Server Version#: 1.20.1.3252-a78fef9a9 on Synology NAS DS220+
Player Version#: 4.34.4 in Firefox on Windows 10
Tuner Make/Model: HDHomerun Quatro
Guide/Lineup name: ?? Boston area
Using XMLTV?: ??
Channel number/Name: all
I’ve just started using the Live TV/DVR function. I’ve downloaded the guide and attempted to watch TV. No joy.
On Windows PC, I get a freeze-frame and spinning spinning, and no audio, on all stations I’ve tried. This is the Plex web player, connected straight to the NAS.
On Roku/Plex, I get broken, jerky pixillated image.
In Android phone app, it worked as expected.
Don’t think it’s the signal.
In the HDHomerun desktop app, everything plays fine, crystal clear.
In the Roku HDHomerun app, everything plays fine, crystal clear.
Which official app do you mean? I downloaded the Plex media server from this site, and manually installed it on the server. When I start it from the server dashboard, it opens this player in Firefox. Is there a different player I should install?
I just recorded a show from within the Live/DVR guide in Plex. The recording completed, but does not play in the Plex player. The recorded .ts file does, however, play just fine in VLC media player.
Something to note, in the Microsoft Store on Windows 10 you can download and install an MPEG2 extension. Some regions do not have this installed by default in the Windows 10 operating system so it is available from Microsoft to download. This will not help with playback in Firefox but will in video playing applications… like the Plex client app.
Oh, now I remember. I originally installed that version of PMS when I first set up Plex on an external HD. After I migrated to the NAS, I started using the Plex interface that opened up from the NAS itself. It was indistinguishable to me from the Windows PMS, except that this one I just installed is trying once more to connect to my files on the external HD. I want it to forget that drive.
Both versions, by the way, open up in Firefox. If there’s a standalone program, I haven’t seen it.
The link I provided isn’t PMS, it is a standalone player only.
I think PMS just records what it sees and TV broadcasts are in TS format, but your HD Homerunner may have a built-in transcoder that you can turn on. If such a setting exists in HD HomeRun then that may help.
Oops, I downloaded the wrong one. OK, I’m on a different PC now, and I’ve installed that standalone player, and tried it. Two observations:
When I go to Live TV /DVR, I now get audio to go with my freeze-frame with occasional twitch.
When I play a recorded show, I get decent playback on a simple animation and broken-up playback on a news program. (The latter .ts recording plays back fine in a different player, so the record function seems okay.)
HDHomerun app on this PC also gives good live feed, as it did on the other devices.
The problem must be in Plex, and there’s not much difference between the PMS run off the server and the Windows player app.
BTW, when I installed the HDHomerun app on this PC from the Windows store, it prompted me to install the MPEG2 extension, which I did.
Okay, I have to revise that last estimation. I went back to the first PC, which is a much faster machine, with faster ethernet speed, and uninstalled the PMS and installed the standalone player. Performance is very different here. It all works!
It does seem very sensitive to speed of connection, though. (My Android phone plays everything very well when it’s near the router, but very badly when it’s farther away, with merely okay connection.)
I have to try the Roku again, which is where I would actually watch most TV.
Thanks. Before I saw that, I followed the recovery instructions on the page you referred me to previously, and that worked. I’ve got it back. And the TV playback… now works badly, but does play. Heh.
My Plex says the server software ( Version 1.20.1.3252) is up to date, but there is a later version of it here on the website. I wonder if I should apply the update manually. Or will I just screw things up again?
What is the purpose of adding that bypass phrase? I feel as if that’s what kacked it a few minutes ago.
I pasted in the bypass thing again, and what do you know? This time it worked. And it fixed the TV issue! I can now play both live and recorded TV on my Roku, and in the media server interface!
If you use it now for HW transcoding , WITH the VaapiDriver=“i965” bypass, it will fail.
The issue has been identified and new package binary produced ASAP.
check the number please: Current flawed is 1.20.2.3343-c91f25744.
I’m not sure if they will use this build number or create a new one.
I didn’t realize it was beta. That is the one I downloaded. I have now deleted it! Thanks for the warning.
I checked and discovered that the HDHomerun Quatro does not transcode. I will try enabling transcoding in Plex (unless that’s a bad idea). Everything I’m trying right now is just throwaway tests, anyway.
I have never been able to record on Plex. I keep getting “There was a transcoder error”. I am using HDHomeRun Prime, Synology DS916+. I can watch Live TV fine but have never been able to record, any assistance greatly appreciated. Thanks
The fix described above has continued to work for me. (See my reference to the bypass thing. Has something to do with a problematic Intel driver, and a workaround to it. Don’t ask me, though; I just followed the directions.)
Jeff thanks for the quick reply, so basically i save the original Preference.xml as .old and edit the new Preference.xml as described above. Do you have to do this every time PMS is updated.
