Hi All,
I’m having issues watching Live TV, it’s buffering all the time. Seemingly because my server cannot handle the transcoding. My server which is Ubuntu Server 17.10 and an AMD Phenom II X6 1055T CPU and 8GB of RAM, I wouldn’t have thought there would be any problem here? I’m able to transcode full Bluray movies at 1080p without an issue.
Could I be missing some codec for transcoding MPEG2 from the Hauppauge WinTV-dual HD TV tuner?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
OTA or Cable? I had a similar issue with OTA Antenna, had t get a new antenna. sd channels? hd channels?
There are several factors that come into play when trying to watch TV.
If you have the client device video set to a setting for home or remote streaming video such as 2Mbps 720HD or 1.5 Mbps 480p and the Live TV video from the tuner is higher than those settings Plex must transcode. If your client device can’t handle mpeg2 Plex must transcode. If the incoming video stream is interlaced and your client device can’t handle interlaced video then Plex must transcode.
I use a Shield TV in my Home Theater room, a Fire TV in my Living Room, and a Fire TV Stick in my home office. Each of those devices are set to maximum video quality and original audio quality. I can watch any Live TV channel with no transcoding on the Plex Server. I also transcode all of my recordings to HEVC for the smaller file size and all of my devices Direct Play the recorded content with no transcoding on my Plex Server. As a side note my son also has a Fire TV Stick at his apartment and he can also Direct Play my recordings with no transcoding.
So it all depends on what your client device can handle and whether the server can transcode fast enough for the clients that require transcoding.
Hi, thank you both for your replies.
This issue is specifically about Live TV. I have no issue with transcoding/direct play of DVR recorded or any other media.
I’m using OTA with the Hauppauge WinTV-dual HD TV tuner. This tuner doesn’t do any on-device transcoding (that I know of) like the HDHR tuner which is why the server must transcode the stream.
I’m playing on Plex Media Player Embedded v2 but I get the issue on Android and Web clients also.
Surely the server specs I posted in the opening comment should be more than enough to handle transcoding the Live TV stream?
Thank you.
When watching a Live TV session what doe your Plex Media Server show for the Live TV session? You can hover on the session to see what Plex is doing with the session.
It appears to have completed stopped playing HD channels now. When I try and watch a Live TV stream which is HD it sits on a spinner for a while and then just says “Unable to tune channel”. SD streams appear to work fine. Any ideas?
Not without answering my question above. Plus what are you using to watch Live TV?
Well for the HD channels it says nothing because it won’t play. For SD channels it says “Transcoding MPEG2VIDEO to H264”. In terms of what I’m using to play Live TV, still the same as before:
I’m playing on Plex Media Player Embedded v2 but I get the issue on Android and Web clients also.
I’m using OTA with the Hauppauge WinTV-dual HD TV tuner.
Thank you, your help is very much appreciated!
Is Plex able to record the station successfully?
Might need logs immediately after attempting to stream a Live TV session that fails. Please ensure Debug logging is turned on, verbose logging is turned off, and allow Plex tokens in logs is also turned off. After attempting the session go to Settings/Server/Help and click the download logs link then drag/drop zip file downloaded to a post.
Yes, recording appears to work perfectly fine. Logs attached, thank you.
Does anyone have any idea what this might be? I can’t find any information on this particular issue 
I’m getting the same issue with HD channels not playing live tv.
I am seeing in the log is errors shortly after the recording starts:
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:45.810 [0x7f067a7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:45.812 [0x7f06733ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:45.815 [0x7f0675fff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:45.817 [0x7f066f7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:45.819 [0x7f068dfff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] decode_slice_header error
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:45.820 [0x7f06803fe700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] no frame!
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:45.822 [0x7f067a7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:45.824 [0x7f06733ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:45.825 [0x7f0675fff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:45.826 [0x7f066f7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:45.827 [0x7f068dfff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] decode_slice_header error
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:45.828 [0x7f06803fe700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] no frame!
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:45.846 [0x7f067a7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:45.847 [0x7f06733ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:45.849 [0x7f0675fff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:45.850 [0x7f066f7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:45.851 [0x7f068dfff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] decode_slice_header error
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:45.853 [0x7f06803fe700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] no frame!
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.350 [0x7f067a7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.352 [0x7f06733ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.354 [0x7f0675fff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.356 [0x7f066f7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.358 [0x7f068dfff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] decode_slice_header error
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.360 [0x7f06803fe700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] no frame!
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.373 [0x7f067a7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.375 [0x7f06733ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.377 [0x7f0675fff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.379 [0x7f066f7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.381 [0x7f068dfff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] decode_slice_header error
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.383 [0x7f06803fe700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] no frame!
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.398 [0x7f067a7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.400 [0x7f06733ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.402 [0x7f0675fff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.404 [0x7f066f7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.406 [0x7f068dfff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] decode_slice_header error
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.408 [0x7f06803fe700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] no frame!
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.510 [0x7f067a7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.512 [0x7f06733ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.514 [0x7f0675fff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.516 [0x7f066f7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.518 [0x7f068dfff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] decode_slice_header error
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:47.520 [0x7f06803fe700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] no frame!
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:48.103 [0x7f066effe700] DEBUG - Activity: updated activity fd8350fb-52a7-4920-9802-245ac57e8717 - completed 8% - Recording
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:49.245 [0x7f067a7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SEI type 8 size 520 truncated at 24
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:49.248 [0x7f06733ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:49.250 [0x7f0675fff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:49.252 [0x7f066f7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [AVBSFContext @ 0x2809540] Invalid NAL unit 0, skipping.
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:49.255 [0x7f068dfff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] Invalid NAL unit 6, skipping.
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:49.257 [0x7f06803fe700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SEI type 8 size 520 truncated at 8
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:49.258 [0x7f067a7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:49.260 [0x7f06733ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:49.261 [0x7f0675fff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] decode_slice_header error
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:49.262 [0x7f066f7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] no frame!
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:51.104 [0x7f06777ff700] DEBUG - Activity: updated activity fd8350fb-52a7-4920-9802-245ac57e8717 - completed 9% - Recording
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:52.301 [0x7f068dfff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:52.303 [0x7f06803fe700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] slice type 24 too large at 1
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:52.306 [0x7f067a7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] decode_slice_header error
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:52.308 [0x7f06733ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] no frame!
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:52.365 [0x7f0675fff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:52.367 [0x7f066f7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:52.369 [0x7f068dfff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:52.371 [0x7f06803fe700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:52.373 [0x7f067a7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] decode_slice_header error
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:52.375 [0x7f06733ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] no frame!
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:53.493 [0x7f0675fff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:53.495 [0x7f066f7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:53.497 [0x7f068dfff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] decode_slice_header error
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:53.499 [0x7f06803fe700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] no frame!
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:53.581 [0x7f067a7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:53.582 [0x7f06733ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:53.585 [0x7f0675fff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] SPS unavailable in decode_picture_timing
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:53.586 [0x7f066f7ff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] non-existing PPS 0 referenced
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:53.588 [0x7f068dfff700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] decode_slice_header error
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:53.590 [0x7f06803fe700] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264 @ 0x2810d00] no frame!
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:54.105 [0x7f067e3ff700] DEBUG - Activity: updated activity fd8350fb-52a7-4920-9802-245ac57e8717 - completed 10% - Recording
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:54.126 [0x7f066d7fb700] DEBUG - Using default transcode duration of 120 minutes
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:54.126 [0x7f066d7fb700] DEBUG - Started session successfully: 6679ba5c-fedd-4342-9a6c-b55ab2c26d6d
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:54.127 [0x7f066d7fb700] DEBUG - DVR:Recorder: It took 30.0 sec to start the session for http://127.0.0.1:32600/devices/compound_device072dvb%23v4l%23%2fsys%2fdevices%2fpci0000%3a00%2f0000%3a00%3a12.2%2fusb1%2f1-2%2f1-2%3a1.0%3a0013993681/media/triplet%3A%2F%2F9018%3A40960%3A41024?param=%3C%3Fxml%20version%3D%221%2E0%22%20encoding%3D%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Ctunedata%3E%3Ctt%3E4%3C%2Ftt%3E%3Cdq%3E0%3C%2Fdq%3E%3Cdr%2F%3E%3Cfr%3E746000%3C%2Ffr%3E%3Cmd%3E0%3C%2Fmd%3E%3Csr%3E0%3C%2Fsr%3E%3Cpl%3E0%3C%2Fpl%3E%3Clf%3E8%3C%2Flf%3E%3Cl1%3E0%3C%2Fl1%3E%3Cl2%3E0%3C%2Fl2%3E%3Cls%3E0%3C%2Fls%3E%3Cpp%3E0%3C%2Fpp%3E%3Chz%3E0%3C%2Fhz%3E%3Cin%3E0%3C%2Fin%3E%3Cfc%3E0%3C%2Ffc%3E%3Ct%3E40960%3C%2Ft%3E%3Cn%3E9018%3C%2Fn%3E%3Cs%3E41024%3C%2Fs%3E%3Cen%3E0%3C%2Fen%3E%3C%2Ftunedata%3E%0A
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:54.127 [0x7f066d7fb700] DEBUG - DVR:Grabber: Merging EPG item with live item.
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:54.127 [0x7f066d7fb700] ERROR - DVR:Recorder: No part because session isn't reporting one.
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:54.128 [0x7f066d7fb700] DEBUG - DVR:Grabber: Operation for Live TV - Session completed with status error (Could not start recording)
Jun 05, 2018 16:23:54.128 [0x7f066d7fb700] DEBUG - Activity: Ended activity fd8350fb-52a7-4920-9802-245ac57e8717.
The No part because session isn’t reporting one message generally indicates that the transcoder did not find any video or audio in the stream from the channel.
This Live TV session was on a station that is successfully recording?
Thank you for looking into this. I’m not recording anything while I am trying to play these channels. Any channel which is SD works without an issue, as soon as I try an HD channel I get this issue - very strange. I’ve just tried to update PMS to the Beta channel to see if that made any difference and it hasn’t.
