Server Version#: 1.18.3.2156
I’m regularly getting this error when watching live TV via Plex:
“Playback Error
We could not reliably play your live TV channel,
it may be due to a weak signal.”
The error generally occurs within a few minutes of streaming. Sometimes the stream will work for 30 seconds or so without any issues, but then it will start artifacting, buffering and eventually the stream stops and gives me the above error.
I’m using an HDHomeRun Quatro. Live TV worked fine via Plex until just the last few days. I don’t know of any changes unless there were server updates. I can watch live TV perfectly via the HDHomeRun app, so I know that the problem isn’t the tuner or the antenna. I run into this error on both Roku and Android, so it’s not limited to just one platform and seems to indicate an issue with the server.
Any ideas as to what could be causing this?
Plex Media Server Logs_2020-01-02_21-23-43.zip (4.1 MB)
Check your antenna, signal strength is low on channels 2,6,8.
Jan 02, 2020 17:23:23.044 [7652] DEBUG - Grabber: Signal information for tune on channel 8.1: strength: 53, quality: 0
That’s the thing - signal strength is actually fine when I’m watching through the HDHomeRun app. I can watch TV (specifically channel 2, as I did last night) on HDHomeRun for hours with no problem, but not on Plex. With Plex, I couldn’t even get through a minute without getting this error. It’s like Plex is using a different antenna, which of course it’s not. I can’t think of any reason why this would be an issue unless PMS was transcoding and my PC couldn’t keep up, but my CPU and RAM usage are low while watching live TV.
The associated error was the audio stream failing, probably from the weak signal but you can shut down Plex and remove the EAC codecs so that they are refreshed when you restart.
The HDhomerun app uses different codecs so might not fail as easy.
I’ll give that a try when I get home tonight. Can you tell me, or shoot me a link that explains, how to remove the EAC codec? Would it be better (or even possible) to change the audio stream to AAC or something else?
Have you made any changes to your Transcoder directory setting?
Your path, delete directories below Codecs.
'\\\\?\\C\:\\Users\\Dean\\AppData\\Local\\Plex\ Media\ Server\\Codecs\\8bf330d-2818-windows-x86\\'
Thanks for the path. No, I haven’t made any changes to the transcoder directory settings. The closest thing to that, that I’ve done, is just tweaking the upload/bandwidth limits to try to troubleshoot this.
I deleted all of the codecs in that folder, although none of them said “EAC”. After deleting the codecs and restarting Plex, I saw the codecs repopulate but still nothing that said EAC, and the live TV issue persists. Any other ideas?
I do see a lot of the client disconnecting from the server, when is the last time you restarted the wifi router and Roku?
Jan 01, 2020 21:44:35.452 [12944] DEBUG - CERT: incomplete TLS handshake: short read
Jan 01, 2020 21:44:36.053 [12944] DEBUG - Failed to stream media, client probably disconnected after 1048576 bytes: 10054 - An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host
Restart the server, recreate the problem and then upload a fresh set of logs.
I did what you said - restarted just about everything. Seemed like it still wasn’t working, until I restarted the computer. That seemed to fix it. That was Friday night or Saturday morning. It had been working fine until about 30 minutes ago, the live TV started having issues again. I check Task Manager and noticed that the Network usage in Plex Transcoder was at 100%, so I killed it and tried watching live TV again, but still had the same issue. Then I restarted the computer and it’s working fine again now.
Plex Media Server Logs_2020-01-08_17-32-39.zip (4.7 MB) attached.
Did you find a solution to the problem? I’ve been trying to diagnose Live TV stuttering also but can’t find anything that works. Just like you, it is almost unwatchable on Plex, but watching through HD Homerun is fine. Even more weird is that if I watch on a Plex client it is fine too. The problem is only on the server.
Have you looked at your CPU and memory usage when you are using your server to view content through Plex? If CPU usage is high, then what CPU/GPU do you have? It could be that your server isn’t powerful enough, or doesn’t have enough threads, to be able to function as both a Plex server and Plex client concurrently. Also look at if it is transcoding, direct play, or direct stream. If you are using Plex Web on the server it may benefit from switching to PMP or the Plex application.
Thanks for the reply! Let me give a bit more background: I am kind of experimenting with Plex now. For years, I have been running a Ceton cable card tuner with Windows Media Center on Windows 7. With Win 7 going EOL, I’m trying to find a new solution for OTA TV. Phase 1 of my experiment was PMS and PMP installed on Win 7.
I just did a test with Live TV on both the server/client (Win 7) and another client (Linux Mint Laptop). Video and audio were smooth on both devices. During that, server CPU and memory are both around 40% usage. Direct stream audio and video on both clients. Previous experiences have been around the same usage, but not always smooth on the server/client.
Past success in that phase moved me to phase 2: Dual-booting that same server with Linux Mint (hopeful long-term replacement to Win 7) and running PMP and PMS there. This setup is the source of my original post. Live TV there has lots of stuttering, semi-frequent buffering, but simultaneous Live TV on the laptop client is just fine.
Just booted in and ran the test on Linux to check again how the CPU and RAM are doing. CPU is running around 40%, RAM is 23%. Everything is direct stream again. I am a Linux noob and a Plex noob, so I may have something that needs to be configured better. (I haven’t found what if that is the case). The fact that the same hardware is producing smooth video in windows, but stuttering in lighter weight Linux is surprising to me.
My server runs an AMD A6-6400K APU, 8 GB of RAM, HD Homerun Connect Quatro. It’s 4 or 5 years old, and I will be upgrading the system soon, but trying to figure out what will work best for me on the software front before I spend.
Not much of a mystery. When using Windows, Plex makes use of GPU acceleration. When using Linux all the work is being done by the CPU which isn’t very strong. Looking at the Passmark score it would be barely adequate for one live stream.
Thanks @pl_5309! I was just reading a post about that, but it was a little unclear about what kind of GPU acceleration is supported in Linux (in its words: intel yes, Nvidia maybe, AMD not sure). So basically nothing I can do other than use Windows or upgrade the hardware?
For Linux, Intel yes, Nvidia Yes, AMD no.
As a DVR it would function, but the way Plex does Live Stream that requires a little more juice if you want to use it to display at the same time. Any Intel 8xxx,9xxx,10xxx will do a great job.
Thank you so much for the clarification! I have spent so much time trying to find a possible cause. I really appreciate your help!
Glad to hear Nvidia GPU is supported in Linux. I want to avoid Win 10, but I’m wanting to build a much more powerful rig with an Nvidia GPU for the occasional 4k upscale.
I’ll just add in that I’m running Linux Mint on an Intel I5-9400, which is a chip that has the built in GPU. When other client devices (Linux laptop, Android mobile client, or Roku client) are direct stream or direct play my server CPU barely shows any additional Plex activity. If I need to transcode then the GPU takes the load, and again my CPU shows little activity from Plex. I’ve never tested how many concurrent transcodes it can take since I’ve rarely a need to transcode right now.
I have an HDHomeRun Extend, so just now I turned off the Extend’s transcoding to match your Quatro’s .ts/MPEG2 output. Using my Linux server as a client running PMP I’m able to watch LiveTV with no issues. The server CPU runs at about 30% usage, which is almost all from the PMP client’s demand. The Plex Server process still barely registers any CPU use. I don’t currently do any 4k though…
Your response made me think: If I’m only at 40% CPU usage, even if the integrated GPU is not supported in Linux doesn’t that indicate that my Plex stream should be ok? I would understand if it was pegged at 100%, but since I’ve still got a lot of processor capability left unused, shouldn’t Plex be pushing it harder if it the stream is struggling?
You could look at the CPU wait statistic in top to see if you are having any I/O contention that is blocking your system from being able to use more CPU, and also look at drivers to see if there is a more optimal Linux display driver (possibly AMD proprietary?) for your hardware.
However, if I had to guess, I think you are experiencing issues resulting from your CPU having only 2 threads. I’ve seen moderators tell others that a 2 thread CPU isn’t enough to be both a Plex client and server. Off the top of my head, PMP uses two processes concurrently at a decent rate, and even at direct play/stream Plex creates some small CPU use from at least three Plex server processes, then your desktop (cinnamon?) process, audio process, the OS processes, etc, etc, plus whatever else you are running. Your CPU is also a little light for its onboard cache, resulting in more fetches from RAM or swap on each process switch. It might just be too much switching for it to keep a constant real time demand going smoothly. You did say Win as both client and server on the same hardware wasn’t always smooth, so it may be right on the edge of problems even with the GPU/APU taking process load off your CPU.
