Server Version#: Windows 1.21.1.3876
Player Version#: Fire TV Stick 4K Plex 8.11.0.22186
Tuner Make/Model: HD HomeRun Quattro
Recently set up an HD Home Run + Antenna setup. I am wondering what clients (if any) work 100% for Live TV and DVR?
The FireTV’s in the house have all been experiencing the Android issue of the Live TV stream crashing back to the guide after a couple of minutes.
I am wondering what clients don’t have this issue? Roku, Shield, etc? My iOS devices work fine with Live TV but when you bring up the casting menu, the casting device selection menu locks up the interface, and the app needs to be force-stopped. So casting isn’t an option.
Seems like the Windows Desktop app works fine, ran that for a couple of hours straight.
Willing to spend money on a new client device, I just want to make sure it doesn’t have the same issue, and doesn’t introduce others. It seems like every client device I’ve read about has a unique problem with Live TV.
I can’t use something like the HD Homerun app which needs to be on the same network, since this is a secondary Plex server at a remote location that gets OTA signals that are not available at my main server’s location.
Use app version 8.6.0.20351 it will solve your problem. On the plex firestick app you have to goto settings> advanced> allow hdmi audio passthrough, and then also under advanved turn ENABLE NEW VIDEO PLAYER to OFF.
Then on the firestick goto settings>Applications> Appstore and turn Automatic updares to off.
I was avoiding that because the last time I had HDMI audio passthrough on for one of the devices it created audio sync issues in playback on a lot of my library content. This was on a device we used to have going through a surround sound amp, which we then moved to straight into the TV, so comparing the settings of that to the other direct to TV connected devices is what identified that as the issue.
I’ll revisit it though and test, maybe it was a combination of that and the new player or something. It was 6-8 months ago that I was dealing with that so I could be misremembering.
I just did some reading, I honestly didn’t know you could downgrade apps via a CLI on the FireTV, I thought you needed to do something like jailbreaking it.
Is unfortunate that none of the other apps will auto-update any longer though…
You’d be better off using Channels DVR for live TV. Plex’s idea of live TV has been plagued with show stopping bugs for years and their staff have made it abundantly clear that it isn’t a priority for them.
Reading up on it. I can’t figure out if they allow you to set a transcode directory yet or not? Posts from 2019 says they are working on it but I can’t find documentation on the setting.
Does the Google TV have a Plex app that can work without a phone? I have standalone Chromecasts but the casting feature doesn’t work from my Plex app for live TV on the phone. I hit the cast button and get the cast devices list but then everything is frozen and I have to kill the app.
64 GB RAM disk. The one on the local server is also great for file ingesting because I am not copying a bunch of data to an SSD then off of it again. Everything is battery backed up so the files are persistent, since the RAM is allocated from the OS by the RAM disk software at boot.
I found all the clients I use quite unreliable and frustrating to use for Live TV (particular DVR recording in progress). I often had trouble with Plex for Windows and the Plex Media Player (tv interface for windows). But android is the worst. Live TV hasn’t worked properly on fire stick since 8.11 was released in December. No one cares.
I have a much better experience using a different more reliable DVR software and record into the Plex library folder. I can still watch while recording is ongoing. Much more reliable this way.
Just an update - client issues aside, I still can’t see a reason to use Plex Live TV versus paying $8 a month for Channels DVR.
I love Plex and have a lifetime Plex Pass, and I think it is awesome at serving up your media library, but Channels DVR simply works better (edit: For live TV specifically).
It seems like when Plex has an issue with a stream, it just abandons trying to stream or record.
We have a local ABC affiliate that only broadcasts on a low frequency VHF band and is subject to signal interference issues. I could never get a successful full length recording for any show on this channel, as soon as the signal errors increased it would cancel the recording. This means that I wouldn’t have a recording of a show even if I was using a perfect client.
Channels seems to not care - it actually lists signal stats for all of your recordings… I have an episode that hit 20% signal errors and it still recorded it, albeit with some choppiness now and then.
I think Plex Live TV could go a long way having the ability to select a threshold for signal errors (or ignore them altogether) to allow recordings to continue. This is mainly for my wife watching talk shows in the background while doing other tasks, so if there is a blip in the recording she doesn’t really care. Whereas if a recording stops 7 minutes into a 2 hour show, she is not happy.
