Nvidia Shield TV (2019; tube) Dropped Frames and Crashes with New Player enabled

[kylborn]

Behavior (using New Player): Video playback (directplay, not transcoding) on local network exhibits dropped frames/choppiness and eventually crashes. Sometimes it crashes to the Android TV menu. Sometimes it crashes to the Plex client menu. I notice choppy behavior starts around 40 minutes after playback and tends to get progressively worse. If I am watching a TV series it can start getting choppy on the first episode and when it autoplays the next episode it gets worse and eventually crashes.

After the error is reproduced and I am no longer playing a video I can sometimes see this information on the Android TV menu as if the Shield thinks the video is in progress:

Also, sometimes after the error is reproduced and I start the video again in the plex client, the plex dashboard I have up on a laptop says that nothing is playing despite the video being played on the Nvidia Shield.

I have not been able to reproduce the errors when “Enable new video player” is set to [off].

I have 2 Nvidia Shield TVs (same model) and I have reproduced the problem on both devices.

I have another Plex server that I run on a PC and using that server (instead of the NAS Server) produces the same results, though I admit that the PC Server is reading the video files from the same location on the NAS.

I’m not sure what data helps you to troubleshoot so here is a data dump.

Logs:
Plex Media Server.log (674.9 KB)
PLEX Client Shield 2020-04-13 0943.log (1.0 MB)

All network connections are wired.

Nvidia Shield is plugged into the TV via HDMI and audio is passed through to the AV Receiver via HDMI (eARC).

SERVER INFO

• Plex Server Device: Synology DS416play; DSM Version 6.2.2-24922 Update 4
• Plex Server version: 1.19.1.2645

CLIENT DEVICE INFO

• Streaming Device: Nvidia Shield TV (2019)
• Shield Android TV SW version: 8.1.1[32.7.301.99]
• Shield HDMI info: Resolution = 4k 59.940 Hz, HDCP = 2.2, Audio Modes = PCM 16 bit, DD, DD+, DTS, DTS HD, Dolby TrueHD, DD+ Atmos, TrueHD Atmos
  (NOTE: When Refresh Rate Switching is enabled, the Shield HDMI info reflects the refresh rate of the video being played, which seems appropriate. I do not know how to check the refresh rate of the television.)
• Video Upscaling Mode: AI-Enhanced, Detail Enhancement [Medium]
• Advanced display settings: Match content color space [enabled]
• Advanced Sound settings: Dolby audio processing [disabled], Available formats [auto], Stereo upmix [disabled]

CLIENT APP INFO

• Plex Client Version 7.31.0.16605 beta
• Plex Client Settings
• Experience: Play theme music [on]; Cinema trailers to play before movies [none]; Play “Up Next” videos automatically [on]; Display clock in the top bar[on], Reduced Motion[off], Remember Selected tab[on]
• Account: Sign in automatically[on]
• Video quality: Adjust automatically[off], Home Streaming[maximum], Remote streaming[maximum], Play smaller videos at original quality[on]
• Audio quality: Remote Streaming[original]
• Video: Burn subtitles[automatic], Audio boost[None], Display information overlay[on]
  (NOTE: Display information overlay does not seem to display any information.)
• Subtitles: Subtitle size[Normal], Subtitle color[white], subtitle background[off], subtitle position[low], override included subtitle styling[off]
• Advanced: Passthrough[HDMI], Refresh Rate Switching[Tried both on and off], Resolution Switching[off], Allow insecure connection[on same network], H264 maximum level[5.2 (Recommended)], Network logging[off], Share crash reports[on], Enable new video player[on]

TELEVISION

• Television Model: LG OLED65C9
• Sound Out: HDMI ARC[selected], Digital Sound Out[Passthrough], eARC[on]

AV RECEIVER

• AV Receiver: Sony STR-DH790 (connected via HDMI and using eARC)
• AV Receiver displays the audio track format being played on front panel (Dolby Digital, DTS, etc.)

FILE INFO

• File properties: MKV, H.265/HEVC, Resolution 1920x816, frame rate 23.976, audio tracks include AC3 5.1 and DTS-HD MA 6.1, multiple PGS subtitles, file size 8.73GB
• The error is reproduced with either of the included audio tracks.

I had previously reported some of this information on the following linked post but since I had a bit more information and I am using the Beta version of the player app I thought I would post it here. I also believe the server version has gone up since those posts.

Previous reports prior to current client/server versions:
https://forums.plex.tv/t/consistent-frame-drops-and-crash-afterwards/560620/14

[kylborn]

My Plex Client auto updated to a new beta last night so I ran another test.

Same results: Choppiness started somewhere around 40 minutes into the movie and got progressively worse until it crashed to the Plex Home screen.

New Player was enabled in the Advanced Settings.
Was playing AC3 audio and had the first PGS subtitles track active.

Plex Client Version 7.31.0.16802 (change from last post)
Plex Server Version 1.19.1.2645 (same as last post)

Logs:
NVIDIA SHIELD plex client 2020-04-15 1530.log (1.2 MB)
Plex Media Server 2020-04-15 1530.log (3.2 MB)

I discovered how to get the XML data for the video I was playing so here is that as well: Media File XML data.txt (60.9 KB)

I hope this helps your troubleshooting efforts.

Is it bad manners to reply to your own post with new data? Should I be editing my last post instead?

Edit (4/15 @ 18:37): I disabled the new player in the settings and was able to play the same movie all the way through. No errors that I noticed. Here are the logs:
NVIDIA SHIELD plex client 2020-04-15 1830.log (1.2 MB)
Plex Media Server 2020-04-15 1830.log (9.2 MB)

[JasonsPlex]

This is happening to me as well on the new beta. I disabled the new video player and enabled the old one and it works fine. But on live TV it’s crashing within 5 to 10 minutes. It gets a little choppy or freezes and then crashes.

[kylborn]

Same problem:

Plex Client Version 8.0.0.17051 beta (change from last post)
Plex Server Version 1.19.1.2645 (same as last post)

The Plex client updated to the latest beta. I check to make sure Enable new video player was set to [on], which it was.

I watched a couple TV show extras that are only a couple minutes long followed by a TV show that is about 44 minutes long and did not notice any playback errors. However, when I returned to the Home screen it had not properly marked what I had watched as played. It marked the first short video and the 44 minute full TV show as played , but not the 1 minute special video that played in between. I was watching these items in a playlist.

Then I ran the same test video movie from the previous post and the error is reproduced: choppiness/stuttering and freezes begin about 40 minutes into the movie until it eventually crashed. The Plex loading screen came on and took me to the home screen.

I started the network logging and here are the logs:
NVIDIA SHIELD plex client 2020-04-21 1833.log (1.2 MB)
Plex Media Server 2020-04-21 1833.log (7.6 MB)

Edit (4/21 @22:15):
Watched a few more TV episodes (local media, not the free Plex streaming stuff). Eventually started to get choppy (froze several times and audio was cutting out) but didn’t crash until I hit the back button on my remote so that it would not autoplay the next episode on the playlist. That is when the Plex app crashed. It looked like the app restarted and took me back to the Plex home screen.

I had the dashboard running on my laptop and it was reporting that the video was still playing (even though it wasn’t playing on any device). Additionally, the timestamp said it was at a duration that exceeded the length of the video. Here is a screen capture from the dashboard:

More logs:
NVIDIA SHIELD plex client 2020-04-21 2010.log (1.0 MB)
Plex Media Server 2020-04-21 2213.log (7.6 MB)

To be clear, this is still with the New Player enabled. I didn’t fiddle with any settings since prior to this edit.

[kylborn]

Client Version 8.0.0.17168 (changed since last post)
Server Version 1.19.1.2701 (changed since last post)
New Player enabled.

Same problem as previously reported.

At around 44 minute playtime the video froze for about 15-20 seconds and the dashboard showed a coinciding drop of bandwidth to near zero around that same time.

At about the 1 hour mark, the client crashed to Plex menu. After crash the dashboard was reporting the video as still playing with the duration still increasing.

Plex client shows that the video has been partially watched and when I select play it offers to resume from 59:58 or to play from beginning.

Logs

NVIDIA SHIELD plex client 2020-04-24 1437.log (1.2 MB)
Plex Media Server 2020-04-24 1437.log (6.8 MB)

I hope that helps.

Please don’t get rid of the old player before this gets resolved.

---

Edit: 4/24 @ 18:42
I decided to try another test that took my Synology DS416play NAS out of the system.

I copied the same movie to a hard drive on a PC where I run another Plex server and added it to the PC Server Plex Library.

The movie still had video and audio freezes but the App did not crash. The entire movie managed to play all the way through.

PC details:
i7-6700K; 32GB ram; Windows 10 Pro 64-bit; wired gigabit LAN.
Server Version 1.19.1.2701

Still running through the same Nvidia Shield (Client Version 8.0.0.17168) with New Player Enabled.

Logs:
NVIDIA SHIELD plex client 2020-04-24 1833.log (1.0 MB)
(for some reason this client log only went back about half an hour)
Plex Media Server PC 2020-04-24 1833.log (8.9 MB)

Is it possible this is (at least partially) a Synology NAS issue? Should I link this post there?

I’m grasping at whatever straws I can get my hands on. I’ve got no coding experience and I can’t really interpret the logs.

Is there any other data that would help? My router info? Plex Server settings?

On the other hand, everything works fine with the New Player disabled on the Shield TV so I have a hard time believing it isn’t a problem with the New Player.

If I haven’t seen a Plex Employee respond to this thread does that mean they haven’t seen any of this data?

[kylborn]

Problem persists: video and audio freezes and gets choppy and app eventually crashes. Crash occurred approximately 1 hour into playback and returned me to the Plex home screen.

Client: Nvidia Shield TV 2019
Plex Client Version: 8.0.0.17191 beta (changed since last test)
Advanced settings>Enable new video player [ON].

Server: Synology DS416play; DSM Version: 6.2.3-25423 (version updated since original post)
Plex Server Version: 1.19.1.2701 (same a last test)

Logs:
NVIDIA SHIELD plex client 2020-04-27 1106.log (1.1 MB)
Plex Media Server Synology 2020-04-27 1106.log (4.2 MB)

After crash the video playback options include “Resume from 1:01:55”.

The dashboard was still reporting that the movie was playing for a few minutes after the crash.

@DaveBinM : Hope this isn’t rude but I’m tagging you on this because you said you were having an engineer look into this issue and I thought maybe they would want to see my latest logs for consistency.

Consistent frame drops and crash afterwards

Thanks, I can see a couple of things in there like e: [ExoPlayer][EventLogger] audioTrackUnderrun [3382.88, 3315.34, window=0, 562500, -9223372036854775807, 2640]] and have asked one of the engineers to investigate further

[kylborn]

Problem persists: Choppiness and audio cut outs followed by the app crashing to the Plex home screen. Crash occurred approximately 1hr 7min into playback.

When selecting the movie to continue after the crash it offers to Resume from 1:07:04 (in case that helps identify when the error occurred).

Client: Nvidia Shield TV 2019
Plex Client Version: 8.0.0.17234 beta (changed since last test)
Advanced settings>Enable new video player [ON].

Server: Synology DS416play; DSM Version: 6.2.3-25423
Plex Server Version: 1.19.1.2701 (same a last test)

logs:
NVIDIA SHIELD plex client 2020-04-27 1831.log (1.2 MB)
Plex Media Server Synology 2020-04-27 1831.log (8.3 MB)

Edit: 4/27 @ 19:09
I’m also getting this notification on the Android TV menu after the crash:

[kylborn]

Problem persists: Choppiness and audio cut outs followed by the app crashing to the Plex home screen.

Client: Nvidia Shield TV 2019
Plex Client Version: 8.0.0.17276 beta (changed since last test)
Advanced settings>Enable new video player [ON].

Server: Synology DS416play; DSM Version: 6.2.3-25423
Plex Server Version 1.19.2.2737 (changed since last test)

logs:
NVIDIA SHIELD plex client 2020-04-29 2150.log (1.1 MB)
Plex Media Server Synology 2020-04-29 2150.log (3.6 MB)

Client errors?

04-29 21:31:50.134 e: [ExoPlayer][EventLogger] audioTrackUnderrun [2879.91, 2862.53, window=0, 40000, -9223372036854775807, 1454]]

04-29 21:32:27.161 e: [SourcePersistenceManager] Something went wrong trying to restore sections from persistence.

Server Errors?

Apr 29, 2020 16:25:07.471 [0x7fccfcf8b700] ERROR - Error issuing curl_easy_perform(handle): 28

Apr 29, 2020 16:25:16.281 [0x7fcce710a700] ERROR - XML: Entity: line 1:
Apr 29, 2020 16:25:16.281 [0x7fcce710a700] ERROR - XML: parser
Apr 29, 2020 16:25:16.281 [0x7fcce710a700] ERROR - XML: error :
Apr 29, 2020 16:25:16.281 [0x7fcce710a700] ERROR - XML: Start tag expected, ‘<’ not found
Apr 29, 2020 16:25:16.281 [0x7fcce710a700] ERROR - XML: status=ok
Apr 29, 2020 16:25:16.281 [0x7fcce710a700] ERROR - XML: ^
Apr 29, 2020 16:25:16.281 [0x7fcce710a700] ERROR - Error parsing content.
Apr 29, 2020 16:25:16.281 [0x7fcce710a700] ERROR - Error parsing XML: Error parsing file.
Apr 29, 2020 16:25:16.281 [0x7fcce710a700] ERROR - SSDP: Error parsing device schema for http://192.168.1.37:9080
Apr 29, 2020 16:25:18.520 [0x7fccb9fc5700] ERROR - Error issuing curl_easy_perform(handle): 28

Apr 29, 2020 21:04:22.590 [0x7fccfd567700] DEBUG - handleStreamRead code 104: Connection reset by peer
Apr 29, 2020 21:04:22.590 [0x7fccfd567700] DEBUG - NotificationStream: Removing because of error
Apr 29, 2020 21:04:22.590 [0x7fccfd567700] DEBUG - Completed after connection close: [192.168.1.115:54414] -3 GET /:/websockets/notifications?filters=log (15 live) TLS 166067ms 274790 bytes

Apr 29, 2020 20:43:55.594 [0x7fccfd567700] DEBUG - Failed to stream media, client probably disconnected after 606208 bytes: 104 - Connection reset by peer

[kylborn]

Problem persists: Choppiness and audio cut outs followed by the app crashing to the Plex home screen. Errors observed starting around 40 minutes into playback. Crash occurred about 51-52 minutes into playback. It does not crash at the same exact time during these tests. This problem also happens with other files, not just this one. I am just using this file for these tests for consistency.

Everything was direct playing (1080p HEVC, AC3 5.1 audio, PGS subtitles).

I am also having trouble viewing the XML data. Not sure if this problem was there before or not. Seems intermittent. When I click Get Info > View XML, a web page would open but there was nothing in it. It eventually worked after repeated attempts:
Media File XML data 20200504 1516.txt (60.5 KB)

Client: Nvidia Shield TV 2019
Plex Client Version: 8.0.1.17411 beta (changed since last test)
Advanced settings>Enable new video player [ON].

Server: Synology DS416play; DSM Version: 6.2.3-25423
Plex Server Version 1.19.2.2737 (same as last test)

My equipment chain is listed in the first post of this thread if you need that information.

Logs:
NVIDIA SHIELD plex client 2020-05-04 1516.log (1.2 MB)
Plex Media Server Synology 2020-05-04 1516.log (6.6 MB)

I am not proficient and interpreting these logs but here are things I found by searching for things like " e:", “error”, “dropped”, and “fail”. I included some of the lines above and below in case they are relavent.

Client log notes:

05-04 15:09:40.280 i: [PlaybackTimeBehaviour] Time: 2835248 IsStarted: true
05-04 15:09:40.719 e: [ExoPlayer][EventLogger] audioTrackUnderrun [2840.97, 2835.65, window=0, 40000, -9223372036854775807, 762]]
05-04 15:09:40.746 i: Fetching [method:GET] https://192.168.1.66:32400/:/timeline?audioStreamID=2204&bufferedTime=53492&duration=8547888&guid=com.plexapp.agents.imdb%3A%2F%2Ftt0121765%3Flang%3Den&key=%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F40&playbackTime=2835248&playQueueItemID=99119&ratingKey=40&state=playing&time=2834188&token=...gbEz&X-Plex-Client-Identifier=8cc4356a19c8e95e-com-plexapp-android&X-Plex-Token=...gbEz

05-04 15:10:42.277 i: [PlaybackTimeBehaviour] Time: 2897245 IsStarted: true
05-04 15:10:42.785 i: [ExoPlayer][EventLogger] droppedFrames [2903.04, 2896.77, window=0, 50]
05-04 15:10:42.813 e: [ExoPlayer][EventLogger] audioTrackUnderrun [2903.06, 2896.77, window=0, 40000, -9223372036854775807, 972]]

05-04 15:10:49.576 i: [ExoPlayer][EventLogger] loading [2909.85, 2903.52, window=0, false]
05-04 15:10:50.997 e: [ExoPlayer][EventLogger] audioTrackUnderrun [2911.22, 2903.78, window=0, 40000, -9223372036854775807, 1203]]
05-04 15:10:51.530 i: [ExoPlayer][EventLogger] loading [2911.80, 2904.74, window=0, true]

05-04 15:13:06.132 i: [ExoPlayer][EventLogger] loading [3046.41, 3038.79, window=0, false]
05-04 15:13:07.533 i: [ExoPlayer][EventLogger] droppedFrames [3047.78, 3039.38, window=0, 50]
05-04 15:13:07.533 i: [ExoPlayer][EventLogger] loading [3047.81, 3040.19, window=0, true]

5-04 15:14:19.497 i: Fetching [method:PUT] https://plex.tv/devices/8cc4356a19c8e95e-com-plexapp-android?Connection[][uri]=http%3A%2F%2F192.168.1.241%3A32500&X-Plex-Token=...gbEz&includeExternalMedia=1
05-04 15:14:19.528 e: [EventSource] Error detected: Failed to connect to http://127.0.0.1:42169/:/eventsource/notifications?X-Plex-Token=...bEz.
05-04 15:14:19.631 i: Creating HomeActivity.

Server log notes:

May 04, 2020 14:15:34.559 [0x7fa8b37e7700] DEBUG - Completed: [192.168.1.124:51402] 200 GET /myplex/account (11 live) TLS GZIP 0ms 2614 bytes (pipelined: 4)
May 04, 2020 14:15:52.529 [0x7fa8b34f9700] DEBUG - handleStreamRead code 1: stream truncated
May 04, 2020 14:15:52.529 [0x7fa8b34f9700] DEBUG - NotificationStream: Removing because of error
May 04, 2020 14:15:52.529 [0x7fa8b34f9700] DEBUG - Completed after connection close: [192.168.1.241:37660] -3 GET /:/websockets/notifications (9 live) TLS GZIP 27869ms 251 bytes
May 04, 2020 14:15:53.149 [0x7fa8b34f9700] DEBUG - handleStreamRead code 1: stream truncated
May 04, 2020 14:15:53.149 [0x7fa8b34f9700] DEBUG - NotificationStream: Removing because of error
May 04, 2020 14:15:53.149 [0x7fa8b34f9700] DEBUG - Completed after connection close: [192.168.1.241:37678] -3 GET /:/websockets/notifications (8 live) TLS GZIP 25131ms 251 bytes
May 04, 2020 14:16:09.564 [0x7fa8b0e94700] DEBUG - NetworkServiceBrowser: SSDP departed after not being seen for 21.891118 seconds: 192.168.1.241 (SHIELD)
May 04, 2020 14:16:39.147 [0x7fa8b37e7700] DEBUG - Auth: authenticated user 1 as username
May 04, 2020 14:16:39.147 [0x7fa8b0ba6700] DEBUG - Request: [192.168.1.241:41268 (Allowed Network (Subnet))] GET /:/websockets/notifications (3 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token (username)

May 04, 2020 14:20:47.104 [0x7fa8b34f9700] DEBUG - Auth: authenticated user 1 as username
May 04, 2020 14:20:47.104 [0x7fa8b0ba6700] DEBUG - Request: [192.168.1.241:41630 (Allowed Network (Subnet))] GET /library/sections/2/all?type=2&includeMeta=1 (5 live) TLS Page 0–1 GZIP Signed-in Token (username)
May 04, 2020 14:20:47.135 [0x7fa8b0ba6700] ERROR - Unknown metadata type: folder
May 04, 2020 14:20:47.136 [0x7fa8b0ba6700] DEBUG - Setting container serialization range to [0, -1] (total=-1)

May 04, 2020 14:29:04.879 [0x7fa884e31700] DEBUG - HTTP requesting GET https://WANaddress-xxx.379033527403478bbf95439e50f3ab4c.plex.direct:19178/identity
May 04, 2020 14:29:07.616 [0x7fa8859e9700] DEBUG - Checking if time for scheduled update
May 04, 2020 14:29:07.881 [0x7fa884e31700] ERROR - Error issuing curl_easy_perform(handle): 28
May 04, 2020 14:29:07.882 [0x7fa884e31700] DEBUG - HTTP simulating 408 after curl timeout

May 04, 2020 15:14:19.372 [0x7fa8b37e7700] DEBUG - Failed to stream media, client probably disconnected after 3473817600 bytes: 104 - Connection reset by peer
May 04, 2020 15:14:19.373 [0x7fa8b37e7700] DEBUG - Completed after connection close: [192.168.1.241:41666] 206 GET /library/parts/42/1504921338/file.mkv?autoAdjustQuality=0&hasMDE=1&location=lan&mediaBufferSize=131520 (7 live) TLS 3113297ms 3473817600 bytes (range: bytes=2242-)
May 04, 2020 15:14:19.373 [0x7fa8b34f9700] DEBUG - handleStreamRead code 1: stream truncated
May 04, 2020 15:14:19.373 [0x7fa8b34f9700] DEBUG - NotificationStream: Removing because of error
May 04, 2020 15:14:19.373 [0x7fa8b34f9700] DEBUG - Completed after connection close: [192.168.1.241:41598] -3 GET /:/websockets/notifications (6 live) TLS GZIP 3248469ms 97323 bytes
May 04, 2020 15:14:19.374 [0x7fa8b37e7700] DEBUG - handleStreamRead code 1: stream truncated
May 04, 2020 15:14:19.374 [0x7fa8b37e7700] DEBUG - NotificationStream: Removing because of error
May 04, 2020 15:14:19.374 [0x7fa8b37e7700] DEBUG - Completed after connection close: [192.168.1.241:41596] -3 GET /:/websockets/notifications (4 live) TLS GZIP 3248468ms 97323 bytes

I hope that helps troubleshoot the problem.

I’m running the test again with the New Player disabled and will report back when complete.

Edit: 04 May @ 18:51
I just ran a second test with the only difference being that I disabled the New Player.

The entire movie played without any noticeable errors using the old player.

Not sure if logs for a successful play through helps but here are the logs generated shortly after finishing the movie:
NVIDIA SHIELD plex client 2020-05-04 1839.log (1.2 MB)
Plex Media Server Synology 2020-05-04 1839.log (4.0 MB)

The movie was played between 16:00 and 18:45 log time (roughly).

[kylborn]

Question: Is the New Player more sensitive to “bitstream timing info” errors than the Old Player?

Disclaimer: I’m not savvy about encoding, I know enough to get myself in trouble…

I ran across some threads that had similar problems as I am having and a couple people said they ran their file through MKVtoolnix and used the option to “fix bitstream timing info” using the option seen here:

I figured I could give that a try so I loaded my file into MKVtoolnix, selected this option (no other variables) and hit go. The option was only available on the video stream in MKVtoolnix, if that matters.

I took the “fixed” file and loaded it into my plex library in the same folder as my old file.
The file with the “fixed timing” was slightly smaller in size for some reason:

I played the movie (using the “play version” option to choose the “fixed” file) and it did not stutter, freeze or crash. (Edit: failed on second try, see below) However, the movie did not stop playing at the end; it displayed a black screen and the timer kept on going until I hit the back button on my remote. Perhaps there is something I needed to do other than check the “fix bitstream timing info” box.

The point is, the “fixed” movie played smoothly. (Edit: failed on second try, see below) So, this leads me to believe that some of my files have this timing error.

Back to my question. I have not encountered this problem until using the New Player which suggests that the Old Player is able to deal with these “bitstream timing info errors” and the New Player cannot. Is that the case, and if so, is there any hope that the New Player will become as robust as the Old Player?

If not, does that mean I have to figure out how to remove these errors from my files that have worked fine using the Old Player? I’m not even sure which of my files might have these errors until they exhibit problems in the New Player.

For info: my files originate on blu-rays or dvds and get run through MakeMKV and then through Handbrake. I don’t think I’m doing anything too fancy to these files. Seemed like a pretty common workflow. Like I said, they have been playing fine up until now.

I don’t think I consider this a solution yet as I haven’t figured out how to make the movie stop playing, nor do I want to go through this process on thousands of files that worked fine before.

Anyway, maybe this info will be helpful in some way to someone.

Edit: I should also mention that I only played the “fixed” file once, so I don’t yet know how repeatable smooth play is. More testing to follow.

Edit 2: Another thing is I can’t get the original file to crash in the same place. If I skip 40 minutes into the video, I don’t get the stutters or crashes. Seems like it is a random cumulative error that ends up failing in the same ballpark area of the video. Same with TV shows. Sometimes I can watch a show with no problems but then the problem shows up in the next episode. Or the third.

Edit 3: 08 May @11:49
The the new file with the “fixed timing” crashed the second time I played it so I guess it was a fluke the first time. I posted my logs below.

[djjaeger82]

I’m having similar crashes on my 2019 shield tube (non pro). It’s about a 50/50 toss up after the crash if I get the notification that plex is still playing in the background as you’re showing here. I should mention I’ve had these crashes on the new player and the old player. They are definitely more frequent on the new player for me, but the old player is not immune. Perhaps the crappy tube version of the shield is making things worse for me.

[KCX]

Sounds interesting. Well observed!

[Coxeroni]

Indeed. The award for this year’s most in depth analysis goes to…

[djjaeger82]

Agreed. Super thorough post. Well done!

Also, bestbuy.com has the Nvidia shield tv pros in stock at this moment in time. Ive given up on the crappy tube version and ordered a pro just now.

[kylborn]

Thanks, all. I probably wouldn’t have this much work put into it if I wasn’t working from home since mid-March because of the pandemic. Fairly easy to have it running in the background and wait for it to show problems.

I figured since I signed up for the beta I could as least provide as much info to the Plex team on this issue as my limited knowledge allows. I haven’t heard much from them so I don’t even know if it is on their radar yet.

I think my equipment chain is solid. I tried to make sure that everything I have would allow direct play on my local network. I actually replaced my receiver with one that had eARC just in case my old one that just had the old ARC was causing problems.

I’m not sure what else to try on my end at this point. I try googling for possible answers but a lot of the pages I come across are beyond my current understanding.

@djjaeger82 looks like those Pro’s sold out quick! Do you know for certain that the Pro doesn’t have these problems? I’m hesitant to spend $200 more on a device as a work around. Not to mention I bought 2 of these tubes (one for my bedroom) so replacing both of them with Pros would be really expensive.

[djjaeger82]

They definitely went quick, they are in high demand and been sold out for a while. I actually had 2 on backorder from newegg from february. I jumped on the best buy bandwagon quick (just happened to be up late last night when they came back in stock).

I don’t know for sure if they’ll fix all of the issues. I still see some new player / old player complaints occasionally even from people with the pro versions. But the consensus i’ve gathered from all the different threads (makemkv forums, nvidia forums, plex forums) is that that the tube non-pro is a giant POS.

I’ll let you know my observations when my pro arrives. I’m hoping to flip my tube on ebay to recover some of the cost (some poor ba$tard will get stuck with a $hitty experience though which I feel bad about). Then again, for everything but plex, the shield tv tube works pretty well.

[kylborn]

“Fixed” file crashed.

I attempted a second play through of the file I re-muxed using MKVtoolnix’s “fix bitstream timing info” option that I mentioned in a previous post. I guess it wasn’t as fixed as I thought.

This time I selected the DTS-MA audio stream instead of the AC3.

File started stuttering at around 40 minutes and eventually crashed.

Plex Client Version: 8.01.17411 beta
Client log: NVIDIA SHIELD plex client 2020-05-08 1136.log (1.1 MB)
Plex Sever Version: 1.19.3.2764
Server Logs: Plex Media Server Logs_2020-05-08_11-36-35.zip (7.9 MB)

[kylborn]

Problem persists. Choppiness started around the 50 minute mark and had a few moments where the video froze for about 20 seconds.

The video stopped playing around 1hr15min or so into playback. Crashed to the Plex Homescreen.

Option to resume playback from 1:17:22 is offered.

Client Version: 8.1.0.17650 beta (changed since last test)
(Enable new video player = on)

Server Version: 1.19.3.2764 (same as last test)

Logs:
NVIDIA SHIELD plex client 2020-05-12 1640.log (1.1 MB)
Plex Media Server Logs_2020-05-12_16-40-21.zip (8.4 MB)

I had high hopes for this beta version but I guess it wasn’t the fix I needed.

Edit: 12 May @18:55
I started the movie over but then immediately skipped to a chapter that was about 48 minutes into the movie which is right around where I usually see choppiness begin. The movie played through to the end from that point without any choppiness (that I could tell). Did not crash.

That seems to imply that the new player does’t have any issue with that particular part of the file and that something else is going on.

[djjaeger82]

Agreed, I’m still seeing similar issues with the latest beta. Although I will say there may be some minor improvements (perhaps they reduced the memory footprint slightly). There are a few files I would try to play before that would immediately crash upon hitting play that now I can at least start, until they stutter, drop frames, and eventually crash.

[KCX]

@kylborn Do you have the tube or the pro?