Do you have a timestamp where you observe audio dropouts in Rocketman?
@VBB & @Orange_GT3
CC: @ChuckPa & @sixones
The 96kHz audio dropouts donât occur with Kodi on the Shield because Kodi employs it own IEC packer. This problem is highly likely a regression with the Android IEC packer. Nvidia had resolved the issue with Shield Experience 8.0.2 back in February 26, 2020âwhich apps like Emby and Plex are dependent upon.
The root cause is with the underlying Android audio subsystemâspecifically the Android IEC packer/Dolby MAT encoder. This issue can only be resolved in a collaborative effort between Google/Nvidia and Plex. For those that are curious you can look at the Kodi source code for their IEC packer implementation.
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In tonightâs attempt to watch it, the first glitch was at 11:00 minutes in when his father sits down at the dining table. Thereafter, it was every few seconds. I gave up after the fourth glitch since I knew it was just going to keep getting worse.
The first time I tried to watch it, it was almost straightaway once the talking/singing started and after I resumed watching it following the Plex update I installed, it was again almost instant.
There doesnât seem to be a specific point but rather when a buffer (??) fills up and then canât cope any longer.
I believe I just hit this issue last night. I recently replaced my older shield pro with the new standard shield. I only use it for streaming. Videos were direct playing 1 to 1 rips. Didnât seem to matter if it was 4k or 1080p. Iâll have to do more experimenting. I am not able to grab the version right now, but I thought I was on 8.32. I kept thinking I have some setting wrong in the plex app or the shield itself
you mean the 2019 âtubeâ version?
they are generally a bad choice for playing any high bitrate files (especially with Plex).
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Recent enough to return and buy a 2019 Shield Pro?
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Itâs from amazon, so I can return it. Yes, itsâ the tube version. I assumed it would be fine just for playing content. I thought the only difference was ram and storage.
Just started the return and purchased the pro
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Was on the latest public version (8.31.2.31546) and had the stuttering until completely stopping issue. I joined the beta and got version 9.0.0.31604 and it was even worse- could not resume at all. Rolled back to 5.6.1.505 and it works fine.
Just upgraded to 9.0.0.31604 and itâs definitely a mixed bag. The stuttering/memory leak issue does seem to be largely fixed, but any pause/rewind/fast forward activity results in endless buffering and eventually crashes out the app. Better in some ways, but still far from fully baked.
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I just played a good 15 minutes of Rocketman and did not run into any issues. Iâm on 9.0.0.31604, though.
This might be getting off-topic, but there is definitely something funky going on with the latest beta(s). Most of my UHD collection wonât play anymore at all. Doesnât matter if itâs Dolby Vision or just plain HDR10, once I start something all I get is the endless spinner. Same as with that Akira hybrid, so itâs not unique to that any longer.
Iâll dive into it some more tomorrow, but if anyone using the 9.0.0.x releases has a similar experience, please post here.
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Chalk me up as another 2017 Shield, and 2019 Shield (both pro models) that are now seeing UHD and HD ripped content be un-watchable due to stuttering issues. I see it primarily in the Plex app as thatâs the main player Iâve been using for several years. But I seem to also see the issue in VLC and even limited experience with Kodi, which I tried just to see if I could find a solution. It seemed to start for me when I upgraded to v9 on the Shield. But maybe itâs a Plex specific issue? Regardless, the symptoms are exactly as are being described here and I have it on both Shields I own. I just signed up for the beta and I guess will give that a go, even if it is proving to be a mixed bag of results.
Same issue on my end. Nvidia Shield TV 2019 Pro - Shield Experience 9.0.1
Ver. 8.30.0.31021 works fine (unfortunately updates every time to ver 8.31. when the shield is in standby)
Ver. 8.31.2.31546 - UHD files with TrueHD (or without - doesnât matter) will start fine, but will then start to stutter and almost lock up the shield deviceâŚ
Ver. 9.0.0.31604 BETA - BD or UHD files work but only if they don´t contain a TrueHD track, if so I see a loading screen of death. Normal 1080p files will start sometimes but randomly skip inside the movie. All other 1080P/UHD files work just fine. I mean it´s a beta - but - wellâŚ
I also enabled the network debug thing and whenever I start a file with a TrueHD track following line is printed into the log
com.google.android.exoplayer2.o: Unexpected runtime error
plex-android-truehd.txt (70,1 KB)
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Yes, I can also confirm a fresh download to the latest beta version (9.0.0âŚ31604) will not play 1917, 4K mkv rip when TrueHD is the audio stream. It just tries to load and the wheel spins. When I choose the 5.1 stream, it plays perfectly.
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What makes this even worse to diagnose is that itâs not every single file with TrueHD/Atmos. I was able to watch the entire Jungle Cruise last night without any audio issue, although I did notice two video skips. And after that, I went through a lot of my UHD files, and some play while others donât. So, itâs not entirely a Dolby vs. DTS thing.
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I had a feeling this might be due to the newest version of ExoPlayer, which the Plex beta contains, but not the stable.
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This makes sense
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Using the beta, and movies wonât even start. I just get an endless spinner. How god damn frustrating.
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Glad itâs not just me, but you could always go back to the stable release 
