DVR - Watch From Start - Why doesn't it work on Android TV clients?

Live TV & DVR
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Server Version#: Version 1.22.0.4163
(Plex server is running on Xeon 14-core CPU, 8gb of RAM, SSD, within Ubuntu 20.04 LTS)
(I migrated to Ubuntu in December, I had the same problem with my Windows Server 2016 previously)
Player Version#: Android TV / Shield TV Pro (latest versions from Google Play)
Tuner Make/Model: HDHomeRun CONNECT QUATRO (Latest firmware)
Guide/Lineup name: Local Broadcast Listings (150 channels) - Plex standard
Using XMLTV?: Nope
Channel number/Name: 103 or 101 (BBC1 HD or ITV1 HD) - though it doesn’t matter what channel is being used.
Recorded file-format: UK-based .TS

Why is it that I (we, plex community) are still unable to watch TV shows/programmes “from start” when it’s still being recorded. For years I’ve had to work around this, but when it comes to watching sports (Six Nations Rugby) you really need to be able to watch these during the DVR process.

Attempting to watch from start just leaves the client looping/repeating the start of the show (for only a few seconds, then skips back to the start once again, in a constant loop)… Sometimes, but usually not, you can choose to “watch live”, then attempt to skip back to the start of the show/programme. This wasn’t possible on my (Android) Sony TV, but can be possible (again, usually not) on my Shield TV Pro.

The silly thing is, if I attempt to watch the current DVR show via a Windows Plex Client, it usually works. Even using the web browser has more luck in actually working. But from the Android client point-of-view, usually you can’t do anything until the scheduled recording is complete.

This, to me, has gone on for far too long without actually being addressed by anyone at/in Plex. DVR was a massive selling point for Plex with many new subscribes (PlexPass) at the time, but why is it ok to just leave people with things like this not working!? :angry:

… What logs/information do I need to pass over to have this problem taken seriously?

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Ive had to go back to freeview to watch the 6 nations this year AndroidTV client is unusable for livetv that’s being recorded at the moment. I just hope they dont do what they’ve done with pic upload. Make it so bad no one uses it and then remove the feature.

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Record with NextPVR into a Plex library folder. You can watch in Plex while it is still recording. You will need to stop and start periodically since Plex will think that the length of the program is what it was when you started to play. But honestly, I’ve been doing this for 2 years now after I gave up on Plex DVR in frustration. I always have a good experience when I watch a live recording this way (although I’m currently using Jellyfin as my player rather than Plex – only because of the ongoing Plex Android disaster – will probably go back to Plex when they get Android stabilized).

I imagine this approach would work with almost any other DVR software. I use NextPVR because it is free and super dependable.

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I hear ya… We’ve been trying to do the same with just watching everything live. But today it wasn’t possible and I just sat spitting feathers at the TV.

… It’s been a long while since I’ve had a stress headache, but I’m just niffed off! :angry:

(I know this is a first world problem, or just a geeks firtst-world-problem LOL :smile_cat: :slight_smile:

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Timeshifting has been borked for ages on Android TV.

I have 2 x 2017 and 1 x 2019 Nvidia Shield TV’s as clients (full version, not tube) and for the last few server updates (on my Synology) it’s been unusable for timeshifting.

Was going to say I’m surprised it’s not been fixed yet, but COME ON, this IS Plex we’re talking about LMAO.

Another reason to think my money has been well wasted on this terrible, buggy product!

Anyone from Plex want to comment? I reckon this has been not working for at least two months now.

As above, starting a recording in progress from the beginning just loops the video of the first second over and over again, can’t skip past it.

USELESS!

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Its the same with the windows server, i have all shields in my house for playback and timeshifting hasnt worked at all for months now. They had seemed to make progress a year ago or so, but now its worse than ever(it just doent work at all for me).

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Same issue for me on Google TV dongle, used to work weeks ago, no longer.

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Same deal here, I have PMS on a Mac Pro and a 2019 NVIDIA Shield both Tube and Pro and neither one have been able to watch from start for several months. I am a part of the Android TV Beta program too, so I always have the latest version of the client. It’s super irritating.

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Hmmm, this did previously work. I’ll look into this today and see what I can find and pass along to the developers

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Thanks for the feedback!

I have reported the same issue in another thread and also attached log files:

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I’m having the same issue on my 2019 NVIDIA Shield. Plex server running on a dedicated Windows install, only using the shield as a client.

If a program is recording, it will start and play a second or two loop. I don’t have any idea of how to diag this. Uploading my server logs.Plex Media Server Logs_2021-04-01_20-14-16.zip (4.8 MB)

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Watch from start is completely broken on 1.22.1.4275 using a 2019 shield pro as the client. It offers to start me from the beginning and then just starts me from current. Annoying as f***.

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@DaveBinM any news on if they’ve located a fix or need more logs?

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No further news as yet, I’m afraid

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Do you know if it’s being investigated or the issue is acknowledged?

I’ve started using Channels for watching live and recorded TV because I can trust it, and it works. But I would like to return to Plex.

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Yes to both

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This bug has a big impact on WAF. I sideloaded an old version of the client that played livetv fine and did not have this bug, and turned off auto-updating on all my android TV devices. I guess I’ll sit there until all these bugs are worked out.

Doesn’t anyone do regression testing on this code before releasing it?

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Over a month since reported and still barely a comment. This makes live tv essentially worthless.

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I commented 12 days ago that this was being investigated, this is still the case, and we’re working towards a resolution.

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That’s a true statement, but it seems glib because the aforementioned Live TV issues with the Android client are not days…not months…but years old.

1 Like