Picture freezes when recording ends

[JonBest]

In Kodi if I am watching a show and set it to record, when the show ends and I get the recording stopped message the picture stutters and then freezes (audio continues). If I then stop the stream Kodi crashes.

This is happening on 17.4 on fire tv & Jarvis in Windows?

[Graham]

IIf I then stop the stream Kodi crashes.

Please recreate the problem and attach NextPVR and Kodi logs to a post telling us when the problem occurred so that we know where to look in the logs. Thanks.

[JonBest]

Hi Graham thanks for replying. I've also noticed that when I try to timeshift a recording Kodi is crashing everytime. I'm going to change the Decoder tonight and do some more testing, if the issue persists i'll get the logs and upload them. Thanks.

[JonBest]

Ok so I did some more testing. Changing the decoder did nothing so the problem remains. I then realised that this issue is only happening on my Firestick Gen2, my Firetv Gen2 appears to be work fine as does my Windows laptop.

I will focus on the issue with the freezing when performing a timeshift as it is much easier to replicate and I think the two issues may be related. I can of course replicate the original issue also if you want.

I get the same behaviour on the firestick whether I use Kodi 17.4 or SPMC (Latest Version). Here is the URL to the Kodi log (if you require this in another format please let me know) and also the NextPVR Log should be attached. The problem was between 20:08/20:10 (if you isolate the error in the NextPVR logs you may find other examples throughout it.

Please let me know if you need anything else.
https://paste.ubuntu.com/25675054/

Just a recap on how to produce the behaviour:
Launch Kodi & open a recording
Shift forwards
Picture starts to play then freezes. Audio continues to play in background, this continues until I click on the stop button. Once clicked Kodi immediately crashes.

[mvallevand]

You didn't include the Kodi log (.old) for the crash, The NextPVR logs look fine so it probably will need to be resolved in Kodi. Note the Firestick is not going to get much love as a PVR client (wifi and software decoding of mpeg2 video)

Martin

[JonBest]

Strange, I selected to upload the previous log in the addon options. Can't seem to dig up much info on how others have fared using a 2nd gen fire stick. Might look into replacing it.

Thanks for taking a look.

[JonBest]

Hi again,

Have further information to add to this:

As Kodi seemed a no-go on the firestick I decided to look at an alternative. I use Emby Server and so configured the PVR section so I could try the Emby app on the Firestick instead (using NextPVR as backend still). I haven't actually tested the stick yet but I have tested my phone (i'm away from home at the moment) with curious results.

It turns out that I get the exact same issue with recordings in the Emby app on my phone (Galaxy S7) as I do on the Firestick when I use Kodi. If I start a recording and then timeshift the recording plays for a few seconds before freezing and the stream then stops and throws me out to the main Emby screen. I have another recording that will only play for a second before this happens (both on the phone & on the stick, no time to even try a timeshift) but will play fine on my Firetv using Kodi and also plays fine if I use Firefox on the phone?? Even more bizarre if I use SPMC on the phone the recordings appear to play fine also?

It seems very strange to get the exact same behavior using two different apps on two separate devices (only thing in common is Android I guess)?

I'm wondering if the buffering may be the cause? Is there a way to change how much buffer is required before playback begins when starting and after a timeshift?

[mvallevand]

You can't compare Emby and Kodi playback logic. Emby transcodes recordings to video standards that play in browsers and often with lower bandwdith while Kodi plays them diirectly Transcoding needs heavy CPU on the backend and is often a cause of problems.

I am confused when you post "exact same behaviour" since about the only thing that seems the same is that files aren't playing. Even with Kodi you seem to be talking about two problems since your first post is vague on how you are watching a show and later you seem to write about any recording One thing that Kodi and Emby won't support is playback of in-progress recordings since it isn't aware files grow.

It is quite normal for different Android devices to play videos differently because of the different graphic hardware and drivers used.

Buffering can help video playback but if the file needs to be software decoded that isn't going to be a solution and if you like seeking then it can be annoying to file large buffers.

Martin

[JonBest]

Hi,

I'm aware that Emby can do transcoding on files however in the Emby settings for Live TV it states you have to purchase Emby Premier so that it will
"Automatically convert recordings to a streaming friendly format - Recordings will be converted on the fly to MKV for easy playback on your devices".

I do not have Emby Premier so i'm not certain if it is actually doing any transcoding at all on the PVR recordings at present.

I'm ignoring the first issue I posted for now, as you say if it causes issues watching an in-progress recording then that may well be the problem and its unlikely I will want to watch and record a program at the same time anyway.

The second issue was just about the recorded programs and I admit my previous posts may not have been very clear so i'll try to explain it a bit better:

I had one recording that would simply freeze within a couple of seconds of playing when I used Kodi on the Firestick. The recording would start, look all pixelated and then the image would freeze (audio continued). When I click to stop the recording Kodi crashes and i'm forced back to the Firetv interface. When I play the same file on Emby the recording attempts to play and then after a second the stream stops and pushes me back to the Emby interface. This same recording plays perfectly using the Firetv 2nd gen or a web browser on my phone.

If I play any of the other recordings in Kodi the program starts playing and everything seems to be fine. I then timeshift forwards (say 10 minutes). The image pauses for the shift, then plays for about 2 seconds before the image freezes (audio continues). If I click to stop the recording Kodi crashes and i'm forced back to the Firetv interface. Similarly in Emby I can play the recording, time shift, the image plays for 2 seconds before freezing (I need to do more testing with Emby really most was focused on Kodi but the symptoms appear very similar).

I thought it odd that both Kodi (Firestick) & Emby (Phone) was unable to play the same recording and showed similar symptoms when timeshifting which is why I thought for the timeshift issue it may be trying to play before building up sufficient buffer and then quickly freezing (could be way off the mark it was more a thought really).

The Firetv 2ng Gen has none of the above issues and appears to work perfectly with all the recordings which seems to rule out NextPVR but also Kodi being directly responsible which is weird. I had considered removing Kodi from the Stick and re-installing but I also see the same issue when using SPMC on the stick and I doubt both installations would be faulty. Maybe it is just the Firestick hardware causing problems.....?

[mvallevand]

Normally the Emby free version transcodes on the fly. Also the transcoding is ffmpeg based which is the same playback engine that Kodi uses.

Not sure why you think that it weird for the files not to play Kodi since is not optimized for specific Android devices and there are huge difference in capabilities of the many chips used.

Martin