Plex transcoding / do not play (Error code: s3014) after Audio stream conversion

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
, , , ,
1

Server Version: 1.32.5.7349 (Docker image lscr.io/linuxserver/plex:latest running on a x86_64 Ubuntu 23.04 server)
Player Version: 4.108.0 (?), Google Chrome Version 116.0.5845.111 (Official Build) (64-bit)

I noticed the server was transcoding audio only for eac3 codec on my Samsung TV and Chrome. Video was direct stream or direct play:

01-initial

Probing the video file you can see there is nothing extraordinary in it… but it seems Samsung and Chrome didn’t like the audio codec…

Input #0, matroska,webm, from 'video.mkv':
  Metadata:
    encoder         : libebml v1.4.0 + libmatroska v1.6.1
  Duration: 00:55:32.13, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 3618 kb/s
  Stream #0:0(eng): Video: h264 (High), yuv420p(tv, bt709, progressive), 1356x678 [SAR 1:1 DAR 2:1], 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 1k tbn (default)
  Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: eac3, 48000 Hz, 5.1(side), fltp, 768 kb/s (default)
  Stream #0:2(eng): Subtitle: subrip (default)
    Metadata:
      title           : English
      DURATION        : 00:47:44.260000000
  Stream #0:3(por): Subtitle: subrip
    Metadata:
      title           : Portuguese
      DURATION        : 00:47:44.260000000
  Stream #0:4(por): Subtitle: subrip
    Metadata:
      title           : Portuguese Brazilian
      DURATION        : 00:46:00.323000000

Even though audio transcoding is not CPU heavy, I decided to use FFMpeg to convert the audio to AAC to make the files more player compatible…

$ ffmpeg -hwaccel auto -hide_banner -i video.mkv -map 0 -c:v copy -c:a aac -c:s copy 'othervideo.mkv'

Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (copy)
  Stream #0:1 -> #0:1 (eac3 (native) -> aac (native))
  Stream #0:2 -> #0:2 (copy)
  Stream #0:3 -> #0:3 (copy)
  Stream #0:4 -> #0:4 (copy)
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
[aac @ 0x5582685740c0] Using a PCE to encode channel layout "5.1(side)"

That gives me an almost identical file… except the encoder version, the video bitrate (?) and the audio codec:

Input #0, matroska,webm, from 'othervideo.mkv':
  Metadata:
    ENCODER         : Lavf59.27.100
  Duration: 00:55:32.15, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 3242 kb/s
  Stream #0:0(eng): Video: h264 (High), yuv420p(tv, bt709, progressive), 1356x678 [SAR 1:1 DAR 2:1], 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 1k tbn (default)
    Metadata:
      DURATION        : 00:55:32.141000000
  Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: aac (LC), 48000 Hz, 6 channels, fltp (default)
    Metadata:
      ENCODER         : Lavc59.37.100 aac
      DURATION        : 00:55:32.149000000
  Stream #0:2(eng): Subtitle: subrip (default)
    Metadata:
      title           : English
      DURATION        : 00:47:44.260000000
  Stream #0:3(por): Subtitle: subrip
    Metadata:
      title           : Portuguese
      DURATION        : 00:47:44.260000000
  Stream #0:4(por): Subtitle: subrip
    Metadata:
      title           : Portuguese Brazilian
      DURATION        : 00:46:00.323000000

So the expectation was that players would have direct play / stream all the way. However, Plex Web in Chrome gives me now an error “Error code: s3014 (Media)” and does not play.
Android does play but video AND audio are being transcoded… which is worse than I had before:

02-subtitles

I have no idea what is happening here… any ideas?

2

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.