Nvidia shield "Exception while determining media decision"

Plex Players
,
1

When playing 4k media that requires transcoding on either of my two Nvidia Shield devices the stream stops and the player log shows an exception. I am able to play the media with a direct stream without errors, and with or without transcoding on other players, including an Xbox and Chrome in Windows.

The client log shows the following:

02-08 18:37:40.604  i: [MediaDecisionEngine] Transcode server selected: Unraid
02-08 18:37:40.605  i: [MediaDecisionEngine] Analyzing media: 3840x2160 67812kbps (Container: mkv, Video: hevc, Audio: dca)
02-08 18:37:40.613  i: [MediaDecisionEngine] Resolution 2160 exceeds maximum allowed (1080)
02-08 18:37:40.615  i: [MediaDecisionEngine] Analyzing media: 3840x2160 59687kbps (Container: mkv, Video: hevc, Audio: dca)
02-08 18:37:40.617  i: [MediaDecisionEngine] Resolution 2160 exceeds maximum allowed (1080)
02-08 18:37:40.618  i: [MediaDecisionEngine] Analyzing media: 1920x1080 28451kbps (Container: mkv, Video: h264, Audio: truehd)
02-08 18:37:40.624  e: [MediaDecisionLoadable] Exception while determining media decision
02-08 18:37:40.624  e: An exception occurred: java.lang.NullPointerException: Attempt to invoke virtual method 'boolean com.plexapp.plex.net.s3.q2()' on a null object reference
02-08 18:37:40.625  e: Stacktrace: java.lang.NullPointerException: Attempt to invoke virtual method 'boolean com.plexapp.plex.net.s3.q2()' on a null object reference
	at oh.n.i(SourceFile:1)
	at com.plexapp.plex.net.h1.o(SourceFile:9)
	at com.plexapp.plex.net.h1.w(SourceFile:345)
	at com.plexapp.plex.net.h1.J(SourceFile:17)
	at gm.e.p(SourceFile:58)
	at gm.e.s(SourceFile:169)
	at xf.o.load(SourceFile:23)
	at y4.i0$d.run(SourceFile:52)
	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1167)
	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:641)
	at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:923)

Server:
Unraid 6.11.5
Docker container: lscr.io/linuxserver/plex , also observed with the official Plex docker
Plex Version 1.30.2.6563
Intel 9700k, 32 GB of DRAM

Player:
Plex app 9.15.0.38159 (c85b2f1b)
Nvidia Shield TV P3430, Kernel 4.9.141, SW version 9.1.1

The server and shields are connected over gigabit ethernet. I tried the beta Android TV Plex app but it had the same issue.

2

What is your Shield connected to? Your logs show that the Shield is trying to passthrough the DTS-HD audio and failing.

3

Thanks for checking out the logs. I have two shield devices (both using the default friendly name “SHIELD Android TV” at the time I captured the logs). The basement shield is where the client log came from.

  1. Basement - 192.168.1.191. This is connected to a Denon AVR-S760H via HDMI that has 7.1 channels configured and a Samsung LSP9T Projector (4k, HDR). Dolby Atmos/TRUEHD 7.1 works on this Shield, including via Plex HDMI Passthrough. On the shield I have “Match content audio resolution” disabled, “Match Dolby/PCM audio levels” disabled, “Dolby audio processing” enabled, “Stereo upmix” enabled, and “Auto” for “Available formats”

  2. Upstairs - 192.168.1.182. This is connected to a Samsung UN65KS8000 TV via HDMI, and the TV connects to a Samsung HW-Q70T soundbar via optical. eARC between them was incredibly unreliable so I went with optical. It only supports 5.1 in this configuration.

I just confirmed that my basement shield can play DTS-HD MA 5.1, DTS 5.1, and TRUEHD 7.1 on that same video in Plex and on the receiver. Was the DTS-HD problem you saw in the log on the 192.168.1.191 shield? If so, I had previously been tweaking some settings to see if any of them helped.

On the upstairs shield I previously used TRUEHD 7.1 to recreate the stream crash.

4

I’m confused, I thought this video doesn’t work and was throwing the error you are reporting.

5

The video works in direct play. If I change the video or audio settings in a way that requires transcoding the stream stops and I see exceptions in the client logs.

I typically change the video settings of the 4k video to 1080p to recreate this issue. Selecting TRUEHD 7.1 on my upstairs shield (which does not support it) also stops the stream.

My server is able to transcode for other clients with the same video and audio settings