DVR Uses All Tuners For One Show Before Stopping

[auntphil]

Server Version#: 1.18.9.2578
Tuner Make/Model: HDHomeRun Connect

While using the DVR, Plex will record anywhere from minutes to seconds of a show and then stop. It shows the recording was cancelled, but it wasn’t. The Plex logs show it starting correctly but hitting errors with transcoding (Possibly). There are also network messages (Possibly an issue), which is odd because the system is hard wired and works fine when watching live TV.

The HDHomeRun Connect Log shows Plex requesting both tuners. Plex gains one tuner at the start of the show, then 4 minutes later gets the second tuner, then 5 minutes later tries to get another tuner but all are filled.

I originally thought it was Malwarebytes killing the process, so I removed it. But the problem is still occurring. I am at a loss on what is causing the issue.

Both logs have been trimmed to only show the times in question. Note the time on the Connect is different than the PMS Log. But both are showing the same event.

Plex Media Server Snippet.log (666.7 KB)
HDHomeRun Connect.log (668 Bytes)

[pshanew]

I don’t know if it’s the problem, but you’ve definitely got something strange going on with your network. The Plex server is connecting to the tuner from its link-local IP address (169.254.136.236); presumably the tuner is using a link-local IP address as well (169.254.169.89 perhaps).

Link-local IP addresses are generally used when a network interface is configured for automatic configuration (DHCP) and it is unable to obtain an IP address. This could happen, for example, if you had the HDHomeRun connected directly to a network interface on your PC. Or if that interface on the PC and the HDHomeRun were connected to a separate LAN without a DHCP server.

Like I said, I’m not sure if it’s the cause of the problem; but HDHomeRun tuners are intended to be able to connect to the Internet; this may explain why the timestamps are off in your HDHomeRun log. I think there are ways to work around that (Internet connection sharing on the PC, for example) but I’m not sure how well-supported they are.

That “issue” aside, there does appear to have been a transcode. And your logs show that the network is bouncing:

Apr 03, 2020 11:02:10.076 [10508] DEBUG - Network change.
Apr 03, 2020 11:02:10.076 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkInterface: Notified of network changed (force=0)
Apr 03, 2020 11:02:10.176 [10508] DEBUG - Network interfaces:
Apr 03, 2020 11:02:10.176 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Got notification of changed network (first change: 0)
Apr 03, 2020 11:02:10.176 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Dispatch network change after two second delay.
Apr 03, 2020 11:02:10.176 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Got notification of changed network (first change: 0)
Apr 03, 2020 11:02:10.176 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Dispatch network change after two second delay.
Apr 03, 2020 11:02:10.176 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Got notification of changed network (first change: 0)
Apr 03, 2020 11:02:10.176 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Dispatch network change after two second delay.
Apr 03, 2020 11:02:10.176 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Got notification of changed network (first change: 0)
Apr 03, 2020 11:02:10.176 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Dispatch network change after two second delay.
Apr 03, 2020 11:02:10.176 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Got notification of changed network (first change: 0)
Apr 03, 2020 11:02:10.176 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Dispatch network change after two second delay.
Apr 03, 2020 11:02:10.176 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Got notification of changed network (first change: 0)
Apr 03, 2020 11:02:10.176 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Dispatch network change after two second delay.

And:

Apr 03, 2020 11:07:00.409 [10508] DEBUG - Network change.
Apr 03, 2020 11:07:00.409 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkInterface: Notified of network changed (force=0)
Apr 03, 2020 11:07:00.506 [10508] DEBUG - Network interfaces:
Apr 03, 2020 11:07:00.506 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Got notification of changed network (first change: 0)
Apr 03, 2020 11:07:00.506 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Dispatch network change after two second delay.
Apr 03, 2020 11:07:00.506 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Got notification of changed network (first change: 0)
Apr 03, 2020 11:07:00.506 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Dispatch network change after two second delay.
Apr 03, 2020 11:07:00.506 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Got notification of changed network (first change: 0)
Apr 03, 2020 11:07:00.506 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Dispatch network change after two second delay.
Apr 03, 2020 11:07:00.506 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Got notification of changed network (first change: 0)
Apr 03, 2020 11:07:00.506 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Dispatch network change after two second delay.
Apr 03, 2020 11:07:00.506 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Got notification of changed network (first change: 0)
Apr 03, 2020 11:07:00.506 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Dispatch network change after two second delay.
Apr 03, 2020 11:07:00.506 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Got notification of changed network (first change: 0)
Apr 03, 2020 11:07:00.506 [10508] DEBUG - NetworkService: Dispatch network change after two second delay.

The timestamps don’t line up between your HDHomeRun and the server, but the spacing of the events do match those from that logs. The first network change events occur roughly four minutes after the start of the recording; the second occur roughly five minutes after that. Lack of stream data could cause the transcoder to fail, I’m fairly certain.

So check all the network connections between the tuner and the server. Maybe swap out some cables if that’s a possibility. If the tuner isn’t on the primary network of the server, try placing it there.

[auntphil]

@pshanew You were correct, it was a strange IP Address issue. After posting I spent some time trying to track down where that IP address was coming from. I found a network connection for Hyper-V, which I don’t use, was enabled. By some witchcraft and sorcery, Plex was using that network to connect to the HDHomeRun. With magic Plex was able to connect to the HDHomeRun using the 169.254.x.x IP address and even get a response from the HDHomerun. But it get’s better, when looking at the HDHomeRun, it saw the connection to the 169.254.x.x as the client and had no problem with it, even though the HDHomeRun has no 169.254.x.x address.

TLDR
I disabled all the network connections except for the correct one and all is right in the world.

[pshanew]

Good deal, glad you got it working.