Server Version#: 1.13.9.5456 - Mac
Player Version#: 1.34.1 - Apple TV 4K, TVOS 12.1
When trying to watch live TV via HDHomeRun (cablecard version) on Apple TV or iOS, I get the following error message no matter what channel:
"Playback was terminated by the server
Conversion failed. The transcoded exited due to an error. "
This started yesterday, and I cannot figure out the cause. Watching recorded shows and movies works without a hitch - this is only when trying to watch a live show.
I dumped the server logs, but I’m not sure which ones will be useful and there are many. This snippet looks useful from the “Plex Media Server.log” file:
Nov 07, 2018 22:10:10.637 [0x7000009ca000] DEBUG - [Now] Device is tvOS (Living Room).
Nov 07, 2018 22:10:10.637 [0x7000009ca000] DEBUG - [Now] Profile is tvOS
Nov 07, 2018 22:10:10.637 [0x7000009ca000] DEBUG - [Now] Updated play state for /livetv/sessions/d65b8c67-2081-4e38-b4b9-4997cbefbe35.
Nov 07, 2018 22:10:10.639 [0x7000009ca000] DEBUG - Statistics: (8E213DE8-E16F-4B0B-B547-DF7FEA17A389) Reporting active playback in state 2 of type 12 (scrobble: 0) for account 1
Nov 07, 2018 22:10:10.643 [0x700000841000] DEBUG - Completed: [10.0.1.7:58658] 200 GET /photo/:/transcode?height=512&minSize=0&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftmsimg.plex.tv%2Fassets%2Fp935636_b_v5_at.jpg&width=512 (10 live) TLS GZIP 15ms 30795 bytes (pipelined: 10)
Nov 07, 2018 22:10:10.644 [0x7000007be000] DEBUG - Completed: [10.0.1.7:58657] 200 GET /:/timeline?bufferedTime=0&duration=10800000&key=%2Flivetv%2Fsessions%2Fd65b8c67-2081-4e38-b4b9-4997cbefbe35&location=lan&playbackTime=0&ratingKey=10568&state=buffering&time=0 (10 live) TLS GZIP 25ms 814 bytes (pipelined: 12)
Nov 07, 2018 22:10:10.651 [0x7000006b8000] DEBUG - Jobs: '/Applications/Plex Media Server.app/Contents/MacOS/Plex Transcoder' exit code for process 958 is 1 (failure)
Nov 07, 2018 22:10:10.651 [0x700000fee000] DEBUG - Using default transcode duration of 120 minutes
Nov 07, 2018 22:10:10.651 [0x700000ee8000] DEBUG - Streaming Resource: Terminating session 0x7fbce5a89b70:8E213DE8-E16F-4B0B-B547-DF7FEA17A389 which is using transcoder slot. Used slots is now 0
Nov 07, 2018 22:10:10.651 [0x700000fee000] DEBUG - Started session successfully: 22091BFE-D8C8-4915-A938-F5C2543AC11D
Nov 07, 2018 22:10:10.651 [0x700000ee8000] DEBUG - Streaming Resource: Terminated session 0x7fbce5a89b70:8E213DE8-E16F-4B0B-B547-DF7FEA17A389 with reason Conversion failed. The transcoder exited due to an error.
Nov 07, 2018 22:10:10.651 [0x7000002a0000] DEBUG - Killing job.
Nov 07, 2018 22:10:10.651 [0x7000002a0000] DEBUG - Signalling job ID 958 with 9
Nov 07, 2018 22:10:10.651 [0x7000002a0000] DEBUG - Job was already killed, not killing again.
Nov 07, 2018 22:10:10.651 [0x7000002a0000] DEBUG - Stopping transcode session 22091BFE-D8C8-4915-A938-F5C2543AC11D
Nov 07, 2018 22:10:10.652 [0x7000008c4000]
Plex Media Server: 1.13.9.5456 - Ubuntu 64bit
Player Version: 1.34.1 - AppleTV 4k, tvOS 12.1
I just wanted to report that I was experiencing the same issue as you while trying to tune into any TV channel. I tried restarting the server, then the tvOS app but neither worked. At this point, streaming via Plex’s web client from a laptop worked. Also using another client to the HDHomeRun worked (to isolate the tuner).
The good news is that after downgrading Plex Media Server to 1.13.8.5395 TV streaming is working again. So I think the issue was introduced with 1.13.9.5456.
Thanks for the info. Now I guess I just need to figure out how to downgrade the server version… or maybe just use “InstaTV” on Apple TV to watch my HDHomeRun until a fixed version of Plex Server shows up.
Considering we pay for this service, I wish there was better support. There’s no way to figure out if or when a Plex employee will read any of these posts and whether or not they will fix things or already have and we’re just waiting for the newest release. Employees sometimes seem to take interest in a certain issue, then they ask for server logs. Other times, no replies happen at all. Even open-source projects have far better bug reporting methods than Plex currently does.
Can somebody explain to me how Plex support works? I see a new post on the Plex Server forum for linux with a transcoding error. Within less than a day, Plex employees are helping the person out trying to find a resolution. I posted this problem 6 days ago, with others verifying they are experiencing the same issue. Result? No response. Is there a magic code to put into your support request in order to get somebody to notice?
I noticed that a new version of PMS (1.14.0.5465) was released so I gave that a go but unfortunately it still does not allow me to watch any TV channels through the AppleTV. Again, at this point, I was successful viewing TV from the PMS web client and through the HDHomeRun app from my laptop. I have saved the server logs and can supply when needed.
I’ve again gone back to 1.13.8.5395 to get TV streaming back.
I’m not sure how support works either. How would we get the attention of Plex staff? Maybe it needs to be cross posted/moved to the PMS group?
Any updates on this problem? I have the latest version on pms on my Mac mini and cannot yet play live tv on the Apple TV. I can’t believe that this is not a universal problem. After letting the gear spin for a while upon selecting a live stream to watch, I finally escape out of it and the Apple TV shows a dialog that a recording session could not be initiated.
Just tried PMS 1.14.1.5487 and have mixed results. Some TV channels now stream via the AppleTV, yet others will not. I can’t seem to distinguish between them. That said, some times it takes several stop and starts (eg start a channel, wait for it to spin several times to load, cancel, start the same channel again - and repeat) for the channel to stream. At this time, similar to other times, streaming via the PMS web client and using a third party app worked first go.
It’s just unreliable that I’ve gone back to 1.13.8.5395 again and am happy streaming TV.
Since last post, the Apple TV Plex client has auto updated to the latest as I am now using the updated player.
I just updated to the latest server version to try it. I get the following message when trying to watch a channel:
“Playback was terminated by the server
Recording failed. Please check your tuner or antenna.”
I was just watching something today on the old version without issue. Looks like another version without a fix for this. Downgrade time again I guess. I’ve attached a server log here. Plex Media Server Logs_2018-12-15_17-41-21.zip (1.9 MB)
Has anybody tried 1.14.1.5488 yet? This fix caught my attention as possibly referring to this issue:
“(DVR) Revert timeout changes, should help with timeouts during tune startup (#9473)”
Maybe it’s timing out which is causing the problem? I won’t be able to update for a week, so I’ll watch the forum to see whether it will be worth it next week when I would be able to do so.
That caught my eye as well. Was just going to give it a try, but wanted to check the forums to see if you (or anyone else) reported success. I am so glad I archive the PMS downloads…
@SuperMatt Your PMS is on Mac, yes? I am running on Ubuntu (but also have Mac available although the HD Homerun is not configured on it)
I also have tried 5488 now. Same problem. Since I can watch live TV on the Mac player app with the current version but not on Apple TV or iOS, and since the 5395 version works with Apple TV and iOS, it must be an incompatibility between the versions newer than 5395 and the Apple TV and iOS apps specifically. Hope this can be narrowed down and solved soon. For those solving the issues, please note this appears to only affect live TV. Recorded shows work fine.
I have seen the same results as you @SuperMatt. I will add that if I start streaming LiveTV on something other than tvOS, and then try the same channel on tvOS, the stream will launch without your ‘workaround’. Maybe something in the transcoding engine, or a call specific to tvOS… Beyond me at this point, although I am happy to provide any logs that may help assist squashing this damn bug.
Any updates on this issue? I received an Apple TV (1080HD) for Christmas and was excited to finally be able to use the Plex Live TV feature with the Apple TV Plex client. I got it all set up with my Plex server (HDHomeRun tuner) and it’s very hit or miss. So far I have only been able to get one channel to load. What gives? I’m a lifetime Plex Pass account holder. HELP! Thanks
@pbirke your experience appears to be similar to ours. Try to see if you can get Plex Media Server 1.13.8.5395 which was the last known good version. We’re all Plex Pass members and are awaiting a new release that will address our issue but I don’t think we’ve had any acknowledgement about this issue from Plex support yet - so unfortunately, not sure how long we’ll be waiting.
We would love an update on this issue. I still cannot watch Live TV on my Apple TV or iOS devices while using a Mac server version newer than 1.13.8.5395. To review, the error is:
“Playback was terminated by the server
Recording failed. Please check your tuner or antenna.”
Just knowing you are aware of this thread and working on it would be welcome.
