Live TV / DVR Multiple Troubles with Roku, Shield and FireTV

[Mike_Mike]

Server Version#: 1.29.2.6364
Player Version#: 9.12.2.36964
Tuner Make/Model: HDHomeRun Quatro
Guide/Lineup name:
Using XMLTV?:
Channel number/Name:

Is anyone able to reliably use live TV and the DVR functions with a HDHomeRun Quatro?

Doesn’t matter what client I use I get different results. I’d say playback works about 80% of the time but I have constant trouble regardless of which client I use. Some of the troubles are:

Stuck at 33% with Roku happens over and over and over.

Trying to watch something that is being recorded has video/audio breakups or just crashes the client. All clients have this trouble.

Can’t Fast-Forward / Rewind - I have to stop the playback and then start it again to make FFD/RWD work again.

DVR recording troubles likely related to guide info like it will not record the new SNL - only records the episode immediately following the new episode that is usually years old even when I have it set to record new episodes only.

The troubles change a little here and there with the updates. This has been happening pretty much since the beginning of LiveTV way back when. Just about to give up and use something else.

There are so many troubles and so many logs I’m not sure where to start. Any suggestions?

By the way - just using playback on my own media files works for the most part. 99% of my trouble is only with the live TV or with DVR functions.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[pl_5309]

Product probably isn’t for everyone.

Is anyone able to reliably use live TV and the DVR functions with a HDHomeRun Quatro?

Have a Quattro and it works fine.

Stuck at 33% with Roku happens over and over and over.

DNS rebinding or some network instability

Trying to watch something that is being recorded has video/audio breakups or just crashes the client. All clients have this trouble.

Weak signal or Weak CPU. You can get the signal strength from the ‘Plex Media Server.log’ or use a browser and check the tuner status of the quattro.

Can’t Fast-Forward / Rewind - I have to stop the playback and then start it again to make FFD/RWD work again.

Valid. If I try hard enough I can confuse the server enough the stream hangs.

DVR recording troubles likely related to guide info like it will not record the new SNL - only records the episode immediately following the new episode that is usually years old even when I have it set to record new episodes only.

Every time I test this it works but I don’t leave the recording schedule since I don’t watch it. If your library predates the release of the “Plex TV Series” scanner then you database like has conflicting metadata. Delete all scheduled recordings of SNL and make a new one. If you have already done that then the logs would have to be evaluated to find out why the scheduler is going astray.

The troubles change a little here and there with the updates. This has been happening pretty much since the beginning of LiveTV way back when. Just about to give up and use something else.

Feature changes stop us from picking a release and sticking with it.

‘Plex Media Server.log’ is the main one, get familiar with it. Specs on your server? Might be time to upgrade and start fresh.

[Mike_Mike]

Thanks for your help Tiebierius!

@pl_5309

Product probably isn’t for everyone.

Is anyone able to reliably use live TV and the DVR functions with a HDHomeRun Quatro?

Have a Quattro and it works fine.

Wish I had that problem!

Stuck at 33% with Roku happens over and over and over.

DNS rebinding or some network instability

Hmm - it only happens with the Roku - two Rokus actually. I’ve checked for network issues but will certainly check again.

Trying to watch something that is being recorded has video/audio breakups or just crashes the client. All clients have this trouble.

Weak signal or Weak CPU. You can get the signal strength from the ‘Plex Media Server.log’ or use a browser and check the tuner status of the quattro.

Signal strength is 100% and the CPU barley breaks a sweat - When this happens I can wait until the recording is done and then play back the recording without any trouble (no breakups).

Can’t Fast-Forward / Rewind - I have to stop the playback and then start it again to make FFD/RWD work again.

Valid. If I try hard enough I can confuse the server enough the stream hangs.

The strange thing here is that they FFD/RWD won’t work even once. The recording will play normally. If I stop it and start it again I can FFD/RWD. Only happens on DVR recordings. Never a problem with my own media.

DVR recording troubles likely related to guide info like it will not record the new SNL - only records the episode immediately following the new episode that is usually years old even when I have it set to record new episodes only.

Every time I test this it works but I don’t leave the recording schedule since I don’t watch it. If your library predates the release of the “Plex TV Series” scanner then you database like has conflicting metadata. Delete all scheduled recordings of SNL and make a new one. If you have already done that then the logs would have to be evaluated to find out why the scheduler is going astray.

I have indeed removed and recreated the SNL scheduled recordings a few times. Can you tell me which of the gazillions of logs would contain the scheduler info?

The troubles change a little here and there with the updates. This has been happening pretty much since the beginning of LiveTV way back when. Just about to give up and use something else.

Feature changes stop us from picking a release and sticking with it.

I’d be happy to stop upgrading once the basics work reliably.

‘Plex Media Server.log’ is the main one, get familiar with it. Specs on your server? Might be time to upgrade and start fresh.

I’ll take a look at that log and see what I can find. There is just so much in there!

My server is an Unraid server, completely up to date running Plex as a docker container

It is a dual Xeon E5-2696 v3 system with 128GB of RAM. 36 CPU cores plus HyperThreading.

It is running a few VMs that are pretty much idle most of the time. And a few other simple docker containers.

Overal cpu load typically stays under 8 or 9%.

Thanks again for taking the time. I’ll dig into the logs and see if I can come up with anything to report. I’ll also triple check the network for any issues.

[Mike_Mike]

I have thoroughly test both my wireless and wired networks and I am unable to find any troubles with anything at all.

Using iperf I consistently get 9.85 - 9.89 GBits/sec using 10G and 940 - 949 MBits/sec using a gigabit connection. These tests were done from the computer running PMS and Windows computer plugged in with the same cable that plugs into the Shield. The wireless tests to my FireStick are not very useful because it’s difficult to compare apples to apples. Sitting at the same location as the FireStick using my laptop I get pretty consistent results of 340 - 385 MBits/sec.

The logs are massive but the one thing (so far) that seems consistent is when I can’t play a recording from the beginning while it is still recording the errors below show up. I have no idea what these mean but the fix is to just try it again and it usually works the second or third time.

Anyone have any clue?

Thanks!

Dec 09, 2022 12:33:58.311 [0x14d0ae704b38] ERROR - [Req#6041d4/Grabber/5fc76bff104230002d2e8b01-5fc705dc104230002d14d663-316fd7fa4cb05d21-com-plexapp-android] Unknown metadata type:

Dec 09, 2022 12:34:02.105 [0x14d0b5702b38] ERROR - [Req#6041db] Missing required query parameter width

Dec 09, 2022 12:34:11.163 [0x14d0b3943b38] ERROR - [Req#6043b1] Unknown metadata type: folder

Dec 09, 2022 12:34:11.274 [0x14d0aeb0ab38] ERROR - [Req#6043bb] Unknown metadata type: folder

Dec 09, 2022 12:34:11.274 [0x14d0b61acb38] ERROR - [Req#6043bf] Unknown metadata type: folder

Dec 09, 2022 12:34:11.274 [0x14d0b214fb38] ERROR - [Req#6043bd] Unknown metadata type: folder

Dec 09, 2022 12:34:11.275 [0x14d0aeb0ab38] WARN - [Req#6043bb] QueryParser: Invalid field ‘contentDirectoryID’ found, ignoring.

Dec 09, 2022 12:34:11.275 [0x14d0aeb0ab38] WARN - [Req#6043bb] QueryParser: Invalid field ‘libraryHubsOnly’ found, ignoring.

Dec 09, 2022 12:34:11.275 [0x14d0b61acb38] WARN - [Req#6043bf] QueryParser: Invalid field ‘contentDirectoryID’ found, ignoring.

Dec 09, 2022 12:34:11.275 [0x14d0b61acb38] WARN - [Req#6043bf] QueryParser: Invalid field ‘libraryHubsOnly’ found, ignoring.

Dec 09, 2022 12:34:11.275 [0x14d0aeb0ab38] DEBUG - [Req#6043bb] Setting container serialization range to [0, 9] (total=-1)

Dec 09, 2022 12:34:11.275 [0x14d0b61acb38] DEBUG - [Req#6043bf] Setting container serialization range to [0, 9] (total=-1)

Dec 09, 2022 12:34:11.275 [0x14d0b214fb38] WARN - [Req#6043bd] QueryParser: Invalid field ‘contentDirectoryID’ found, ignoring.

Dec 09, 2022 12:34:11.275 [0x14d0b214fb38] WARN - [Req#6043bd] QueryParser: Invalid field ‘libraryHubsOnly’ found, ignoring.

[Mike_Mike]

I’m about to give up on Live TV and the DVR in Plex. It doesn’t appear that there are fixes for my troubles after talking to a couple of people that are having similar problems. That along with posts here seems to indicate the problems will be around for quite some time.

Plex does a pretty good job at streaming my library but the Live TV and DVR functions are hit and miss. And it’s not just me… I’m always willing to take the blame for screwups but in this case it doesn’t seem like a configuration problem, hardware problem or a network problem. Just a Plex problem.

I may just use Channels for live tv and DVR functions. It is $8.00 a month but it works much much better than Plex.

If anyone has any suggestions I’m all ears and willing to try anything.

Thanks!

[dank]

I’ve been struggling with Live TV and DVR for over a year now. After a many tests, I’ve found a workaround that has been reliably functioning on my system for the past few weeks.
I have set up a PMS for Live TV and a separate PMS for DVR. Both machines use the same HDHomeRun (xTeVe proxy in my case). Each server shows up in my EPG as a separate tab. As long as you can remember to not watch Live TV from the DVR tab… and vice versa, it works.

[Mike_Mike]

Excellent! Thanks, I’ll have to give that a shot.

What platform are you running your PMS on?

Thanks again.

[dank]

I’m using proxmox virtual environment, and the VMs are ubuntu server 22.04.