Fail to tune/record live TV for FXX HD

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
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1

Server Version#: 1.15.6.1079
Player Version#: 3.95.2 (web)

Using a HDHomeRun Prime with latest firmware 20190417. Connected to Comcast Xfinity cable in the Seattle area.
Running in a freebsd jail under freenas.

I get a recording/tuning failure if I try to tune or record FXXPHD (618 on my system). I am able to successfully view the stream in vlc using http transport.

The SD version of the channel works. Unfortunately, most HD channels using AVC/H264 work only intermittently for me (but that’s for another bug report). HD MPEG2 channels also work properly. Signal strength is 100%, so it’s not a signal issue. I refreshed the channel list on the tuner unit and in Plex just in case that mattered. No change.

Although this is similar to the random tuning failures others have reported, this one doesn’t even seem to get to the transcoder. Although the HDhomerun is streaming, I see no indications of decoding in the logs, though there are weird messages about selecting an audio stream.

Jun 06, 2019 11:59:51.505 [0x80ccecf00] DEBUG - We're going to try to auto-select an audio stream for account 1.
Jun 06, 2019 11:59:51.505 [0x80ccecf00] DEBUG - Selecting best audio stream for part ID 1092 (autoselect: 0 language: en)
Jun 06, 2019 11:59:51.505 [0x80ccecf00] DEBUG - Audio Stream: 2542, Subtitle Stream: -1
Jun 06, 2019 11:59:51.505 [0x80ccecf00] DEBUG - We're going to try to auto-select an audio stream for account 1.
Jun 06, 2019 11:59:51.505 [0x80ccecf00] DEBUG - Selecting best audio stream for part ID 1085 (autoselect: 0 language: en)
Jun 06, 2019 11:59:51.505 [0x80ccecf00] DEBUG - Audio Stream: 2524, Subtitle Stream: -1
Jun 06, 2019 11:59:51.505 [0x80ccecf00] DEBUG - We're going to try to auto-select an audio stream for account 1.
Jun 06, 2019 11:59:51.505 [0x80ccecf00] DEBUG - Selecting best audio stream for part ID 1086 (autoselect: 0 language: en)
Jun 06, 2019 11:59:51.505 [0x80ccecf00] DEBUG - Audio Stream: 2527, Subtitle Stream: -1

Full logs attached - I removed the older log files from the zip.
Plex Media Server Logs_2019-06-06_11-45-28.zip (85.5 KB)

2

This problem is at least helped by moving to the alpha test 1.16.0.1207 mentioned in other threads. It’s not a complete fix. It tuned the first time for me, but then failed the next 3.

3

working with @z-squared and @workit247 to test further changes.

4

For those watching at home, the latest alpha seems to fix this problem.

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5

Huge thanks to @z-squared for helping us track down the issue and be giving of his time to test the fixes!

6

Happy to help. I did a tuning check of every HD channel I could find and they all worked on the alpha supplied by @sa2000. Hopefully others will have a similar experience with the release.

7

Plex Media Server Beta 1.16.0.1220-147963d87 has just been released with the fixes for the tuning timeouts for livetv and recordings

See release note Plex Media Server

  • (HTTP) Addressed network efficiency issues which could lead to slow Live TV tunes (#10151)
  • (HTTP) Responses to requests on keep-alive connections could be delayed, potentially resulting in slow transcoder startups (#10118)
  • (Live TV) The transcoder could take a very long time to start on streams from certain broadcasters or service providers (#10065)
8

Just updated to PlexMediaServer-1.16.0.1220-147963d87-FreeBSD-amd64.
A quick test of tuning to several channels worked. A test recording also worked.
The beta looks good.
@sa2000 - thank you!

1 Like