Please help with LiveTV channel freezes!

[2leftfeet]

Sub or someone,

I would really like your help on this.

Issue: Only on "certain" channels, during LiveTV, NPVR hangs. Majority of channels do not have this problem.

Environment: NPVR in client/server mode. Wired gigabit Ethernet, 3 tuner HDHR Prime. Fiber Optic cable delivered to premise. High quality signal measured by HDHR on subject channel during the issue. All DRM channels have been removed in settings:HDHR devices - only non-DRM channels are available. Have tried multiple A/V decoders, including MS & those is SAF. Clients include Win7, Win8.1 & Win10. Server on W7, quad-core cpu.

Symptoms:
1. Whether watching subject channel Live on client, recording the subject channel or watching subject channel Live on server, NPVR hangs, requiring a channel change away, then back to restore the signal.
2. HDHR VIEW will not hang on subject channel, but sometimes the video will pause for a few seconds then will resume back to normal without user intervention, but audio is not interrupted while there is a pause in the video. That said, I have not yet established a correlation between the HDHR VIEW video pause and the NPVR hang.
3. VLC - no issues or hang ups of any sorts on subject channel during LiveTV, while at same time NPVR is hanging.

Conclusions:
Something NPVR is doing or not doing when compared to HDHR VIEW and VLC that is causing LiveTV hangs.

Questions:
What could be causing this? (logs attached)
Does NPVR use a timeout for a lost/corrupt signal before it stops play on LiveTV? If so, can this timeout be changed by the user and how would one go about doing it?

Plea for help:
Help!

[2leftfeet]

No ideas, anyone? Anyone else experiencing LiveTV freezes?

[mvallevand]

No ideas, anyone? Anyone else experiencing LiveTV freezes?

No problems but I can tell you that you can't compare changing channels with the HDHR View and VLC because those are just stream views without all the complexities of buffering to disk. I find this means a little more patience changing channels make sure that the tuning is finished before moving on.

Martin

[2leftfeet]

Martin,

The issue I am addressing in this thread is not changing channels, but freezing while watching liveTV on a single channel.

That said, I also have issues with occasional freezes with changing channels - that could occur on any channel. But at this time, the liveTV freeze is the more severe problem in that it not only affects liveTV viewing, but recording on the subject channels as well.

[jrockow]

You're not alone.
Do a search for "live tv freeze".

[Handy.Man]

One workaround is to stop live TV or PIP, then start live TV or PIP on the other channel.

[2leftfeet]

One workaround is to stop live TV or PIP, then start live TV or PIP on the other channel.

I have a work-around for freezing while changing channels - exit, then restart NPVR or channel up/down. But no work-around for freezing while watching liveTV on a specific channel or recording that channel when it freezes.

LOL, I can work around many things, with the exception of my wife complaining about it.

[2leftfeet]

The saga continues ....

This morning I ran a test and collected more data. This time on a different problem channel, just one channel - ESPN2 HD - FIOS ch 574. Logs of from both server & client collected during this test are attached.

The test took place between 7:30-8:00am local time (-5:00 utc). During that 30 minute period, ESPN2 froze "4" times. The freezes occurred at approximately 7:36, 7:42, 7:51 & 7:58am.

Simultaneously during that period, the signal level, signal quality and data rates on the HDHR was continuously monitored. The HDHR reported a unwavering signal strength of 96%, signal quality of 100%, and data streaming output was uninterrupted - even during the time NPVR froze. Even after NPVR froze, data was continually output by the HDHR Prime.

As mentioned before, VLC and HDHR VIEW never freezes, but NPVR freezes continuously - 4 times/30 minutes.

I believe there is a problem with how NPVR handles the data from the HDHR.

As jrockow states "I am not alone in dilemma". I am not sure why sub has been silent on this, but I sure hope he could shed some light on why this is happening.

[mvallevand]

Martin,

The issue I am addressing in this thread is not changing channels, but freezing while watching liveTV on a single channel.

Sorry if you are talking client freezes yes I gave up years ago and moved first to NMT and now to Kodi for reliable client playback.

Martin

[2leftfeet]

Sorry if you are talking client freezes yes I gave up years ago and moved first to NMT and now to Kodi for reliable client playback.

Martin

Yes, clients are certainly freezing, but so is the server! and so are recordings on certain channels!

It can be frustrating at times.