Sreaming DVD MKV's not working

Hello, I’ve seen this before, but I get green screens when trying to watch my MKV versions of DVD’s on a wired network. This only happens every once in a while, but is usually not an issue. It’s only on DVD rips…Blueray’s work fine, and they are both MKV’s.

Does anybody know what setting could fix this issue?
I am on Version 1.13.9.5456.

Thanks,

Jeff

Which type of Plex client is used for playback?

Please post the Plex XML info of this video.

Brand new Fire Stick 4K…it’s on a CAT 5 connection though…
I just downgraded Plex to the previous rev with no change…get the Green screens when DVD MKV’s are being watched…

OK Good question…I checked it on my Roku, same movie, and it was back to normal. So what in the FireStick 4K could causing this?

Please post the Plex XML info of this video.

<MediaContainer mediaTagVersion="1537519582" mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/" librarySectionUUID="342bc5f0-7f0b-45fc-acec-c21ea4f48825" librarySectionTitle="Movies" librarySectionID="1" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library" allowSync="1" size="1">
  <Video title="Breakfast at Tiffany's" librarySectionTitle="Movies" librarySectionID="1" ratingImage="rottentomatoes://image.rating.ripe" primaryExtraKey="/library/metadata/2196" chapterSource="mixed" audienceRatingImage="rottentomatoes://image.rating.upright" updatedAt="1521506774" addedAt="1449528144" originallyAvailableAt="1961-10-05" duration="6890016" art="/library/metadata/538/art/1521506774" thumb="/library/metadata/538/thumb/1521506774" tagline="Audrey Hepburn plays that daring, darling Holly Golightly to a new high in entertainment delight!" year="1961" lastViewedAt="1541967324" viewOffset="211000" audienceRating="9.1" rating="8.8" summary="Fortune hunter Holly Golightly finds herself captivated by aspiring writer Paul Varjak, who's moved into her building on a wealthy woman's dime. As romance blooms between Paul and Holly, Doc Golightly shows up on the scene, revealing Holly's past." contentRating="Not Rated" type="movie" studio="Paramount" librarySectionKey="/library/sections/1" guid="com.plexapp.agents.imdb://tt0054698?lang=en" key="/library/metadata/538" ratingKey="538">
    <Media id="564" duration="6890016" videoProfile="main" videoFrameRate="NTSC" container="mkv" videoCodec="mpeg2video" audioCodec="ac3" audioChannels="6" aspectRatio="1.78" height="480" width="720" bitrate="7559" videoResolution="480">
      <Part id="564" size="6510166303" duration="6890016" key="/library/parts/564/1449528144/file.mkv" videoProfile="main" container="mkv" requiredBandwidths="8362,8089,7746,7746,7746,7746,7746,7746" deepAnalysisVersion="2" file="I:\DVDs 1 Media\Movies\Breakfast at Tiffany's\Breakfast At Tiffanys.mkv" exists="1" accessible="1">
        <Stream id="21892" language="English" height="480" width="720" bitrate="6535" requiredBandwidths="7337,7062,6716,6716,6716,6716,6716,6716" displayTitle="480i (MPEG2VIDEO)" scanType="interlaced" refFrames="1" profile="main" pixelAspectRatio="186:157" level="8" frameRate="29.970" colorRange="tv" chromaSubsampling="4:2:0" chromaLocation="left" bitDepth="8" anamorphic="1" languageCode="eng" index="0" codec="mpeg2video" streamType="1"/>
        <Stream title="Surround 5.1" id="21893" language="English" bitrate="448" requiredBandwidths="448,448,448,448,448,448,448,448" displayTitle="English (AC3 5.1)" languageCode="eng" index="1" codec="ac3" streamType="2" samplingRate="48000" audioChannelLayout="5.1(side)" channels="6" default="1" selected="1"/>
        <Stream title="Stereo" id="21894" language="English" bitrate="192" requiredBandwidths="192,192,192,192,192,192,192,192" displayTitle="English (AC3 Stereo)" languageCode="eng" index="2" codec="ac3" streamType="2" samplingRate="48000" audioChannelLayout="stereo" channels="2"/>
        <Stream title="Stereo" id="21895" language="Español" bitrate="192" requiredBandwidths="192,192,192,192,192,192,192,192" displayTitle="Español (AC3 Stereo)" languageCode="spa" index="3" codec="ac3" streamType="2" samplingRate="48000" audioChannelLayout="stereo" channels="2"/>
        <Stream title="Stereo" id="21896" language="English" bitrate="192" requiredBandwidths="192,192,192,192,192,192,192,192" displayTitle="English (AC3 Stereo)" languageCode="eng" index="4" codec="ac3" streamType="2" samplingRate="48000" audioChannelLayout="stereo" channels="2"/>
        <Stream id="21897" language="English" requiredBandwidths="8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8" displayTitle="English (VOBSUB)" languageCode="eng" index="5" codec="vobsub" streamType="3" default="1"/>
        <Stream id="21898" language="Español" requiredBandwidths="6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6" displayTitle="Español (VOBSUB)" languageCode="spa" index="6" codec="vobsub" streamType="3"/>
      </Part>
    </Media>
    <Genre id="307" tag="Comedy" filter="genre=307"/>
    <Genre id="44" tag="Drama" filter="genre=44"/>
    <Genre id="308" tag="Romance" filter="genre=308"/>
    <Director id="7293" tag="Blake Edwards" filter="director=7293"/>
    <Writer id="24440" tag="George Axelrod" filter="writer=24440"/>
    <Producer id="24451" tag="Martin Jurow" filter="producer=24451"/>
    <Producer id="24452" tag="Richard Shepherd" filter="producer=24452"/>
    <Country id="91" tag="USA" filter="country=91"/>
   
  </Video>
</MediaContainer>

What happens, if you activate one of the subtitles?

  1. activate debug logging (not ‘verbose’!)
  2. quit Plex Server
  3. wait 1 minute
  4. start Plex Server
  5. wait 2 minutes
  6. play this movie for about 1 minute
  7. wait 3 minutes
  8. fetch log files from your FireTV device https://support.plex.tv/articles/201573117-android-android-tv-fire-tv-logs/, zip them up and attach them here
  9. fetch log files from the server and attach them here

Bonus points for a small snippet (about 1 minute or maximum 50 MB) of the video
https://support.plex.tv/articles/201035968-generating-sample-files-from-media/
so developers can recreate the issue with the very same media.

Hello Otto,

I have not tried that but will when I get home this evening.

I will also follow your instructions below for the verbose logging. Do you need me to run the verbose logging before or after I try the subtitles?

Thanks,

Jeff

I said to not use Verbose logging.
Just standard ‘debug’ logging.

Yes activate debug logging first. That’s why I listed it as step 1.

You are correct sir…my mistake. No verbose log was downloaded. But I did get the server file. However, when I tried to follow the instructions to download the FireTV log files, it is not where the instructions pointed. Could it have been changed in FireTv Stick 4K menus?

Please see the Plex Server log files that are attached.

Also Otto, when I played the file, the green screens were there in the 1 minute of playing them. However, I found it very interesting when you asked if the subtitles were on…they were not. But when I turned them back on, with no other changes, the green screens stopped. I’ve been watching for 10 minutes in the same file without a problem.

Thank you for your help on this.

Jeff

Plex Media Server Logs_2018-11-13_19-00-26.zip (5.2 MB)

OK. It looks like in your first playback attempt, the video and the audio streams were taken from the file on your hard disk and were simpy ‘remuxed’ into a TS container. They were otherwise unchanged.
Apparently, the FireTV didn’t like the video in its original form.
It is from a DVD in MPEG2, interlaced and anamorphic (which means non-quadratic pixels).

At the moment when you activated the subtitles, Plex started to transcode the video.
(It has to do that because subtitles from DVD need to get “burned” into the picture in order to watch them on the majority of device types).
Apparently, the FireTV had no problem with the transcoded video stream.

For now, a workaround for you would be to either activate a subtitle when watching a DVD or disabling Direct Stream in the settings of the FireTV Plex app.

I’d really like to have a small sample file of your video for the developers.

Hello Otto,

Thank you for your explanation…I have enabled subtitles and the “green screens” are gone. I have also noted something else today that may be related.

We have an HD Homerun and have failed multiple times to get local tv channels to play on the Fire TV 4K…then we found a post that said to turn off AC3 audio passthrough on the Fire TV 4K and the green screens would stop. Sure enough, that solved the second issue.

I don’t know if that helps you but I wanted to mention it.

I will try to get a minute of the video without subtitles and get it to you.

Thank you once again Otto.

Jeff

1 Like

Is it perhaps also effective with your movie? Without the need to activate a subtitle? Because your movie also uses AC3 audio.

Hello Otto,

I have options for Stereo only, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Digital only…I cannot find a setting to stop AC3 passthrough on the FT4K…I did find it in the HD Homerun settings…

I will advise how the testing goes…

Thank you,

Jeff

Where do these appear exactly? I only know of one global ‘passthough’ option in the settings of the FireTV app.

Otto,

I ran a quick check and with Stereo Only on the FT4K, no subtitles selected in the movie, I still get lots of green screen flashes.

Thanks,

Jeff

Display and Audio setting under Settings…

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