Server logs for client that can't stream content

Plex Players Streaming Devices
1

Server Version#: 1.18.8.2527
Player Version#: Amazon Fire TV Client

I have a client running one of the earlier Amazon Fire Sticks with Plex on it. He can’t stream content from my server for a specific video. It shows up as container MKV and encoded using H264. Here are the relevant logs from Plex Server (with debug logging enabled):

WARN - Streaming Resource: Bandwidth exceeded: 22196 kbps > 10000 kbps
DEBUG - MDE: received PLEX_PROTOCOL_ANY from client, but could not determine best protocol. Defaulting to HTTP
DEBUG - MDE: analyzing media item 709760
DEBUG - MDE: Bombshell (2019): Direct Playing due to no transcode profile
DEBUG - MDE: Bombshell (2019): no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/h264
DEBUG - MDE: Bombshell (2019): no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/h264/ac3
DEBUG - MDE: Bombshell (2019): selected media 0 / 709760
ERROR - Streaming Resource: Cannot make a decision because either the file is unplayable or the client provided bad data
DEBUG - Streaming Resource: Reached Decision id=127251 codes=(General=2000,Neither direct play nor conversion is available. Direct Play=3000,App cannot direct play this item. No direct play video profile exists for protocol http, with container mkv, and video codec h264. Transcode=4005,Cannot convert this item. No conversion profile found for protocol http.) media=(id=709760 part=(id=721099 decision=none protocol=http streams=(Video=(id=1043213 decision= width=1920 height=808) Audio=(id=1043214 decision= channels=6 rate=48000))))

Can someone explain what this all means? What is the actual issue?

I see a couple of concerning items:

  1. What is a “direct play video profile”? Seems like one is missing for this particular video.
  2. Why does it say “Bandwidth exceeded”? I already set up my server to have a max remote quality setting, so it should be serving that to clients.
2

The player wants it full strength but can’t handle it full strength.
It also can’t communicate correctly. (The protocol errors)

Reset the Amazon

3

Thanks, by full strength are you referring to the bandwidth? In that case is it that the client can’t handle it, or that it’s my server’s max bandwidth kicking in? I limited it to 10Mbps in “Remote Access” setting “Limit remote stream bitrate”. In that case, shouldn’t the client/server negotiate a lower bitrate profile (like 10Mbps 1080p) ?

Also what are these “profiles” it is talking about? Direct stream profile and transcode profile. Are profiles on the client side? How do these get defined?

4

Also: He rebooted the fire stick, still not working. If he sets a specific remote quality on the fire stick, like 10Mbps 1080p in settings some videos work but others do not.

5

I didn’t say to Restart. I said to Reset. (aka. start over)
If your 10K is kicking in, that’s where it’s coming from but it still wants the full quality.

You need speak to them about the requested quality.

6

You’re not really offering me the level of detail I feel I need. You’re very short with your answers. I feel like maybe you assume I know more than I really do.

I have no understanding of how quality is negotiated between client & server. You never addressed my questions about profiles. I would love to learn a little more about how things work so I can better diagnose issues on my own without having to post on the forum (“Teach a man to fish”).

If the 10Mb (not K) is kicking in, why does the client still want the full quality? What about my questions regarding server/client negotiation (if any) to determine the best stream?

7

Switching to 720p on fire stick’s settings works for all videos. 2 different clients (Fire Stick and Fire TV) were tested. When both are set to 8Mbps 1080p, failures are consistent. When both are set to 720p, videos work. A reset does not seem to be the issue, since two clients behave consistently.

My gut feel is that this is an issue with video file encoding support on the Fire devices. But I can’t be sure without more knowledge on how to interpret the logs.

8

Profiles are the foundation rules PMS uses when talking to each client.

The default profile (preprogrammed) provides the basic foundation and list of capabilities from which it can stream.

The player provides an augmented profile (list of capabilities) at the moment playback parameters are negotiated for the specific video.

The MDE (Media Decision Engine) performs this arbitration.
It then writes its decion as MDE: records in the logs.

1 Like
9

Thank you Chuck that is very helpful. It also helps me understand the logs a tad better.

In the working case (720p on client), I see the stream use the “Android” profile:

TranscodeUniversalRequest: using augmented profile Android

Which succeeds with:

DEBUG - Streaming Resource: Reached Decision id=127236 codes=(General=1001,Direct play not available; Conversion OK. Direct Play=3000,App cannot direct play this item. Direct play is disabled. Transcode=1001,Direct play not available; Conversion OK.) media=(id=709717 part=(id=721056 decision=transcode container=mpegts protocol=hls streams=(Video=(id=1043126 decision=transcode bitrate=8932 encoder=h264_vaapi width=1920 height=808) Audio=(id=1043127 decision=transcode bitrate=477 encoder=aac channels=6 rate=48000))))

But in the non-working case (1080p selected on the client), it says its using profile “Generic”:

TranscodeUniversalRequest: using profile Generic

This eventually fails with:

DEBUG - Streaming Resource: Reached Decision id=127236 codes=(General=2000,Neither direct play nor conversion is available. Direct Play=3000,App cannot direct play this item. No direct play video profile exists for protocol http, with container mkv, and video codec h264. Transcode=4005,Cannot convert this item. No conversion profile found for protocol http.) media=(id=709717 part=(id=721056 decision=none protocol=http streams=(Video=(id=1043126 decision= width=1920 height=808) Audio=(id=1043127 decision= channels=6 rate=48000))))

Also observed in the success case, that Plex exercises the hardware to seemingly check what formats are supported. In the failure case, I do not see that happening. Here’s an example of what I’m referring to:

Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.231 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - Codecs: Testing with profile 'High'
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.231 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - Scaled up video bitrate to 9246Kbps based on 1.500000x fudge factor.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - Codecs: testing h264 (decoder) with hwdevice vaapi
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - Codecs: hardware transcoding: testing API vaapi
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x41524742 -> bgra.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x42475241 -> argb.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x41424752 -> rgba.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x52474241 -> abgr.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x58524742 -> bgr0.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x42475258 -> 0rgb.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x58424752 -> rgb0.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x52474258 -> 0bgr.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x50424752 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x50524742 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x36314752 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x56555941 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x30303859 -> gray.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x3231564e -> nv12.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x3132564e -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x32595559 -> yuyv422.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x59565955 -> uyvy422.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x32315659 -> yuv420p.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x30323449 -> yuv420p.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x50313134 -> yuv411p.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x48323234 -> yuv422p.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x56323234 -> yuv440p.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x50343434 -> yuv444p.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x33434d49 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x30313050 -> p010le.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x30335241 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x30334241 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.232 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - Codecs: Testing with profile 'High'
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.233 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - Scaled up video bitrate to 9246Kbps based on 1.500000x fudge factor.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.233 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - Streaming Resource: Reducing playback quality for 9523kbps stream bitrate: video resolution to 1920x808, audio channels to 6, quality to 39
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.233 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - Codecs: testing h264 (decoder) with hwdevice vaapi
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.233 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - Codecs: hardware transcoding: testing API vaapi
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x41524742 -> bgra.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x42475241 -> argb.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x41424752 -> rgba.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x52474241 -> abgr.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x58524742 -> bgr0.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x42475258 -> 0rgb.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x58424752 -> rgb0.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x52474258 -> 0bgr.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x50424752 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x50524742 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x36314752 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x56555941 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x30303859 -> gray.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x3231564e -> nv12.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x3132564e -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x32595559 -> yuyv422.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x59565955 -> uyvy422.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x32315659 -> yuv420p.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x30323449 -> yuv420p.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x50313134 -> yuv411p.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x48323234 -> yuv422p.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x56323234 -> yuv440p.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x50343434 -> yuv444p.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x33434d49 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x30313050 -> p010le.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x30335241 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x30334241 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - Codecs: Testing with profile 'High'
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - Scaled up video bitrate to 9246Kbps based on 1.500000x fudge factor.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - MDE: Selected protocol hls; container: mpegts
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - MDE: analyzing media item 709717
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - MDE: Spies in Disguise (2019): Direct Play is disabled
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - MDE: Spies in Disguise (2019): media must be transcoded in order to use the hls protocol
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - MDE: Spies in Disguise (2019): no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/h264
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - MDE: Spies in Disguise (2019): no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/h264/dca
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - MDE: Spies in Disguise (2019): Direct Streaming is disabled, so video stream will be transcoded
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - MDE: Spies in Disguise (2019): no remuxable profile found, so video stream will be transcoded
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - MDE: Cannot direct stream video stream due to profile or setting limitations
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - Codecs: testing h264 (decoder) with hwdevice vaapi
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.234 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - Codecs: hardware transcoding: testing API vaapi
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x41524742 -> bgra.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x42475241 -> argb.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x41424752 -> rgba.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x52474241 -> abgr.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x58524742 -> bgr0.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x42475258 -> 0rgb.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x58424752 -> rgb0.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x52474258 -> 0bgr.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x50424752 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x50524742 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x36314752 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x56555941 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x30303859 -> gray.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x3231564e -> nv12.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x3132564e -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x32595559 -> yuyv422.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x59565955 -> uyvy422.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x32315659 -> yuv420p.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x30323449 -> yuv420p.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x50313134 -> yuv411p.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x48323234 -> yuv422p.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x56323234 -> yuv440p.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x50343434 -> yuv444p.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x33434d49 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x30313050 -> p010le.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x30335241 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - [FFMPEG] - Format 0x30334241 -> unknown.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - Codecs: Testing with profile 'High'
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - Scaled up video bitrate to 9246Kbps based on 1.500000x fudge factor.
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - MDE: Spies in Disguise (2019): Audio Direct Streaming is disabled, so video's audio stream will be transcoded
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - MDE: Cannot direct stream audio stream due to profile or setting limitations
Mar 18, 2020 12:15:26.235 [0x7f4282ffd700] DEBUG - MDE: Spies in Disguise (2019): selected media 0 / 709717

I’m not sure if this is helpful but even after staring at the logs for about an hour, I am still not seeing why 720p works but 1080p doesn’t.

10

Another update: He switched to the “old” player via Plex settings and everything works fine. So it looks like at some point, that newer player got broken on the Fire platform.

11

Might very well be a problem with the enhanced player on the platform.

Frankly, i’ve been swamped helping folks and not had time myself to rerun the full suite I have.

12

Seems related: An error occurred while attempting to play this video. Please try restarting both the Plex Media Server and this app

13

I’m sorry. I’m NOT an app guy. I know the shield and apple apps a bit.
This is out of my league. I’ve gone as far as I can. I don’t have this hardware

14

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