Not going to mention the other issues with EPG, etc. That’s covered by the hundreds of other posts here.
After upgrading from PMS v1.6 to v1.7, I realized after a weeks worth of recordings (yes, it actually recorded programs after I figured out how to get the EPG to finally load all my channels in v1.7) that the new .mkv Matroska container forced on us by Plex had issues and all of my new recordings were corrupted. I could not figure out how to get back the original .ts files until I read all the posts here that it’s no longer available in versions 1.7 and forward.
Bring back the .ts format that the tuner delivers it in please.
For those of you stuck on or sticking with PMS v1.7.x, I found that if you use the mkvtoolnix tool mkvextract that you can extract the tracks into elementary streams and then use the tool of your choice to remux them into whatever container you want, like mpeg2, H.264, mpeg2 transport stream or H.264 transport stream without the issues the PMS added by it’s remuxing of the .ts stream into an mkv container.
It’s a workaround, not a fix. Only Plex can fix what they did. It’s added labor and complexity we don’t need.
I have since re-installed PMS v1.6.1 and am happy with its .ts recordings (other than all the EPG issues) as I always had been.
As I understand it the only problem with the .MKV file is the lack of CC currently. What problem are you actually experiencing
I had issues with my recordings as well but the problem wasn’t plex, but a local issue on my home server. I am confident it was nothing to do with plex because after I reloaded my server I ended up using my plex data folder from before the reload.
I’m having trouble with the format as well. I have the HDHR Extend and the files that are saved have periods of skipping and distortion where the program just skips a second or so and the screen pixelates.
Where did you download the 1.6.1 copy of plex. I’d like to revert as well.
That isn’t a problem with the container, but the transcoder in plex. The new plex transcoder that was implemented with. 1.7.x writes the video stream in chunks. These chunks are muxed together after the show is completely recorded. At the same time plex takes advantage of this step and puts the video stream in a MKV container instead of a ts container. The difference between MKV and ts means nothing because the problem is likely related to the fact the stream is being muxed into one file regardless of which one is used. That remux step is having issues when the original stream has some reception problem. I also believe that some system environments are having issues as well. The exact same plex environment couldn’t record a show to save its life before an os reload. After the reload I directed plex to the exact same plex data location and it has worked flawlessly since.
That makes sense as the problem always seems to start 30-45 seconds in and it seems to always happen in short bursts. I had a copy of 1.6.1 to install so I went back to that and my problem is gone. I don’t have an Android TV or iOS, so I guess I’ll wait for 1.7.3 or 1.8.
@bphilippus do you need plex 1.6.1 ? I keep copies of 3 different plex installs for my 3 types of Nas units if you need 1.6.1 I can send it to you . I have reverted back to 1.6 as well because of this transcoding problem corrupting all of my recordings. going back to 1.6.1 fixed my problems, i am waiting on later release. Strange fact it looks like my qnap with latest 1.7.1 release seemed to work but it doesn’t have much activity and only did random dvr recordings to test. on main server which has more activity and records more 99% of my recordings were corrupted or junk on 1.7.1 going back to 1.6.1 no recording errors.
I’m also getting corruption on EVERY recording I make. No idea what the problem is but the video starts out fine but after about a minute or so I get this…
I seen this too, just by chance where you watching LiveTV at the same time?, also can you check the file size of the recording I suspect it is small, and when playing external player, video stops but audio keeps playing?
I have not be able to reproduce it so I can not get the necessary logs etc, if you can please give a detailed step by step guide, so try to help.
How do I manually revert back? If I use the PLEX ‘manual install’ option from within the Synology Package Center, it complains that I cannot install a previous version. Can I just copy the .spk file somewhere… but then what…?
@skraemertx It so happens I found 1.6.1 in my downloads folder because it wasn’t an auto-upgrade. I reverted by to 1.6.1 and set my recordings to .ts and everything is fine. On 1.6.1 remuxing was causing the same problem. Thanks for the offer to provide the old copy. I don’t get why Plex only lets you download the latest with no option to revert.
@andyblac1974 no I wasn’t watching live tv. Don’t have iOS or AndroidTV devices. The files did seem rather small as well. ~85.7mb for a 30 minute show.
Unfortunately, it sounds like this might have something to do with my OS environment based on the comments. I’m running Windows 10 Creators update. 16 gigs of RAM and an i3 processor. SATA disk. HDHomeRun EXTEND
@lmolter said:
How do I manually revert back? If I use the PLEX ‘manual install’ option from within the Synology Package Center, it complains that I cannot install a previous version. Can I just copy the .spk file somewhere… but then what…?
Thanks. Installed it. Recorded a half-hour show. When played back, pixelation/buffering/jump-to-the-beginning. Ugh. Reinstalled 1.7.2. Roku updated with latest player. Recorded another show. No pixelation. Buffering after a minute then every 20 seconds. Then BOOM - it jumped back to the beginning and started over. WTHeck? Logs attached. Giving up for now. Going to use HDHomerun DVR to record the French Open and Stephen Colbert. Can’t trust PLEX DVR for the time being.
I too have had the exact same issue and pixelation with recordings as shown above by @Desmodo. It’s unrelated to the live TV release as I saw it with one of the early Plex DVR beta builds. At the time I didn’t make the connection that it was related to this file remuxing by Plex. However it was after I turned off the remuxing in the old version that it was fixed. As of 1.7.0 this remuxing is unable to be turned off causing the issues to return. It’s not all my recordings just some of them enough to be really annoying, it happens most often on my recordings of The Late Show OTA. I downgraded to 1.6.1 as well which seems to have resolved the issues for now until the Plex team can squash this bug.
@Imolter Under settings for your Plex DVR under 1.6 .1 is it set to remux or leave do nothing and leave as .ts?
@lmolter said:
Thanks. Installed it. Recorded a half-hour show. When played back, pixelation/buffering/jump-to-the-beginning. Ugh. Reinstalled 1.7.2. Roku updated with latest player. Recorded another show. No pixelation. Buffering after a minute then every 20 seconds. Then BOOM - it jumped back to the beginning and started over. WTHeck? Logs attached. Giving up for now. Going to use HDHomerun DVR to record the French Open and Stephen Colbert. Can’t trust PLEX DVR for the time being.
I have no problems with v1.6.1’s .ts recordings, but I did delete and reinstall the DVR after downgrading from v 1.7 to this one.
And I only use the local web interface http://PMSserverIP:32400/web/index.html to interact with it, not the online one http://my.plexapp.com/web since that would be the latest version.
