Server Version#:1.29.1, 1.40.1,1.41.1
Player Version#:7.7,8.42 (edit: now 8.43)
<If providing server logs please do NOT turn on verbose logging, only debug logging should be enabled>
So I have one file tested on both configurations:
config1: direct plays
server: 1.29.1
appletv1 app: 7.7
config2: transcodes
server: 1.40.1,1.41.1
appletv2 app: 8.42 (edit: now 8.43)
I have direct play enabled on both. However, the newer (config2) configuration is unable to direct play for reasons unclear.
when I play the movie under the technical details it states:
Transcode Reason: App cannot direct play this item. No direct play video profile exists for protocol http, with container mkv, and the video codec hevc.
Can also confirm on the server side where it shows it as transcoding.
How can the older config1 be able to direct play while the newer config2 can not and needs to transcode it?
note: attempted to downgrade to server 1.29.1 but plex ATV app wasn’t able to load library., however the server was able to load the library file.
config2:
downgraded library to 1.41.1 library to 1.29.1 and upgraded ATV app to 8.43.
Also set “Disable video stream transcoding” on all configurations.
Results:
Config2: with “Disable video stream transcoding” does not run at all.
When Running the media: I get
"Playback Stopped
Something went wrong playing your media. Please try again.
Could not direct play this item. No direct play video profile exists for protocol http, with container mkv, and video codec havoc. Could not transcode because not enough cpu for conversion of this item"
CPU: Mac mini M4 base and Mac mini M4 pro on a SSD.
So the ATV app is essentially stating a close to 10 yr cpu can run config1 with same media in direct play mode but a 2024 CPU doesn’t have enough CPU capability? Seems like a major bug on the plex ATV app.
also with “Disable video stream transcoding” nothing plays on plex. It looks like it lost the ability to fail over.
the media can be played with no issue through the plex desktop app v 1.104.0.
since I’ve upgraded to
plex media server : 1.41.1
ATV: 8.43
I an see all my media but can’t play anything on Apple TV…
"Playback Stopped
Something went wrong playing your media. Please try again.
Could not direct play this item. No direct play video profile exists for protocol http, with container mkv, and video codec havoc. Could not transcode because not enough cpu for conversion of this item"
yet I can play everything on
server: 1.29.1
appletv1 app: 7.7
Looks like the plex app settings on ATV might have gotten corrupted. I ended up deleting the app off ATV, then re-installing and the performance drastically improved. Still testing but a lot of the previous mentioned issues seem to have been resolved …
Something has changed with version 8.43 for me also.
After updating my Apple TV to this version I haven’t been able to direct play 4K DoVi files, including what I was happily watching the night before the update.
Now instead I see this error message:
Playback Stopped
Something went wrong playing your media. Please try again.
Could not direct play because: App cannot direct play this item. No direct play video profile exists for protocol http, with container mkv, and video codec hevc.
Could not transcode because: File is unplayable. DoVi (Profile 5) color space is not supported.
From the server console log:
[Req#80b/Transcode] Streaming Resource: Cannot make a decision because either the file is unplayable or the client provided bad data
I’ve updated my iPhone to 8.43 and seeing the same error, however my iPad is still on version 8.42 and it’s working great for these same files.
This is the first time I’ve needed to use Infuse on my Apple TV for years, thankfully it’s playing these files fine.
I believe they disabled hevc for the old player - which is used when playing DV Profile 6.
This was due to some issues with the new HEVC transcoder I’m assuming.
I think some had issue with transcoded content on older Apple TVs, though with the newer models my media converted fine.
Though when transcoding Live TV I ran into issues with HEVC transcoding due to AVPlayer only allowing fMP4 when using HLS and HEVC (H264 allowed mpegts with HLS).
From @chris_decker08’s post, it looks like AVPlayer/Old Player issues are on the to be fixed/known issues list. So hopefully will be sorted.
Does this apply to DoVi Profile 5 also, or just 6? I’ve always had it set to use the new player, so didn’t realise it was switching in the background.
The main problem is it’s saying it can’t direct play since the update, and as far as I’ve read it shouldn’t be even trying to transcode DoVi video.
Also the 8.43 release notes didn’t say anything about these changes, just about activity feed improvements.
For me something got corrupted in the ATV app upgrade. So by deleting the app (not off loading) installing it again, linking it again with plex.tv/link. That playback issue was resolved initially but returned again.
It seems to also get corrupted after playing content after awhile.
I’m having audio sync and frame drops issues on some video which I’m attempting to isolate in the latest version of ATV app which did not occur in the previous version of ATV app.
Just wanted to chime in and say I’ve also noticed the Dolby Vision (Profile 5) playback errors since Plex 8.43 on the AppleTV.
All of this content worked fine before the update, but now throws the following error message:
Playback Stopped
Something went wrong playing your media. Please try again.
Could not direct play because: App cannot direct play this item. No direct play video profile exists for protocol http, with container mkv, and video codec hevc.
Could not transcode because: File is unplayable. DoVi (Profile 5) color space is not supported.
Very frustrating that the release notes don’t mention this and there’s no way to resolve this until a new version is released it seems.
Same problem, with HEVC video codec, when a subtitle or another audio is selected, it transcode because "subtitle or audio is not the first. I deselect subtitle click again on “Original quality” and select the subtitle again and it work. I think it’s a bug since few weeks
