HDHomerun no longer works with Plex

Live TV & DVR
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Server Version#: 4.134.2
Player Version#: 1.97.2.190-ca5000d0
Tuner Make/Model: HDHomeRun FLEX 4K
Guide/Lineup name: All
Using XMLTV?: No
Channel number/Name: All

This was working as recently as the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs (June 24th, 2024). I haven’t tried to watch live TV using plex and HDHomerun until recently for the Olympics. It tries then I get “Playback Error: This live TV session has ended”.

I see two folders get created in “C:\PLEX_TRANSCODE\Transcode\Sessions” but they go away when the error comes up.

When I go to the "DVR Schedule (PMS) I see the recording was attempted but has an error “There was a transcoder error”.

I have deleted the DVR and re-added it, so it discovers it correctly. I’m able to see all the channels there but nothing is viewable via plex. I can watch the same channels if I go directly to the HDHomerun app. I like to use the record feature using Plex, so this is the main use case I’m trying to resolve here.

I see others posting similar issues that happened suddenly, so it feels like a version issue to me. Please help us OTA Plex users get this resolved, it’s such a great feature that is missed when its not available. Thanks.

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Would need server logs and the desktop player logs to start looking

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Thanks BigWheel, I really appreciate you willing to take a look. I’ve uploaded the logs for some further troubleshooting. I removed some older files from the PMS log zip since it was too big to upload as is.

Plex.log (165.4 KB)

Plex Media Server Logs_2024-07-30_14-54-59.zip (4.6 MB)

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Just so I am clear. You can get the Guide but actually selecting a channel fails to tune to it. Or there is no guide at all?

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That is correct. I can view the guide that has both my HDHomerun channels along with the Plex live tv channels. I can only view the Plex channels, I get that “Playback Error: This live TV session has ended” message on the HDHomerun channels. The highlighted channels below are my HDHomerun channels. Thanks.

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image698×696 78 KB

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I see errors like this

Connection to tcp://127.0.0.1:32400 failed: Error number -138 occurred

error 138 is a failuure to router packets to target. Do you have a firewall running that may be blocking things?

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That’s the local IP of my PMS server, but my HDHomerun is using http://192.168.1.233:80.

I do have a software based firewall that I have disabled as a test but I still get the same error as before.

However, I do run ExpressVPN locally. After I disabled that I was able to watch the live TV successfully. Do you have any idea what I might need to add to my allow list for plex to be able to work correctly again? Thanks BigWheel.

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You need to enable split tunneling to prevent local network traffic from being routed out your VPN connection. I don’t use ExpressVPN so I cannot provide further instruction. I would guess they have a support page with that information if they support split tunneling.

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Did you remove all the favorites before you deleted and re-added the DVR? You will need to reset all the clients.

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Thanks for the reply, I’ve enabled that feature. With their software you need to select which executables you want to NOT use VPN while its on. I’ve chosen every .exe in the “C:\Program Files\Plex\Plex Media Server” location. I have also reached out to ExpressVPN support to see if I can narrow down what is being blocked when the VPN is on and I try to watch liveTV.

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That’s a great tip, I did that and the upcoming shows are in the list now, which is nice. Unfortunately, I’m still unable to view them while the VPN is connected.

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I was going to suggest split tunneling as well.

Does the Express VPN app have it’s own logs you can monitor when you try to tune a channel?

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There are no logs kept other than a diagnostic log, which didn’t have anything I could parse to find the culprit. I’m hoping their support can help me to identify the exe or dll or whatever might be getting blocked. I’ll report back here for anyone else having this issue with ExpressVPN.

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Have you tried the suggestions here? They seem to apply to your case.

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Can’t you assign your local subnet(s) as a exclusion to tunneling instead of just executables? If not, I would be looking for a different software and/or provider.

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ExpressVPN doesn’t allow that feature, I used to use Private Internet Access, which did allow that, however, they were known for security breaches and I jumped that ship years ago. It might be time to look for another VPN solution.

ExpressVPN support did get back to me and said this is a “known bug” and suggested I turn off the split tunneling feature for now. I’m asking for more info on the bug, since this did work a couple months ago and I use that feature to bypass other programs. I’ll report back if I get any better details from them.

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Interesting, what security “breaches” are you referring to?

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This is probably what got me to jump ship, or something similar at least. It was a while ago.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PrivateInternetAccess/comments/e0kq68/longtime_pia_user_here_run_dont_walk_away_from/

“Breach” was probably the wrong word to use. Let’s just say it didn’t give me the warm fuzzies.

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Okay, just a post by some Redditor. Not knocking you here, but I would probably have tried to do a little more research. I do remember reading that thread and just shook my head at the time. I suppose it just depends on what you need in a VPN and who you decide you can trust when nearly all say no logging.

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