is playing.  But when it hits a certain point - usually when the buffer is between 1:30 and 2:00 where the show just stops on the device.

4) I have recently ticked the "Enable Throttling" and I have ensured that my transcode folder is on a drive with lots of space.  Neither has had any effect. 

This doesn't seem like a big issue, but it is really restricting my use of Emby.  I don't want to start watching a show unless I am sure I am going to be able to see the end of it. 

Any thoughts would be very welcome

Thanks

Edited May 3, 2021 by abailes

[pwhodges 2012]

If you post the server and ffmpeg logs from the time around the failure, then someone can try to diagnose why this is happening to you.

Paul

[abailes 1]

Thanks, I just generated an error and here are the files. From my basic reading of it, the problem occurred at 8:42:02 local time.

I didn't touch the tablet during the playback.

 

ffmpeg-transcode-4b0ec085-2f56-4d44-b198-0a7f3cec47d8_1.txt embyserver.txt

[Carlo 4561]

Hi, Transcode looks good and plenty fast enough.

Is this a WIFI device?  If so try this again in very close proximity to the WIFI router to rule out a signal issue.

[abailes 1]

Yeah, it happens on multiple devices and I have no problem on this device with YouTube / Netflix etc.  I was also 4ft from the router when I tested this morning.   I think I can safely rule out a signal problem, thanks.

[Carlo 4561]

Do you have the ability to try any of those devices using Ethernet vs WIFI to rule that out?

[abailes 1]

I don't.  It happens on my tablet and on multiple Amazon Firesticks, none of which have ethernet ports.  But it always happens 20-50 seconds into the resume.  It has been happening for months like this.  It doesn't happen on my phone or on my laptop which playback using direct play.  I never have any signal issue on any external streaming service and I have no signal issue when I start a show/movie from the beginning - or indeed I do not have a notable delay when I resume the file (when it is transcoding the beginning).

I have a mesh of Google Nest routers around the house and I have strong signal everywhere.  My Emby server is connected by Ethernet (via a small switch) into the main Google Nest wifi router.

Unless it is possible that there is something odd about the interaction between the wifi signal and the Emby app on the tablet, I think it is something else.

[Carlo 4561]

It does sound like something else.  But just out of curiosity on one of those "problem" devices what kind of speed do you get at speedtest.net for both up and down?

[abailes 1]

Thanks.  I'm getting over 20Mb up and down on that tablet.  A fraction of my home speed, but still plenty. 

As part of this conversation, I realised I should test what it was like on my tablet if I used the browser, not the Emby Android app.  Unfortunately, it was direct playing and did not have this issue.

[Carlo 4561]

So same device plays back direct in a web browser but doesn't using the app?

Which browser was this?

[abailes 1]

Yes, exactly (this is news to me today too...).  I've just done an instant comparison on the two.

This is using Emby for Android 3.1.92 and Google Chrome on a 3 year old Samsung Galaxy Tab E. 

[Carlo 4561]

I would check the option set in the Android app then as something doesn't sound right.

[abailes 1]

Thanks Cayars.  I had chosen limits on the download speeds / quality on my tablet in previous efforts to fix this.  Setting both back to Auto and it is direct playing.  It still doesn't explain why transcoding would cause the issues I'm seeing, but at least I can use it again.  I'm going to explore this issue in a bit with my Firesticks and come back to the forums if I still have an issue.  Thanks again.

[Luke 42083]

That's right, it doesn't explain it. If you really want to dig deeper, then as a test you could try disabling hardware transcoding in server transcoding settings and see how that compares.