[BUG] PMS v1.1+ (Including latest 1.50) misidentifies audio track therefore no transcoding works

Plex Media Server Plex Pass Betas
1

Since version 1.1 of PMS , all my video files get misidentified audio track therefore I cant transcode them for iPhone or iPad.
PMS 0.9.16 identifies correctly the audio - hence i’m stuck with that version for ages now.

MediaInfo and VLC identify the audio track as MPEG2 (correctly) while PMS v.1.33 thinks it’s mp3 (false) and it tries to directplay to iPhone and iPad ( which obviously doesnt work as iOS doesnt support MPEG2 Audio )

Example File here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2pLkasbefjMWm9xeDAwYnNSMFk/view?usp=sharing

MediaInfo (audio track identified as MPEG2):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Mediainfo version="0.7.89">
<File>
<track type="General">
<CompleteName>Z:\recorded_tv\ScoobyDoo Mecha Mutt Menace\2016\ScoobyDoo Mecha Mutt Menace  03291600.mp4</CompleteName>
<Format>MPEG-4</Format>
<Format_Profile>Base Media</Format_Profile>
<CodecID_String>isom (isom/iso2/mp41)</CodecID_String>
<FileSize_String>872 MiB</FileSize_String>
<Duration_String>32 min 41 s</Duration_String>
<OverallBitRate_Mode_String>Variable</OverallBitRate_Mode_String>
<OverallBitRate_String>3 731 kb/s</OverallBitRate_String>
<Season>2016</Season>
<Movie> (Tue, Mar 29)</Movie>
<Genre>Boomerang</Genre>
<ContentType>TV Show</ContentType>
<Recorded_Date>2016-3-29</Recorded_Date>
<Tagged_Date>UTC 2016-03-29 14:34:28</Tagged_Date>
<Encoded_Application_String>Scooby-Doo! Mecha Mutt Menace</Encoded_Application_String>
<Copyright>Season 2016</Copyright>
<LongDescription>The gang visits a Science Expo and find a revolutionary remote-controlled lunar rover, resembling a large dog, is out of control.</LongDescription>
</track>

<track type="Video">
<ID_String>2</ID_String>
<Format>MPEG Video</Format>
<Format_Version>Version 2</Format_Version>
<Format_Profile>Main@Main</Format_Profile>
<Format_Settings_BVOP_String>Yes</Format_Settings_BVOP_String>
<Format_Settings_Matrix_String>Custom</Format_Settings_Matrix_String>
<Format_Settings_GOP>Variable</Format_Settings_GOP>
<Format_Settings_PictureStructure>Frame</Format_Settings_PictureStructure>
<CodecID>61</CodecID>
<Duration_String>32 min 40 s</Duration_String>
<BitRate_Mode_String>Variable</BitRate_Mode_String>
<BitRate_String>3 535 kb/s</BitRate_String>
<BitRate_Maximum_String>15.0 Mb/s</BitRate_Maximum_String>
<Width_String>544 pixels</Width_String>
<Height_String>576 pixels</Height_String>
<DisplayAspectRatio_String>16:9</DisplayAspectRatio_String>
<DisplayAspectRatio_Original_String>16:9</DisplayAspectRatio_Original_String>
<FrameRate_Mode_String>Variable</FrameRate_Mode_String>
<FrameRate_String>24.896 FPS</FrameRate_String>
<FrameRate_Minimum_String>0.123 FPS</FrameRate_Minimum_String>
<FrameRate_Maximum_String>90 000.000 FPS</FrameRate_Maximum_String>
<FrameRate_Original_String>25.000 FPS</FrameRate_Original_String>
<ColorSpace>YUV</ColorSpace>
<ChromaSubsampling_String>4:2:0</ChromaSubsampling_String>
<BitDepth_String>8 bits</BitDepth_String>
<ScanType_String>Interlaced</ScanType_String>
<ScanOrder_String>Top Field First</ScanOrder_String>
<Compression_Mode_String>Lossy</Compression_Mode_String>
<Bits_Pixel_Frame_>0.453</Bits_Pixel_Frame_>
<StreamSize_String>826 MiB (95%)</StreamSize_String>
</track>

<track type="Audio">
<ID_String>1</ID_String>
<Format>MPEG Audio</Format>
<Format_Version>Version 1</Format_Version>
<Format_Profile>Layer 2</Format_Profile>
<CodecID>6B</CodecID>
<Duration_String>32 min 41 s</Duration_String>
<BitRate_Mode_String>Constant</BitRate_Mode_String>
<BitRate_String>192 kb/s</BitRate_String>
<Channel_s__String>2 channels</Channel_s__String>
<SamplingRate_String>48.0 kHz</SamplingRate_String>
<Compression_Mode_String>Lossy</Compression_Mode_String>
<StreamSize_String>44.7 MiB (5%)</StreamSize_String>
<Language_String>English</Language_String>
<Default_String>Yes</Default_String>
<AlternateGroup_String>1</AlternateGroup_String>
</track>

</File>
</Mediainfo>

Plex v0.9.16 (audio track identified as MPEG2):

<MediaContainer size="1" allowSync="1" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library" librarySectionID="15" librarySectionTitle="TV" librarySectionUUID="83c464e8-5d2b-44bf-bc94-e4273bb49f00" mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/" mediaTagVersion="1461326894">
<Video ratingKey="81431" key="/library/metadata/81431" parentRatingKey="81430" grandparentRatingKey="81429" guid="com.plexapp.agents.none://81429/2016/1?lang=xn" librarySectionID="15" type="episode" title=" (Tue, Mar 29)" titleSort="Tue, Mar 29)" grandparentKey="/library/metadata/81429" parentKey="/library/metadata/81430" grandparentTitle="Scoobydoo Mecha Mutt Menace" summary="The gang visits a Science Expo and find a revolutionary remote-controlled lunar rover, resembling a large dog, is out of control." index="1" parentIndex="2016" year="2016" thumb="/library/metadata/81431/thumb/1483558454" art="/library/metadata/81429/art/1483558454" parentThumb="/library/metadata/81430/thumb/1483558454" grandparentThumb="/library/metadata/81429/thumb/1483558454" grandparentArt="/library/metadata/81429/art/1483558454" duration="1961136" originallyAvailableAt="2016-03-29" addedAt="1459262074" updatedAt="1483558454" chapterSource="">
<Media videoResolution="480" id="128727" duration="1961136" bitrate="3731" width="544" height="576" aspectRatio="1.78" audioChannels="2" audioCodec="mp2" videoCodec="mpeg2video" container="mp4" videoFrameRate="PAL" optimizedForStreaming="1" has64bitOffsets="0" videoProfile="main">
<Part accessible="1" exists="1" id="129138" key="/library/parts/129138/file.mp4" duration="1961136" file="E:\recorded_tv\ScoobyDoo Mecha Mutt Menace\2016\ScoobyDoo Mecha Mutt Menace 03291600.mp4" size="914529375" container="mp4" has64bitOffsets="0" optimizedForStreaming="1" videoProfile="main">
<Stream id="198281" streamType="1" default="1" codec="mpeg2video" index="1" bitrate="3535" anamorphic="1" bitDepth="8" chromaSubsampling="4:2:0" codecID="61" colorRange="tv" duration="1960760" frameRate="24.896" frameRateMode="vfr" height="576" pixelAspectRatio="32:17" pixelFormat="yuv420p" profile="main" scanType="interlaced" streamIdentifier="2" width="544"/>
<Stream id="198280" streamType="2" selected="1" default="1" codec="mp2" index="0" channels="2" bitrate="192" language="English" languageCode="eng" audioChannelLayout="stereo" bitrateMode="cbr" codecID="6B" duration="1961136" samplingRate="48000" streamIdentifier="1"/>
</Part>
</Media>
<Extras size="0"></Extras>
</Video>
</MediaContainer>

Plex v1.33 (audio track identified as MP3 -> wrong):

      <MediaContainer size="1" allowSync="1" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library" librarySectionID="3" librarySectionTitle="Movies" librarySectionUUID="62075288-1945-4778-bfdb-39257fc03c3f" mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/" mediaTagVersion="1481837822">
<Video ratingKey="1425" key="/library/metadata/1425" guid="com.plexapp.agents.none://95974689b10e964d87a722c1983160b225f6dc43?lang=xn" librarySectionID="3" studio="Season 2016" type="movie" title="ScoobyDoo Mecha Mutt Menace 03291600" summary="The gang visits a Science Expo and find a revolutionary remote-controlled lunar rover, resembling a large dog, is out of control." year="2016" thumb="/library/metadata/1425/thumb/1483823547" art="/library/metadata/1425/art/1483823547" duration="1961136" originallyAvailableAt="2016-03-29" addedAt="1459262074" updatedAt="1483823547" createdAtAccuracy="epoch" createdAtTZOffset="-25200">
<Media videoResolution="480" id="1184" duration="1961136" bitrate="3731" width="544" height="576" aspectRatio="1.78" audioChannels="2" audioCodec="mp3" videoCodec="mpeg2video" container="mp4" videoFrameRate="PAL" optimizedForStreaming="1" has64bitOffsets="0" videoProfile="main">
<Part accessible="1" exists="1" id="1184" key="/library/parts/1184/1459262074/file.mp4" duration="1961136" file="Z:\recorded_tv\ScoobyDoo Mecha Mutt Menace\2016\ScoobyDoo Mecha Mutt Menace 03291600.mp4" size="914529375" container="mp4" deepAnalysisVersion="2" has64bitOffsets="0" optimizedForStreaming="1" requiredBandwidths="3731,3731,3731,3731,3731,3731,3731,3731" videoProfile="main">
<Stream id="1948" streamType="1" default="1" codec="mpeg2video" index="1" bitrate="3535" anamorphic="1" bitDepth="8" chromaSubsampling="4:2:0" colorRange="tv" frameRate="24.896" height="576" level="8" pixelAspectRatio="32:17" profile="main" refFrames="1" requiredBandwidths="3541,3541,3541,3541,3541,3541,3541,3541" streamIdentifier="2" width="544"/>
<Stream id="1947" streamType="2" selected="1" default="1" codec="mp3" index="0" channels="2" bitrate="191" language="English" languageCode="eng" audioChannelLayout="stereo" requiredBandwidths="192,192,192,192,192,192,192,192" samplingRate="48000" streamIdentifier="1"/>
</Part>
</Media>
<Genre id="9" tag="Boomerang"/>
<Extras size="0"></Extras>
</Video>
</MediaContainer>
2

This is still a bug , even in v1.50

Are you interested in fixing it at all or should i just give up ?

3

Please post a smaller sample file.

4

I have forwarded this information on.

5

@rcombs said:
Please post a smaller sample file.

Were you able to get the file ? If not, i’ll make a shorter recording tomorrow but i thought 800mb in this day and age is 5 minute download, max … no ?

Btw, I saw your badge ‘transcoder engineer’ … i’m not so sure its transcoder issue as such - it’s mostly scanner/file analyzer issue. Issue is that PMS identifies the audio track as MP3 when in fact its MP2. ( which 0.9 v of PMS correctly identified, just like VLC, MediaInfo etc … )

6

@wally007 I have filled an internal issue regarding this. I cannot provide an ETA on a fix, but I have reproduced the behaviour you are seeing, using the sample provided.

7

Thanks.
I will keep testing each new release :slight_smile: but for now version 0.9.16.6 works like a treat.

8

@wally007 I have filled an internal issue regarding this. I cannot provide an ETA on a fix, but I have reproduced the behaviour you are seeing, using the sample provided.

Still not working with 1.61.

Now I’ve noticed I’m not able to use PlexWeb outside my house because my PMS is outdated. But it’s outdated because of this bug.
I dont think it should be so hard to fix. Just make sure PMS analyzes file properly - then the encoder will do the job properly. As it is, PMS v1.0+ always analyzes audio as mp3 instead of mp2. VLC, MediaInfo, older PMS is able to properly recognize the audio track …

9

@chrisallen said:
@wally007 I have filled an internal issue regarding this. I cannot provide an ETA on a fix, but I have reproduced the behaviour you are seeing, using the sample provided.

PMS version 1.73 is still not recognizing the audio track properly.
Does it really take 6 months to fix this issue?
I mean PMS 0.9, VLC & MediaInfo all recognize video files properly yet it takes you guys half a year (and counting) to fix this … Thanks for support :-1:

10

As someone who has developed software, and work in a software company, sometimes the easiest things to fix on the surface, are actually very complicated. Perhaps the “fix” took a day to complete, but broke compatibility with other players?
Once the fix is completed, they make need to update all of the players before that version can be released. Then you have the QA process, etc to consider.
Software is hard.

11

@identd said:
As someone who has developed software, and work in a software company, sometimes the easiest things to fix on the surface, are actually very complicated. Perhaps the “fix” took a day to complete, but broke compatibility with other players?
Once the fix is completed, they make need to update all of the players before that version can be released. Then you have the QA process, etc to consider.
Software is hard.

I work as a trading exchange software analyst. I think I have an idea of what’s involved but i digress …

12

This will be fixed in the next Plex Media Server beta release.

13

any word on this fix?