Roku timeline going wonky

[BrettB]

I got a new Roku TV that I've been using as a new client for my NextPVR server here in NC. My postprocessing script generates an .mp4 for it to play. The source is an HDHR with a cablecard and Spectrum cable. (The cable does seem to be a bit glitchy at times even with their settop boxes. But I don't think that this problem is signal related.)

Frequently, I'll be watching a program and all of a sudden the audio will continue, but the video will freeze. And if I hit OK to bring up the OSD, it shows that the current position is something wonky like 13+ hours into a 1:03 recording. And, if I hit the <- button to stop playback, I get the prompt saying the show has been played to completion and asking if I want to delete. Of course, the resume point is also lost/messed up.

I have found that if I restart playing the program and use the "remote menu" to enter a jump time to somewhere around where I was, it will begin playing fine (and the timeline appears correct). Sometimes this happens once in a show. Other times it's many times in the same show. It is (almost?) always during an actual show, so shouldn't be a problem with the .ts timeline getting changed by commercial insertion or something like that.

This morning, the problem happened several times while I was playing an episode of Big Brother. So you should see several examples of the problem, my recovery, continued playback, repeat, etc. in these logs.

Is the current (timeline) position coming from the Roku or the NextPVR backend server? I've also got an RPi 4 with LE and knewc which I'm using heavily here. I have not experienced this problem with it's playback. But it would be using the .ts file and I believe that it is reading the file directly via SMB not streaming via the NextPVR server.

I'm hoping that Martin will see something obvious in the logs.

[BrettB]

Here's a sample from the logs:

Code:

2021-08-12 07:09:40.426    [DEBUG][121]    Setting activity:
2021-08-12 07:09:41.068    [DEBUG][65]    Got request [192.168.7.138]: /control
2021-08-12 07:09:41.068    [DEBUG][65]     - format: json
2021-08-12 07:09:41.069    [DEBUG][65]     - quality: high
2021-08-12 07:09:41.069    [DEBUG][65]     - client: sdl-f675ae5e-fb9b-5082-a67d-bd61f1e192e9
2021-08-12 07:09:41.069    [DEBUG][65]     - sid: 41e78d29bafe43f3af39f741f92b30e7
2021-08-12 07:09:41.069    [DEBUG][65]     - media: 3001.44
2021-08-12 07:09:41.141    [DEBUG][65]    Setting activity:
2021-08-12 07:09:41.567    [DEBUG][121]    Got request [192.168.7.125]: /control
2021-08-12 07:09:41.567    [DEBUG][121]     - media: 16826.708984375
2021-08-12 07:09:41.567    [DEBUG][121]     - client: sdl-KNEW50xdca632c8634f
2021-08-12 07:09:41.568    [DEBUG][121]     - sid: 697c5ff924f347ae989dde44f72da51a
2021-08-12 07:09:41.711    [DEBUG][131]    Setting activity:
2021-08-12 07:09:41.859    [DEBUG][113]    Got request [192.168.7.138]: /control
2021-08-12 07:09:41.859    [DEBUG][113]     - format: json
2021-08-12 07:09:41.860    [DEBUG][113]     - quality: high
2021-08-12 07:09:41.860    [DEBUG][113]     - client: sdl-f675ae5e-fb9b-5082-a67d-bd61f1e192e9
2021-08-12 07:09:41.860    [DEBUG][113]     - sid: 41e78d29bafe43f3af39f741f92b30e7
2021-08-12 07:09:41.861    [DEBUG][113]     - media: 50723.9

[mvallevand]

Is there are reason you are playing the same file in KNEWC and on the Roku at the same time? If you note in the snippet above KNEWC reporting a crazy time too from the source ts file in the file system which makes me think the ts file is bad. I might need the ts file and the mp4 just to see how they play through.

Martin

[BrettB]

Is there are reason you are playing the same file in KNEWC and on the Roku at the same time?  If you note in the snippet above KNEWC reporting a crazy time too from the source ts file in the file system which makes me think the ts file is bad.  I might need the ts file and the mp4 just to see how they play through.

I don't think that I intentionally played the same file on both at the same time. But I might have started on one and then switched to the other when I went to the other room. (The knewc one is on the bedroom TV, the Roku one is on the new den TV.)

Here's a link to the .mp4 file.

I'll upload the original .ts file separately.

[BrettB]

Here's a link to the .mp4 file.

I'll upload the original .ts file separately.

Here's a link to the original .ts file.

[mvallevand]

Thanks Brett I've got them now and will have a look.

Martin

[BrettB]

Quick update that I was having this problem multiple times with every recording I tried to watch last night. From multiple channels, etc. So it may be something "weird" with the .ts streams coming from Spectrum. Or possibly a signal problem with Spectrum? I can try to copy over a set of files from my home Xfinity system and see if it behaves the same way.

[mvallevand]

I haven't had time time test much but I did see that there is some missing info at the beginning of the file. I noticed a big change in Kodi just remuxing the ts file with ts4np. I haven't tried any mp4 remuxes yet.

Martin

[BrettB]

I haven't had time time test much but I did see that there is some missing info at the beginning of the file.  I noticed a big change in Kodi just remuxing the ts file with ts4np.  I haven't tried any mp4 remuxes yet.

Yeah, I'm thinking that I should just add a step in PostProcessing to do a remux of the .ts file before I generate the .mp4 file.