This morning when trying to watch Live TV I kept getting a “weak signal” error. I just recently upgraded my server so I wanted to give Plex live TV a try again.
The server is now a dual processor Xeon E5-2630L @ 2.00GHz (total number of CPU threads of 24) with 16Gb of RAM connected to the network via gigabit ethernet. The tuner is an HDHR connect connected to the network via ethernet and The Client is an Nvidia Shield also connected via ethernet.
I have attached the log files (although I just downloaded them and am not sure that they contain the events from ~6am this morning)
If someone could take a look and make some suggestions as to what could be causing the issue I would greatly appreciate it. I would think that my server specs should be more than adequate to handle the processing.
Does the HDHR tuner have its own application? If so, launch that application and see if you get a constant good picture on the channel you were trying to watch in Plex.
Typically weak signal means the OTA antenna is positioned to receive a strong enough signal to broadcast the video. You might want to try moving the antenna around to find a better suited location.
Sometimes the tuner apps have a signal strength tool you can use to optimize your antenna position.
@cdarrigo said:
Does the HDHR tuner have its own application? If so, launch that application and see if you get a constant good picture on the channel you were trying to watch in Plex.
Typically weak signal means the OTA antenna is positioned to receive a strong enough signal to broadcast the video. You might want to try moving the antenna around to find a better suited location.
Sometimes the tuner apps have a signal strength tool you can use to optimize your antenna position.
I have been watching live TV with the HDHR app on my shield for a month and Never have a picture issue. I have used the HDHR signal meter and confirmed that “sig strength”, “SNR Quality”, and “Sym Quality” are all at or near 100%.
Here is some more information that may help figure out what is happening I have more logs that I downloaded right after I got the errors and will upload them when I get to work this morning
Yesterday I was able to watch live TV with no issues after manually reducing the quality to 8Mbps. However this morning I again kept getting weak signal error or the screen would just return to the show information screen after only a couple minutes of watching. I would really like to figure out what is going on Plex DVR/live TV is the Main reason I went again and paid for my Plex Pass.
i have found that weak signal means weak WiFi signal (not always weak signal coming in from the tuner) and also that the plex client is not able to keep up with the stream it is provided (like it is not powerful enough). I don’t think this is the case with the Shield as I have one and it is plenty powerful to direct play 1080p @ ~20Mbps. My FireStick on the other hand can NEVER keep up with direct play 1080p (same network). I have to transcode to 720p to be able to finish a show.
I did some more research and a talked to another guy locally that uses plex (not for live tv) and is a networking guy. He said it seems to be a network issue so I was going to manually specify the server ip address so the shield couldn’t try to connect remote but couldn’t find the setting in the app. I found online there were people having problems with DNS rebinding. but doing NSlookups resolve the local ipaddress so I don’t think that is the issue…
Here’s what I did to minimize that error. Which, seems to be an all purpose error IMO.
Though SignalGH showed good signal, VLC could play the same channel without error at the same time, I’d get those errors. I have a quite capable server running Linux, i7, 16gb RAM, NVidia 1030 graphics card.
So, I first put an FM filter in the antenna signal path. Made a difference, put another in, better. Installed an LTE filter, way better.
I run an Apple 4K via WiFi and rarely see this error unless we are having high wind, and then the TV tuner has problems too.
In short, weak signal for my installation is TV signal related.
You could always try assigning a manual IP to all the hardware used by/with Plex. I only use DHCP for phones, tablets, and such. Anything else gets assigned a static IP in a range reserved for that purpose.
Week signal is sort of a bogus message that may have nothing to do with the actual signal. More of a catch all message. It can be caused by latency, slow client, buffer under run, a bit to slow transcoding of the tuner, etc.
I can get this on the Shield TV hardwired with no other network activity using a Prime with almost perfect signal readings. It’s just the “stack” of software layers involved from receiving the tuner feed through the server to the client.
Plex could possibly clean up the error routines to narrow the problem better and give a more accurate error message.
@GaryHammer said:
Here’s what I did to minimize that error. Which, seems to be an all purpose error IMO.
Though SignalGH showed good signal, VLC could play the same channel without error at the same time, I’d get those errors. I have a quite capable server running Linux, i7, 16gb RAM, NVidia 1030 graphics card.
So, I first put an FM filter in the antenna signal path. Made a difference, put another in, better. Installed an LTE filter, way better.
I run an Apple 4K via WiFi and rarely see this error unless we are having high wind, and then the TV tuner has problems too.
In short, weak signal for my installation is TV signal related.
You could always try assigning a manual IP to all the hardware used by/with Plex. I only use DHCP for phones, tablets, and such. Anything else gets assigned a static IP in a range reserved for that purpose.
Do you have part numbers for the filters that you put in? I am thinking about trying that route.
I was hoping by posting the logs someone who better understands plex’s inner workings might be able to look them over and say “yep it was a server problem” or “yet it was a client problem” or “looks like a network issue”. I am pretty much willing to try anything that might make it better.
everything on my network (except the wifi devices [cell phones, roku, google homes etc…] and this , shield) are setup with a static IP address. I will try setting the IP address on the Shield to a static one tonight just to rule that out.
@cayars said:
Week signal is sort of a bogus message that may have nothing to do with the actual signal. More of a catch all message. It can be caused by latency, slow client, buffer under run, a bit to slow transcoding of the tuner, etc.
I can get this on the Shield TV hardwired with no other network activity using a Prime with almost perfect signal readings. It’s just the “stack” of software layers involved from receiving the tuner feed through the server to the client.
Plex could possibly clean up the error routines to narrow the problem better and give a more accurate error message.
Have you (or anyone) had better luck with a Tuner card in the plex server?
Shows recorded from the same HDHR and watched later on the same Shield have no problems playing.
Another update, When watching Live TV this morning during the actual program Plex was performing well (with the quality manually set to 8Mbps) However once the show(morning news) switched to the commercials reliability went out the window. I seemed to get the “weak signal” error when the stream changed either between the actual program and commercial or in between two commercials. sometimes the stream would recover and start playing again (at least once after it recovered i got a pixelation mess on the screen and then it cleaned up and kept playing) most of the time the stream would die and I would end up back on the Show info page.
I am going to order an LTE filter and stick it in line and see if that helps, but any other thoughts or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
My bet on a condition like this is that it’s a switch in the audio that is causing you grief. For example it could go from Dolby 5.1 to 2 channel or from a stream marked with a language to something not marked. Just enough to trip up the transcoder which is used during the DVR process to record or stream live TV.
@cayars said:
My bet on a condition like this is that it’s a switch in the audio that is causing you grief. For example it could go from Dolby 5.1 to 2 channel or from a stream marked with a language to something not marked. Just enough to trip up the transcoder which is used during the DVR process to record or stream live TV.
Tried to watch the news again this morning and It played for about 2 minutes before getting the “weak signal” error and then returning the the show information screen. This time it was not during a change from commercials to show or vice versa. I wish plex with put out an update that included some better error reporting on the DVR/Live tv side.
The attached image was taken right before I got the “weak signal” error. It looks like the shield thinks it is direct play? even though i have the max bitrate set it 8Mbps?
I also tried watching from my android phone on wifi. I almost immediately got the weak signal error, but the stream recovered and I was able to watch the news for about 15 minutes without issue before I had to turn it off and get ready to head to work.
Again, Thanks taking the time to read and respond.
@cayars said:
What antenna are you using and do you have an amp installed?
Roughly how far are you from this station in air miles/KMs?
I am using a clearstream 4 mounted outside on a tower at approximately 15 feet above ground level. I am using an RCA preamp at the antenna (I have about 120 feet of cable between the tuner and the antenna). The (only station that i really try to watch) is “RF Channel: 48 @ 22 miles at 353°” according to anteannaweb.org
To give you an idea I’m using a home built antenna and pull in channels from 42 and 60 miles and I don’t use an amp. I have more issues with an amp then without. This also helps when pulling the HDHomeRun signal info as it’s real vs boosted. A boosted bad signal is just a strong bad signal at times.
@cayars said:
Could you try it without the amp inline?
To give you an idea I’m using a home built antenna and pull in channels from 42 and 60 miles and I don’t use an amp. I have more issues with an amp then without. This also helps when pulling the HDHomeRun signal info as it’s real vs boosted. A boosted bad signal is just a strong bad signal at times.
I know without the pre-amp I can not pull in one of the channels that my wife specifically requested.
Do you think I actually need to take the amp out of the cable path or is just turning it off a good enough indicator? We are having a ton of rain and I don’t really want to climb up the tower in this weather and swap connections around.
I will try turning off the amp tonight and watching the same channel and take screen shots of the HDHR signal app.
Wait till you can play without upsetting the Wife!
It would be best to remove it from the line so you don’t suffer any additional db loss. What I’m interested in seeing is what the signal looks like (HDHomeRun menu) when you suffer the “weak signal” issue IF YOU still get this message.
It could be an over power that is causing you problems. If the problem goes away on this channel or any other that is strong (without the amp) but is only experience on actual weaker channels then we know you need to amp it differently or apply specific types of filters to keep you from over boosting strong channels.
Carlo
PS another valid test if you have a free tuner and other software is to record the same show with both Plex and other 3rd party software. If it’s really a signal issue (hardware) then both pieces of software should have similar issues. If one works and other doesn’t, then you found where the issue is at.
